The Senate

Along with the assemblies and the magistrates, the Senate (senatus, from senex, “old man”) was the third component of the republican constitution and the institution that symbolized both political stability and political discussion.

During the Republic, the Senate was basically an advisory council of ex-magistrates, not a legislative body. However, it became the most important governing body of international affairs and internal policy. The Senate exercised supreme control of all political and administrative matters, and the

resolutions of the Senate embodied the most influential political decisions. However, the initiative for senatorial decisions had to come from the magistrates, who were also free to accept or reject those decisions. Ordinarily, the magistrates followed the advice because they had no interest in conflicting with the Senate.

Holding their positions for life, senators were originally divided into patres, who were patricians, and conscripti, or plebeians enrolled in the Senate. After the lex Licinia Sextia (367 bce), however, this division became obsolete. The ordinary number of senators was three hundred, though in 81 bce, Sulla raised the number to six hundred, and under Caesar the number grew to nine hundred. Augustus restored the number to six hundred. The Senate was organized in classes according to rank: ex-consuls (called consulares), ex-praetors, ex-aediles, and so on. The decline in the influence and power of the Senate pointed to the decline of the Roman Republic.

The powers of the Senate and its relations with popular assemblies and the magistrates were not defined by statutes but were rather based on an accumulated tradition. Over several centuries, the Senate became active in the realm of foreign affairs, public finances, and religion. Although the ultimate decisions on both declaring war and peace and concluding treaties rested with the popular assemblies, in practice the opinion of the Senate was decisive.

Only a rash and unwise consul would bring these important questions before the popular assemblies without previously consulting the Senate. The Senate appointed the emissaries for missions abroad, and only after having concluded negotiations could the result be submitted for approval to the people. The Senate managed the public finances, authorized the imposition of taxes, and fixed the taxes the provinces had to pay. It collected money for the army, the construction and maintenance of public works, and public games. The Senate also controlled state religious life, specifically the approval of new deities’ cults.

In case of extreme public danger, the Senate had the power to declare a state of emergency, ordering the consuls to defend the Roman Republic and authorizing them to apply extraordinary measures, including the temporary suspension of some constitutional institutions (the so-called last decree: senatus consultum ultimum). The first application of this exceptional remedy took place during the Gracchi movement (121 bce).

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Source: Domingo Rafael. Roman Law: An Introduction. Routledge,2018. — 252 p.. 2018

The Senate

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