Editing Aedile (section)

===Plebeian aediles===
The plebeian aediles were created in the same year as the [[tribune of the plebs]] (494 BC). Originally intended as assistants to the [[tribune]]s, they guarded the rights of the [[plebeians]] with respect to their headquarters, the [[Temple of Ceres]].  Subsequently, they assumed responsibility for maintenance of the city's buildings as a whole.<ref>McCullough, 938</ref>  Their duties at first were simply ministerial. They were the assistants to the tribunes in whatever matters that the tribunes might entrust to them, although most matters with which they were entrusted were of minimal importance. 

Around 446 BC, they were given the authority to care for the decrees of the Senate. When a ''[[senatus consultum]]'' was passed, it would be transcribed into a document and deposited in the public treasury, the ''[[Aerarium]]''. They were given this power because the [[Roman consul|consuls]], who had held this power before, arbitrarily suppressed and altered the documents.<ref name="Liv. III.55">Liv. III.55</ref> They also maintained the acts of the [[Plebeian Council]] (People's Assembly), the "plebiscites". Plebiscites, once passed, were also transcribed into a physical document for storage. While their powers grew over time, it is not always easy to distinguish the difference between their powers, and those of the [[Roman censor|censors]]. Occasionally, if a censor was unable to carry out one of his tasks, an aedile would perform the task instead.