Lustrum censors in the Campus Martius, after the taking of the census was over. As this purification took place only once in five years, the word lustrum was also used to designate the time between two lustra. The first lustrum was performed in 566 BC by King Servius, after he had completed his census, and afterwards it is said to have taken place regularly every five years after the census was over. In the earliest period of the republic, the business of the census and the solemnities of the lustrum were performed by the consuls. The first censors were appointed in
Lustrum (novel) Lustrum (novel) Lustrum (US: Conspirata; 2009) is a historical novel by British author Robert Harris. It is the sequel to "Imperium" and the middle volume of a trilogy about the life of Cicero (106–43 BC). For its 2010 release in the United States, and Italy, it was retitled "Conspirata". The book continues in the format of the first novel, with the story told in the first-person from the point of view of Cicero's secretary Tiro. It follows on immediately from "Imperium", starting with the beginning of Cicero's consulship and ending with his exile as a result of the enmity of