The son of P. Juventius Celsus, he attended the Proculian School and served Hadrian, attaining the consulship around 129 c. e. He may also have been a member of the Consilium Principis. various works were credited to him, including a digest, a legal commentary, and letters.
Celts One of the dominant peoples of the Iron Age. The Celts spread across all of the region now termed modern Europe, settling in Iberia, gallia cisalpina in Italy, Britain, Illyricum, Macedonia, Galatia, Gallia Bel-gica, and along the Danube. They ruled uncontestedly until the second century B. C.E., when faced with pressures from Italy and the East. Rome seized southeastern Gaul in 121 B. C.E., and the Teutonic tribes drove the Celts away from the Rhine. With their original dominions shrinking, the main bastions of Celtic culture became Gaul and Britain.
Throughout Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Belgica, the Celtic tribes banded together to form large political confederations. This practice was in place during the campaigns of Julius caesar (59-51 b. c.e.). Working against Celtic unity was the competition between local chiefdoms, which very often destroyed any hope of presenting a popular front against intruders. The aedui, AVERNI, NERVII, and others never fully trusted one another, and chiefs such as commius of the Trebates would serve as allies with Rome for a time and then desert the Roman cause. In the ensuing internal quarrels the Celts proved easy prey for Roman legions bent on avenging the Celtic sack of Rome in 390 b. c.e. The Celts had maintained anachronistic military ways. Their nobles and kings went into battle with cavalry, while the infantry fought in the horde-like fashion of the past, without real discipline and lacking military complexity. Even when the Celts were victorious against the legions they suffered terrible losses, such as at arar and throughout Caesar’s GALLIC WARS.
The Celts of Gaul preserved their old beliefs in DRUIDS AND DRUIDISM but grew more influenced by the Roman gods and goddesses, which in time supplanted or stood as equals to the Celtic originals. After Caesar’s conquests (and even before) assimilation and Roman-ization began. Druidism was stamped out violently, and even the capital of the Aedui fell in favor of a new one, AUGUSTODONUM. The Celtic arts, enduring from the La Tene Culture, ceased to flourish, and only in Gallia Bel-gica and eventually just in Britain did Celtic life continue. This prompted Rome to exercise a tremendous effort, starting with its crushing invasion in 43 C. E., to stamp out all Celtic culture. In 60-61, suetonius paulinus campaigned on Angelsey Island to annihilate the Druids. roads were laid and cities were constructed along Roman colonial lines. But Britain changed culturally only on a superficial basis, and even during the period of Roman dominance the Romani-zation of the isles extended only to the limits of townships, legionary forts or colonies. When the Romans left the isles, the Celtic culture, so long kept under foot, sprang once more to life.
See also Britannia.
Censor An important office during the days of the Republic. The censors were responsible for keeping the citizen lists, conducting any needed census and holding the rolls of the members of the senate. They thus possessed the right to strike all senators who might act immorally or in opposition to the law. As magistrates of a key Republican institution, the censors came under attack by sulla, who curtailed their influence, a process furthered by the emperors. It became policy for the masters of Rome, from Augustus onward, to assume for themselves the powers of the censors, the censoria potes-tas. They appointed senators, purged the senatorial ranks of unqualified members and controlled enactments. Other, more mundane functions passed from the hands of the censors in time. The water supply of Rome had long been under their jurisdiction, but in 12 b. c.e. Augustus required that a water board, called the curatores aquarum, henceforth care for the city’s supplies. domitian took the final step in terminating censorial powers by assuming the censoria potestas for life.
Censorinus (fl. mid-third century c. e.) Writer Censorinus was a grammarian whose main work, De die Natali, is extant.
Census A registration method used irregularly in the Republic and in the early empire to calculate population statistics in Rome, Italy, and the provinces in order to determine taxation in Rome’s territories and to provide a register for military service among Roman citizens. The census conducted by the CENsORs was generally held by a provincial administrator, although Emperor Augustus put it to tremendous use. The emperor called for a census three times, and in Gaul alone the dates of a register were 27 B. C.E., 12 B. C.E., 14 C. E., and 61 c. e.
Normal procedure involved the listing of the names of males and their families and property owned (especially farmed lands, but including all other property as well as slaves). Taxes could be collected as a result, increased or decreased according to the figures provided. Based on the divisions established by Julius Caesar in Gaul, 40 million gold pieces were collected. The census was thus an important source of revenue. The census required forced migratory registration, which caused great discontent and often violence. In Judaea, the famous census of 6 C. E. provoked a harsh reaction from the Jews. Pannonia, Noricum, Raetia, and Dalmatia made census taking difficult, because of their unpacified nature. Most of Asia Minor presented few problems, and in Egypt a very systematic census routine was in place from the time of the Ptolemies. Every 14 years a census was taken in Egypt, and every city and town provided complete information, street by street, in an impressive display of efficiency. Vespasian ordered the last known census in Italy
Centuriation Process by which Roman colonists or provincial administrators sectionalized land previously undelineated or uncultivated. A system popular in Italy, centuriation was especially liked in the provinces, where COLONIES were being founded. One of the best examples of the process can be found in Africa. There the members of the III Augusta Legion helped carve up all of the available territories. The resulting development yielded 500 communities, with 200 cities. The centuriated land is still visible by air in its original checkerboard design. A cen-turia was composed of 100 heredia, with each heredium equaling two iugera or approximately two actus, a plot of 120 square feet (by Roman measure).
See also colonies.
World History
