Editing Quaestor (section)

=== History ===

There were initially two quaestors; they were initially appointed by the consuls, but according to [[Tacitus]] after 447&nbsp;BC,{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=196, citing Tac. ''Ann.'', 11.22}} they were elected by the ''[[comitia tributa]]''.{{sfn|Badian|Honoré|2012}} When plebeians were permitted to stand for the quaestorship in 421&nbsp;BC, two more were added, with assignments to administer the ''[[aerarium]]'' under senatorial direction.{{sfn|Badian|Honoré|2012}} It is also around this time that Livy reports a relationship between the quaestors and the public treasury.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|pp=22–23}} After 267&nbsp;BC, four more quaestors were added, possibly with assignments to various towns in Italy (e.g., [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]] for management of the food supply).{{sfn|Badian|Honoré|2012}}

The specific number elected year-to-year is difficult to determine at any time, but before [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]]'s [[Constitutional reforms of Sulla|reforms]] in 81&nbsp;BC, there were 19 quaestors; his reforms created one for the water supply, raising the total to 20.{{sfn|Badian|Honoré|2012}} He also made holding the quaestorship compulsory for advancement to future offices.{{sfn|Brennan|2012}}{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=52}} These reforms also established a minimum age for the office, established at 30.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=54}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ryan |first=FX |date=1996 |title=The Minimum Age for the Quaestorship in the Late Republic |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24818285 |journal=Museum Helveticum |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=37–43 |jstor=24818285 |issn=0027-4054}}</ref> Additionally, the reforms granted quaestors automatic membership in the senate upon being elected, whereas previously, membership in the senate was granted only after [[Roman censor|censors]] revised the Senate rolls every few years.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=51, noting also that in the immediate pre-Sullan period ex-quaestors were probably enrolled by the censors as a matter of course }}

During [[Julius Caesar]]'s dictatorship, he doubled the number of quaestors to forty.{{sfn|Badian|Honoré|2012}}