The
Roman Senate was a political institution in
ancient Rome. It was one of the most
enduring institutions in Roman history, being founded before the
first
king of Rome ascended the throne
(traditionally dated to 753 BC).
It survived the fall of the Roman Kingdom
in 509 BC, the fall of the Roman Republic in 27 BC, the split of the
Roman Empire in 285 AD, and the fall of
the Western Roman Empire in 476
AD. During the days of the kingdom, it was little more than
an advisory council to the king. The last
king of Rome, the tyrant
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus,
(otherwise known as Tarquin the Proud), was overthrown following a
coup d'état led by
Lucius Junius Brutus that had been
orchestrated in the senate.
During the early republic, the senate was politically weak, while
the executive magistrates were quite powerful. Since the transition
from monarchy to constitutional rule was probably quite gradual, it
took several generations before the senate was able to assert
itself over the executive magistrates. By the middle republic, the
senate reached the apex of its republican power. The late republic
saw a decline in the senate's power, which began following the
reforms of the
tribunes Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus.
However, unlike the senate of the republic, the senate of the
empire was not politically independent. With the loss of its
independence to the emperor, it lost its prestige and eventually
much of its power. Following the constitutional reforms of the
emperor
Diocletian, the senate became
politically irrelevant, and never regained the power that it had
once held. When the seat of government was transferred out of Rome,
the senate was reduced to a municipal body.
This image was
reinforced when the emperor Constantine
I created an additional senate
in Constantinople
. After the Western Roman Empire fell in 476,
the senate in the west functioned for a time under barbarian rule
before being restored after reconquest of much of the Western Roman
Empire's territories during the reign of
Justinian I, until it ultimately disappeared.
However, the Eastern senate survived in Constantinople, before the
ancient institution finally vanished there too.
Senate of the Roman Kingdom
The Senate
of the Roman Kingdom was a political institution in the ancient
Roman
Kingdom
. The word
senate derives from the
Latin word
senex, which
means "old man"; the word thus means "assembly of elders". The
prehistoric
Indo-Europeans who
settled Italy in the centuries before the legendary founding of
Rome in 753 BC were structured into tribal communities, and these
communities often included an aristocratic board of tribal elders.
The early Roman family was called a
gens or "clan", and
each clan was an aggregation of families under a common living male
patriarch, called a
pater (the Latin
word for "father"). When the early Roman
gens were
aggregating to form a common community, the
patres from the leading clans were selected for
the confederated board of elders (what would become the Roman
Senate). Over time, the
patres came to recognize the need
for a single leader, and so they elected a
king (
rex), and
vested in him their sovereign power. When the king died, that
sovereign power naturally reverted back to the
patres.
According to
Livy the Senate, initially
consisting of 100 men, was created by Rome's first king,
Romulus. The descendants of those 100 men
subsequently became the
patrician class
The senate
of the Roman
Kingdom
held three principal responsibilities: It
functioned as the ultimate repository for the executive power, it
served as the council to the king, and it functioned as a
legislative body in concert with the People of
Rome. During the years of the monarchy, the senate's
most important function was to elect new kings. While the king was
technically elected by the people, it was actually the senate who
chose each new king. The period between the death of one king, and
the election of a new king, was called the
interregnum, during which time the
Interrex nominated a candidate to replace the king.
After the senate gave its initial approval to the nominee, he was
then formally elected by the people, and then received the senate's
final approval. The senate's most significant task, outside of
regal elections, was in its capacity as the king's council, and
while the king could ignore any advice offered to him by the
senate, the senate's growing prestige helped make the advice that
it offered increasingly difficult to ignore. Technically the senate
could also make new laws, although it would be incorrect to view
the senate's decrees as "legislation" in the modern sense. Only the
king could decree new laws, although he often involved both the
senate and the Curiate Assembly (the popular assembly) in the
process.
