03-16-2006, 07:43 PM
Ave!
Here is some useful information from http://www.unrv.com/government/offices.php
The Offices of the Cursus Honorum in Imperial Rome:
The government of the Roman Empire changed significantly from that of the Republic. While most of the
following offices, taken from the time of the Emperor Trajan, are the same or similar to that of the Republic,
the real power lay with the Emperor himself. The senate, the elite class of Rome, functioned more as a club
of the rich and famous families than as a governing body in the Imperial system. Almost all of the offices listed
here were filled by members of the senate and was still an indication of great status despite their reduction
as true law-makers. These positions, mostly appointments rather than elections, are still the basis for the
governing class, and performed the duties listed, within the agenda of the Emperor.
Vigintiviri
Military Tribunate
Quaestors
Tribunes of the Plebs
Aediles
Praetors
Consuls
Censors
Caesar & Augustus
Vigintiviri - (XXViri or 20 men)
An office held for one year only around the ages of 18-20. In 13 BCE, a law was passed making the holding of
one of these offices necessary for future entry into the Senate. The duties fall into the following 4 categories:
XViri Stlitibus Iudicandis - 10 men responsible for legal cases involving freedom or slavery.
IIIViri Monetales - 3 men in charge of the overseeing the imperial mints.
IVViri Viarum Curandarum - 4 men in charge of maintaining the roads in Rome.
IIIViri Capitals - 3 men in charge of prisons and state executions
Military Tribunate
An office normally held at the age of 19-21 with a term of usually 2 or 3 years. There were 29 of these posts
available after 105 CE. Each legion had at least one Tribune of senatorial rank and this was usually his first
significant command post. The Senatorial rank tribune was generally second in command behind the Legatus.
This post could be skipped by young senatorial candidates not interested in military duty, but was among the
quickest ways to gain political awareness and respect.
Quaestors
Being appointed by the Emperor (candidati Augusti) or elected as Quaestor actually allowed entry into the Senate.
There were 20 per year and could be attained at the age of 24. 10 served in Rome acting as treasurers and keepers
of the public record. They conducted funding efforts for military operations and supervised the distribution of
booty gained in war. Another 10 served as assistants to provincial governors in a similar capacity.
Tribunes of the Plebs
There were 10 Tribunes annually. Tribunes represented the interests of the plebs (common people). Tribunes
could introduce measures and laws and had the right to veto acts of other magistrates (including other tribunes).
This power, of course, had very little meaning in the Imperial system as an Emperor could override any such
attempt at a veto. They could convene the senate and much like a Quaestor could be enrolled in the senate.
The 10 tribunes were broken down with the following titles:
Tribune Aeraii - Tax collectors oversaw the payment of tribute and war taxes.
Tribuni Militum - Senior officers of the legion.
Tribuni Plebis - asserted a right of veto against higher magistrates.
Aediles
There were 6 Aediles per year. Originally they oversaw the plebeian temple and cult of Ceres. The job eventually
grew to include maintenance of public buildings in general, especially archives. They also were responsible for
the supervision of water supplies and administration of public market and weights and measures. They were
divided up 3 equal ways:
Curule Aediles - 2 per year - were elected or appointed from the patrician class.
Aediles Ceriales - 2 per year and were also in charge of the Games of Ceres.
Aediles Plebis - 2 per year and were also in charge of the Plebeian Games.
Praetors
There were 18 praetors per year and the office could be held at the age of 31. The position could be responsible
for any number of duties including judicial matters, military command, provincial governorships, grain supplies
or road and treasury supervision. A Praetor Urbanus was responsible for the administration of duties at Rome.
A Praetor Peregrinus provided for government in the provinces. In the empire this became an increasingly
honorary appointment. At the end of an official term as Praetor and if still being used in the same capacity,
a person in this position would be called Propraetor. Since there were more positions than there were praetors
appointed every year, this, of course was a regular practice. The following is a more specific breakdown of a
Praetor’s possible functions:
Legatus - 50 available posts included several forms of command with varying terms of service. There were 24
posts for the command of a legion within a multi-legion province; 14 posts to assist provincial governors; 8 posts
serving as a provincial governor without a legion; 4 posts for provincial governors with a legion to command.
