Note 009 In the three census which were made of the Roman people about the time of the second Punic war, the numbers stand as follows (see Livy, Epitom. l. xx. Hist. l. xxvii.36, xxix. 37), 270, 213, 137, 108, 214,000. The fall of the second and the rise of the third appears so enormous, that several critics, notwithstanding the unanimity of the MSS., have suspected some corruption of the text of Livy. (See Drakenbroch ad xxvii. 36, and Beaufort, Republique Romaine, tom. i. p. 325). They did not consider that the second census was taken only at Rome, and that the numbers were diminished, not only by the death, but likewise by the absence, of many soldiers. In the third census, Livy expressly affirms that the legions were mustered by the care of particular commissaries. From the numbers on the list we must always deduct one-twelfth above threescore and incapable of bearing arms. See Population de la France, p. 72.

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The History Of The Decline and Fall Of The Roman Empire— Chapter 31