Aediles are the second step on our trek up
ancient Rome's Cursus Honorum. They're unique in that they're an optional
step. It was possible to move directly from Quaestor
to Praetor, but with the minimum age for Quaestors being 30, and the minimum age for Praetors
being 39, there was a potential 9 year gap between the two positions where the future
leaders of Rome needed a chance to build their resume. We talked about Quaestors before, and you
may remember that Quaestors were largely relegated to being the second in command to more powerful
politicians. This was not the case with Aediles. Unlike Quaestors, becoming an Aedile was an
excellent platform from which to build a political brand. The position could not be a mandatory step
in a political career, since there were only 4 open positions on any given year. Becoming an Aedile was particularly good career
move for populist politicians, since the nature of the job involved a direct day-to-day contact
with the lower classes. Hold on, we're getting ahead of ourselves. First, what did Aediles do? The popular conception of Aediles is usually
something along the lines of elected religious officials, but that's way off the mark. The Romans had Pontiffs, who were totally
separate and did their own thing. Aediles did much more. The word Aedile can literally be translated
as temple builder, which gives you a clearer idea of how the job began. Speaking as generally as possible, Aediles
attended to public life within the city of Rome. That's such a broad description that it's
almost meaningless, so let's start to get slightly more specific. Even though name means temple builder, Aediles
didn't have to build temples anywhere. Anybody was allowed to build temples. Private citizens, the Roman Senate, anybody. The Aediles were the ones responsible for
the upkeep of these temples. What does upkeep mean? At this point you might be thinking to yourself
temple maintenance? Why would people fight over this job? It was a bigger deal than you might think. For instance, the Temple to Saturn functioned
as Rome's treasury. The Temple of Castor and Pollux was Rome's
Senate House. There wasn't really such thing in ancient
Rome as government buildings, but temples were the closest thing they had. But it didn't stop at government buildings. Aediles also had to oversee the baths, which
were giant architectural works of genius open to the public. There is really no modern equivalent to the
Roman baths. Most citizens, unless they were dirt poor,
would make a trip to the baths in the middle of the day. It was a huge part of Roman social life, and
these bath complexes eventually grew to include room for such as weight lifting, wrestling,
dice games, board games, libraries, restaurants, and shopping centers. Just running the public baths could be a full
time job, but it didn't stop there. Consistent supplies fresh water was essential
in order to have well functioning bathhouses, which meant that the Aediles were also responsible
for the maintenance of the aqueducts and the sewer systems, which were amazing feats of
engineering in their own right. They didn't just oversee the city's water,
but its food too. Cheap or free bread bought and given out as
a government program, and Aediles were responsible for making this happen. They had the monumental task of securing a
steady supply of grain for the city, storing it in government warehouses, and stockpiling
enough to last through the winter. I won't go on, but I think you get my point. Most of the day-to-day things that we would
associate with municipal or local government were overseen by the Aediles. In the minds of the elected Aediles, everything
I just mentioned probably took up like 40% of their brains. Honestly, their main concern was the fact
that Aediles were in charge the festivals and public holidays. In the minds of the Romans, this was the big
draw important part of being an Aedile, and it's why they have that undeserved reputation
as religious officials. To put on the public festivals, the state
granted the Aediles a modest annual budget, but over time it became customary for the
Aediles to go above and beyond by using their own private wealth. Their most important moment to shine during
the year was a 15 day long festival in September which was simply called the Roman Games. These were held to celebrate the end of the
military campaigning season, where they would hold elaborate parades, chariot races, theatrical
productions, feasts, and gladiatorial contests. Julius Caesar borrowed and spent several fortunes
just to be elected Aedile. He borrowed and spent several more fortunes
to put on some of the most lavish games on record. He was an ambitious guy, and damned determined
to make a name for himself. Let me give you one example of him trying
to stir up some publicity as Aedile. This requires a bit of context, but I swear
it's a good story. When Caesar was a teenager there was a civil
war between two men named Sulla and Marius. Sulla was an aristocratic conservative who
wanted to restore the rights of the senate and the upper class. Marius was a low-born populist who believed
in the power of the more democratic popular assemblies. Or, this is the justification that each used. In practice they were both nakedly ambitious
