The Cursus Honorum : The Ranks Of Government Offices

Romans were a civilization that originated after the Greek culture. They, like Greeks, saw an extreme significance in the idea of a love for one’s country and loyalty. The Romans, however, were more concerned with public affairs such as education, sanitation, and health. They held a strong connection with their ancestors and wished to imitate what the ancient Romans did. Although Romans rejected the idea of a Rex, or king, they favored the common hero. They wanted a leader who a “regular Joe”, someone who was average and could still led an average life after doing extraordinary things. The Romans also had a very defined government that was broken into consuls, senate, and assembly. There were two consuls who served in place of the king as the leaders of the Roman Empire. Next in succession was the senate, comprised only of patricians who debated and passed legislation. Finally, there was the assembly made for the plebeians to approve laws.

Cicero, a very successful Roman politician, also plays a very significant role in the story of “Bartleby, the Scrivener”. The narrator has a bust of Cicero in his office connecting the two cultures; the Western and Eastern cultures however are strikingly different. At around 100 B.C. Cicero led the Roman Empire in a very structured and civilized way. The Roman Empire’s governmental structure is very similar to the United Stated government because they both include three branches. The Judiciary, the Executive, and the Legislative branches are included in both civilizations; however the Roman’s devised this system more than 2,000 years before the United States. They also both have elected officials who are either elected or are appointed by the Consuls. The Roman Government was very orderly and organized, the exact opposite of how it was in Bartleby’s office. This small detail in the story creates more contrast and helps us better understand the changes that can happen in such a short amount of time. The law office was a very orderly place, it just takes one person to throw any well oiled system off balance.

family and also to be considered for Senate. The Romans did not want to waste time needlessly.

From 509 BC to about 27 BC, Rome was considered a republic. During this time there was no single leader of Rome and the government was run by elected officials. The main leaders of the Roman Republic were the consuls. There were always two consuls in power at a time. Each year new consuls were elected to serve for a one-year term. This kept any one man from becoming too powerful in the government. At the time the Senate was the most powerful governing body in Rome. The Senate had control of the state’s finances and foreign policies. Senators were elected by the people to represent them in government. The Senate was made up of 300 of the most elite and wealthiest of the Roman Republic. One of the most important roles of the Senate to undergo the checks and balances of the Roman government. Checks and balances are the “principle of government under which separate branches are empowered to prevent actions by other branches and are induced to share power” (The Editors). The checks and balances of Rome helped to stabilize the government and allowed the power to be distributed somewhat equally between the consul, the Senate, and the people. However, the fall of the Roman Empire eliminated this type aspect of government in Rome (Kagan 101-103).

The Roman's executive branch, had two consuls and they were elected by the assembly for one year to be the chief executives of the government and the commanders-in-chief of the army. In the judicial branch, the Praetors and the eight judges are chosen for one year by the Centuriate Assembly. Both the Praetor and the eight judges oversee the civil and criminal courts. To become a citizens you have to be an adult male landowner. The citizens had the right to vote, to make legal contracts, to have a lawful marriage, and to have a trial. A common citizen would vote to elect tribunes and to make laws. The Romans had the Twelve Tablets which, were a list of rules that was the basis of the Roman legal system. The laws in the Twelve Tablets talked about property, crime, family, theft, and inheritance.

In Ancient Rome, The way society worked was much similar to America. The Roman social class is and has been very significant in the operational American social class. None of the Roman class’ was oppressed or enslaved rather they were split into two. Once the Romans defeated the Etruscans they went on to build an empire that would change the world. Their influence in today’s society is still very present. We still borrow ideas from them. They formed a government where they would elect people to represent for them, called a republic. This is still the foundation for government in most of today’s world. They formed a system of law that was completely ahead of it’s time so much so that it has become the base for many countries legal system today; one of these being The United States. The political system they built, coincidental caused a division between the Romans. Plebeians were the common people of Rome; the Patricians who were the ones of higher class could serve in the consul. This was the highest position in the senate. The Assembly was made up of Plebeians. They had gained a significant amount of importance when they were the ones given the power to elect Consuls. The Assembly head position was a tribune; he was the leader of the Assembly and had a lot of power. Then they developed the Law of Twelve Tables, a

Being born into the senatorial class, Julius Caesar was to serve in the army and in the senate. He quickly rose through political rankings. He started off being elected as a quaestor in 69 BCE, it was his duty to supervise the financial affairs of the state. In 65 BCE, he was appointed Adele, which meant he was in charge of the public entertainment. He was very serious about this position and made sure people would be happy as long as they had access to varied and enjoyable entertainment. He put on festivals for many to enjoy, and built a

All members of the Senate were of the Patrician or wealthy landowner class. There was a second part of Roman government was the assembly. The assembly was elected by Romans from the Plebeian class (common people). Julius Caesar made himself a dictator, and became the absolute ruler of Rome and its territories.

