Introduction
Wikipedia
defines it as the following;
‘The cursus honorum was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The cursus honorum comprised a mixture of military and political administration posts’. But what does this actually mean?
In essence, to rise to power in Ancient Rome (politically; the most important power) you had to be a senator (male, obviously) and following this path through the different ranks would grant you increasing power in military or politics. The latin cursus honorum means 'course of honour' or more colloquially 'ladder of offices'.
Basis
The foundation of entering the cursus honorum was to have a senatorial status. Since senators were elected by the consuls, this meant that most senators, if not all, would have had a reputation of wealth and previous political success within their families. Then once a senator you could enter the Cursus Honorum. Being a military tribune however during the empire contributed to senatorial rank.
Diagram
Military Tribune
The Cursus Honorum began with 10 years of military duty. In the Republican period, tribune denoted a senior army rank for which a minimum of five years service was required and members were usually equestrians (equites), and more rarely senators. Each legion had six tribunes, and in the Republic, those tribunes assigned to the first four legions formed each year were voted into office by the popular assembly. The tribunes of the other legions were selected by the commander. Under the empire (after 27 BC) the military tribunate was a preliminary part of a senatorial or an equestrian career and subject to the emperor’s nomination.
Once a military tribune, you could proceed to become either a Tribune of the plebs tribuni plebis, or a quaestor;
Quaestor
This was the lowest-ranking regular magistrate in ancient Rome, whose traditional responsibility was the treasury. During the royal period, the kings appointed quaestores parricidii (quaestors with judicial powers) to handle cases of murder. With the advent of the republic in the year 509 BCE, each of the two consuls, who at first were called praetors, appointed a quaestor to be the custodian of the public treasury. After 447 BCE the two quaestors were elected each year by the tribal assembly. The quaestorship became the first magistracy sought by an ambitious and wealthy young man.
Later in the century, it was decreed that plebeians could hold the office, and the number of quaestors was increased to four. In the 2nd century BCE the minimum age for quaestors was 28. After their term expired, they usually entered the Senate. After Sulla became dictator in 82 BCE, the minimum age was raised to 30, the quaestors’ entrance into the Senate was made automatic, and the number of quaestors was raised to 20. In 45 BCE Julius Caesar increased the number to 40, but the emperor Augustus returned it to 20 and weakened the powers and responsibilities of the office. The quaestors’ financial responsibilities were eventually assumed by imperial officers.
By the 4th century CE the quaestorship was purely honorary and was held usually by men of wealth for social status. As a quaestor, an official was allowed to wear the toga praetexta, but was not escorted by lictors, nor did he possess imperium. You could also be a proquaestor, who took on administrative duties in place of the elected quaestor in Roman provinces of the late Republic:
1) If the quaestor died or resigned from office prematurely, the governor named a member of his staff.
Being a proquaestor also meant doing 1 year service after your quaestorship
Tribuni plebis
The first tribunes of the plebs were supposedly created in 494 BCE to serve the comitia plebis tributa, Rome's assembly of plebs. The title derives from the city’s first tribal leaders although the office of tribuni militum was already in existence, but nevertheless this title was handed over to them. The initial number of the tribunes is unclear and was between two and five, but there were ten tribunes by 449 BCE.
The tribunes, who had to be plebs themselves, were the officers of the popular assembly. They assembled the plebs, proposed bills to be voted upon and passed plebiscites, at first on the plebs only and then from 287 BCE with the lex Hortensia on all Roman citizens. Penalties decided by the tribunes ranged from fines to execution.
From the mid-2nd century BCE, a tribune, after holding office, was entitled to join the Senate. The powers of the tribunes to sway legislation became so great, especially following their practice of forming a partnership with generals in the roman army block the Senate's proposals, and qualify themselves for the Senate in 81 BCE. Yet often popular and sustained unrest in the protest led to the tribune's full powers being reinstated in 70 BCE. The tribunes had consistently fought against the upper classes in the 2nd and 1st century BCE and gained a reputation for being revolutionaries inside the state apparatus.
Curule Aediles
Curule Aediles, as formal magistrates, held certain honours that Plebeian Aediles (who were not technically magistrates), did not hold. Besides having the right to sit on a Curule chair(sella curulis) and to wear a toga praetexta, the Curule Aediles also held the power to issue edicts (jus edicendi). These edicts often pertained to matters such as the regulation of the public markets, or what we might call "economic regulation". Although the curule aediles always ranked higher than the plebeian, their functions gradually approximated and became practically identical. Within five days after the beginning of their terms, the four Aediles (two Plebeian, two Curule) were required to determine, by lot or by agreement among themselves, what parts of the city each should hold jurisdiction over.
The Aedile in general was the supervisor of public works; the words "edifice" and "edification" stem from the same root. He oversaw the public works, temples and markets. Therefore, the Aediles would have been in some cooperation with the current Censors, who had similar or related duties. Also they oversaw the organization of festivals and games (ludi), which made this a very sought-after office for a career minded politician of the late republic, as it was a good means of gaining popularity by staging spectacles
Plebian Aedile
The plebeian aediles were created in the same year as the tribunes of the people (494 BC). At first they were meant to act as assistants to the tribunes, they then began to protect the rights of the plebs regarding their headquarters, which meant they assumed responsibility for maintenance of the city's buildings as a whole. Primarily their jobs were ministerial. They were the assistants to the tribunes in whatever matters the tribunes entrusted to them, although most matters with which they were entrusted had little 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 to a document, and deposited in the Aerarium
They also maintained the acts of the plebeian council, 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 censors, often if a Censor was unable to carry out one of his tasks, an Aedile would perform the task instead.