Senate of the Roman Republic
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the
ancient
Roman Republic. The senate
directed the magistrates, especially the
Roman Consuls (the chief-magistrates) in their
prosecution of military conflicts. The senate also had an enormous
degree of power over the civil government in Rome. This was
especially the case with regards to its management of state
finances, as only it could authorize the disbursal of public monies
from the treasury. In addition, the senate passed decrees called
senatus consultum, which in form constituted "advice" from
the senate to a magistrate. While technically these decrees did not
have to be obeyed, in practice, they usually were. If a
senatus
consultum conflicted with a law (
lex) that was passed
by an
Assembly, the law overrode
the
senatus consultum, because the
senatus
consultum had its authority based in precedent, and not in
law. A
senatus consultum, however, could serve to
interpret a law. During an emergency, the senate could authorize
the appointment of a
dictator. The
last ordinary Dictator, however, was appointed in 202 BC. After 202
BC, the senate responded to emergencies by passing the
senatus consultum ultimum
("ultimate decree of the senate"), which suspended civil government
and declared something analogous to
martial
law. Election to magisterial office resulted in automatic
senate membership. While senate meetings could take place either
inside or outside of the formal boundary of the city (the
pomerium), no meeting could take
place more than a mile outside of the
pomerium. The senate
operated while under various religious restrictions. For example,
before any meeting could begin, a sacrifice to the gods was made,
and a search for divine omens (the
auspices) was taken. The ethical requirements
of senators were significant. Senators could not engage in banking
or any form of public contract. They could not own a ship that was
large enough to participate in foreign commerce, and they could not
leave Italy without permission from the senate. And since they were
not paid, individuals usually sought to become senators only if
they were independently wealthy.
Meetings usually began at dawn, and a
magistrate who wished to summon the senate
had to issue a compulsory order. The senate meetings were
technically public, and were directed by a presiding magistrate,
usually a
Consul (the highest-ranking
magistrate). While in session, the senate had the power to act on
its own, and even against the will of the presiding magistrate if
it wished. The presiding magistrate began each meeting with a
speech, and then referred an issue to the senators, who would
discuss the issue by order of seniority. Senators had several other
ways in which they could influence (or frustrate) a presiding
magistrate. For example, all senators had to speak before a vote
could be held, and since all meetings had to end by nightfall, a
senator could talk a proposal to death (a
filibuster or
diem consumere) if he
could keep the debate going until nightfall. When it was time to
call a vote, the presiding magistrate could bring up whatever
proposals he wished, and every vote was between a proposal and its
negative. At any point before a motion passed, the proposed motion
could be
vetoed, usually by a
tribune. If there was no veto, and the matter was of
minor importance, it could be voted on by a voice vote or by a show
of hands. If there was no veto, and the matter was of a significant
nature, there was usually a physical division of the house, with
senators voting by taking a place on either side of the
chamber.
Senate of the Roman Empire
The Senate of the Roman Empire was a political institution in the
ancient
Roman Empire. After the fall of
the
Roman Republic, the
constitutional balance of power shifted from the Roman Senate to
the
Roman Emperor. Beginning with the
first emperor,
Augustus, the emperor and
the senate were technically two co-equal branches of government. In
practice, however the actual authority of the imperial senate was
negligible, as the emperor held the true power of the state. As
such, membership in the senate became sought after by individuals
seeking prestige and social standing, rather than actual authority.
During the reigns of the first emperors, legislative, judicial, and
electoral powers were all transferred from the
Roman assemblies to the senate. However,
since the control that the emperor held over the senate was
absolute, the senate acted as a vehicle through which the emperor
exercised his autocratic powers.
The first emperor, Augustus, reduced the size of the senate from
900 members to 600 members, and after this point, the size of the
senate was never again drastically altered. Under the empire, as
was the case during the late republic, one could become a senator
by being elected
Quaestor (a
magistrate with financial duties), but only if one was of
senatorial rank. If an individual was not of senatorial rank, there
were two ways for that individual to become a senator. Under the
first method, the emperor granted that individual the authority to
stand for election to the Quaestorship, while under the second
method, the emperor appointed that individual to the senate by
issuing a decree. Under the empire, the power that the emperor held
over the senate was absolute. During senate meetings, the emperor
sat between the two Consuls, and usually acted as the presiding
officer. Senators of the early empire could ask extraneous
questions or request that a certain action be taken by the senate.
