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| Roman Kingdom 753 BC – 509 BC Roman Republic |
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The Roman Senate was a political institution in Ancient Rome. It was one of the most permanent 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 510 BC, the fall of the Roman Republic in 27 BC, and the fall of the 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, was overthrown following a coup d’état that had been planned in the senate.citation needed
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.They were a very important part of Rome's society.
After the transition from republic to empire had been completed, the senate arguably held more power than it had held at any previous point. 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 created a similar body (the Byzantine Senate) in Constantinople. After the Western Roman Empire fell in 476, the senate functioned primarily under barbarian rule until it was ultimately abandoned.
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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". Therefore, senate literally means "board of old men." The prehistoric Indo-Europeans who settled Italy in the centuries before the legendary founding of Rome in 753 BC[1] were structured into tribal communities.[2] These communities would often include an aristocratic board of tribal elders.[3]
The early Roman family was called a gens or "clan"[2]. Each clan was an aggregation of families under a common living male patriarch, called a pater (the Latin word for "father"). The pater was the undisputed master of his clan.[4] When the early Roman gens were aggregating to form a common community, the patres from the leading clans were selected[5] for the confederated board of elders (what would become the Roman senate)[4]. Over time, the patres came to recognize the need for a single leader. Therefore, they elected a king (rex),[4] and vested in him their sovereign power.[6] When the king died, that sovereign power would naturally revert back to the patres.[4]
The senate of the Roman Kingdom held three principle responsibilities: It functioned as the ultimate repository for the executive power[7], it served as the council to the king, and it functioned as a legislative body in concert with the People of Rome.[8]
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 would choose each new king. The period between the death of one king, and the election of a new king, was called the interregnum.[7] When a king died, it was a member of the senate (the interrex) who would nominate a candidate to replace the king.[9] After the senate gave its initial approval to the nominee, he would then be formally elected by the people,[10] and then receive the senate's final approval[9].
The senate's most significant task (outside of regal elections) was with regards to its role as an advisory council to the king. 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 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 would often involve both the senate and the Curiate Assembly (the popular assembly) in the process.[1]
Senate of the Roman Republic
The republican senate's auctoritas ("authority") derived from its esteem and prestige,[11] which was based on precedent, custom, and the high caliber and prestige of the senators.[12] As the senate was the only political institution that was eternal and continuous (compared to, for example, the consulship, which expired at the end of every annual term), to only it belonged the dignity of the antique traditions.[11]
The focus of the republican senate was directed towards foreign policy.[13] While its role in military conflict was officially advisory, the senate was ultimately the force that oversaw those conflicts. While the consuls would have formal command over the armies, the consular command of those armies would be directed by the senate. The senate also managed civil administration within the city. For example, only the senate could authorize the appropriation of public monies from the treasury.[13] In addition, the senate would try individuals accused of political crimes (such as treason).[13]
The senate passed decrees, which were called senatus consultum. This was officially "advice" from the senate to a magistrate. In practice, however, these decrees were usually obeyed by the magistrates.[14] If a senatus consultum conflicted with a law (lex) that was passed by a popular assembly, the law would override the senatus consultum.[15]
In addition, the senate was as much a religious institution, as it was a political institution. As such, it operated while under various religious restrictions. Every senate meeting would occur in an inaugurated space (a templum). Before any meeting could begin, a sacrifice to the Gods would be made, and the auspices would be taken in order to determine whether that particular senate meeting held favor with the Gods.[16]
The rules and procedures of the Roman senate were both complex and ancient. Many of these rules and procedures originated in the early years of the republic, and were upheld over the centuries. Meetings could take place either inside or outside of the formal boundary of the city (the pomerium). Meetings usually began at dawn, and would be presided over by a consul (or by a praetor if the consuls were not in the city).[17] The presiding magistrate would often begin each meeting with a speech[18], and would then refer an issue to the senators, who would discuss the matter by order of seniority[19]. Unimportant matters could be voted on by a voice vote or by a show of hands. However, important votes resulted in a physical division of the house[19], with senators voting by taking a place on either side of the chamber. Since all meetings had to end by nightfall[14], a senator could talk a proposal to death (a filibuster or diem consumere), if they could keep the debate going until nightfall.[18]
During senate sessions, senators had several ways in which they could influence (or frustrate) a presiding magistrate. When a presiding magistrate was proposing a motion, the senators could call consule (consult). This would require that magistrate to ask for the opinions of the senators. The cry of numera would require a count of the senators present (similar to a modern "quorum call"). Any vote would always be between a proposal and its negative.[20]
Any proposed motion could be vetoed by a tribune. Any act that had been vetoed would be recorded in the annals as a senatus auctoritas. Any motion that was passed and not vetoed would be turned into a final senatus consultum. Each senatus auctoritas and each senatus consultum would be transcribed into a document by the presiding magistrate, and then deposited into the building that housed the treasury.[14]
Senate of the Roman Empire
During the transition from republic to empire, the senate became powerless. While the imperial senate would come to hold a wide range of powers, it was always subservient to the emperor, and thus it never held the prestige that it had held under the republic.
