Читать книгу Roman Public Life онлайн

95 страница из 145

The citizens included in the census list were collectively described as classici, and were spoken of as locupletes and assidui, the latter word probably meaning people “settled on land,” “landholders,” as most of those originally enrolled in the classes were.[295] The others were the children-begetting citizens (proletarii cives). The use of the census for purposes of taxation gave other names to this class. In contrast to the assidui, who were registered on their property, they were called capite censi as being registered on their caput or mere headship of a family; and further, when the incidence of taxation extended below the minimum census, they were spoken of as aerarii, because their participation in the burdens of the state was shown only by the payment of taxes (aes). The word aerarii seems always to have denoted those outside the census list.[296]

The cavalry was an adaptation of the old patrician corps of equites[297] to the new conditions. The six original centuries were preserved and consisted as before of Patricians;[298] they still bore the names of the ancient tribes, and were called respectively Titienses, Ramnes, Luceres, priores and posteriores.[299] They continued to be known as the sex centuriae, or (after the centuries acquired voting power) the sex suffragia.[300]