government office. The plebeians could amass wealth, and a lot of them did, but the plebeians had to lead a prolonged campaign for the emancipation of their class. Finally, between the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., the plebeians won their right to hold the offices of the Cursus Honorum (praetor, censor, quaestor, and consul).
             The Cursus Honorum was a series of political offices in the Roman republican government. The Cursus Honorum was similar to the United States chain of succession leading to the presidency. The Cursus Honorum defined strict age limits and rules for progressing to a higher office. A candidate had to wait ten years before obtaining a second consecutive term or five years for a term in a higher office. The requirement of the Census Honorum was that the candidate must have held all lower offices (quaestor, aedile, and praetor) in order to hold the office of consul. All offices were immune from prosecution until after the expiration of the term of office and all offices had "protestas," the power of a magistrate to enforce the law by authority of his office ( Hanscom and Hayes 387).
             Initially, there were two quaestors in the Roman government, one appointed by each consul. After 447 B.C., quaestors were appointed by assemblies. Two more were added when the plebeians were admitted into the government in 421 B.C., and more were added when the provinces were created. The quaestor's main responsibilities were as
             financial/administrative officials. The quaestors of the Roman government were comparable to the treasurers (both local and national) of the United States. The term of office held by a quaestor was one year. Some of the other jobs handled by the quaestors were maintain public records, record expenses of the Roman government, control the public tax collectors, control the funding for military operations, supervise distribution or auction of war booty, and serve as financial ass...