Editing Quaestor (section)

==== Domestic duties ====
{{Anchor|Urban quaestor|Urban quaestors|quaestor urbanis|quaestores urbani}}
[[File:Temple of Saturn, Roman Forum, Rome (39026371221).jpg|alt=Image of the ruins of the Temple of Saturn, from front.|thumb|right|Ruins of the [[Temple of Saturn]], the location of the ''[[aerarium]]'', in the [[Roman Forum|Forum]] at the foot of the [[Capitoline Hill]] in Rome.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Burton |first=Graham |title=aerarium |encyclopedia=The Oxford classical dictionary |year=2012 |editor-first1=Simon |editor-last1=Hornblower |editor-first2=Antony |editor-last2=Spawforth |editor-first3=Esther |editor-last3=Eidinow |isbn=978-0-19-954556-8 |edition=4th |location=Oxford |oclc=959667246 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=24 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.141 |url=https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-141 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> ]]
[[File:Tabularium-and-temple.jpg|thumb|right|The repurposed ruins of the [[Tabularium]] (behind the fragmentary ruins of the [[Temple of Vespasian and Titus]] at right) constructed in 78&nbsp;BC near the ''aerarium'' as the state record office.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=DeLaine |first=Janet |title=tabularium |encyclopedia=The Oxford classical dictionary |year=2012 |editor-first1=Simon |editor-last1=Hornblower |editor-first2=Antony |editor-last2=Spawforth |editor-first3=Esther |editor-last3=Eidinow |isbn=978-0-19-954556-8 |edition=4th |location=Oxford |oclc=959667246 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=1425 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-6202 }}</ref> ]]
[[File:Catón (52340687524).jpg|thumb|[[Cato the Younger]] served as one of the urban quaestors in 64&nbsp;BC, during which he acquired a reputation for stern honesty.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|pp=82, 120–22}} ]]

There were usually two quaestors assigned to the city of Rome (termed urban quaestors), with both simultaneously responsible for the treasury.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|pp=80, 82}} While some older scholars believed that the urban quaestors were forbidden from leaving the city, this is now rejected.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=82}}

The normal main duty of the urban quaestors was to handle the ''[[aerarium]]'' (the public treasury). This involved control and management of the gold and coins stored there, safekeeping of the keys to the treasury, supervision of all public expenses and tax receipts, validation of official documents, and archival of the same.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|pp=84–85, 112 (public notaries)}} The quaestors were aided by assistants called ''apparitores'', who likely served multi-year terms to familiarise themselves with the job; their number multiplied during the later Republic to meet administrative needs.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=84}} As part of administering the treasury, they also handled the receipt and auditing of war reparations and tribute from polities defeated by Rome.<ref>{{harvnb|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=95|ps=, citing a passage in Livy 32.2.1 et seq where Carthaginian war reparations are rejected on grounds that the provided silver is impure alloy.}}</ref> Collections of taxes were also handled by the urban quaestors and their staff, with overpayments reimbursed when funds became available.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=96}} They also made the appropriate withdrawals from the treasury to cover various expenses – including building, army pay, temple maintenance, state visits, state funerals, road maintenance, minting of coins, etc – as directed by the Senate.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|pp=96–97, 102 (state visits), 103 (state funerals), 105 (road maintenance), 107 (minting of coins)}}

They were also in charge of auctions for public land (''[[ager publicus]]''). Such land was acquired by conquest and became the property of the Roman people.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=93}} Land sales could be directed by the Senate to meet funding shortfalls, as during the [[Second Punic War]], when the urban quaestors auctioned lands around Capua to raise funds.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=94}} These quaestors were also responsible for handling public auction of war booty returned to the public treasury by victorious generals. This included objects as well as slaves, with the proceeds to be deposited in the public treasury.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=91}} They were also responsible for public auction of property seized from citizens who had debts or fines owed to the state if they were unable to pay.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=92}} These responsibilities over public debts also included the collection of fines in general, where a convict ordered to pay a fine would be required to make a surety to the urban quaestors and deposit the money in the ''aerarium''.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=92}}

Returning magistrates and governors also had to produce detailed account books for their handling of public money, which would then be deposited in the treasury, where the urban quaestors and their staff would audit them.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|pp=86–87}} These records were supposed to total a running ledger of starting balances, a line-by-line itemised accounting of all inflows and outflows, and ending balances for the province.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=87}} They also included, for generals, detailed lists of all the money, gold, silver, spoils, and other assets acquired during a governorship.<ref>{{harvnb|Pina|Díaz|2019|pp=88–89}}, citing Cic. ''Verr.'', 2.1.57: "You see not only the number of the statues, but the size, form, and the state of each one accurately put down in writing".</ref> The scribes checked the account books, looking for transactional documentation and arithmetic errors, the results were then approved or disapproved by the quaestors.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=87}} A negative audit could provide fodder for corruption charges, which was regular in the last two centuries of the Republic.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=87}}

After the formation of the permanent courts ({{lang|la|quaestiones perpetuae}}), the urban quaestors were also responsible for assembling the jury pools and allocation of portions of those pools to the various courts.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|pp=116–17}} These quaestors also handled various tasks assigned ad hoc by the Senate, such as meeting and accompanying foreign dignitaries on state visits{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|pp=80–81, 102}} or leaving Rome to the provinces on special assignments.<ref>{{harvnb|Pina|Díaz|2019|p=81}} (describing an urban quaestor leaving the city to bring money to [[Gaius Marius]] during the [[Jugurthine War]]).</ref>

In earlier Republic, the quaestors also controlled the distribution of the [[Aquila (Roman)|legionary ''aquilae'']] (eagle standards), which were kept in the treasury before distribution to generals before they were returned on the conclusion of a campaign. This likely, however, fell into disuse as Rome expanded across the Mediterranean.{{sfn|Pina|Díaz|2019|pp=85–86}}