The senate

The Roman senate (senatus) had its origins in the gatherings of the heads of the Latin clans (gentes), the groups of families around which primitive society was organised prior to the formation of the state.^{^[157]} During the regal era the members of the senate (patres, senatores) were selected by the king himself from among the heads of the patrician houses.

According to Roman tradition, Romulus, Rome's first king, set up a council of clan elders made up of one hundred members.^{^[158]} In later years the number of senators was increased to two hundred and, at the end of the Monarchy, it had reached three hundred members. Although membership was neither hereditary nor for life, a man once appointed senator usually served for as long as he lived. In the closing years of the Monarchy and during the early Republic a distinction was made between senators representing the 'greater' or long- established patrician clans (patres maiorum gentium) and those representing the 'lesser' or newer ones (patres minorum gentium). The sources speak of a decimation of the senate during the calamitous rule of Rome's last king, Tarquinius Superbus. After the fall of the Monarchy, one hundred and sixty-four new senators were added to the existing ones for the purpose of restoring the senate's size to three hundred members. These were chosen from among the most prominent families of Rome and included both patricians and plebeians alike.^{^[159]}[160][161] The senators who were drawn from plebeian families were referred to as conscripti, whilst those of patrician descent continued to be called patres?¹

Cicero tells us that the chief function of the senate during the regal era was to provide counsel to the king and assist him in the exercise of his duties (hence its designation as regium consilium)?* But, as a political institution, the senate occupied a position subordinate to the king, except during the interval between the death of a king and the election of another {interregnum). Thus, it was within the king's discretion whether to summon the senate or not, and what questions to put before it for discussion.

And although the king was required by custom and public opinion to seek the senate's counsel on matters of great importance for the state, he was not formally bound to do so, nor was he obliged to accept the senators' opinions or to follow their advice. The king, often for reasons of convenience, delegated to the senate the conduct of state affairs, but the senate was bound to act within the limited authority granted to it by the king. Besides its role as the king's advisory council, the senate played a part in the legislative process through the exercise of its power to ratify the measures passed by the popular assembly before they became law {patrum auctoritas).^{^[162]}[163] As to the judicial functions of the senate, the sources tell us that a council of senators, or the senate as a whole, assisted and advised the king when the latter sat as a judge in important criminal cases. Of the political functions of the senate probably the most important was the running of the government of the state during the period between the death of a king and the election of another {interregnum) through a succession of senators acting as temporary kings {interr eges)?°

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Source: Mousourakis George. The Historical and Institutional Context of Roman Law. Routledge,2003. — 480 p.. 2003

The senate

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