Editing Cursus honorum (section)

== Military service ==
{{For|the military career track for equestrians|Tres militiae}}
Prior to entering political life and the ''cursus honorum'', a young man of senatorial rank was expected to serve around ten years of military duty.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/concept/cursus-honorum/ |title=Cursus honorum |date=9 May 2019 |access-date=12 May 2018 |website=Livius.org |first=Jona |last=Lendering}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Collar |first=Anna |title=Religious Networks in the Roman Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=StwaAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |date=12 December 2013 |page=44 |isbn=9781107043442}}</ref> The years of service were intended to be mandatory in order to qualify for political office.<ref name="Belliotti">{{cite book |last=Belliotti |first=Raymond Angelo |title=Roman Philosophy and the Good Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UqHgtgPvNn4C&pg=PA231 |publisher=[[Lexington Books]] |date=15 August 2009 |page=231 |isbn=9780739139714}}</ref>

Advancement and honors would improve his political prospects, and a successful military career might culminate in the office of [[military tribune]],<ref name="Freeman">{{cite book |last=Freeman |first=Philip |date=2008 |title=Julius Caesar |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9780743289535 |url=https://archive.org/details/juliuscaesar00free |chapter=The Path to Power |page=46 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/juliuscaesar00free/page/46/mode/2up |access-date=11 September 2021 |url-access=registration }}</ref> to which 24 men were elected by the [[Tribal Assembly]] each year.<ref name="Belliotti"/> The rank of military tribune is sometimes described as the first office of the ''cursus honorum''.<ref name="Freeman" />