Praetor & propraetor
A praetor was one of the greater Roman magistrates with Imperial or legal power. They led armies, presided in law courts, and administered the law. Judging matters between citizens was the job of one specific magistrate the city praetor. Since he was in charge of the city, he was only allowed to leave the city for a period of up to 10 days. Some other main responsibilities were the public games and taking care of foreign affairs.
Just as there were proconsuls for the period after their year as consuls, so there were also propraetors. Propraetors and proconsuls served as governors of provinces after their terms in office.
Consul
The office of consul was the most prestigious of all, and represented the summit of a successful career. The minimum age was 42 for plebeians and 40 for patricians. One of the reasons this position was so prestigious is because years were identified by the names of the consuls eg 'in the consulship of Messalla and Piso'
onsuls were responsible for the city's political agenda, commanded large-scale armies and controlled important provinces. The consuls served for only a year (a restriction intended to limit the amassing of power by individuals) and could only rule when they agreed, because each consul could veto the other's decision.
The consuls would alternate monthly as the chairman of the Senate. They also were the supreme commanders in the Roman army, with each being granted two legions during their consular year. Consuls also exercised the highest juridical power in the Republic, being the only office with the power to override the decisions of the Praetor Urbanus. Only laws and the decrees of the Senate or the People's assembly limited their powers, and only the veto of a fellow consul or a tribune of the plebs could supersede their decisions.
A consul was escorted by twelve lictors, held imperium and wore the toga praetexta. Because the consul was the highest executive office within the Republic, they had the power to veto any action or proposal by any other magistrate, save that of the Tribune of the Plebs. After a consulship, a consul was assigned one of the more important provinces and acted as the governor in the same way that a Propraetor did, only owning Proconsular imperium.
Dictator
A magistrate appointed for special emergencies, after auspices duly taken by the consuls on the commission of the senate. The dictator was never appointed for more than six months. The dictator was usually, though not always, chosen from the number of consulares or men who had held the office of consul. He was always nominated for a particular or specified purpose, on the fulfilment of which he laid down his office. He combined the supreme judicial with the supreme military power, and there was, originally, no appeal against his proceedings, even the veto of the tribunes being powerless against him. He was entirely irresponsible for his acts, and could therefore not be called to account on the expiration of his term of office. His insignia were the sella curulis, toga proetexta, and 24 lictors, who represented the lictors of two consuls, and who even in the city bore axes in their bundle of rods, as a sign of the unlimited power of life and death. His assistant was the magister equitum (master of the horse), who was bound absolutely to obey his commands, and whom he had to nominate immediately after his own election. The original function of the dictator was military; but after 363 B.C. a dictator was occasionally chosen, in the absence of the consuls, for other purposes than dealing with external danger or internal troubles; especially to hold the games or religious festivities. The office gradually passed out of use, though not legally abolished.
Censor
The officials whose duty it was to take the place of the consuls in superintending the five-yearly census. On occasion of a census, the censors were elected soon after the accession to office of the new consuls, who presided over the assembly. They were usually chosen from the number of consulares, or persons who had been consuls. Accordingly the censorship was regarded, if not as the highest office of state, at least as the highest step in the ladder of promotion. The newly elected censors entered immediately, after due summons, upon their office. Its duration was fixed to eighteen months, with exceptions and you could only hold this office once. Having no executive powers, they had no lictors, but only messengers (viatores) and heralds (praecones). Their insignia were the sella curulis and a purple toga. The collegial character of the office was so pronounced, that if one censor died, the other abdicated. From the simple act of taking the census and putting up the new list of citizens, their functions were in course of time extended, so as to include a number of very important duties. They had the power of affixing a stigma on any citizen, regardless of his position, for any conceivable offence for which there was no legal punishment. Such offences were neglect of one's property, celibacy, dissolution of marriage, bad training or bad treatment of children, undue severity to slaves and clients, irregular life, abuse of power in office, impiety, perjury, and the like. The offender might be punished with degradation; that is, the censors could expel a man from the senate or ordo equester, or they could transfer him from a country tribe into one of the less respectable city tribes, and thus curtail his right of voting, or again they could expel him from the tribes altogether, and thus completely deprive him of the right of voting. This last penalty might be accompanied by a fine in the shape of additional taxation. The effect of the censorial stigma and punishment lasted until the next census. They had the lectio senatus, or power of ejecting unworthy members and of passing over new candidates for the senatorial rank, as, for instance, those who had held curule offices. The equites had to pass singly, each leading his horse, before the censors in the forum, after the completion of the general census. An houourable dismissal was then given to the superannuated or the infirm; the vacant places were filled up from the number of such individuals as appeared from the general census to be suitable. There were certain other duties attached to the censorship, for the performance where they were responsible to the people, and subject to the authority of the senate and the veto of the tribunes.
(1) The letting of the public domain lands and taxes to the highest bidder.
(2) The acceptance of tenders from the lowest bidder for works to be paid for by the State. In both these cases the period was limited to five years.
(3) Superintendence of the construction and maintenance of public buildings and grounds, temples, bridges, sewers, aqueducts, streets, etc.
After 167 B.C. Roman citizens were freed from all taxation, and the censorship was now a superfluous office, for the census.
Conclusion
This complicated system changed a lot throughout the years, and not all of these steps were necessary but did add to experience and prestige. We can see many aspects of this system reflected in today's society, from the arguable advantage given to the rich, the desperation for representation of the general public and also some of the ranks like senators still exist today.
Until next time,
Zoe and Viola