Political Appointments In Ancient Rome

In similarity to most aspects of ancient Roman society, the process of political appointments were based on longstanding tradition, or at least the impression of tradition. With an importance stressed on the individual, rather that political affiliations, the way that a Roman would prepare himself for office was with the building of his public reputation. Much of the identity for the elite Roman man was based on deep rooted ideals of honor and masculinity, but these were arguably not the most important aspects of a politician’s public persona. A politician was expected to embody all that was Roman, and this had very few exceptions. Although many men would go about this in their own particular way there were four specific aspects that would help sculpt this ideal; successful military service, elite family lineage, …show more content…
This could be anything from the building of small temporary theaters, to giant circuses for sporting events. All of these are displays of Romans using their money to win over political popularity. While this started out as small scale performances, as the Empire grew so did the wealth of the elites, leading to substantial increases in this type of self-advancement. In fact, these events grew more prevalent they eventually became a central part of life within Rome. If one did not want to, or have the means to host a large event, they could always turn to the charitable contribution of grain. With the majority of Rome 's population living in far less luxury than that of the Patrician class, a man of political aspirations could simply garner support through the donation of food. Sometimes this was a flat donation to the populous, and other times it was a discount of the pricing. Either way, records reflect that this was not quickly forgotten, and that the mass of Rome would remember those who had been charitable, especially in times of greater