Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Cursus Honorum: The Political Career Path of Ancient Rome

Episode Date: August 19, 2020

In the Roman Republic, men of senatorial rank could compete for political offices which were placed in a set order and had to be earned sequentially. This hierarchy was known as the Cursus Honorum. The Cursus Honorum was the basis of political and social life in ancient Rome, and the fortunes of entire families could rise and fall based on how high someone could climb. Learn more about the Roman political ladder on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Roman Republic, men of senatorial rank could compete for political offices, which were placed in a set order and had to be earned sequentially. This hierarchy was known as the Curses Honorum. The Curses Honorum was the basis of political and social life in ancient Rome, and the fortunes of entire families could rise and fall based on how high someone could climb. Learn more about the Roman political ladder on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night and how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the Thuline podcast from NPR.

This episode is brought to you by audible.com. Audible has thousands of audiobooks available which cover almost every topic conceivable. If you're interested in Roman history, I'd recommend the storm before the Storm by podcaster Mike Duncan, which I personally just finished the audiobook of. It covers the fascinating period in Roman history from the Gracae brothers through the First Civil War with Marius and Sulla, which was all the lead-up to the fall of the Republic and Julius Caesar. You can get a one-month free trial to Audible and two free audiobooks, including the Storm before the storm, by going to audibletrial.com slash everything

everywhere, or click on the link in the show notes. Roman social institutions were extremely complex. Many layers of of social and religious traditions dictated how Roman society functioned. We don't even know what all of them were because so many of the texts from that period have been lost to us forever. In the political realm, there were distinct offices where Romans could run for election, but they weren't just open to anyone. The Curses Hanorum, which translates to the course of honor, was the path in which aristocrats climb the ladder of success in ancient Rome. Each step on the Curses Hanorum was required before you could advance to the next step. Unlike the modern world,

you couldn't just jump to the top job without any prior experience. Also, each step in the ladder had an age requirement. There were also some positions which were lateral moves that were important roles, but didn't necessarily advance you or your family to the top jobs. With that, let's go through the list as it would have been during the Republican period. Once the imperial period starts, most of the rules pretty much go out the window because the emperor could do whatever he wanted. But during the Republic, these rules were mostly held in place and taken seriously. At the bottom of the Curses Honorum was the position of Military Tribune. Before anyone could run for a political office, they had to spend 10 years serving in the military.

If you came from a senatorial family, you would serve as a military tribune, which is like a junior officer today. Usually your family would set you up with a general who was a member of your family or a friend of the family, and you would serve under him. Military service and military accomplishments were perhaps the most important thing in Roman life. While not everyone specialized in military service, those who excelled and won major victories were held in the highest of esteem. Each legion would have six tribunes. Some tribunes were elected by the people, but others were appointed by consuls and by the generals themselves. There were different levels of tribunes that had different levels of responsibility in each legion. Because there were so many tribunes and so many legions, there were ample positions to go around and almost any young man from a noble family would be able to become a military tribune. Once you've had some military experience under your belt, you could run for elected office.

All of the elected positions which were on the Cursus Hanorum had terms of one year, which extended from January 1st to December 31st of that year. The first position was that of Quaester. The Quaesters were responsible for finances, accounting, and payments. The age requirement to become a Quaster was 30 or 28 for members of patrician families. Each consul, provincial governor, and head of a legion was assigned a Quaster to handle finances. The number of Quaisters changed over time. There were originally four at the start of the Republic, but that number later grew to 10, and in the late Republic there were 20, and finally under Julius Caesar, the number increased to 40. Becoming a Quaster also guaranteed you a seat in the Senate.

Think of a Quaster as being like an elected bureaucrat. They handled much of the day-to-day work which went on in the government, which had to be done. The second step on the Curisus Hanorum was the position of Adial. To become an Adial, you first had to have served as a Quaster, and must have reached the age of 36. Eight aisles were responsible for public buildings, hosting public games and festivals, ensuring supplies of food and water, and generally keeping order. The number of positions was significantly limited compared to the number of Quaisters and tribunes. There were two plebeian adiles selected each year, these were from the common people, and two curile adiles selected from the upper class. This was an extremely important position. Hosting games and festivals

was a great way to get your name known by the populace. Being an adile was often very expensive because the adiles were expected to spend their own money to host many of the events. The position of adile was not a mandatory stop in the cursus honorum. You could bypass it and be elected to the next level without it. But it would be much easier to get elected by the public if they knew your name because it was associated with the games thrown by you and from the general good governments of the city.

