CENSUS

—(1) Greek. —The Greek term for a man’s property as ascertained by the census, as well as for the act of ascertaining it, is τίμημα . The only Greek state concerning whose arrangement of the census we have any satisfactory information, is Athens. Previous to the time of Solon no census had been instituted at Athens. According to his census, all citizens were divided into four cla es: 1. Pentacosiomedimni ( Πεντακοσιομέδιμνοι ), or persons po e ing landed property which yielded an annual income of at least 500 medimni of dry or liquid produce. 2. Hippeis ( Ἱππεῖς ), i.e. knights or persons able to keep a war-horse, were those whose lands yielded an annual produce of at least 300 medimni, whence they are also called τριακοσιομέδιμνοι . 3. Zeugitae ( Ζευγῖται ), i.e. persons able to keep a yoke of oxen ( ζεῦγος ), were those whose annual income consisted of at least 150 medimni. 4. The Thetes ( Θῆτες ) contained all the rest of the free population, whose income was below that of the Zeugitae. The constitution of Athens, so long as it was based upon these cla es, was a timocracy ( τιμοκρατία , or ἀπὸ τιμημάτων πολιτεία ). The highest magistracy at Athens, or the archonship, was at first acce ible only to persons of the first cla , until Aristides threw all the state offices open to all cla es indiscriminately. The maintenance of the republic mainly devolved upon the first three cla es, the last being exempted from all taxes. As the land in the legislation of Solon was regarded as the capital which yielded an annual income, he regulated his system of taxation by the value of the land, which was treated as the taxable capital. Lists of this taxable property ( ἀπογραφαί ) were kept at first by the naucrari, who also had to conduct the census, and afterwards by the demarchi.—As property is a fluctuating thing, the census was repeated from time to time, but the periods differed in the various parts of Greece, for in some a census was held every year, and in others every two or four years. At Athens every person had to state the amount of his property, and if there was any doubt about his honesty, it seems that a counter-valuation ( ἀντιτίμησις ) might be made. This system of taxation according to cla es, and based upon the po e ion of productive estates, underwent a considerable change in the time of the Peloponnesian war, though the divisions into cla es themselves continued to be observed for a considerable time after. As the wants of the republic increased, and as many citizens were po e ed of large property, without being landed proprietors, the original land-tax was changed into a property-tax. This property-tax was called εἰσφορά , concerning which see Eisphora . Compare Leiturgiae ; and for the taxes paid by resident aliens, Metoici .—(2) Roman. [ Censor . ]