This volume addresses a crucial issue for the political culture of the Roman Republic: competition among individuals and families of the social elite. This rivalry came to head at the annual elections of new magistrates: every year, a number of candidates ran for office and whereas some obtained sufficient votes from the people, others were defeated. The political career of a Roman citizen therefore took the shape of a hierarchical ladder (cursus honorum) whose rungs corresponded to the age at which one or other magistracy was attained. The book deals with the position of the cursus honorum in Republican history, reflects on the way scholarship has constructed its political and social significance for the political culture of the period, and discusses questions relating to how Roman citizens pursued different political careers. The outcome is a groundbreaking and essential contribution to a better understanding of the Roman Republic.