Quaestor
Quaestors were elected officials of the
Roman Republic who supervised the treasury and financial affairs of the state, its armies and its officers. The office may date back to the time of the kings of Rome. After about
420 BC there were four Quaestors, elected each year by the
Comitia Tributa, and after
267 BC there were ten. Some quaestors were assigned to work in the City, while others were assigned to the staffs of
generals or served the
Roman Governors as
Lieutenant Governors in the provinces. Still others were assigned to oversee military finances.
During the reforms of
Sulla in
81 BC, the minimum age for a quaestorship was set at 28 for
patricians and at 30 for
plebeians, and election to the quaestorship gave automatic membership in the Senate. Before that the
Censors revised the rolls of the Senate less regularly than the annual induction of quaestors created. The number of quaestors was also raised to 20.
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Cursus honorum*
Roman Republic
