In this video, we’re going to be looking at the Roman cursus honorum. Like many institutions
in the Roman Republic, this was a system in flux and for this reason it’s difficult
to describe. It didn’t look the same at any two points in time.
The cursus honorum can be thought of as the career path for Roman politicians. It was
the product of several reforms to a system. For example, in 197 BC it was made that there
were 6 praetors and all consuls were ex-praetors. In a society in which achievement was expected
amongst the upper echelons, the cursus honorum was vital for aspiring young men. So, let’s
take a look at the cursus honorum as it looked in 88 BC.
In 88 BC, the cursus honorum had not been changed by Sulla’s reforms and the conventional
offices on it are marked on the slide with the three golden upwards arrows. These were:
12 quaestors, 6 praetors and 2 consuls. The consuls and praetors are underlined in gold.
This means that they held imperium. This is so that they could represent the community
in their person, they could exact orders and they were accompanied by a number of lictors,
who in turn held fasces and we’ll return to this later.
In addition to these offices, there were several non-conventional offices. These were not technically
subordinate to the offices on the cursus honorum and neither were they prerequisites. These
were: 2 censors, 10 tribunes of the plebs, 2 plebeian
aediles and 2 curule aediles. Following Sulla’s reforms in 81 BC, the cursus honorum already
begins to look very different. There are still 2 consuls but now there are 8 praetors and
20 quaestors. The consuls and praetors still have imperium. However, now Sulla has made
it so that consuls and praetors must remain in Rome during their year of office. Only
afterwards can they go to the provinces that were assigned to them as promagistrates still
with imperium. The increase in quaestors was intended to strengthen the senate and ensure
its membership remained at the new total of 600. The increase in praetors also meant that
a shortage of personnel could not be an excuse for overly long foreign commands. More magistracies
created at the bottom of the ladder and no change in the number at the top meant that
there was more competition. In addition to the increased number of quaestors
and praetors, as well as the two consuls, there were still 10 tribunes of the plebs,
2 plebeian aediles and two curule aediles. So, now we can begin to take a look at what
each office actually did and the powers that each magistracy involved. So, we’ll begin
with the consuls. There were two elected every year, as a check on one another. After 367
BC, at least one consul was required to be a plebeian; but this wasn’t always the case.
The minimum age at the time of election to the consulship was 42. They were elected in
the comitia centuriata, which we’ll talk about in another one of these videos, and
they assumed office on January 1st. As the earlier slides showed, the consuls
possessed imperium. This meant that they were followed around by 12 lictors. These lictors
attended the consuls and carried the consular fasces. These were a set of rods which, when
outside of the pomerium, were fixed with axes. These were the symbols of imperium. Traditionally,
the consuls served as Rome’s generals, and led Rome’s armies in the field. They had
the right to summon the Senate, and the right to summon the assemblies and contiones for
the purpose of proposing and passing legislation. Like Tribunes of the Plebs, as we’ll see,
they also had the right to veto their colleague (that was to forbid something).
Below the consuls were the praetors, and as we have seen, following Sulla’s reforms
in 81BC, there were now 8 of these elected each year. These presided over the various
courts at Rome. The minimum age to be a praetor was 39 at the time of the election. Like consuls,
these were elected in the comitia centuriata, and assumed office on January 1st. They also
possessed imperium; however, they were accompanied by a smaller number of lictors. Praetors were
accompanied by 6 lictors, but also carried the fasces. Their imperium was not less of
that than the consul; it was the same. This only became important at times of conflict.
Praetors also had the right to summon assemblies and contiones for the purpose of proposing
and passing legislation. Additionally, praetors had the right to pass edicta, to set out amendments
to private laws. Finally, praetors presided over the games of Apollo.
Now let’s take a look at the first non-conventional office associated with the cursus honorum:
the office of the censor. Like consuls, there were 2 elected at a time;
however, they were only elected every 5 years. Like consuls and praetors, they were elected
in the comitia centuriata. They held office though only as long as necessary, though this
was usually 18 months. They possessed no imperium or rights to convoke assemblies. Their primary
function was to conduct the census; this was the counting of the citizens. The purpose
of the census, other than counting the citizens, was to assess the citizens’ wealth, and
thus decide which class they would go into in the comitia centuriata.
Censors also reviewed the equestrian order and revised the senatorial roster. Additionally,
they auctioned public contracts for things such as the right to collect taxes.
Another office, not on the conventional cursus honorum, was the Tribune of the Plebs. By
the late Republic, there were 10 tribunes elected each year. However, unlike the consuls
and praetors, Tribunes of the Plebs assumed office on the 10th December. This is just
under a months before the new consuls were to take their offices. Again, unlike consuls
and praetors, and censors, Tribunes of the Plebs were elected in the concilium plebis.
This was an assembly made up solely of the plebeians.
Unlike other magistracies, tribunes were restricted in their movements during their year of office.
They could not leave Rome and must be reachable at all times. Tribunes had the right to summon
assemblies and contiones, like consuls and praetors, to propose and pass legislation.
They had the right and responsibility to aid Roman citizens at Rome, the right to summon
the plebeian assembly and the right to propose and enact legislation. Like consuls, they
also had the right to veto the proposals of any other magistrate. However, tribunes of
the plebs could veto the proposals of a magistrate even if that magistrate was senior to themselves.
Perhaps most important is the fact that tribunes were sacrosanct – they could not be harmed
by anyone. The final office not on the conventional cursus
honorum was the office of the aedile. There were two types of aedile: first, there were
the plebeian aediles. These were elected in the concilium plebis; the assumed office on
January 1st and curated the city of Rome. They looked after the temples, markets, corn
supply, games, and roads. They presided over the ludi plebii and they also had the right
to enact edicta, just like praetors. In addition to the plebeian aediles, there were also 2
curule aediles. These were elected in the comitia tributa. They also assumed office
on January 1st and performed the same functions as the plebeian aediles. However, the presided
over the ludi Romanii and also had the right to enact edicta.
The final office we’re going to look at is the first office on the conventional cursus
honorum and this is the office of quaestor. Quaestors were junior magistrates elected
in the comitia tributa. The minimum age at the time of election was 30 and quaestors
could perform several functions. Quaestors could aid in the supervising of the treasury
at Rome, several domestic administrative positions and they could be allocated to a proconsul
or propraetor on their year abroad. So those were the offices on the cursus honorum
and also the offices on the non-conventional cursus honorum. Now let’s take a look at
some of the most important things to take away.
The first thing to remember is that the cursus honorum was an institution in flux – it
didn’t look the same at any two points over the course of the Republic.
Secondly, following Sulla’s reforms, more senior politicians at Rome meant an increase
in competition. Finally, the fact that several offices were
exclusive to plebeians shows a hangover from an earlier period of a conflict between the
patricians and the plebeians in the Roman state.