The closest moderate analogy I can think of is that the adiles were like the mayors of the city of Rome. They were responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the city. The next wrong was the position of Pretor. To become Pretor, you must have served as Quaster and be 39 years of age. Praetors mostly served as judges. They would preside over trials and look over the judicial system. There were different Pretor positions, the two most important of which were the Pator Peregrinus, who oversaw cases involving foreigners, and the Prator Urbanus. The Prater Orbanus basically served as the Supreme Court for Rome, in that they could overturn lower court decisions, and they could adjudicate trials for high-ranking Roman officials. There were two really great perks to the job of Praetor.

First, Praetors were assigned six Lictors. Lictors were bodyguards who escorted the Praetor wherever they went in Rome. Each of the Lictors carried with them a Fassies, which was a collection of bound sticks with an axe head, which is a symbol of power. The word Fassies was where the word fascist is derived. Also, next time you watched a state of the union address, you'll notice two facies on the columns behind the speakers' podium, symbolizing their authority. The second perk of the job was getting Imperium. Imperium was a wide-ranging executive authority, which could only be checked by people above you on the curses honorum or by your equals at your level. Most importantly, if you had Imperium, you were held immune from prosecution for the entire time you had Imperium. Imperium was the root word for Emperor and Empire. After serving a year, Praetors would be assigned a position as pro-Prator,

which would usually mean commanding an army or being a provincial governor. Pro-Prators also held Imperium. The next and highest rank on the Curses Honorum was that of Consul. To be consul, you had to have served as Praetor and must be 42 years of age. There were two consuls selected every year, and the two men were equal with each other, and each could veto the other's actions. Being a consul was a really big deal. It would bring honor to your family for generations,

and being from a consular family would bring considerable status. Like Praetors, consuls also had Imperium, but they were awarded 12 lecters instead of just six. Someone who was elected to each position on the cursus honorum at the minimum age was said to have been elected in his year, and it was considered a huge accomplishment. If you were elected to consul without having had a family member previously elected, you were considered a new man or a novice homo.

Marcus Tullius Cistero was famous for having been elected in his year and having been a novice homo. Roman years were referred to by the consuls elected for that year. For example, the year 63 BC was known as the year of Cicero and Hiberia, as those were the two consuls for the year. Even though the consulship was the highest position on the Cursus Hanorum, it wasn't the last position. After their terms, consuls were given positions as pro-consuls, which also gave them Imperium. Pro-consuls were usually assigned as generals or governors of promises, just like preators. It was here that all the time and money spent climbing the cursus honorum really paid off. As a provincial governor, you pretty much had unlimited power to do what you wanted because you

were far away from Rome and the final authority. Most pro-consuls used it as an opportunity to make money via taxes, bribes, and corruption. It was possible to run for consul again 10 years after you served. The final step on the cursus honorum was the rank of censor. The sensor didn't hold much power, but the power they did have couldn't be vetoed by someone else other than another censor. They were responsible for taking a census, determining voter rolls, and the membership list of the Senate. This is where the word census comes from. They were also given charge for enforcing public morality in Rome, which is where we get the modern words, censor and censorship. Sensors didn't have Imperium or Lictors, but the position was considered a great honor.

There are three other really important positions which should be addressed, even though they were not technically on the Curses Honorum. The first is the Tribune of the Plebs. This is a very different position from the military tribune, which I mentioned before. The Tribune of the Plebs was an elected position by the lower class Pablians in Rome, which had a veto of the Senate. It was only open to Poblians and upper-class patricians were ineligible. The position was so important that some patricians renounce their patrician status just so they could run.

Most notably, Tiberius Grakas did this in 133 BC to try and push through his land reforms. The Tribune of the Plebs were also considered sacrosanct, meaning they couldn't be touched and anyone who did could be banished or killed. The second position, which is not technically part of the cursus honorum, but in theory the highest position possible, in the republic was that of dictator. Dictators were appointed only in times of emergency by the Senate. They were given 24 lictors, and the term of office was only six months. There was no one else who served alongside a dictator, nor could their decisions be vetoed by the Tribune of the plebs. A dictator had absolute military and civil authority for the duration of their time in office. The final position was that of Pontifus Maximus. The Pontifus Maximus was the supreme priest

in the Roman religion and was an elected position. Unlike every other position I just listed, the term of office was for life. Julius Caesar was famously elected Pontifus Maximus in 63 BC, beating out several other far more experienced candidates. You also might note that Pontifus Maximus sounds very familiar. That is because the same term is still used today as the Latin title or the Pope. Executive Producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is James Mackle. Today a review comes from user JJ Swift over on Apple Podcasts, who notes, Quick Lessons in History, Geography, etc. I really enjoy this podcast.

It provides a lot of information in a short amount of time. History has never been my favorite subject, but I do enjoy learning the quick facts he shares. Very interesting. Thank you, J.J. Swift, and thanks to all of you who support the show over on Patreon and who've left reviews over on Apple and Google.