The process of formation and functioning at the initial stage (tsarist era and the early Roman Republic) of one of the most important posts (magistracy) in the civil sphere of Rome - censorship is analyzed. The source material has been studied using the methods of historicism, terminological and legal analysis. A significant place is given to the prerequisites for the establishment of the qualification (census of the population and its property) in the royal period of the history of Rome (using the method of comparative anthropology), normative acts on censorship have been identified, described and studied. For the first time, the legal liability aspect of censors is being investigated.