The Cursus Honorum
Let's talk about the Cursus Honorum, and Roman Magistrates.
Once we finally reach the Republican era, the nature of the Senate changes for obvious
reasons. This new version of the Senate was in some ways a lot more representative than
the one we discussed in the previous video. In practice it functioned as a kind of representative
body, and it's possible at this point to begin to think of it as an early version of a legislature.
Although not quite. We'll get into how exactly it differed in next week's video.
The Senate in the Republican era was solely made up of former magistrates. These were
all elected positions, which gave the senate just a hint of democratic legitimacy. However,
most of the magistrates were still from noble bloodlines, and the elections themselves were
heavily weighted in favour of the nobility, which gave the senate a much stronger hint
of oligarchy. This is another thing we'll talk about in more detail in a later video.
It's pretty complicated, but I do want to get into it.
As I said before, in order gain entry to the senate one had to elected to political office.
These offices had to be won sequentially in a complex chain of seniority of was called
the Cursus Honorum. This translates as the Course of Honours, or perhaps more accurately
the as the Race of Offices. All of these positions were for short, 1 year terms. The reasoning
behind the 1 year term of office was so that it was too short to allow for any individual
to get too comfortable and grab power from the senate. Republican Rome was perpetually
terrified of a new king emerging. Note that the reasoning for the 1 year term of office
is similar to the 5 day term of office imposed on the interrex during the monarchy. So what
exactly did this people do during their 1 year in office? Let's get into it, with a
brief summary of the Cursus Honorum.
To gain a senate seat, you had to be elected to the office of Quaestor. You were only allowed
to run for this office after you had turned 30 years old. In many ways Quaestors acted
as apprentices to older men wielding the real power in Rome. They did things like assist
in the collecting of taxes for governors, or serve as quartermasters for generals, or
supervise the physical treasury in the city of Rome. After his one year was up, he was
formally inducted into the Senate.
Next comes Aediles. The age restriction for the Aediles is a little fuzzy, but it hovered
somewhere in the mid-30s. The Aediles were responsible for the management of public buildings,
most importantly temples and aqueducts, management of the city's food supply, and (most importantly
for one's future career,) the organization of festivals and games. The lower classes
loved them for this last role. Aediles had one foot in and one foot out of the Circus
Honorum. One foot out because candidates were only sometimes required to serve as Quaestors
first, and Quaestors themselves had the option of skipping this level in the Cursus if they
wanted to. Aediles had one foot in the Cursus because it was a it was a prestigious and
powerful office that was great for making a name for yourself, and was recognized as
an official magistracy by the Senate. But it was not frowned upon if you skipped it.
Symbolically, it was different from every other office, since Aediles received none
of the symbols of command left over from the old age of the monarchs. Even lower ranking
Quaestors received some symbolic honours. We can get into the specifics of these symbols
later, because they're also quite interesting. After this rung in the ladder came the real
prominent offices.
Praetors could be elected around the age of 39. They were responsible for acting as judges,
which meant interpreting and administering Roman law. This was a huge responsibility,
as it was one of the main old roles of the old kings. They also had the power to call
for a meeting of the senate to set the parameters of a debate. Unlike the previous two positions,
this meant that Praetors had the power to push a legislative agenda. They could influence
the affairs of state in a way that a Quaestor could only dream. Also - and this is no small
thing - they also had the authority to command legions, and in this respect only answered
to Consuls.
Becoming a Consul around the age of 42 was the ultimate prize of Roman political life.
Consuls shared some powers with Praetors, such as the power to call the senate, frame
debate, propose bills before the public assembly, and command legions. But being a Consul was
much more than that. It was the crowning jewel of a Roman's professional life. It was a taste
of immortality. Even after a Consul was long dead, his descendants continued to revere
his memory as a testament to the strength of the entire bloodline. The Consul even got
the year that he ruled named after him. Romans didn't use numbered years like we do, but
reckoned based on the reigns on Consuls. So you wouldn't say "I was born in the year 690
after the founding of the city of Rome," you would say "I was born during the Consulship
of Cicero and Antonius." In a very real sense a Consul both made and framed history, since
even events like births that he had nothing to do with happened in the year bearing his
name, and would forever be associated with him.
In practice, Consuls acted as the heads of state. Why were they the heads of state? They
outranked every other magistrate, and could unilaterally veto any of their actions. Nothing
happened without their approval. Furthermore, during wartime the Consuls did all of Rome's
fighting, and held supreme military command over all of Roman territory. They ruled over
every nearly every aspect of Roman life they came in contact with. They also had some broad
religious authority, but it was pretty complicated and convoluted, so we can get into at a later
date.
That's it. That's the Cursus Honorum. There are plenty of other offices that interacted
strongly with these offices I mentioned, but they were largely tangential roles that were
not part of a mainstream political career. The Censorship was a strange office with limited
powers that was usually awarded to elder statesmen every 5 years. The Tribune of the Plebs was
a powerful, baffling, self-contradictory snake's pit of an office that even the Romans found
confusing. None of these normal magistrates that I mentioned would have even been eligible
for it. The Pontifex Maximus was an elected lifetime office that seemed to bring with
it incredible prestige, but arguably no influence. Don't worry, we'll get to all of these in
time. For now, this is a good starting framework. Next week we'll continue our discussion on
the Roman Senate by talking about how it operated under normal circumstances, and some of its
stranger traditions.
Thanks for watching!