Censori'nus
1. C.
Marcius Rutilus Censorinus, C. F. L. N., was the son of C. Marcius Rutilus, the first plebeian dictator (B. C. 356) and censor (B. C. 351).
He was consul in B. C. 310 with Q. Fabius Maximus, and while his colleague was engaged in his brilliant campaign in Etruria, Rutilus conducted the war in Samnium and took the town of Allifae.
He afterwards fought a battle with the Samnites, in which he was probably defeated; for the statement of Livy, that the battle was a drawn one, is almost outweighed by his confession, that the consul himself was wounded and a legate and several tribunes of the soldiers killed. (
Liv. 9.33,
38;
Diod. 20.27.)
On the admission of the plebs to the priestly colleges by the Ogulnian law in B. C. 300, by which also the number of their members was increased, Rutilus was elected one of the pontiffs. (
Liv. 10.9.)
He was censor with P. Cornelius Arvina in 294 (
Liv. 10.47), and a second time with Cn. Cornelius Blasio in 265, the only instance in which a peison held the office of censor twice.
It is mentioned above that he is said to have received the surname of Censorinus in this honour.
After his election Rutilus rebuked the people for having conferred this dignity upon him again, and brought forward a law enacting that no one in future should be eligible to this office a second time. (
Liv. Epit. 16;
Eutrop. 2.18;
V. Max. 4.1.3;
Plut. Cor. 1.)
