First Steps

The Cursus Honorum

In this course, Dr Andrew Sillett (University of Oxford) explores the series of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic, starting from the very bottom – the minor magistracies known collectively as the vigintisexvirate (‘the twenty-six’) – and exploring every rung on the ladder to the very top – the consulship, proconsulship and censorship. For the majority of the course, we follow a young Roman named Marcus as he makes his way to the top of the political ladder, including his election as quaestor, aedile, tribune, praetor, consul and censor. The course also includes lectures on the election process for the more senior magistracies, as well as on life in the senate.

First Steps

In this lecture, we introduce the young Roman, Marcus, who we’ll be following in this course as he climbs his way to the very top of the Roman political system – the consulship. In particular, we think about: (i) the period of Roman history we are thinking about, and why this matters; and (ii) the things that Marcus can do to prepare himself for his first elected role.