DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13855#0341
SENATUS.
SENATUS.
affairs, as at Sparta and in early Rome, the
king had little more than the executive. A
senate in the early times was always regarded
as an assemhly of elders, which is in fact
the meaning of the Roman senatus, as of the
Spartan (yepouo-i'a), and its members were
elected from among the nobles of the nation.
The number of senators in the ancient re-
publics always bore a distinct relation to the
number of tribes of which the nation was
composed. [Boule ; Gerousia.] Hence in
the earliest times, when Rome consisted of only
one tribe, its senate consisted of one hundred
members [senatores or pat res; compare Pa-
tricii), and when the Sabine tribe or the
Tities became united with the Latin tribe or
the Ramnes, the number of senators was in-
creased to two hundred. This number was
again augmented to three hundred by Tar-
quinius Priscus, when the third tribe or the
Luceres became incorporated with the Ro-
man state. The new senators added by Tar-
quinius Priscus were distinguished from those
belonging to the two older tribes by the ap-
pellation patres minorum gentium, as pre-
viously those who represented the Tities had
been distinguished, by the same name, from
those who represented the Ramnes. Under
Tarquinius Superbus the number of senators
is said to have become very much dimi-
nished, as he is reported to have put many
to death and sent others into exile. This
account however appears to be greatly exag-
gerated, and it is probable that several va-
cancies in the senate arose from many of the
senators accompanying the tyrant into his
exile. The vacancies which had thus arisen
were filled up immediately after the esta-
blishment of the republic, when several noble
plebeians of equestrian rank were made se-
nators. These new senators were distin-
guished from the old ones by the name of
Conscripti; and hence the customary mode
of addressing the whole senate henceforth
always was : Patres Conscripti, that is, Pa-
tres et Conscripti.—The number of 300 se-
nators appears to have remained unaltered
for several centuries. The first permanent
increase to their number was made by Sulla,
and the senate seems henceforth to have con-
sisted of between five and six hundred.
Julius Caesar augmented the number to 900,
and raised to this dignity even common sol-
diers, freedmen, and peregrini. Augustus
cleared the senate of the unworthy members,
who were contemptuously called by the
people Orcini senatores, and reduced its num-
ber to 600.—In the time of the kings the
senate was probably elected by the gentes,
each gens appointing one member as its re-
presentative; and as there were 300 gentes,
there were consequently 300 senators. The
whole senate was divided into decuries, each
of which corresponded to a curia. "When ti e
senate consisted of only one hundred mem-
bers, there were accordingly only ten de-
curies of senators; and ten senators, one
being taken from each decury, formed the
Decern Primi, who represented the ten curies.
When subsequently the representatives of
the two other tribes were admitted into the
senate, the Ramnes with their decern primi
retained for a time their superiority over the
two other tribes, and gave their votes first.
The first among the decern primi was the
princeps senatus, who was appointed by the
king, and was at the same time custos urbis.
[Peaefectvs urbi.] Respecting the age at
which a person might be elected into the
senate during the kingly period, we know no
more than what is indicated by the name
senator itself, that is, that they were persons
of advanced age.—Soon after the establish-
ment of the republic, though at what time is
uncertain, the right of appointing senators
passed from the gentes into the hands of the
consuls, consular tribunes, and subsequently
of the censors. At the same time, the right
which the magistrates possessed of electing
senators was by no means an arbitrary
power, for the senators were usually taken
from among those whom the people had pre-
viously invested with a magistracy, so that
in reality the people themselves always no-
minated the candidates for the senate, which
on this account remained, as before, a repre-
sentative assembly. After the institution of
the censorship, the censors alone had the
right of introducing new members into the
senate from among the ex-magistrates, and
of excluding such as they deemed unworthy.
[Censor.] The exclusion was effected by
simply passing over the names, and not en-
tering them on the lists of senators, whence
such men were called Praeteriti Senatores.
On one extraordinary occasion the eldest
among the ex-censors was invested with dic-
tatorial power for the purpose of filling up
vacancies in the senate.—As all curule ma-
gistrates, and also the quaestors, had by
virtue of their office a seat in the senate,
even if they had not been elected senators,
we must distinguish between two classes of
senators, viz., real senators, or such as had
been regularly raised to their dignity by the
magistrates or the censors, and such as had,
by virtue of the office which they held or
had held, a right to take their seats in the
senate and to speak (sententiam dicere, jus
sententiae), but not to vote. To this ordo
senatorius also belonged the pontifex maxi-
mus and the flamen dialis. Though these
SENATUS.
affairs, as at Sparta and in early Rome, the
king had little more than the executive. A
senate in the early times was always regarded
as an assemhly of elders, which is in fact
the meaning of the Roman senatus, as of the
Spartan (yepouo-i'a), and its members were
elected from among the nobles of the nation.
