What duties did Scipio Africanus the Younger carry out as censor in 142 BCE?

In 142 BCE, Scipio Africanus the Younger served as a censor alongside his colleague Lucius Mummius. As a Roman censor, his primary duties involved registering citizens and their property, assessing property for taxation and contracts, and supervising the senatorial rolls.123

Beyond these administrative functions, censors were responsible for overseeing public morality and conduct, with the authority to penalize offenders by removing their public rights, such as voting. Scipio carried out these censorial duties with notable sternness, adhering to the spirit of the censorship of Cato the Elder, who had sought to preserve traditional Roman standards. While his colleague Lucius Mummius reportedly helped alleviate some of this severity, Scipio’s tenure was characterized by his high standards for the Roman aristocracy. Additionally, censors presided over the lustrum ceremonies of purification at the conclusion of each census.31452