Editing Quaestor (section)

== During the empire ==

=== Principate ===
During the [[Principate]], the number was halved back to twenty by [[Augustus]]. He also removed the quaestors from government of the ''aerarium'' (with a short interlude under [[Claudius]] when this was reversed). The emperor and the two consuls each had two quaestors, with the emperor selecting his own, the ''quaestores Caesaris'', who were often up-and-coming men from noble families.{{sfn|Badian|Honoré|2012}}

Over time, the former duties of the quaestors were subsumed by imperial officials, but, in the senatorial provinces, they "retained some financial functions through the Principate".{{sfn|Badian|Honoré|2012}}

=== Late empire ===
{{see also|quaestor sacri palatii|quaesitor|quaestura exercitus}}
During the reign of the Emperor [[Constantine I]], a new quaestorship was established, called the ''quaestor sacri palatii'' ({{literally|the quaestor of the sacred palace}}). The office functioned as a spokesman for the emperor and was charged with the creation of laws and management of legal petitions,{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991}} serving as de facto minister of justice.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Okamura |first=Lawrence |date=1998 |title=Review of Les institutions du Bas-Empire Romain, de Constantin à Justinien, 1: Les institutions civiles palatines |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2887520 |journal=Speculum |volume=73 |issue=3 |page=833 |doi=10.2307/2887520 |jstor=2887520 |issn=0038-7134 |quote=The ''quaestor sacri palatii'' served as the emperor's spokesman and minister of justice, drafting imperial rescripts and constitutions[,] and receiving supplicants.}}</ref> The formal judicial powers of the office were slim, but, as chief legal advisor to the emperor, holders gained substantial influence.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991}} Various famous lawyers held this quaestorship, including [[Antiochus Chuzon]] and [[Tribonian]], who contributed greatly to the production of the [[Codex Theodosianus|Theodosian Code]] and [[Code of Justinian]], respectively.{{sfn|Badian|Honoré|2012}}

From 440 onward, the office of the quaestor worked in conjunction with the [[praetorian prefect of the East]] to oversee the supreme tribunal, or supreme court, at [[Constantinople]]. There, they heard appeals from the various subordinate courts and governors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kelly |first=Christopher |url=http://archive.org/details/rulinglaterroman0000kell |title=Ruling the later Roman Empire |date=2004 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, MA |via=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-674-03945-2}}</ref>

===Byzantine empire===

Emperor [[Justinian I]] also created the offices ''{{lang|la|quaesitor}}'', a judicial and police official for [[Constantinople]], and ''{{lang|la|quaestor exercitus}}'' (quaestor of the army), a short-lived joint military-administrative post covering the border of the lower [[Danube]]. The ''{{lang|la|quaestor sacri palatii}}'' survived long into the [[Byzantine Empire]], although its duties were altered to match the ''{{lang|la|quaesitor}}'' by the 9th century&nbsp;AD, who was a judicial officer in charge of resolving various disputes.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991}}

The office survived into the 14th century as a purely honorific title.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991}}