FOOTNOTES:
These laws were engraven on brass, and hung up in the most conspicuous part of the Forum.
They were, however, defeated, first by the consul Vale'rius, and next still more decisively by the consuls Quinc'tius and Fu'rius.
The duty of the censors, at first, was merely to perform the census, or numbering of the people. It was by degrees that they became Magistri Morum, or inspectors and regulators of men's lives and manners.
They appointed an extraordinary magistrate, under the title of superintendent of provisions, and the person named for this office, L. Minutius, an active and prudent man, immediately sent his agents into the neighbouring countries to buy corn; but little, however was procured, as Mælius had been beforehand with him. (Liv. l. iv. c. 13, 14.)