men, and by the end of the civil war each had done the unthinkable and stormed the city
of Rome at the head of an army. In the end Sulla and the conservatives won,
but it was a deeply traumatizing time in the political history of the Republic. I omitted one key piece of information, important
to our story. Marius was Caesar's uncle by marriage. When Sulla captured Rome for the last time,
there were death lists published, scores being settled, and general chaos on the streets. Sulla had almost all of Caesar's wealth confiscated
simply because of his family's relationship with Marius. Caesar, fearing for his life, was forced to
flee the city for many years, not returning until after Sulla's death. Flash forward many years, to when Caesar has
nearly bankrupted himself in order to become Aedile. What does he do with this new power? Remember how I said that the Aediles were
basically responsible for most public buildings and temples? Well, Caesar secretly issued an order for
all of the tributes and honours and trophies to be restored to his uncle Marius all around
the city. This all happened in the dead of night, with
nobody noticing. When people woke up the next day and saw all
of the tributes to Marius on the monuments and temples, people were outraged. Or more specifically, the senate was outraged. One senator accused him of assaulting the
Republic with a battering ram. On the other hand, the people loved it. Marius was one of them, and the Sulla years
had been bad years anyways. People were ready to start romanticizing the
defeated Marius. And with that, literally overnight, Caesar
had established a political brand for himself. Caesar was now officially a populist, just
like his uncle. He even bought a house on the Aventine hill,
in the poor part of the city, away from all of the other Senators. Not to over-state things, but he was able
to transform himself from somebody who basically didn't even have a voice in the senate chamber
to somebody who styled himself a champion of the people. Caesar really wanted to hit it out of the
park for the Roman Games in September. He borrowed and spent much more than Aediles
usually did, and put on massive public feasts, exotic beast battles, and extravagant gladiatorial
contests. The gladiatorial contests were especially
controversial. Caesar reportedly had huge numbers of gladiators
shipped the city from all over, all of whom he outfitted in the silver armour and the
finest weapons money could buy. Honest to God, the Senate thought that he
might be preparing to overthrow the government. He had freaked them out that much with his
little Marius stunt. They passed a law saying that no man could
have more than 300 gladiators in the city at one time. Our sources specifically tells us Caesar had
exactly 320 gladiators putting on shows during the Roman Games, which makes you think that
he may have been deliberately dipping his toe over the line just to put the Senate's
nose out of place. During his tumultuous year as Aedile, he shared
much of his responsibilities (and expenses) with his co-Aedile, Bibulus. In essence, they put on the games together. Bibulus told a joke at the time, which also
requires a bit of context. Remember how I mentioned the Senate officially
met in a temple called the Temple of Castor and Pollux? Castor and Pollux were so-called Divine Twins,
but people being people, and laziness being laziness, in everyday speech it was usually
just shortened to the Temple of Castor. Bibulus joked that the joint Aedileship of
Caesar and Bibulus was, like the temple of Castor and Pollux, simply known as the Aedileship
of Caesar. In other words, Bibulus was upset that Caesar
got all of the credit. He saw him as a showoff and and an egoist,
and over time, began to cultivate a healthy hatred for the man. This isn't the last time we'll hear from Bibulus. He plays a big role in Caesar's later life. I'll continue to track his career in the videos
ahead. I'll end with this. I find it heart warming, but I may be a weirdo. Remember from the Quaestor video how Cicero
was such a good lad during his service in Sicily? He gave the landowners a fair shake regarding
the grain shipments, and in return he got a cheap and stable supply for Rome? Well, during his Aedileship, he could not
afford to spend nearly as lavishly as Caesar or...anyone, really, on the festivals. He was a newly minted aristocrat from an undistinguished
provincial family, who basically got where he was based on raw personal talent. He had no family wealth or political favours
to cash in. Luckily, his new clients or allies in Sicily
saw this and came to his rescue. During the important festivals in Cicero's
year as Aedile, his new Sicilian friends were good enough to flood Rome with a wide variety
of free food for the public. People described Cicero's festivals and games
as tasteful and modest, which is...not quite a compliment.... But people generally gave him a pass because
of his extravagant feasts, which were offered free of charge to the poor. His political contacts from his Quaestor saved
him from disaster, and his Aedileship was ultimately considered a success.
