Page:Roman Constitutional History, 753-44 B.C..djvu/157

Rh and practically irresponsible powers of the censors in the selection of senators and knights, and in the enrollment and assessment of the citizens, particularly the freedmen and the poor. They had charge of the numerous and important government contracts respecting the collection of taxes, the erection and repair of buildings, the working of mines, and so forth. They had a longer term, and good opportunities for initiating legislative reforms, of which, however, even Cato made little use. Toward the end of this period notoriously unworthy censors were chosen, and this office, too, shared the general decline.

Competition for Office. — Perhaps nothing so clearly indicates the degeneracy of the time as the hunting after distinctions and honors of all kinds. The honor of a triumph was in the greatest demand, and matters went so far that the consuls of 181 were granted a triumph without having waged war at all. It was then decided that a triumph should not be accorded unless at least five thousand of the enemy had fallen in a pitched battle. But the result was not satisfactory, as evidence was manufactured, or a triumph was celebrated on the Alban Mount, without the consent of the senate. Statues and monuments became so common that it was a distinction for an eminent man to have none. The custom of deriving or assuming a permanent surname from victories, like Messalla and Africanus, now spread.

The struggle for the highest offices became intense. Means for winning the necessary popularity were close at hand. The urban praetor had charge of the games in honor of Apollo, and the aediles in particular of several festivals. The future candidates for the consulship vied with one another in spending large sums on the games; a gladiatorial show might cost $40,000 (HS. 720,000). The price was high, but it excluded those who were not wealthy from a political career, and it proved to the satisfaction of the