The Cursus Honorum of a Late Republican Senator
A fictional senator, Gaius Flavius, is a plebeian. He is 39 years old. He held the quaestorship at 31 and the plebeian tribunate at 35. He has not yet held the praetorship. He now wants to stand for the consulship in the next election. His rival, Marcus, is 42 and has already been praetor. Gaius argues that his tribunate should count as a curule office and that his popularity allows him to skip the praetorship. A friend reminds him of Sulla's cursus honorum rules: minimum ages of 30 for quaestor, 39 for praetor, and 42 for consul; offices must be held in order; and there must be a two-year interval between praetor and consul. The friend also notes that the plebeian tribunate is not a curule magistracy. Gaius must decide whether to stand for consul now, or to stand for praetor first. He also wonders whether being a patrician would change anything. The election is in three months.
1. Can Gaius stand for consul in the next election? Justify with the cursus honorum rules.
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No. Under Sulla's cursus honorum, the minimum age for consul is 42, and Gaius is 39. He also has not held the praetorship, which is a prerequisite. The order is quaestor, then praetor, then consul, with a two-year interval between praetor and consul. Gaius has been quaestor and tribune, but the tribunate is not a curule magistracy and does not count as a step in the cursus. His rival Marcus, at 42 and having been praetor, is eligible. Gaius must first be elected praetor (minimum age 39), then wait two years before standing for consul. So he cannot legally stand now.
2. What is the next office Gaius must hold, and what is the earliest age at which he could become consul?
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He must hold the praetorship next. He is 39, which meets the minimum age for praetor. If elected praetor at 39, he must wait two years (the interval between praetor and consul), so he could stand for consul at 42. That is the earliest. If he waits or fails to be elected praetor immediately, the date slips. The tribunate does not shorten the interval. So the earliest consulship is age 42, assuming he becomes praetor at 39.
3. How does the plebeian tribunate affect his career? Does it count as a step in the cursus? What if Gaius were a patrician?
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The plebeian tribunate is not a curule magistracy and does not count as a step in the cursus honorum. It can be held between quaestor and praetor, and it may boost popularity with the plebs, but it does not replace the praetorship or shorten the interval. It is a plebeian office, so a patrician could not hold it at all (unless he transitioned to plebeian status by adoption, as Clodius did). If Gaius were a patrician, his tribunate would be impossible, and he would need to follow the same cursus without it. Patricians had some electoral advantages but the legal requirements were the same.