Facilitator:
Cursus honorum is a system that informed the selection of individuals into the senatorial positions in Roman and early empire, as from 3rd century BCE. The model mainly presented a chain of government positions held by the male citizens, mostly from the patrician class who assumed the responsibility that they were obliged to perform in the government service (Gibaut, 1993). The scheme included both posts from political administration and military services with each office having a minimum age for election. Furthermore, the model spelt minimum intervals in assuming successive positions, and the Law restricted officers from being re-elected into an office. The tenure for most of these offices was one year only. However, one could apply for a consideration to the election into an office that he or she held earlier after a period of 10 years (Dunstan, 2011).
An officer started the cursus at the age 18 to 20. However, a mandatory requirement demanded one to have minimum assets of over one million sesterces. This was a requirement that was essential for one to qualify for membership in the senate. The general order included the election into the military service, Quaestor, Praetor, Consul and Censor. Initially, one needed to become the Quaestor after which he or she could be elected a Praetor (Dunstan, 2011). The candidate needed to have a minimum of 28 years to qualify for the election into the position of the Quaestor. Later, the person needed to assume the office of the Consul; however, the officer should not have been the Tribune or the Aedile (Gibaut, 1993). The consideration that the variety of offices empowered the leader with extensive experience and developing accountability in civilian and military affairs motivated the ideology of cursus honorum.
References
Dunstan, W. E. (2011). Ancient Rome. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Gibaut, J. S. H. (1993). The cursus honorum: A study of the early and medieval development of the clerical cursus and its significance for the contemporary church. Toronto.
