Ancient Cursus Honorum[]
Cursus honorum is the Latin term for the standard political career. A cursus is literally a race, or a race-track; honores are 'honours' or 'offices'. Political offices were traditionally held in a certain order. This system developed over the first centuries of the republic and was for a long time purely customary, though it was gradually codified in law.
The original cursus contained only four offices: quaestor, praetor, consul, and censor. They were almost always held in that order, and by the middle republic it was rare for any stage to be omitted.
These continued to be the only offices which were part of the technical cursus, but it also became common for other offices to be held in addition: aedilis plebis, aedilis curulis, and tribunus plebis. A Roman would usually hold at least one of these offices, usually after being quaestor and before being praetor, but sometimes before being quaestor.
One might also include the lowest elected offices such as the vigintisexviri as part of the cursus in its broad sense.
It was usual to leave at least a year between one office and the next.
Modern Cursus Honorum[]
The following is a "proposed" timeline for Citizens of Nova Roma to progress up the traditional Cursus Honorum:
Year 15: Censor
Year 14: >>>Rogator
Year 13: Consul (or Proconsul)
Year 12: >>>Accensus to Consul
Year 11: Senator
Year 10: Praetor (or Propraetor)
Year 09: >>>Custos
Year 08: Tribunis Plebis
Year 07: >>>Scriba Tribunis Plebis
Year 06: Aedilis Curulis
Year 05: >>>Scriba Aedilis Curulis
Year 04: Aedilis Plebis
Year 03: >>>Scriba Aedilis Plebis
Year 02: Quaestor
Year 01: >>>Praefectus Regionis
Vigintisexviri[]
Rogator
Custos
Diribitor
Editor Commentarium
Other Posts[]
Dominus Factionis
Praefectus/Praefecta
Provincial Posts[]
Procurator
Legatus/Legata pro Praetor
Sacerdos Primus/Prima
Sacerdos Secundus/Secundus
Curator
Scriba
Other posts as required by Gubernator