in Roman antiquity, an authentic declaration made before the censors, by the several subjects of the empire, of their respective names and places of abode. This declaration was registered by the censors, and contained an enumeration in writing of all the estates, lands, and inheritances they possessed; including quantity, quality, place, wives, children, domestics, tenants, slaves. In the provinces the census served not only to discover the substance of each person, but where, and in what manner and proportion, taxes might be best imposed. The census at Rome is commonly thought to have been held every five years; but Dr Middleton has shown that both census and lustrum were held irregularly and uncertainly at various intervals. The census was an excellent expedient for ascertaining the strength of the state, insomuch as by it they discovered the number of the citizens, how many were fit for war, and how many were qualified for offices of other kinds, as well as how much each was able to pay in taxes and imposts. It extended to all ranks of people, though under different names; that of the common people was called *census*; that of the knights, *census, recensio, recognitio*; that of the senators, *lectio, relectio*. Hence also *census* came to signify a person who had made such a declaration; in which sense it was opposed to *incensus*, a