The article is devoted to the study of the practice of implementing a new model of public service under Peter I in his personnel policy. The author believes that after the abolition of tradition of Russian mestnichestvo (1682), Peter I, seeking to turn Russia into an empire, and to become emperor himself, considered that this could be achieved using the same model of promotion of people in the service that existed in the Roman Empire. As an example of how the «Roman model» of public service operated, the service path of Vice-Admiral N. A. Senyavin (1681–1738) was analyzed, who began his career as a sailor and soldier of the Bombardier Company of the Preobrazhensky Regiment (1698), but managed to gain fame as an outstanding naval commander and reach the rank of rear admiral under Peter the Great (1721). The author draws a conclusion about the effectiveness of the «Roman model» of service in the era of transformation, since it allowed to give a strong incentive for zealous service for the benefit of the Fatherland to a wide range of people who were in the public service.