DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13855#0344
SEXATUS.
33G
SEXATUS.
president which of the opinions expressed he
would put to the vote, and which he would
pass over. The majority of votes always
decided a question. The majority was ascer-
tained either by numefatio or discessio ; that
is, the president either counted the votes, or
the members who voted on the same side
separated from those who voted otherwise.
The latter mode seems to have been the
usual one. What the senate determined was
called eenatus consultant, because the consul,
who introduced the business, was said stria-
tum consulere. In the enacting' part of a lex
the populus were said juberc, and in a plebis-
citum scire ; in a senatusconsultum the senate
was said censere. Certain forms were ob-
served in drawing up a senatusconsultum, of
which there is an example in Cicero : " S. C.
Auctoritates Pridie Kal. Octob. in Aede
Apollinis, scribendo adfuerunt L. Domitius
Cn. Filius Ahenobarbus, &c. Quod M. Mar-
cellus Consul V. F. (verba fecit) de prov.
Cons. D. E. R. I. C. (de ea re ita censuerunt
L'ti, <$c.)" The names of the persons who
were witnesses to the drawing- up of the
senatusconsultum were called the auctoritates,
and these auctoritates were cited as evidence
of the fact of the persons named in them
having been present at the drawing up of the
S. C. There can be no doubt that certain
persons were required to be present scribendo,
but others might assist if they chose, and a
person in chis way might testify his regard
for another on behalf of whom or with refer-
ence to whom the S. C. was made. Besides
the phrase scribendo adesse, there are esse ad
scribendum and poni ad scribendum. When
a S. C. was made on the motion of a person,
it was said to be made in sententiam ejus.
If the S. C. was carried, it was written on
tablets, and placed in the Aerarium. Sena-
tusconsulta were, properly speaking, laws,
for it is clear that the senate had legislative
power even in the republican period; but it
is difficult to determine how far their legis-
lative power extended. A decretum of the
senate was a rule made by the senate as to
some matter which was strictly within its
competence, and thus differed from a senatus-
consultum, which was a law ; but these words
are often used indiscriminately and with
little precision. Many of the senatusconsulta
of the republican period were only determi-
nations of the senate, which became leges by
being carried in the comitia. One instance
of this kind occurred on the occasion of the
trial of Clodius for violating the mysteries of
the Bona Dea. A rogatio on the subject of
the trial was proposed to the comitia ex
senatusconsulto, which is also spoken of as
the auetoritas of the senate. A senate was
not allowed to be held before sunrise or to be
prolonged after sunset : on extraordinary
emergencies, however, this regulation was tet
aside.—During the latter part of the republic
the senate was degraded in various ways by
Sulla, Caesar, and others, and on many occa-
sions it was only an instrument in the hands
of the men in power. In this way it became
prepared for the despotic government of the
emperors, when it was altogether the creature
and obedient instrument of the prineeps.
The emperor himself was generally ale i
prineeps senatus, and had the power of con-
voking both ordinary and extraordinary
meetings, although the consuls, praetors and
tribunes continued to have the same right. The
ordinary meetings, according to a regulation
of Augustus, were held twice in every
month. In the reign of Tiberius the election
of magistrates was transferred from the peo-
ple to the senate, which, however, was en-
joined to take especial notice of those candi-
dates who were recommended to it by the
emperor. At the demise of an emperor the
senate had the right of appointing his suc-
cessor, in case no one had been nominated by
the emperor himself; but the senate very
rarely had an opportunity of exercising this
right, as it was usurped by the soldiers. The
aerarium at first still continued nominally tc
be under the control of the senate, but the
emperors gradually took it under their own
exclusive management, and the senate re-
tained nothing but the administration of the
funds of the city (area publica), which were
distinct both from the aerarium and from
the fiscus. Augustus ordained that no accu-
sations should any longer be brought before
the comitia, and instead of them he raised
the senate to a high court of justice, upon
which he conferred the right of taking cogni-
sance of capital offences committed by sena-
tors, of crimes against the state and the per-
son of the emperors, and of crimes committed
by the provincial magistrates in the adminis-
tration of their provinces. Respecting the
provinces of the senate, see Provixcia.
Under the empire, senatusconsulta began to
take the place of leges, properly so called,
and as the seriate was, with the exception of
the emperor, the only legislating body, such
senatusconsulta are frequently designated by
the name of the consuls in whose year of
office they were passed.—The distinctions and
privileges enjoyed by senators were : 1. The
tunica with a broad purple stripe (iatus
clavus) in front, which was woven in it, and
not, as is commonly believed, sewed upon it.
