The governmental institutions of the Roman Republic evolved over several hundred years and persisted into the period of the empire, even after the emperors had effectively reestablished one-man rule. The core of the government centered around a series of magistracies. All of these magistracies shared a number of characteristics: officeholders obtained their positions by election, served one-year terms, and had to meet minimum age requirements for each office. Also, each office was collegial, meaning that more than one person held the same title at the same time. Ambitious aristocrats aspired to be elected to each of these offices in turn, and the entire sequence of offices became known as the ciirsus honorem, "the course of honor."
The lowest magistracy was the quaestorship. Under the fully developed system, quaestors were supposed to be 30 years old and were in charge of a range of financial affairs. Originally, only 2 quaestors were elected each year, but over time, as there was need for more and more officials, the number grew to 20. Different quaestors had varying specific duties, with some, for example, in charge of monitoring taxation, others overseeing financial matters in a province, and others controlling government finances.
The next magistracy was the aedileship. Aediles had to be 36 years old, and four were elected each year. The aediles were responsible for a number of urban affairs, including maintaining and repairing urban infrastructure, monitoring markets to ensure fair trade and enforce uniform standards of weights and measures, and staging public festivals.
Above the aediles were the praetors, who had to be 39 years old. As with the quaestors, the number of praetors gradually increased over time from one to as many as eight. Praetors mainly served judicial functions, overseeing law courts and running the judiciary system.
The most prestigious post of all was the consulship. Consuls had to be 42 years old, and only two were elected each year. They acted as the chief executives of the state and, at least during most of the republic, served as the generals of Rome's armies as well.
In extreme emergencies when the state itself was threatened, the Romans might appoint a dictator, who held almost absolute power. However, they were very uncomfortable with the idea of one man monopolizing power, so this office was only to be invoked in dire circumstances and a dictator could hold this post for no longer than six months.
One other important elected office was the tribuneship. The number of tribunes varied, but they were charged with protecting the interests of the plebeians. To do this, they had a number of unusual powers. A tribune could propose legislation, and he himself enjoyed a special status of immunity intended to protect him. The tribunes' most potent prerogative, however, was the tribunician veto, which gave them the right to declare laws invalid, to revoke actions of other officials, and to overturn legal decisions. This powerful privilege was rarely used but was intended, by its very existence, to serve as a curb upon the worst excesses of patrician power.
Each of the main magistrates was appointed a number of assistants, or lictors, whose job was to enforce their orders. The number of lictors granted to each magistrate varied, with the highest office, consul, having the most and the junior magistrates having fewer. As a symbol of the magistrates' power, each lictor carried a fasces, an axe surrounded by a bundle of rods tied together with a purple ribbon. In theory, the magistrate could order lictors to dispense punishment by beating offenders with the rods or cutting off their heads with the axe.
The Roman senate, composed of roughly 300 members, was not an elected body and possessed no legislative powers; rather, its function was mainly advisory. Membership in the senate was obtained by having held one of the higher magistracies, so the senate was composed of exmagistrates. Membership was for life. Because the senate consisted of Rome's political and financial elite, its advice on matters both domestic and foreign was usually taken seriously.
World History
