2. The Ædileship was originally a Plebeian office, instituted at the same time as the Tribuneship of the Plebs.[39] To the two Plebeian Ædiles two Curule Ædiles were added in B.C. 365. The four Ædiles in common had the charge of the public buildings,[40] the care of the cleansing and draining of the city, and the superintendence of the police. They had also the regulation of the public festivals; and the celebration of the Ludi Magni, or Great Games, was their especial function. Originally they received a sum of money from the state to defray the expenses of these games, but the grant was withdrawn about the time of the First Punic War; a measure attended with important consequences, since the higher magistracies were thus confined to the wealthy, who alone could defray the charges of these costly entertainments. After the Macedonian and Syrian wars, the Curule Ædiles often incurred a prodigious expense, with the view of pleasing the people, and securing their votes in future elections.
3. The institution of the Prætorship in B.C. 366 has been already narrated. There was originally only one Prætor, subsequently called Prætor Urbanus, whose chief duty was the administration of justice. In B.C. 246 a second Prætor was added, who had to decide cases in which foreigners were concerned, and who was hence called Prætor Peregrinus. When the territories of the state extended beyond Italy, new Prætors were created to govern the provinces. Two Prætors were appointed to take the administration of Sicily and Sardinia (B.C. 227), and two more were added when the two Spanish provinces were formed (B.C. 197). There were thus six Prætors, two of whom staid in the city and the other four went abroad. Each Prætor was attended by six Lictors.
4. The Consuls were the highest ordinary magistrates at Rome, and were at the head both of the state and the army. They convoked the Senate and the Assembly of the Centuries; they presided in each, and had to see that the resolutions of the Senate and the People were carried into effect. They had the supreme command of the armies in virtue of the Imperium conferred upon them by a special vote of the People. At the head of the army, they had full power of life and death over their soldiers. They were preceded by twelve lictors, but this outward sign of power was enjoyed by them month by month in turn.
The magistrates above-mentioned were elected annually, but it was the practice frequently to prolong the command of the Consuls or Prætors in the provinces under the titles of Proconsuls or Proprætors. In the later times of the Republic it was usual for both Consuls and several Prætors to remain at Rome during their year of office, and at its close to take the command of provinces, with the titles of Proconsuls or Proprætors.
5. The Dictatorship, which occurs so often in the early history of the Republic, disappears altogether after the Second Punic War. As the Republic became powerful, and had no longer to dread any enemies in Italy, there was no necessity for such an extraordinary magistracy as the Dictatorship, but whenever internal dangers seemed to require a stronger executive, the Senate invested the Consuls with dictatorial power.[41]
6. The Censors were two in number, elected every five years, but they held their office for a year and a half. They were taken, as a general rule, from those who had been previously Consuls, and their office was regarded as the highest dignity in the state. Their duties, which were very extensive and very important, may be divided into three classes, all of which, however, were closely connected.
(a). Their first and most important duty was to take the Census. This was not simply a list of the population, according to the modern use of the word, but a valuation of the property of every Roman citizen. This valuation was necessary, not only for the assessment of the property-tax, but also for determining the position of every citizen in the state, which was regulated, in accordance with the constitution of Servius Tullius, by the amount of his property. Accordingly, the Censors had to draw up lists of the Classes and Centuries. They also made out the lists of the Senators and Equites, striking out the names of all whom they deemed unworthy, and filling up all vacancies in the Senate.
(b.) The Censors possessed a general control over the conduct and morals of the citizens. In the exercise of this important power they were not guided by any rules of law, but simply by their own sense of duty. They punished acts of private as well as public immorality, and visited with their censure not only offenses against the laws, but every thing opposed to the old Roman character and habits, such as living in celibacy, extravagance, luxury, etc. They had the power of degrading every citizen to a lower rank, of expelling Senators from the Senate, of depriving the Equites of their horses, and of removing ordinary citizens from their tribes, and thus excluding them from all political rights.
(c.) The Censors also had the administration of the finances of the state, under the direction of the Senate. They let out the taxes to the highest bidders for the space of a lustrum, or five years.[42] They likewise received from the Senate certain sums of money to keep the public buildings, roads, and aqueducts in repair,[43] and to construct new public works in Rome and other parts of Italy. Hence we find that many of the great public roads, such as the Via Appia and Via Flaminia, were made by Censors.