Sĕnātus

, the chief council of the state among the Romans. The members of this body, called sena to res on account of their age , and patres on account of their authority , were of the greatest consequence in the republic. The senate was first instituted by Romulus to govern the city, and to preside over the affairs of the state during his absence. This was continued by his succe ors; but Tarquin  II. disdained to consult them, and by having his own council chosen from his favourites, and from men who were totally devoted to his interest, he diminished the authority and the consequence of the senators, and slighted the concurrence of the people. The senators whom Romulus created were 100, to whom he afterwards added the same number when the Sabines had migrated to Rome. Tarquin the ancient made the senate consist of 300, and this number remained fixed for a long time. After the expulsion of the last Tarquin, whose tyranny had thinned the patricians as well as the plebeians, 164 new senators were chosen to complete the 300; and as they were called conscripts , the senate ever afterwards consisted of members who were denominated patres and conscript i . The number continued to fluctuate during the times of the republic, but gradually increased to 700, and afterwards to 900 under Julius Cæsar, who filled the senate with men of every rank and order. Under August us, the senators amounted to 1000, but this number was reduced to 300, which being the cause of complaints, induced the emperor to limit the number to 600. The place of a senator was always bestowed upon merit; the monarchs had the privilege of choosing the members, and after the expulsion of the Tarquins, it was one of the rights of the consuls, till the election of the censors, who from their office seemed most capable of making choice of men whose character was irreproachable, whose morals were pure, and relations honourable. Sometimes the a embly of the people elected senators, but it was only upon some extraordinary occasions; there was also a dictator chosen to fill up the number of the senate after the battle of Cannæ. Only particular families were admitted into the senate; and when the plebeians were permitted to share the honours of the state, it was then required that they should be born of free citizens. It was also required that the candidates should be knights before their admi ion into the senate. They were to be above the age of 25, and to have previously pa ed through the inferior offices of questor, tribune of the people, edile, pretor, and consul. Some, however, suppose that the senators whom Romulus chose were all old men; yet his succe ors neglected this, and often men who were below the age of 25 were admitted by courtesy into the senate. The dignity of a senator could not be supported without the po e ion of 80,000 sesterces, or about 7000 l. English money; and therefore such as squandered away their money, and whose fortune was reduced below this sum, were generally struck out of the list of senators. This regulation was not made in the first ages of the republic, when the Romans boasted of their poverty. The senators were not permitted to be of any trade or profe ion. They were distinguished from the rest of the people by their dre ; they wore the laticlave, half boots of a black colour, with a crescent or silver buckle in the form of a C; but this last honour was confined only to the descendants of those 100 senators who had been elected by Romulus, as the letter C seems to imply. They had the sole right of feasting publicly in the capitol in ceremonial habits; they sat in curule chairs, and at the representation of plays and public spectacles, they were honoured with particular seats. Whenever they travelled abroad, even on their own busine , they were maintained at the public expense, and always found provisions for themselves and their attendants ready prepared on the road; a privilege that was generally termed free legation . On public festivals they wore the prætext a , or long white robe, with purple borders. The right of convoking the senate belonged only to the monarchs; and after the expulsion of the Tarquins, to the consuls, the dictator, master of the horse, governor of Rome, and tribunes of the people; but no magistrate could exercise this privilege except in the absence of a superior officer, the tribunes excepted. The time of meeting was generally three times a month, on the calends, nones, and ides. Under August us they were not a embled on the nones. It was requisite that the place where they a embled should have been previously consecrated by the augur. This was generally in the temple of Concord, of Jupiter Capitol in us, Apollo, Castor and Pollux, . , or in the Curiæ called Hostilia, Julia, Pompeia, . When audience was given to foreign amba adors, the senators a embled without the walls of the city, either in the temples of Bell on a or of Apollo; and the same ceremony as to their meeting was also observed when they transacted busine with their generals, as the amba adors of foreign nations, and the commanders of armies, while in commi ion, were not permitted to appear within the walls of the city. To render their decrees valid and authentic, a certain number of members was requisite, and such as were absent without some proper cause, were always