(After J.B. Bury.) The three major categories were as follows (in descending order):
- illustres: heads of the great central ministries; commanders-in-chief of the armies; the Comes domesticorum; the Grand Chamberlain (praepositus sacri cubiculi)
- spectabiles: proconsuls; vicars; provincial military governors; the magistri scriniorum, et al.
- clarissimi (the qualification for the Senate): provincial governors (ex officio), other lesser posts; bestowed on many civil servants after their retirement (the title frequently was acquired by imperial conferment rather than by fulfillment of a particular office)
Because the clarissimate was bestowed on so many, over time its value lessened. Many, therefore, were raised to the rank of spectabilis to compensate for the diminished value of the rank of clarissimus. This debasement rippled upward through the ranks and resulted, before the middle of the sixth century, in a new highest rank: that of the gloriosi.