Cursus Honorum

Cursus Honorum Is the Hierarchy of Roman offices

Join the Discussion "How could he be proconsul when he hadn't been consul yet? He is listed as praetor in "72 or 71," so shouldn't he have been propraetor in Spain?" ROMAHOST

Related Resources • Cursus Honorum Resources • Comitia Tributa • Comitia Centuriata • Ancient History Glossary • Ancient Roman History

Elsewhere on the Web • Cursus Honorum • Regular Magistracies of the Roman Republic From T. S. R. Broughton's "Magistrates of the Roman Republic."

The order of advancement through elected offices (magistracies) in Republican Rome was known as the Cursus Honorum.

The sequence of offices in the cursus honorum meant that an office couldn't be skipped, in theory. A Roman male of the upper classes became Quaestor before he could be elected Praetor. He had to be elected Praetor before Consul, but the candidate need not have been either an Aedile or Tribune. The Quaestor candidate had to be at least 28. Two years had to elapse between the end of one office and the beginning of the next step on the cursus honorum.

Originally, the magistrates sought the advice of the Senate when and if they wished. Over time, the Senate, which was made up of the magistrates past and present, insisted on being consulted. Once admitted to the Senate,the magistrate wore a wide purple stripe on his tunic. This was called the latus clavus. He also wore a special scarlet colored shoe, the calceus mulleus, with a C on it. Like the equestrians, senators wore gold rings and sat in the reserved front row seats at performances. The Senate usually met in the Curia Hostilia, north of the Forum Romanum and facing the street called the Argiletum. [See Forum Map.] At the time of Caesar's assassination, in 44 B.C., the Curia was being rebuilt, so the Senate met in Pompey's theater.

See "The Procedure of the Senate," by A. G. Russell. Greece & Rome, Vol. 2, No. 5 (Feb., 1933), pp. 112-121.

Quaestor The first position in the cursus honorum was Quaestor. The term of Quaestor lasted a year. Originally there were 2 Quaestors, but the number increased to 4 in 421, to 6 in 267, and then to 8 in 227. In 81, the number was increased to 81. The Assembly of the 35 tribes, the Comitia Tributa, elected Quaestors.

Tribune of the Plebs Annually elected by the plebeian section of the Assembly of the Tribes (Comitia Tributa), known as the Concilium Plebis, there were originally 2 Tribunes of the Plebs, but by 449 B.C., there were 10. The Tribune held great power. His physical person was sacrosanct, and he could veto anyone, including another Tribune. A Tribune could not, however, veto a dictator. Tribunes

Aedile

The Concilium Plebis elected 2 Plebeian Aediles each year. The Assembly of the 35 tribes or Comitia Tributa elected 2 Curule Aediles annually. It was not necessary to be an Aedile while following the cursus honorum.

Praetor

Elected by the Assembly of the Centuries, known as the Comitia Centuriata, the Praetors held office for a year. The number of Praetors increased from 2 to 4 in 227; and then to 6 in 197. In 81, the number was increased to 8. Praetors were accompanied by 2 lictores within the confines of the city. The lictores carried the ceremonial rods and axe or fasces that could, in fact, be used to inflict punishment.

Consul

The Comitia Centuriata or Assembly of the Centuries elected 2 Consuls annually. Their honors included being accompanied by 12 lictores and wearing the toga praetexta. This is the top rung of the cursus honorum.

Main Source:
Marsh, Frank Burr; revised by H.H. Scullard. A History of the Roman World From 146 to 30 B.C. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1971.