2. First Points
• Existed from the creation of the Republic in 509 BCE to the
end of the Republic and rise of the Empire in 27 BCE
• Consisted of officials appointed by either a Consul or a Censor
• Predominant law-making governmental body in the Republic
• When senate meetings took place within the city boundaries of
Rome, they were required to take place in a building of
religious significance
• All senate meetings had to be held within Rome itself, or no
more than a mile of its boundary (the pomerium, or limit)
• Senators could not leave what is now Italy unless they received
explicit permission from the Senate
3. Inutilis Triviae
• Senators could talk as long as they wanted
during debates, and since debates had to be
finished before dark, it was possible to talk for
hours. It was therefore possible for senators
filibuster, or block legislation from passing by
sustaining the debates until dark.
• Senators were barred from holding public
contracts (being a banker etc.) while they were
active members of the assembly.
4. Members
• Only male, free citizens of the Republic
could be members of the senate.
• Either patricians (descendants of the
aristocracy) or plebeians (regular
citizens) could be senators
5. Appointment
• Senators were appointed by democratically-
elected executive magistrates, either a consul or
a censor.
• Either patricians or plebeians could be
appointed
• After an executive magistrate’s term in office
ended, he was nearly always immediately
appointed to the Senate
6. The Roman Magistrates and the Senate
– the Consul
• Consul: the highest possible public office in the Roman Republic
• Originally called Praetor because of their role as commander-in-chief of
the army, but this title was changed to Consul (from consulere: to take
counsel) in 305 BCE to accommodate the changing role of the position
(from one of military command to overall command)
• Two consules were elected each year, and both served alternately as
presiding tribunes when the senate was in session
• Originally both consules were patricians, but the Lex Licina Sextia,
enacted in 367 BCE insured that at least one of the two consules elected
each year was a plebeian. It was named for Gaius Licinius Stolo and
Lucius Sextius Lateranus, the two plebeian consules who held office in
376 BCE, the year of the bill’s proposal.
7. The Roman Magistrates and the Senate
– the Censor
• This position was created in 318 BCE by the
plebiscitum Ovinium, which was directed by the
Plebeian Council (plebis concilium)
• Responsible for maintaining the census (a
inquiry to keep a record of the people of the
Republic, those they had conquered, their social
status (free or not), and their possessions, such
as cattle and homes)
• Highest dignity in the state, after the dictator
(in the republic, the dictator was a position only
appointed in times extreme crisis)
8. The Debates
• Generally started at dawn, unless by a major event such as a
festival
• Had to be finished by dark
• Bills were usually proposed by either a consul or a praetor.
However, the senate could also pass bills that pertained to a
law already passed by another arm of government
• Senate meetings were called by an executive magistrate,
generally a consul, who issued a compulsory summoning
order to all senators (a cogere)
9. The Debates (continued)
• Senators who failed to attend senate meetings after a cogere
was issued were punished. These punishments were varied,
and occasionally they constituted threats against the property
of the offending senator.
• After all senators had said their piece on a certain topic, they
would vote. This was usually done by a show of hands, but it
wasn’t uncommon for senators to vote by simply moving
from one side of the building in which the meeting was being
held.
• Any bill that passed the senate became known as a senatus
consultum: a decree of the Senate. Even though this name
indicated a suggestion, magistrates such the consules usually
followed these decrees exactly.
10. The Tribune’s Veto
• The Tribune, a magistrate elected by the
plebeians, generally presided over senate
meetings
• The tribune could veto any motion before
the final vote was held. Once a bill
passed, the tribune could no longer veto.
11. Powers of Legislation
• The Senate’s rulings were based on
historical precedent, much like the courts
of today
• The Greek historian Polybius suggested
that the Senate was the preeminent branch
of the Republic’s government
• Controlled finances, foreign policy and
administration of the Republic
12. Religious Elements
• The 1st senate of the year was held in the Temple of
Jupiter Capitolinus, a tradition that was only broken in
times of catastrophic social unrest or strife.
• Before a meeting could begin, a sacrifice to the gods
was made. In addition, divine omens, or auspices
(auspice: chief or divine command. Also, bird-watching,
which is associated with the eagle, symbol of Jupiter,
king of the gods) were sought, to insure that the gods
approved of the meeting.
• The concept of mos maiorum, or customs of the
ancestors, helped guide the Senate’s policy
13. Other Governmental Bodies in the
Republic
• Consules: the two executive magistrates, elected by the
free men of Rome, who controlled the armies of the
Republic and appointed senators (until 318 BCE)
• Legislative Assembly: a form of direct democracy
where male citizens voted directly on policy in the
Republic. Two types:
- Assembly, or comitia: a gathering to supposedly represent the
entire Roman people, though this was not always the case
- Council, or concilium: a meeting of citizens of a certain class
15. Bibliography
Abbott, Frank Frost (1901). A History and Description of Roman
Political Institutions. Elibron Classics. ISBN 0-543-92749-0
Polybius (1823). The General History of Polybius: Translated from the
Greek. Vol. 2 (Fifth ed.). Oxford: Printed by W. Baxter.
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.
Byrd, Robert (1995). The Senate of the Roman Republic. US
Government Printing Office Senate Document 103–23. ISBN 0-16-058996-7.
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