I've been thinking about the tension between free speech and censorship and other than a brief mention of Socrates (which somehow feels like muddying the waters?) I wasn't able to find anything about the history of this tension.

What forms did government censorship typically take before mass communication tech like the printing press and the internet, beyond leaders getting mad at dangerous popular speakers like Socrates?

@eleanorkonik I suppose Index Librorum Prohibitorum is on-topic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_Librorum_Prohibitorum