Praefectus – 16 available posts including 2 for distribution of the grain supply; 3 posts to oversee the military
treasury; 2 posts to oversee the treasury of Saturn; 9 posts for the maintenance of each of the 9 major roads in Italia.
Consuls
There could be as few as 2 or more commonly, as many as 20 consuls appointed per year. Consuls served in much
the same capacity, but a little more advanced than Praetors. Generally, 42 was the minimum age to hold this title.
In the Republic the 2 Consuls were the leaders of the government and military commanders during their 1 year
terms, but in the Empire, while many duties remained the same, they obviously didn’t wield the same power.
Consuls and Proconsuls functioned as military commanders, provincial governors and curators of public works.
The following highlights these responsibilities:
Legatus – 14 total posts with varying terms. There were 7 provincial governor posts with 0 – 2 legions to
command; 5 provincial governor posts with 3 or 4 legions to command; and 2 proconsular posts governing
Asia and Africa.
Praefectus or Curator – 6 total posts to manage various public interests.
2 Curators of the Public Works
Curator of the Tiber and Sewers
Curator of the Water Supply
Praefect of the Alimenta – supervised subsidies for orphans and the infirmed
City Praefect – supervised Rome in the Emperors absence
Censors
Censors in the Republican government were highly esteemed and had to be former Consuls. They maintained
the role of the Senate, deciding who was morally fit to sit on the Senate. They also conducted the census of
Roman citizens for conscription into the army. This office was regarded as the crowning of Roman civic life, and
in a sense the culminating achievement of a political career. Its powers were very extensive and they included
the right to inquire into the lives of citizens and punish any tendency to indulge in immoral habits that departed
from the traditional and established way of living. It is difficult to say what power, if any they may have had in the
imperial system as this sort of supervision was really at the whim of the Emperor himself. They may have still
maintained the census, but doubtful that they did much else.
Caesar and Augustus
The title of Caesar, taken from the hereditary name of Gaius Julius Caesar, eventually became synonymous with
the heir to the throne. The title of the Emperor (Imperator) was actually “Augustusâ€
Here is some useful information from http://www.unrv.com/government/offices.php
The Offices of the Cursus Honorum in Imperial Rome:
The government of the Roman Empire changed significantly from that of the Republic. While most of the
following offices, taken from the time of the Emperor Trajan, are the same or similar to that of the Republic,
the real power lay with the Emperor himself. The senate, the elite class of Rome, functioned more as a club
of the rich and famous families than as a governing body in the Imperial system. Almost all of the offices listed
here were filled by members of the senate and was still an indication of great status despite their reduction
as true law-makers. These positions, mostly appointments rather than elections, are still the basis for the
governing class, and performed the duties listed, within the agenda of the Emperor.
Vigintiviri
Military Tribunate
Quaestors
Tribunes of the Plebs
Aediles
Praetors
Consuls
Censors
Caesar & Augustus
Vigintiviri - (XXViri or 20 men)
An office held for one year only around the ages of 18-20. In 13 BCE, a law was passed making the holding of
one of these offices necessary for future entry into the Senate. The duties fall into the following 4 categories:
XViri Stlitibus Iudicandis - 10 men responsible for legal cases involving freedom or slavery.
IIIViri Monetales - 3 men in charge of the overseeing the imperial mints.
IVViri Viarum Curandarum - 4 men in charge of maintaining the roads in Rome.
IIIViri Capitals - 3 men in charge of prisons and state executions
Military Tribunate
An office normally held at the age of 19-21 with a term of usually 2 or 3 years. There were 29 of these posts
available after 105 CE. Each legion had at least one Tribune of senatorial rank and this was usually his first
significant command post. The Senatorial rank tribune was generally second in command behind the Legatus.
This post could be skipped by young senatorial candidates not interested in military duty, but was among the
quickest ways to gain political awareness and respect.
Quaestors
Being appointed by the Emperor (candidati Augusti) or elected as Quaestor actually allowed entry into the Senate.
There were 20 per year and could be attained at the age of 24. 10 served in Rome acting as treasurers and keepers
of the public record. They conducted funding efforts for military operations and supervised the distribution of
booty gained in war. Another 10 served as assistants to provincial governors in a similar capacity.