2. A kind of short boot, with the letter C. on
the front of the foot. This C. is generally
supposed to mean centum, and to refer to the
33G
SEXATUS.
president which of the opinions expressed he
would put to the vote, and which he would
pass over. The majority of votes always
decided a question. The majority was ascer-
tained either by numefatio or discessio ; that
is, the president either counted the votes, or
the members who voted on the same side
separated from those who voted otherwise.
The latter mode seems to have been the
usual one. What the senate determined was
called eenatus consultant, because the consul,
who introduced the business, was said stria-
tum consulere. In the enacting' part of a lex
the populus were said juberc, and in a plebis-
citum scire ; in a senatusconsultum the senate
was said censere. Certain forms were ob-
served in drawing up a senatusconsultum, of
which there is an example in Cicero : " S. C.
Auctoritates Pridie Kal. Octob. in Aede
Apollinis, scribendo adfuerunt L. Domitius
Cn. Filius Ahenobarbus, &c. Quod M. Mar-
cellus Consul V. F. (verba fecit) de prov.
Cons. D. E. R. I. C. (de ea re ita censuerunt
L'ti, <$c.)" The names of the persons who
were witnesses to the drawing- up of the
senatusconsultum were called the auctoritates,
and these auctoritates were cited as evidence
of the fact of the persons named in them
having been present at the drawing up of the
S. C. There can be no doubt that certain
persons were required to be present scribendo,
but others might assist if they chose, and a
person in chis way might testify his regard
for another on behalf of whom or with refer-
ence to whom the S. C. was made. Besides
the phrase scribendo adesse, there are esse ad
scribendum and poni ad scribendum. When
a S. C. was made on the motion of a person,
it was said to be made in sententiam ejus.
If the S. C. was carried, it was written on
tablets, and placed in the Aerarium. Sena-
tusconsulta were, properly speaking, laws,
for it is clear that the senate had legislative
power even in the republican period; but it
is difficult to determine how far their legis-
lative power extended. A decretum of the
senate was a rule made by the senate as to
some matter which was strictly within its
competence, and thus differed from a senatus-
consultum, which was a law ; but these words
are often used indiscriminately and with
little precision. Many of the senatusconsulta
of the republican period were only determi-
nations of the senate, which became leges by
being carried in the comitia. One instance
of this kind occurred on the occasion of the
trial of Clodius for violating the mysteries of
the Bona Dea. A rogatio on the subject of
the trial was proposed to the comitia ex
senatusconsulto, which is also spoken of as
the auetoritas of the senate. A senate was
not allowed to be held before sunrise or to be
prolonged after sunset : on extraordinary
emergencies, however, this regulation was tet
aside.—During the latter part of the republic
the senate was degraded in various ways by
Sulla, Caesar, and others, and on many occa-
sions it was only an instrument in the hands
of the men in power. In this way it became
prepared for the despotic government of the
emperors, when it was altogether the creature
and obedient instrument of the prineeps.
The emperor himself was generally ale i
prineeps senatus, and had the power of con-
voking both ordinary and extraordinary
meetings, although the consuls, praetors and
tribunes continued to have the same right. The
ordinary meetings, according to a regulation
of Augustus, were held twice in every
month. In the reign of Tiberius the election
of magistrates was transferred from the peo-
ple to the senate, which, however, was en-
joined to take especial notice of those candi-
dates who were recommended to it by the
emperor. At the demise of an emperor the
senate had the right of appointing his suc-
cessor, in case no one had been nominated by
the emperor himself; but the senate very
rarely had an opportunity of exercising this
right, as it was usurped by the soldiers. The
aerarium at first still continued nominally tc
be under the control of the senate, but the
emperors gradually took it under their own
exclusive management, and the senate re-
tained nothing but the administration of the
funds of the city (area publica), which were
distinct both from the aerarium and from
the fiscus. Augustus ordained that no accu-
sations should any longer be brought before
the comitia, and instead of them he raised
the senate to a high court of justice, upon
which he conferred the right of taking cogni-
sance of capital offences committed by sena-
tors, of crimes against the state and the per-
son of the emperors, and of crimes committed
by the provincial magistrates in the adminis-
tration of their provinces. Respecting the
provinces of the senate, see Provixcia.
Under the empire, senatusconsulta began to
take the place of leges, properly so called,
and as the seriate was, with the exception of
the emperor, the only legislating body, such
senatusconsulta are frequently designated by
the name of the consuls in whose year of
office they were passed.—The distinctions and
privileges enjoyed by senators were : 1. The
tunica with a broad purple stripe (iatus
clavus) in front, which was woven in it, and
not, as is commonly believed, sewed upon it.
2. A kind of short boot, with the letter C. on
the front of the foot. This C. is generally
supposed to mean centum, and to refer to the