§43.14.1censoribus deinde creandis comitia edicta sunt.
Then the assembly was proclaimed for the election of censors.
petierunt censuram principes civitatis, C. Valerius Laevinus, L. Postumius Albinus, P. Mucius Scaevola, M. Iunius Brutus, C. Claudius Pulcher, Ti. Sempronius Gracchus.
The leading men of the state, Gaius Valerius Laevinus, Lucius Postumius Albinus, Publius Mucius Scaevola, Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Claudius Pulcher, and Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, sued for the censorship.
hos duos censores creavit populus Romanus.
The Roman people elected these latter two as censors.
§43.14.2cum dilectus habendi maior quam alias propter Macedonicum bellum cura esset, consules plebem apud senatum accusabant, quod iuniores non responderent.
Since there was greater care than at other times for holding the levy on account of the Macedonian war, the consuls accused the plebeians before the senate because the younger men did not answer to their names.
§43.14.3adversus quos C. Sulpicius et M. Claudius praetores plebis causam egerunt: non consulibus, sed ambitiosis consulibus dilectum difficilem esse; neminem invitum militem ab iis fieri.
Against them, Gaius Sulpicius and Marcus Claudius, the praetors, pleaded the cause of the plebeians: that the levy was difficult not for consuls, but for popularity-seeking consuls; that no one was made a soldier by them against his will.
§43.14.4id ut ita esse scirent et patres conscripti, praetores se, quibus vis imperii minor et auctoritas esset, dilectum, si ita senatui videretur, perfecturos esse.
In order that the conscript fathers might know that this was so, the praetors offered that they themselves, though having less power of command and authority, would complete the levy, if it so pleased the senate.
§43.14.5id praetoribus magna patrum approbatione, non sine suggillatione consulum mandatum est.
This task was mandated to the praetors with great approval of the fathers, not without taunts against the consuls.
censores, ut eam rem adiuvarent, ita in contione edixerunt: legem censui censendo dicturos esse, ut praeter commune omnium civium ius iurandum haec adiurarent: §43.14.6“tu minor annis sex et quadraginta es tuque ex edicto C. Claudi Ti. Semproni censorum ad dilectum prodisti et, quotienscumque dilectus erit, quoad hi censores magistratum habebunt, si miles factus non eris, in dilectum prodibis?” §43.14.7item, quia fama erat multos ex Macedonicis legionibus incertis commeatibus per ambitionem imperatorum ab exercitu abesse, edixerunt de militibus P. Aelio C. Popilio consulibus postve eos consules in Macedoniam scriptis, ut, qui eorum in Italia essent, intra dies triginta, censi prius apud sese, in provinciam redirent; §43.14.8qui in patris aut avi potestate essent, eorum nomina ad se ederentur.
The censors, in order to assist in this matter, issued an edict in an assembly as follows: that they would prescribe a regulation for conducting the census, so that, besides the common oath of all citizens, they should swear to these words: "Are you under forty-six years of age, and have you come forward for the levy according to the edict of Gaius Claudius and Tiberius Sempronius, the censors; and, whenever there is a levy, as long as these censors hold office, if you are not made a soldier, will you come forward for the levy?" Likewise, because there was a rumor that many from the Macedonian legions were absent from the army through the popularity-seeking of the commanders on irregular furloughs, they issued an edict concerning the soldiers enlisted for Macedonia under the consuls Publius Aelius and Gaius Popilius, or after those consuls, that those of them who were in Italy should, after being first registered before themselves, return to the province within thirty days; as for those who were under the power of a father or grandfather, their names should be reported to them.
§43.14.9missorum quoque causas sese cognituros esse; et quorum ante emerita stipendia gratiosa missio sibi visa esset, eos milites fieri iussuros.
They declared also that they would examine the reasons of those who had been discharged; and those whose discharge before their completed terms of service seemed to them to have been granted as a favor, they would order to become soldiers.
§43.14.10hoc edicto litterisque censorum per fora et conciliabula dimissis tanta multitudo iuniorum Romam convenit, ut gravis urbi turba insolita esset.
When this edict and the letters of the censors had been sent out through the forums and meeting-places, such a great multitude of younger men assembled at Rome that the unusual crowd was a burden to the city.