Tribunes of the Plebs
There were 10 Tribunes annually. Tribunes represented the interests of the plebs (common people). Tribunes
could introduce measures and laws and had the right to veto acts of other magistrates (including other tribunes).
This power, of course, had very little meaning in the Imperial system as an Emperor could override any such
attempt at a veto. They could convene the senate and much like a Quaestor could be enrolled in the senate.
The 10 tribunes were broken down with the following titles:
Tribune Aeraii - Tax collectors oversaw the payment of tribute and war taxes.
Tribuni Militum - Senior officers of the legion.
Tribuni Plebis - asserted a right of veto against higher magistrates.
Aediles
There were 6 Aediles per year. Originally they oversaw the plebeian temple and cult of Ceres. The job eventually
grew to include maintenance of public buildings in general, especially archives. They also were responsible for
the supervision of water supplies and administration of public market and weights and measures. They were
divided up 3 equal ways:
Curule Aediles - 2 per year - were elected or appointed from the patrician class.
Aediles Ceriales - 2 per year and were also in charge of the Games of Ceres.
Aediles Plebis - 2 per year and were also in charge of the Plebeian Games.
Praetors
There were 18 praetors per year and the office could be held at the age of 31. The position could be responsible
for any number of duties including judicial matters, military command, provincial governorships, grain supplies
or road and treasury supervision. A Praetor Urbanus was responsible for the administration of duties at Rome.
A Praetor Peregrinus provided for government in the provinces. In the empire this became an increasingly
honorary appointment. At the end of an official term as Praetor and if still being used in the same capacity,
a person in this position would be called Propraetor. Since there were more positions than there were praetors
appointed every year, this, of course was a regular practice. The following is a more specific breakdown of a
Praetor’s possible functions:
Legatus - 50 available posts included several forms of command with varying terms of service. There were 24
posts for the command of a legion within a multi-legion province; 14 posts to assist provincial governors; 8 posts
serving as a provincial governor without a legion; 4 posts for provincial governors with a legion to command.
Praefectus – 16 available posts including 2 for distribution of the grain supply; 3 posts to oversee the military
treasury; 2 posts to oversee the treasury of Saturn; 9 posts for the maintenance of each of the 9 major roads in Italia.
Consuls
There could be as few as 2 or more commonly, as many as 20 consuls appointed per year. Consuls served in much
the same capacity, but a little more advanced than Praetors. Generally, 42 was the minimum age to hold this title.
In the Republic the 2 Consuls were the leaders of the government and military commanders during their 1 year
terms, but in the Empire, while many duties remained the same, they obviously didn’t wield the same power.
Consuls and Proconsuls functioned as military commanders, provincial governors and curators of public works.
The following highlights these responsibilities:
Legatus – 14 total posts with varying terms. There were 7 provincial governor posts with 0 – 2 legions to
command; 5 provincial governor posts with 3 or 4 legions to command; and 2 proconsular posts governing
Asia and Africa.
Praefectus or Curator – 6 total posts to manage various public interests.
2 Curators of the Public Works
Curator of the Tiber and Sewers
Curator of the Water Supply
Praefect of the Alimenta – supervised subsidies for orphans and the infirmed
City Praefect – supervised Rome in the Emperors absence
Censors
Censors in the Republican government were highly esteemed and had to be former Consuls. They maintained
the role of the Senate, deciding who was morally fit to sit on the Senate. They also conducted the census of
Roman citizens for conscription into the army. This office was regarded as the crowning of Roman civic life, and
in a sense the culminating achievement of a political career. Its powers were very extensive and they included
the right to inquire into the lives of citizens and punish any tendency to indulge in immoral habits that departed
from the traditional and established way of living. It is difficult to say what power, if any they may have had in the
imperial system as this sort of supervision was really at the whim of the Emperor himself. They may have still
maintained the census, but doubtful that they did much else.
Caesar and Augustus
The title of Caesar, taken from the hereditary name of Gaius Julius Caesar, eventually became synonymous with
the heir to the throne. The title of the Emperor (Imperator) was actually “Augustusâ€
![[Image: spedius-mcmxliii.gif]](http://www.nhmgs.org/images/spedius-mcmxliii.gif)
