In ancient Athens, the archons were some of the highest-ranking officials in the government. The Athenian council of archons was selected annually by lot and had various administrative, judicial, and religious duties. One of the archons, known as the “eponymous archon,” gave his name to the year that he was in office.

In antiquity, there were different approaches to writing biography. Many ancient biographies were closer to what we would now think of as “historical fiction,” embellishing the lives of important historical figures with outlandish fables and legends. Ancient biography is thus distinguished from history, though the two disciplines are related: Both biography and history deal in some way with the important figures of the past. For biographers such as Plutarch, however, the main goal of biography is to explore the way the characters and morals of individuals have shaped historical events.

In ancient Rome, the censor was a public official elected every five years to conduct a census, supervise public morality, and manage the state finances. During their time in office, censors would assess the property of the citizenry. They also audited the state’s political and financial systems and could remove senators for misconduct. Since the role of censor was so critical in maintaining political, social, and fiscal order in Rome, the office of the censor would always go to a distinguished public figure known for their honesty and integrity.