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Home , Aedile, Cursus honorum, King of Rome, Princeps senatus, Quaestor, Tribune

The Government of and the

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 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 of Rome. A line of 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 —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 . This ladder is referred to as the cursus honorum.

The lowest office that could be held was that of . 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 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 were next up the ladder and were made up of men from the highest and lowest social levels, 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 , the next step up the ladder, you did not have to serve as an , 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 when the elected consul was away from the city.

Consul was the highest ruling office attained while climbing the cursus honorum. Two 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 . The tribune was created to protect the rights of the , the lower and largest class of . Their most useful power was that of the vetothat could stop legislation that was unfair toward the people.

After 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, took power as senatus, officially only head of the senate, but in actual fact, his position was closer to that of an . After this, the replaced that of the Republic, with ruling at the head of Rome as the chief , 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.