Censors were elected by the centuries. The censor’s task was to enroll each citizen in their tribe, and place them in a social class century according to their property assessment. In time the censors acquired the power to revise the list of senators according to their financial and moral worth. Soon the judicial functions of censors were assigned to a praetor, an official first elected in 367 B.C by the centuries. Praetorships eventually increased in number. The consuls inherited much of the king’s responsibilities, but did not inherit his religious duties. His religious responsibilities passed to the Rex sanctorum. But in time the Pontifex Maximus became the leading and most important religious official. The pontiffs were the caretakers of the unwritten law. They were also in charge of the states religious equilibrium, with the help of the augers. The augers took the auspieces, watching the heavens for signs from the gods that they favored an undertaking. The augers possessed considerable influence of the course of events in Rome, because nothing of public importance was initiated without consulting the auspices. The priestly offices in ancient rome were highly sought after by aristocrats because of their religious importance and political influence. As early as 501 B.C (according to tradition) the position of dictator was introduced to rome. The dictator was appointed for a maximum of six months. The dictator is appointed in order to meet

The Roman Republic operated as two different society classes such as Patricians and Plebeians. Patricians were rich landowners and they had slaves that run their homes, that is how wealthy these people really were. The Plebeians were common townspeople who didn’t have a lot of money, they worked to pay the bills, taxes, and pay for food for their families. Patricians were part of the aristocratic class and the Plebeians were known as the Roman citizens, which they were not Patricians. The word Patrician comes from the word ‘Patres’ which means plural father, which is a term to designate the first members or class, which is the Senate. Now the term Plebeian means, ‘of the common people’, so this means that the Plebeians were just the common townspeople and the Patricians were the more wealthy and were higher up in the class of people. Marriage between the two class was forbidden. If a man was a Patrician he could hold or take the place in the highest part of the Republic which is known as the consul. At the beginning of the Republic, the Patricians had

The leaders of the Roman Republic developed laws to create order after centuries of chaos. These laws were so advanced for their time sometimes to this day we see and practice them in everyday life. An example of this is Table IX which basically states that if a judge is bribed or cheats the system he or she shall be punished (Station 1, Doc 1). Also to this day, our governments have striking resemblance; we are viewed as a Republic democracy and this was considered the same for Rome.

At the top of all Roman society were the patricians right next to the emperors. Patricians were elites just below the emperors. Their lives were high quality and luxurious. The throne was allowed to be passed to anyone as long as it was approved by the senate. In order to hold their place on the throne, it would sometimes require backstabbing, betrayal, and even murder.

Another official was the praetor (plural praetors or praetores). These officers were responsible for judicial cases of equity, and they were also responsible for the production and upkeep of the public games. When the consuls were absent, praetors were to exercise authority in the government. Before 337 B.C., the position was limited to the patricians of Rome, but after then, it was open to plebeians. Originally, there was a single praetor in charge of matters of equity. Then a second

A pleb could also become a praetor (a general and mayor rolled into one) or a quaestor (a financial supervisor). However, you couldn't just be elected into any given office with no experience. The cursus honorum was a system that allowed you to advance through the ranks, kind of like how American presidents are usually governors, then senators, and then elected president. However, success could be dangerous in Roman politics. The Gracchi were two brothers who were both elected to be tribunes, and they tried to pass legislation to take wrongfully-acquired land from the patricians, and put it back in the hands of the original plebian owners.

The next governmental institution, which represented the democratic element of the Roman Republic, are the Assemblies. These Assemblies were theoretically made up of all adult male Romans (the only exception is that they had to be present at the meetings). Their primary functions were the annual elections of consuls, approving or rejecting laws, and deciding issues of war and peace. One great flaw of this body was that the wealthier citizens voted first and thereby had a great influence on how the rest of the Assembly voted.