Higher ranking senators spoke before lower ranking senators,
although the emperor could speak at any time. Besides the emperor,
Consuls and Praetors could also preside over the senate. Since no
senator could stand for election to a magisterial office without
the emperor's approval, senators usually did not vote against bills
that had been presented by the emperor. If a senator disapproved of
a bill, he usually showed his disapproval by not attending the
senate meeting on the day that the bill was to be voted on.
While the
Roman assemblies
continued to meet after the founding of the empire, their powers
were all transferred to the senate, and so senatorial decrees
(
senatus consulta) acquired the full force of law. The
legislative powers of the imperial senate were principally of a
financial and an administrative nature, although the senate did
retain a range of powers over the provinces. During the early
empire, all judicial powers that had been held by the Roman
assemblies were also transferred to the senate. For example, the
senate now held jurisdiction over criminal trials. In these cases,
a Consul presided, the senators constituted the jury, and the
verdict was handed down in the form of a decree (
senatus
consultum), and, while a verdict could not be appealed, the
emperor could pardon a convicted individual through a veto. The
emperor
Tiberius transferred all electoral
powers from the assemblies to the senate, and, while theoretically
the senate elected new magistrates, the approval of the emperor was
always needed before an election could be finalized.
Around 300 AD, the emperor
Diocletian
enacted a series of constitutional reforms. In one such reform,
Diocletian asserted the right of the emperor to take power without
the theoretical consent of the senate, thus depriving the senate of
its status as the ultimate depository of supreme power.
Diocletian's reforms also ended whatever illusion had remained that
the senate had independent legislative, judicial, or electoral
powers. The senate did, however, retain its legislative powers over
public games in Rome, and over the senatorial order. The senate
also retained the power to try treason cases, and to elect some
magistrates, but only with the permission of the emperor. In the
final years of the empire, the senate would sometimes try to
appoint their own emperor, such as in case of
Eugenius who was later defeated by forces loyal to
Theodosius I.
The senate remained the last stronghold of the traditional Roman
religion in the face of the spreading Christianity, and several
times attempted to facilitate the return of the
Altar of Victory (first removed by
Constantius II) to the senatorial curia.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the senate continued to
function under the barbarian chieftain
Odoacer, and then under Ostrogothic rule. The
authority of the senate rose considerably under barbarian leaders
who sought to protect the senate. This period was characterized by
the rise of prominent Roman senatorial families such as the Anicii,
while the senate's leader, the
princeps
senatus, often served as the right hand of the barbarian
leader. It is known that senate succeeded to install pope
Symmachus in
498 despite
the fact that both barbarian leader Theodoric and emperor
Anastasius supported the other pretender,
Laurentius. The peaceful co-existence of
senatorial and barbarian rule continued until the Ostrogothic
leader
Theodahad began an upspring against
emperor Justinian and took the senators as hostages. After Rome was
recaptured by the imperial (
Byzantine) army, the senate was restored.
It is not clearly known when the Roman senate disappeared in the
West, but it is known from Gregorian register that the senate
acclaimed new statues of emperor
Phocas and
empress
Leontia in 603.
It is
worth noting, as is evident from the structure of the Curia
presently in existence in the Forum
, that
idealistic mediaeval and subsequent artistic depictions of the
forum in session are almost uniformly inaccurate.
Illustrations commonly show the senators arranged in a semi-circle
around an open space where orators were deemed to stand; in reality
the structure of the existing building, which dates in its current
form from the emperor
Diocletian, shows
that the senators sat in straight and parallel lines on either side
of the interior of the building. In current media depictions in
film this is shown correctly in
The Fall of the Roman Empire,
and incorrectly in, for example,
Spartacus.
The senate continued to exist in Constantinople, however. In the
second half of
10th century century a
new office
proeder was created as a head of the senate by
Emperor
Nicephorus Phocas. Up to
mid-
11th century only
eunuchs could become proeder, but
later this restriction was lifted and several proeders could be
appointed, of which senior ('protoptoeder') served as the head of
senate. There were two types of meetings practised:
silentium, in which participated only magistrates
currently in office and
conventus, where all synclitics
(senators) could participate. The senate in Constantinople existed
at least until the beginning of
13th
century, its last known act being the election of
Nicolas Canabus as Emperor in 1204 during
the
Fourth Crusade.
