Cursus Honorum: A Political Career System for Republics
A Political Career System for Republics
v0.2.19 beta, Compatible with Invictus 1.11
Cursus Honorum adds a structured career system to republics in Imperator: Rome. It imposes minimum and maximum ages for office and command, creates a fast-track for exceptional young talent, and tracks a permanent record of every office a character has held. Experienced characters accumulate real bonuses from their service; the most dedicated may earn recognition as Elder Statesmen.
Current scope: Fully developed for republics. Monarchies receive age gates but not the full career system. Tribal governments are not currently supported.
Government offices, military command, and research positions now have an age floor and an age ceiling.
Government offices and military command require a minimum age of 25 to 27 depending on government type and national rank (Rome: 27; standard republics: 26; smaller city-states: 25). The maximum age is 60 to 62; beyond that, a character is considered retired from active office or command.
Research positions have a lower age floor (20 to 25) and a higher age ceiling (70), reflecting that intellectual work benefits from accumulated experience and is less physically demanding.
Governorships are not age-gated.
When you open a character selection window, ineligible candidates’ ages appear in red; hovering reveals why they are excluded.
There is no enforced sequence of offices. You may appoint a character to any position they are age-eligible for, in whatever order you choose. What the mod tracks is the record of what each character has actually held.
The civic offices available to republic characters are: Quaestor (Treasury), Tribune of the Soldiers, Aedile, Praetor, Censor, and Head of State (Consul). Religious offices (Augur, Pontifex), the Public Physician, General, Governor, and research positions are also tracked and award permanent traits.
The question the mod puts to you is not can this character hold this office, but which characters are worth investing in. The mod does not force the issue.
Every office leaves a mark. Characters earn a permanent trait the first time they hold each position, carrying real and lasting bonuses that reflect what they learned in the role.
- Served as Treasurer (Quaestor): +1 Finesse, tax bonus while ruling
- Served as Military Strategist (Tribune of Soldiers): +1 Martial, unit discipline bonus while commanding
- Served as Tribune of the People (Aedile): monthly popularity gain, citizen happiness bonus while governing
- Served as Senior Magistrate (Praetor): +1 Finesse, provincial tax and commerce bonuses, stability gain while ruling
- Served as Chief Magistrate (Censor): monthly corruption reduction, tyranny reduction and AE decay while ruling
- Served as Head of State (Consul): monthly experience and popularity gain, permanent senate influence bonus
- Commanded in the Field (General): +1 Martial, unit discipline and morale bonuses while commanding
- Served as Provincial Governor: +1 Finesse, monthly prominence gain, governor loyalty bonus while ruling
- Served as State Researcher: +1 Finesse, research output bonuses
- Served as Augur: +1 Zeal, party conviction bonuses, omen power while ruling
- Served as Pontifex: +1 Zeal, party conviction and stability bonuses, monthly legitimacy while ruling
- Served as Public Physician: improved health, population growth bonus while governing
Exceptional young talent can be fast-tracked ahead of the customary age minimums, but the bar is deliberately high.
Government and command Rising Stars qualify through one of two paths. The first: a standout stat (7 or higher) endorsed by a recognized aptitude trait, reflecting a character the game itself has flagged as exceptional. The second: a total across all four stats of 27 or higher, identifying roughly the top 10% of young eligible characters in a typical save. Command Rising Stars are evaluated on martial alone (8 or higher required), since command performance is driven by that single attribute.
Research Rising Stars require a standout stat (8 or higher) and a domain-specific trait (Scholar, Polymath, Obsessive, and similar). These are specialist prodigies, distinct from the well-rounded generalists the civic system rewards.
Rising Stars appear with blue age text in the character selection window, with notification events when they emerge and when they age into full eligibility.
Age gates are not absolute. Two exception mechanics let you spend Political Influence to bypass them when circumstances demand it.
A Privilegium grants a character below the minimum age access to government office or military command for approximately two years (720 days). The PI cost scales inversely with combined stats; a prior service discount of 10 PI applies if the candidate has already held any civic office. Minimum cost: 10 PI.
An Exemptio does the same for research positions, lasting approximately two and a half years (900 days) at a somewhat lower base cost. Minimum cost: 5 PI.
Both exceptions can be renewed if the character has not yet reached the standard minimum age. Rising Stars never need one.
Commanders who reach the maximum age for military command are retired from active service. The game notifies you and handles the transition cleanly, offering several options for how the retirement is honored.
In time of war, a retired general of sufficient quality may be recalled to service, bypassing the age ceiling for the duration of the emergency.
A character who has held at least one junior office (Quaestor, Tribune, or Aedile), then served as Praetor and Censor, and finally completed a term as Consul, earns the permanent Elder Statesman trait, however long that career takes.
Few characters will ever qualify. Those who do carry the weight of that service permanently: monthly experience and popularity gains, a corruption reduction, a loyalty bonus, and +1 Charisma.
The republic remembers.
- Designed for and tested against Invictus 1.11
- Fully playable as Rome or any republic; monarchies and tribal governments will see partial functionality (age gates only)
- Load after Invictus and after any mods that add new office or character content
- Likely incompatible with mods that overwrite the same office, commander, researcher, or character-selection GUI files
I want to thank Lord of Liberty for inspiring this mod and allowing me to use some of his excellent code to get it started. I urge you to try his much more ambitious mod, Reanimāta, it’s fantastic!
This is a beta release; balance and thresholds are subject to adjustment. Questions and suggestions are welcome in the discussion thread.
