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The Government of Rome and the Cursus Honorum
The structure of Rome’s government is difficult to define. It was complicated, changed
quite drastically over Rome’s history and many details are disputed. The ruling of Rome begins
with the mythical twin brothers Romulus and Remus. Romulus is said to have built up the first
walls of the city and killed his own brother for crossing them without permission. Indeed, the
name Rome is said to have come from Romulus, who became the first king of Rome. A line of
kings then ruled Rome, though whether or not they truly existed, and how exaggerated are their
deeds, is unknown. The rule of the kings is said to have ended very badly and it is at this time
that Rome is to have begun ruling through a senate—a group of elected officials. Eventually this
larger group would become more of an advisory board, but they were still made up of the most
influential and powerful men of Rome. Their advice was, therefore, very rarely ignored without
very great consequences. All senators had also once held an office within the more formal outline
of Rome’s governing body. These offices had to be filled in order, creating a political ladder that
ambitious Roman men climbed to become the leaders of Rome during the era of the Roman
Republic. This ladder is referred to as the cursus honorum.
The lowest office that could be held was that of quaestor. For most of Rome’s history,
only a man who had completed ten years of military service could run for the office of quaestor.
The quaestors took care of a lot of administration and served as assistants for governors. Most
importantly, once this position was attained, the individual was a member of the senate for life.
The aediles were next up the ladder and were made up of men from the highest and
lowest social levels, patrician and plebeian. The aediles had administrative duties, but were also
in charge of many religious tasks; e.g., public works and temples.
To become a praetor, the next step up the ladder, you did not have to serve as an aedile,
but you had to have been a quaestor. These men were very powerful and served as the judges of
Rome. They would also serve as consul when the elected consul was away from the city.
Consul was the highest ruling office attained while climbing the cursus honorum. Two
consuls were in charge of leading Rome: they were the heads of the senate and the military
commanders of the city.
Censor was one step higher than consul, though they were not a ruling official. They took
the census and assigned people to different voting categories based on status, wealth and
location. As such, they held great power as they were in charge of keeping the records of both the
citizens and members of the senate. Officially in charge of public morality, they could deem an
individual unfit for their status and put them in a lower class.
Above all these ranks was that of dictator. Dictators were appointed to lead the army and
rule the city during emergencies; e.g., great wars. They were not to hold power for more than six
months.
Outside of the Cursus honorum was also the office of the tribune. The tribune was created
to protect the rights of the plebeians, the lower and largest class of Roman people. Their most
useful power was that of the vetothat could stop legislation that was unfair toward the people.
After Caesar took power and proclaimed himself dictator for life, he drew the anger of the
senate. It was these men who eventually murdered him. After his death and a period of chaotic
rule, Augustus took power as princeps senatus, officially only head of the senate, but in actual
fact, his position was closer to that of an emperor. After this, the Roman Empire replaced that of
the Republic, with emperors ruling at the head of Rome as the chief magistrate, priest and
military general, and usually leaving their positions to their sons or other male relatives. The
senate and the cursus honorum still stayed in place—although other positions were added, the
numbers of offices were changed, and the tasks of the ranks changed, always with the emperor
having the final say.