The number of senators in the ancient re-
publics always bore a distinct relation to the
number of tribes of which the nation was
composed. [Boule ; Gerousia.] Hence in
the earliest times, when Rome consisted of only
one tribe, its senate consisted of one hundred
members [senatores or pat res; compare Pa-
tricii), and when the Sabine tribe or the
Tities became united with the Latin tribe or
the Ramnes, the number of senators was in-
creased to two hundred. This number was
again augmented to three hundred by Tar-
quinius Priscus, when the third tribe or the
Luceres became incorporated with the Ro-
man state. The new senators added by Tar-
quinius Priscus were distinguished from those
belonging to the two older tribes by the ap-
pellation patres minorum gentium, as pre-
viously those who represented the Tities had
been distinguished, by the same name, from
those who represented the Ramnes. Under
Tarquinius Superbus the number of senators
is said to have become very much dimi-
nished, as he is reported to have put many
to death and sent others into exile. This
account however appears to be greatly exag-
gerated, and it is probable that several va-
cancies in the senate arose from many of the
senators accompanying the tyrant into his
exile. The vacancies which had thus arisen
were filled up immediately after the esta-
blishment of the republic, when several noble
plebeians of equestrian rank were made se-
nators. These new senators were distin-
guished from the old ones by the name of
Conscripti; and hence the customary mode
of addressing the whole senate henceforth
always was : Patres Conscripti, that is, Pa-
tres et Conscripti.—The number of 300 se-
nators appears to have remained unaltered
for several centuries. The first permanent
increase to their number was made by Sulla,
and the senate seems henceforth to have con-
sisted of between five and six hundred.
Julius Caesar augmented the number to 900,
and raised to this dignity even common sol-
diers, freedmen, and peregrini. Augustus
cleared the senate of the unworthy members,
who were contemptuously called by the
people Orcini senatores, and reduced its num-
ber to 600.—In the time of the kings the
senate was probably elected by the gentes,
each gens appointing one member as its re-
presentative; and as there were 300 gentes,
there were consequently 300 senators. The
whole senate was divided into decuries, each
of which corresponded to a curia. "When ti e
senate consisted of only one hundred mem-
bers, there were accordingly only ten de-
curies of senators; and ten senators, one
being taken from each decury, formed the
Decern Primi, who represented the ten curies.
When subsequently the representatives of
the two other tribes were admitted into the
senate, the Ramnes with their decern primi
retained for a time their superiority over the
two other tribes, and gave their votes first.
The first among the decern primi was the
princeps senatus, who was appointed by the
king, and was at the same time custos urbis.
[Peaefectvs urbi.] Respecting the age at
which a person might be elected into the
senate during the kingly period, we know no
more than what is indicated by the name
senator itself, that is, that they were persons
of advanced age.—Soon after the establish-
ment of the republic, though at what time is
uncertain, the right of appointing senators
passed from the gentes into the hands of the
consuls, consular tribunes, and subsequently
of the censors. At the same time, the right
which the magistrates possessed of electing
senators was by no means an arbitrary
power, for the senators were usually taken
from among those whom the people had pre-
viously invested with a magistracy, so that
in reality the people themselves always no-
minated the candidates for the senate, which
on this account remained, as before, a repre-
sentative assembly. After the institution of
the censorship, the censors alone had the
right of introducing new members into the
senate from among the ex-magistrates, and
of excluding such as they deemed unworthy.
[Censor.] The exclusion was effected by
simply passing over the names, and not en-
tering them on the lists of senators, whence
such men were called Praeteriti Senatores.
On one extraordinary occasion the eldest
among the ex-censors was invested with dic-
tatorial power for the purpose of filling up
vacancies in the senate.—As all curule ma-
gistrates, and also the quaestors, had by
virtue of their office a seat in the senate,
even if they had not been elected senators,
we must distinguish between two classes of
senators, viz., real senators, or such as had
been regularly raised to their dignity by the
magistrates or the censors, and such as had,
by virtue of the office which they held or
had held, a right to take their seats in the
senate and to speak (sententiam dicere, jus
sententiae), but not to vote. To this ordo
senatorius also belonged the pontifex maxi-
mus and the flamen dialis. Though these