During the reign of Justinian I the numbers of clarissimi were significantly increased which caused many officials to be promoted to the rank of spectabiles and this in turn caused there to be an increase of the numbers of illustres, which had previously been the elite class of the Senate. As a result, a new order, the gloriosi, was created to accommodate the highest ranking senators. It is important to note that being a Senator was generally a secondary career for most of the Senate's members, who usually possessed important positions within the administrative machinery of the Empire.