See also
Notes
- Abbott, 25
- Abbott, 3
- Abbott, 1
- Abbott, 12
- Abbott, 1
- Abbott, 6
- Abbott, 16
- Abbott, 6
- Abbott, 6
- Byrd, 42
- Abbott, 6
- Livy, Ab urbe condita,
1:8
- Abbott, 10
- Abbott, 17
- Abbott, 10
- Abbott, 14
- Byrd, 20
- Abbott, 14
- Abbott, 17
- Byrd, 44
- Abbott, 233
- Abbott, 240
- Byrd, 34
- Lintott, 72
- Byrd, 34
- Byrd, 36
- Lintott, 75
- Byrd, 34
- Byrd, 42
- Lintott, 78
- Byrd, 34
- Byrd, 44
- Lintott, 78
- Lintott, 83
- Byrd, 34
- Abbott, 381
- Abbott, 382
- Abbott, 385
- Abbott, 383
- Abbott, 383
- Abbott, 384
- Abbott, 385
- Abbott, 385
- Abbott, 385
- Abbott, 386
- Abbott, 386
- Jeffrey Richards. The Popes and the Papacy in the
Early Middle Ages, 476-752, p. 246
- Phillips, Jonathan. The Fourth Crusade and the Siege of
Constantinople. 2004. pp. 222-226.
Further reading
- Ihne, Wilhelm. Researches Into the History of the Roman
Constitution. William Pickering. 1853.
- Johnston, Harold Whetstone. Orations and Letters of Cicero:
With Historical Introduction, An Outline of the Roman Constitution,
Notes, Vocabulary and Index. Scott, Foresman and Company.
1891.
- Mommsen, Theodor. Roman Constitutional Law.
1871-1888
- Tighe, Ambrose. The Development of the Roman
Constitution. D. Apple & Co. 1886.
- Von Fritz, Kurt. The Theory of the Mixed Constitution in
Antiquity. Columbia University Press, New York. 1975.
- The Histories by Polybius
- Cambridge Ancient History, Volumes 9–13.
- A. Cameron, The Later Roman Empire, (Fontana Press,
1993).
- M. Crawford, The Roman Republic, (Fontana Press,
1978).
- E. S. Gruen, "The Last Generation of the Roman Republic" (U
California Press, 1974)
- F. Millar, The Emperor in the Roman World, (Duckworth,
1977, 1992).
- A. Lintott, "The Constitution of the Roman Republic" (Oxford
University Press, 1999)
Primary sources
- Cicero's De Re Publica, Book Two
- Rome at the End of the Punic Wars: An Analysis of
the Roman Government; by Polybius
- Livy, Ab
Urbe Condita
- Lintott, Andrew (1999). The Constitution of the Roman
Republic. Oxford University Press (ISBN 0-19-926108-3).
- Cicero, Marcus Tullius (1841). The Political Works of
Marcus Tullius Cicero: Comprising his Treatise on the Commonwealth;
and his Treatise on the Laws. Translated from the
original, with Dissertations and Notes in Two Volumes. By
Francis Barham, Esq. London: Edmund Spettigue. Vol. 1.
- Polybius (1823). The General History of Polybius:
Translated from the Greek. By Mr. Hampton. Oxford: Printed by
W. Baxter. Fifth Edition, Vol 2.
- Taylor, Lily Ross (1966). Roman Voting Assemblies: From the
Hannibalic War to the Dictatorship of Caesar. The University
of Michigan Press (ISBN 0-472-08125-X).
Secondary source material
- Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
- Brewer, E. Cobham; Dictionary
of Phrase and Fable (1898).
- McCullough, Colleen; The Grass Crown HarperCollins
(1992), ISBN 038071082X
- Wood, Reverend James, The Nuttall Encyclopædia (1907)
- a work now in public domain.
- Byrd, Robert (1995). The Senate of the Roman Republic.
U.S. Government Printing Office, Senate Document 103-23.
- Abbott, Frank Frost (1901). A History and Description of
Roman Political Institutions. Elibron Classics, ISBN
0-543-92749-0.
- Hooke, Nathaniel; The Roman History, from the Building of
Rome to the Ruin of the Commonwealth, F. Rivington (Rome).
Original in New York Public Library