 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
Glossary of governmental, military and social titles
-A-
Aedile - an administrator in Rome, below the praetor, who was responsible for the care of temples, streets
and the corn supply, and the organization of public games.
Augusta - the title of honor given to the empress or a woman of great influence in Roman imperial
affairs.
Augustus - the title given to the emperor to signify his status above his subjects, used in some eras to
signify as well a "senior" emperor.
-C-
Caesar - the name used to denote a "junior" emperor in some eras.
Censor - an official with considerable power in the Republic, responsible for the citizen rolls and for the
rolls of the Senate.
Consul - the supreme office during the Republic; remained honorific but of reduced power during the
imperial era. Consuls wielded the executive authority in government that had been taken from the ancient
kings.
Comes - a title common in the Empire, meaning a count. Versions of the rank included comes
domesticorum (count of the domestici or bodyguards) and comes sacra largitionum (a count in charge of
the imperial finances).
Cursus Honorum - the process of bureaucratic promotions by which a magistrate of Rome rose in
political power; the traditional sequence was quaestor, aedile, praetor, consul.
-D-
Dictator - a magistrate granted extraordinary supreme authority during a time of crisis or need, normally
for a period of only six months.
-E-
Equites
-
the Equestrian class of Rome. Originally referring to members of the cavalry, later the
propertyholding aristocracy, below the rank of senator.
 |