The first Roman Emperor, Augustus, inherited a senate whose membership had been increased to 900 senators by his predecessor, the Roman Dictator Julius Caesar. Augustus first reduced the size of the senate to 600 members, a total that would remain unchanged for centuries.[21] Augustus, whose ultimate goal was to make the senate more aristocratic, then reformed the rules which specified how an individual could become a senator. Under the empire, as was the case during the late republic, one would become a senator upon election to the quaestorship. Under the empire, however, one could only stand for election to the quaestorship (or to any other magisterial office) if one was of a senatorial family.[21] If an individual was not of a senatorial family, there were two ways for that individual to become a senator: either the emperor could grant that individual the authority to stand for election to the quaestorship,[21] or else the emperor could simply appoint that individual to the senate.[22]
Imperial senators, like their republican predecessors, could ask extraneous questions, or request that a certain action be taken by the senate. While higher ranking senators would speak before lower ranking senators, the emperor could speak at any time.[23] Most senate meetings were presided over by the emperor, who would usually sit between the two consuls.[23] The imperial senate would ordinarily meet on the kalends (the first day of the month), and then again on the ides (around the fifteenth day of the month), while special sessions could be called at any time. Most of the bills that were submitted to the senate were presented by the emperor,[23] who would usually appoint a committee to draft each bill. While the Roman assemblies continued to exist after the founding of the empire, their powers were quickly transfered to the senate. Realizing that the assemblies were too dysfunctional and corrupt to salvage, the first emperors transferred all legislative, judicial, and electoral powers to the senate.[24] After this transfer, the senatus consulta (senatorial decrees or "advice of the senate") had the full force of law in all three cases.[25] In addition, the senate would formally elect each new emperor.
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. The dominant religion of the senate in the years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire was Chalcedon Christianity. This was different from both the dominant religion of the Ostrogoths (Arianism) and the official religion of the papacy and Constantinople (Nicene Christianity). 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. This peaceful co-existence of senatorial and barbarian rule continued until the Ostrogothic leader Theodahad began an upspring against emperor Justinian. After Rome was recaptured by the imperial (Byzantine) army, the senate was restored, although it did not recover any of its former powers. It is not clearly known when the Roman senate disappeared, but it is known from Gregorian register that the senate acclaimed new statues of emperor Phocas and empress Leontia in 603.[26]
See also
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Notes
- ^ a b Abbott, 3
- ^ a b Abbott, 1
- ^ Abbott, 12
- ^ a b c d Abbott, 6
- ^ Abbott, 16
- ^ Byrd, 42
- ^ a b Abbott, 10
- ^ Abbott, 17
- ^ a b Abbott, 14
- ^ Byrd, 20
- ^ a b Byrd, 96
- ^ Cicero, 239
- ^ a b c Polybius, 133
- ^ a b c Byrd, 44
- ^ Polybius, 136
- ^ Lintott, 72
- ^ Polybius, 132
- ^ a b Lintott, 78
- ^ a b Byrd, 34
- ^ Lintott, 83
- ^ a b c Abbott, 381
- ^ Abbott, 382
- ^ a b c Abbott, 383
- ^ Abbott, 386
- ^ Abbott, 385
- ^ Jeffrey Richards. The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages, 476-752
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, Roman History (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
- Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline, by Montesquieu
- The Roman Constitution to the Time of Cicero
- What a Terrorist Incident in Ancient Rome Can Teach Us
- 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
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