Editing Civil service (section)

=== Roman Empire ===
The [[Roman Empire|Roman empire]] (27 BC – AD 395) had several types of civil servants who fulfilled diverse functions in Roman society. They were called [[Apparitor|apparitores]].

==== Accensi ====
[[Accensi#Civil servants|Accensi]] were usually professional civil servants, providing assistance to the elected [[Roman magistrate|magistrates]] during their term in office. In the courts, they summoned witnesses, kept track of time, and helped keep order.<ref>{{Cite book |last=(LL.D.) |first=Alexander ADAM |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C4NaAAAAcAAJ&dq=accensi+courts&pg=PA165 |title=Roman Antiquities; or, an Account of the manners and customs of the Romans, etc |date=1825 |publisher=T. Cadell |language=en}}</ref> Outside of the courts, they escorted the magistrate and acted as [[Herald|heralds.]]<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Suetonius • Life of Julius Caesar, 20 |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/suetonius/12caesars/julius*.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530163202/http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html |archive-date=2012-05-30 |access-date=2018-02-09 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 45, chapter 29 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0168:book=45:chapter=29 |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2018-02-09 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> They also helped in writing [[Edict|edicts]] and [[Roman law|laws]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Plessis |first=Paul J. du |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDVYDwAAQBAJ&dq=Accensi&pg=PT131 |title=Cicero's Law: Rethinking Roman Law of the Late Republic |date=2016-08-30 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-1-4744-0884-4 |language=en}}</ref> It is also possible they were messengers and [[orderlies]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erdkamp |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1D612o_X2VYC&dq=Accensi&pg=PA56 |title=A Companion to the Roman Army |date=2011-03-31 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-9376-7 |language=en}}</ref> The ''Accensi Velati'' were non military participants of military campaigns.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cicero |first1=Marcus Tullius |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sqb73m5oskYC&dq=Accensi&pg=PA128 |title=Cicero, Against Verres, 2.1.53-86: Latin Text with Introduction, Study Questions, Commentary and English Translation |last2=Gildenhard |first2=Ingo |date=2011 |publisher=Open Book Publishers |isbn=978-1-906924-53-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nettleship |first=Henry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k4Dcf4d0N7MC&dq=Accensi+Velati&pg=PA14 |title=Contributions to Latin Lexicography |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-01272-0 |language=la}}</ref> They probably assisted clerks, accountants, supply officials, and aides.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Delbruck |first1=Hans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MP2k4rx-Q_UC&dq=Accensi+Velati&pg=PA266 |title=Warfare in antiquity |last2=Delbr_ck |first2=Hans |date=1990-01-01 |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-9199-7 |language=en}}</ref> The''y'' also assisted religious affairs especially the [[Feriae Latinae]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Hans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhC_GqPDcjUC&dq=Accensi+Velati&pg=PA129 |title=Consuls and Res Publica: Holding High Office in the Roman Republic |last2=Duplá |first2=Antonio |last3=Jehne |first3=Martin |last4=Polo |first4=Francisco Pina |date=2011-09-08 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-49719-0 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rüpke (theoloog) |first=Jörg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xO_8AwAAQBAJ&dq=Accensi+Velati&pg=PA32 |title=From Jupiter to Christ: On the History of Religion in the Roman Imperial Period |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-870372-3 |language=en}}</ref> formed a [[Collegium (ancient Rome)|collegium]] dedicated to managing the streets,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Giroire |first1=Cécile |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DnIbg00BQ14C&dq=Accensi+Velati&pg=PA192 |title=Roman Art from the Louvre |last2=Roger |first2=Daniel |date=2007 |publisher=Hudson Hills |isbn=978-1-55595-283-9 |language=en}}</ref> and had a [[Centuriate Assembly|centuriate assembly]] dedicated to them.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Botsford |first=George Willis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2SyF2kmJOxYC&dq=Accensi+Velati&pg=PA207 |title=The Roman Assemblies from Their Origin to the End of the Republic |date=2001 |publisher=The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. |isbn=978-1-58477-165-4 |language=en}}</ref>

===== Carnifex =====
The carnifex punished slaves and foreigners, unlike lictores who punished Romans.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LacusCurtius • Public Executioners in Ancient Rome (Smith's Dictionary, 1875) |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Carnifex.html |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

===== Coactor =====
They were the tax collectors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LacusCurtius • The Roman Civil Service (Smith's Dictionary, 1875) |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Apparitores.html#Coactor |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref> The name coactor is derived from its latin meaning: "to compel, to force".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Olivetti |first=Olivetti Media Communication-Enrico |title=ONLINE LATIN DICTIONARY - Latin - English |url=https://www.online-latin-dictionary.com/latin-english-dictionary.php?parola=coactor |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=online-latin-dictionary.com |language=en}}</ref>

==== Lictores ====
Similarly to accensi, [[Lictor|lictores]] were public officers tasked to assist magistrates since the times of the [[Roman Kingdom|Roman kingdom]] (753 BC – 509 BC) or even earlier Etruscan times. The number of lictores a magistrate had was proportional to status. Lictores were in charge of punishing Roman citizens.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LacusCurtius • The Roman Lictor (Smith's Dictionary, 1875) |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Lictor.html |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

==== Praecones ====
They were generally employed to make announcements in public and crowds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LacusCurtius • Praeco — The Roman Crier (Smith's Dictionary, 1875) |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Praecones.html |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

===== Scriba =====
The [[Scriba (ancient Rome)|scriba]] were civil servants working as public notaries as well as general bureaucracy.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=A. H. M. |date=1949 |title=The Roman Civil Service (Clerical and Sub-Clerical Grades) |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-roman-studies/article/abs/roman-civil-service-clerical-and-subclerical-grades/384B50535ADE1A802DFD73DC6BFA0BC3 |journal=The Journal of Roman Studies |language=en |volume=39 |issue=1–2 |pages=38–55 |doi=10.2307/297706 |jstor=297706 |issn=1753-528X|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=LacusCurtius • Roman Scribes (Smith's Dictionary, 1875) |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Scribae.html |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref> Greek cities had a similar figure, however the job was done by slaves.<ref name=":1" />