Talk:Cursus honorum

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Latest revision as of 17:03, 5 February 2008

Inclusion of Pontifex

I wonder if we should actually list the office of pontifex in the cursus of those who have actually held the post (Example). For as political as it is, it wasn't part of the cursus proper, and wasn't (at least in the earlier days) an elected position. Particularly in our situation, it isn't part of the cursus, though I would say that the Vigintisexviri may perhaps be eligible for inclusion here. Q. Caecilius Metellus 21:50, 27 June 2006 (CDT)

True; if we stick to the strict cursus, though, we also have to remove posts like tribunus and aedilis to "other posts". In the biographies what I've had in mind is the inscriptions you get on statues which list the person's significant offices. Those generally include all the person's most prestigious offices, including public priesthoods (especially the four major colleges) and magistracies (especially higher magistracies if any). E.g:

M(arcus) Licinius / M(arci) f(ilius) Men(enia) / Crassus Frugi / pontif(ex) pr(aetor) urb(anus) / co(n)s(ul) leg(atus) / Ti(beri) Claudi Caesaris / Aug(usti) Ge[r]manici / in M[auretan]ia

(EDH HD010190)

[M(arcus) Claud]ius [C(ai) f(ilius)] / [Marc]ellu[s] / [aed(ilis) cur(ulis)] pont[if(ex)]

(EDH HD024875)

C(aius) Marius C(ai) f(ilius) / co(n)s(ul) VII pr(aetor) tr(ibunus) pl(ebis) q(uaestor) aug(ur) tr(ibunus) militum / extra sortem bellum cum Iugurt(h)a / rege Numidiae co(n)s(ul) gessit eum cepit / et triumphans in secundo consulatu / ante currum suum duci iussit / tertium co(n)s(ul) absens creatus est / IIII co(n)s(ul) Teutonorum exercitum / delevit V co(n)s(ul) Cimbros fudit ex / iis et Teutonis iterum triumph[avit] / rem pub(licam) turbatam seditionibus tr(ibuni) pl(ebis) / et praetor qui armati Capitolium / occupaverunt VI co(n)s(ul) vindicavit / post LXX annum patria per arma / civilia expulsus armis restitutus / VII co(n)s(ul) factus est de manubiis / Cimbric(is) et Teuton(icis) aedem Honori / et Virtuti victor fecit veste / triumphali calceis patriciis / [primus in senatum venit &

(EDH HD027750)

You may recognize the fellow commemorated in that third example! The offices are usually in descending order of seniority with priesthoods coming after magistracies (the chap in the first example seems to have done his cursus backwards, or perhaps in chronological order). Anyway, that's the logic behind the current scheme: magistracies from the quaestura upwards, including promagistracies, and public priesthoods in any of the four great colleges go in "cursus", everything else goes in "other posts". But it's negotiable, of course. I did think about creating a separate sub-heading for priesthoods, but that didn't seem like a very Roman way to approach it. Cordus 09:17, 28 June 2006 (CDT)