To the Problem of the Authenticity of the Early Census Figures (Mid-6th Century BC - 294 BC)

Abstract

The study deals with the early Roman census figures from the supposed time of the so-called Servian reform in the mid-6 th century ВС to the beginning of the 3rd century ВС. The aim of the study is to help in the clarification of two major problems connected with the early census figures - their authenticity and their usability for the purpose of studying the history of Early Rome. А detailed survey of the census figures, their different readings in the texts of the ancient authors and the corresponding narrative data is performed. А major part of the information is organized in 14 tables for the purpose of clarity and support for further studies. The census figures attributed to the defined period and especially to the years 550, 508, 503, 465 and 294 ВС are clairned to bе hardly traceable
to the time of their reported dates, incompatible with the rest of the Latin and Greek literary tradition for Early Rome and thus nonauthentic, intentionally or unintentionally corrupted. А conclusion was made that the early Roman census figures are highly unreliable and thus unusable for а demographic analysis of the history of Early Rome till the beginning of the 3rd century ВС. Some major trends in the demographic and political development of Rome in the 5th and 4th centuries ВС like growth of the citizen body and enlargement of Ager Romanus are illuminated using narrative data, but not the discredited early census figures. Some important factors for the development of the Roman citizen body in the same period are also outlined. А clear division between literary facts and facts of history is supported throughout the text because all of the survived literary sources are composed decades or even centuries after the events in discussion.