SENATE

(Lat. senatus; i.e. a embly of elders.) The deliberative a embly of the Roman people. The members of this council were originally chosen from the patricians, and were probably single representatives of each of the houses of that order: a plebeian senator is first mentioned a.u.c.355. At the foundation of the city their number was 100, which was doubled on the admi ion of the Sabines, and increased to 300 by Tarquinius Priscus; but the more ancient members and those admitted by this last king were distinguished by the titles of patrcs tnajorum and patres minorum gentium, or senators of the greater and of the le er houses respectively. In the last ages of the republic the members of the senate amounted to above 400, and were still farther raised by the emperors to 1000. The members of the senate were originally chosen by the kings, and afterwards the election fell into the hands of the consuls, military tribunes, and finally of the censors; but the fact of having held certain magistracies, as the quaestorship, and all superior posts, gave a right to this privilege. Under the regal government the senate deliberated on such affairs as the king proposed to them, and he was said to act according to their counsel. On the establishment of the republic the whole power of the state was thrown into its hands, the different magistrates using tlie authority they enjoyed merely as its delegates. The first constitutional check imposed on it was the power of interce ion, or negativing their proceedings, granted to the tribunes of the commonalty. Still while Rome was free the authority of the senate, though subordinate to the a embly of the people, remained very great. It a umed the guardianship of public religion; the management of the revenue; the appointment of governors to the provinces, whose constitution it settled; the direction of diplomatic affairs, and many other functions of importance. Under the emperors its power became, in general, little more than n'ominal; yet the a embly still existed till the occupation of Italy by the Goths in the 13th century after the foundation of Rome: and in the last ages of its existence, after the seat of empire had been transferred to Byzantium, it seems to have been the centre of what remained of the old national spirit..\fter that time its existence as a council ceased, though the name of senator was still retained by some noble families of Rome as an empty but high-sounding title. The senatorial badges were the laticlave or tunic with a purple band, black buskins reaching up to the middle of the leg, and a silver crescent on the foot. The affairs of the Italian and provincial towns of the Roman empire, in imitation of the capital, were administered by senates. See as to these provincial senates, or curisB, Savigny's Hist, of the Roman Law, vol. i. Senate. In many republican constitutions of modern times, the upper house of the national a embly has been so called. The senate of the United States (see Congre ) is composed of two members for each state of the Union. The senators are chosen by the state for six years. The American senate, besides its legislative functions, is also a species of executive council, a isting the president; its consent being nece ary for the ratification of treaties, appointment of amba adors, judges of the supreme court, heads of departments in the administration. . It is also the high court of impeachment for public functionaries. [s. 1114]