fined. In the reign of August us, 400 senators were requisite to make a senate. Nothing was transacted before sunrise, or after sunset. In their office the senators were the guardians of religion; they disposed of the provinces as they pleased, they prorogued the a emblies of the people, they appointed thanksgivings, nominated their amba adors, distributed the public money, and, in short, had the management of everything political or civil in the republic, except the creating of the magistrates, the enacting of laws, and the declarations of war or peace, which were confined to the a emblies of the people. Rank was always regarded in their meetings; the chief magistrates of the state, such as the consuls, the pretors, and censors, sat first; after these the inferior magistrates, such as the ediles and questors, and last of all, those that then exercised no office in the state. Their opinions were originally collected, each according to his age; but when the office of censor was instituted, the opinion of the princeps senatus , or the person whose name stood first on the censor’s list, was first consulted, and afterwards those who were of consular dignity, each in their respective order. In the age of Cicero the consuls elect were first consulted; and in the age of Cæsar, he was permitted to speak first till the end of the year, on whom the consul had originally conferred that honour. Under the emperors the same rules were observed, but the consuls were generally consulted before all others. When any public matter was introduced into the senate, which was always called referre ad senatum , any senator whose opinion was asked, was permitted to speak upon it as long as he pleased; and on that account it was often usual for the senators to protract their speeches till it was too late to determine. When the question was put, they pa ed to the side of that speaker whose opinion they approved, and a majority of votes was easily collected, without the trouble of counting the numbers. This mode of proceeding was called pedibus in alicujus sent ent i am ire ; and therefore, on that account, the senators who had not the privilege of speaking, but only the right of giving a silent vote, such as bore some curule honours, and on that account were permitted to sit in the senate, but not to deliberate, were denominated pedarii sena to res . After the majority had been known, the matter was determined, and a senatus consultum was immediately written by the clerks of the house, at the feet of the chief magistrates, and it was signed by all the principal members of the house. When there was not a sufficient number of members to make a senate, the decision was called senatus auto rit as ; but it was of no consequence if it did not afterwards pa into a senatus consultum . The tribunes of the people, by the word veto , could stop the debates, and the decrees of the a embled senate, as also any one who was of equal authority with him who had proposed the matter. The senatus consulta were left in the custody of the consuls, who could suppre or preserve them; but about the year of Rome 304, they were always deposited in the temple of Ceres, and afterwards in the treasury, by the ediles of the people. The degradation of the senators was made by the censor, by omitting their names when he called over the list of the senate. This was called præterire . A senator could be again introduced into the senate if he could repair his character or fortune, which had been the causes why the censor had lawfully called him unqualified, and had challenged his opposition. The meeting of the senate was often sudden, except the particular times already mentioned, upon any emergency. After the death of Julius Cæsar, they were not permitted to meet on the ides of March, which were called parricidium , because on that day the dictator had been a a inated. The sons of senators, after they had put on the toga virilis , were permitted to come into the senate, but this was afterwards limited. See: Papirius . The rank and authority of the senators, which were so conspicuous in the first ages of the republic, and which caused the minister of Pyrrhus to declare that the Roman senate was a venerable a embly of kings, dwindled into nothing under the emperors. Men of the lowest character were admitted into the senate; the emperors took pleasure in robbing this illustrious body of their privileges and authority, and the senators themselves, by their manners and servility, contributed as much as the tyranny of the sovereign to diminish their own consequence; and by applauding the follies of a Nero, and the cruelties of a Domitian, they convinced the world that they no longer po e ed sufficient prudence or authority to be consulted on matters of weight and importance. In the election of succe ors to the imperial purple after August us, the approbation of the senate was consulted, but it was only a matter of courtesy, and the concurrence of a body of men was little regarded who were without power, and under the control of a mercenary army. The title of Clari imus was given to the senators under the emperors, and, indeed, this was the only distinction which they had in compensation for the lo of their independence. The senate was abolished by Just in i an, 13 centuries after its first institution by Romulus.