During the Kingdom, the Senate consisted of persons selected to the position by the King, a power which the consuls inherited after the end of the monarchy. In the very early Republic, senators were primarily chosen due to their birth, but by the late Republic, and especially after Sulla, membership in the Senate became predicated on having previously held a magistracy. In the late 4th century BC, the consul's power to control Senate membership was transferred to the censor, exercised with considerable discretion, until laws passed in the late Republic formalised some kind of hearing before censorial decisions. In line with the censor's duty to protect morals, senators were required to be of good character, not have been found guilty of a criminal offence, and not be a person tainted with ignominy (e.g. bankrupts, former gladiators, prostitutes, or deserters). Before the time of Augustus, there is no evidence of any kind of property qualification. The Senate consisted of around 300 prior to the dictatorship of Sulla, but after his dictatorship, it consisted of somewhere over 500 men.