Thread by @culturaltutor

How to have a successful career in Ancient Rome:

So let's say you're born in 100 B.C., the same year as Julius Caesar, and you're an ambitious young individual. How do you rise to the top?

Well, Roman politics was defined by the Cursus Honorum, a hierarchy of rotating, elected offices.

First step: become a Military Tribune.

You're 18. You've received the toga - a sign of your adulthood. Time to serve.

Became an equite (Roman knight) or work in the general staff of a commander. Learn how to fight, study strategy, and prove your valour.

10 years of service.

After serving as Military Tribune, there are two routes open depending on whether you're a patrician or plebeian.

Patricians are the nobility. Plebeians are the common people. However, they've had equal rights for a long time. The difference is *mostly* nominal.

A minor one is that the minimum age requirements for elected roles were 2 years lower for patricians.

Another is that only plebeians could be elected as one of the Tribunes of the Plebs, a hugely influential role which proposed laws to the People's Assembly.

For the sake of straightforwardness, let's say you're a patrician.

So, after serving as Military Tribune and reaching the age of 28, it's time get elected as a Quaestor.

Quaestors were financial officials who worked at the Treasury or as assistants to provincial governors.

An important point regarding the Cursus Honorum:

Duties - for all elected officials, including military leaders & provincial governors - were assigned by lot.

In theory, at least, you didn't get to choose what you do during your time in office. It was chosen for you.

Now you've been elected you are enrolled as a member of the Senate.

That's how Rome worked. Anybody who was elected to public office joined the Senate, for life.

All the most powerful men in Rome are there. But don't be nervous, they all started out like you.

So, throughout this whole process, you need to build a reputation. How?

Study the art of rhetoric. Make great speeches. Perhaps offer legal services, prosecuting or defending Senators in trouble.

And you need to get rich, not least because of the minimum wealth requirement.

But law prevents Senators from banking or foreign trade.

That's a problem, because you need money to be successful in Rome. Why?

To spend on public games (gratifying the people), to fund the careers of other ambitious Senators (earn their loyalty), possibly also for bribery...

How to get around the financial rules?

That's why coming from a rich family helps. Otherwise, you could invest in land and slowly build an agricultural portfolio, forcibly buying out smallholders.

Remember that Senators don't get paid in Rome!

Though if you don't have much income, finding a benefactor may help.

Reach out to a senior, wealthy Senator and ask him to support you. But make sure you pick the right person.

Because at some point you're going to have to pick a side.

Late Roman Republic politics were dominated by two factions:

The Populares, who tended to oppose senatorial power and prefer the authority of the common people.

The Optimates, who believed in the sovereign rights of the Senate.

Choose wisely...

Anyway, after your one-year term as a quaestor, you can serve a second year as a proquaestor, perhaps doing different duties.

You've got to wait until you're 34 to become an Aedile - the next step on the Cursus Honorum - so in the meantime work on all of the above.

You're 34. Time to become elected as an Aedile.

Aediles look after the maintenance of the city, including temples, sewers, and aqueducts, and also regulate the markets.

You'll also supervise public games, such as gladiatorial shows.

Now you're an Aedile you've got Imperium.

Imperium is an important concept, which essentially refers to the right to exercise absolute legal power within the scope of your role.

You could be overruled by a senior, but Imperium is important, & all subsequent offices have it.

At age 37 you can stand for the praetorship.

Praetors did different things, though in general they acted as a sort of chief justice.

You might preside over criminal or civil trials, issue court orders, & deal with general judicial business.

After your initial praetorship you can be elected as a propraetor.

This means you'll be the governor of a Roman province, perhaps in Gaul, Sicily, or Hispania.

Try not to extort too much money from the locals out there.

As propraetor you command the province's legions.

So if you're lucky you'll get to fight in a war - perhaps against the Germans or Parthians - and win a Triumph.

A Triumph was a formal, public ceremony of thanksgiving for a general who had won a great victory for Rome.

You're 40 now.

Time for the big one - Consul.

Two were elected each year to the highest Roman office: set the political agenda, command armies, chair the Senate, & more. Only decrees of the Senate or People's Assembly can overrule your decisions.

When your consulship is done, you're now a big deal in Rome.

You could become a proconsul and govern the most important provinces or maybe you'll become a Censor - technically the most senior elected position - to "oversee public morals" and run the census.

After 10 years have passed you can run for election to the consulship again, or perhaps there will come a national crisis and the Senate will appoint you as Dictator.

You have supreme power, a specific crisis to solve, and 6 months to do it.

Time to save Rome.

And, maybe, if you've got enough clients (other politicians on your payroll), the people love you (you've paid for some great shows), and you've won a triumph (so the legions are loyal to you)...

You can use all that influence to take absolute power for yourself.

Well done, you've just become the sole ruler of Rome.

For now...