Senate of the Roman Republic

Polybius noted that it was the consuls (the highest-ranking of the regular magistrates) who led the armies and the civil government in Rome, and it was the Roman assemblies which had the ultimate authority over elections, legislation, and criminal trials.

Thus, after this point in time, election to magisterial office resulted in automatic Senate membership.

This was especially the case with regard to its management of state finances, as only it could authorize the disbursal of public monies from the treasury.

Many of these rules and procedures originated in the early years of the Republic, and were upheld over the centuries under the principle of mos maiorum ("customs of the ancestors").

[1] Senate meetings might take place outside of the formal boundary of the city for several reasons.

For example, before any meeting could begin, a sacrifice to the gods was made, and a search for divine omens (the auspices) was taken.

They could not own a ship that was large enough to participate in foreign commerce without legal approval,[1] and they could not leave Italy without permission from the Senate.

Various moral failings could result in one not being allowed to join the Senate, including bankruptcy, prostitution, or a prior history of having been a gladiator.

One law (the Lex repetundarum of 123 BC) made it illegal for a citizen to become a senator if they had been convicted of a criminal offense.

[5] Many of these laws were enacted in the last century of the Republic, as public corruption began reaching unprecedented levels.

The presiding magistrate began each meeting with a speech (the verba fecit),[9] which was usually brief, but was sometimes a lengthy oration.

[10] A senator could make a brief statement, discuss the matter in detail, or talk about an unrelated topic.

[13] In the later years of the Republic, attempts were made by the aristocracy to limit the increasing level of chaos associated with the obstructive tendencies and democratic impulses of some of the senators.

[14] During his term as dictator, Julius Caesar enacted laws that required the publication of Senate resolutions.

This publication, called the acta diurna, or "daily proceedings", was meant to increase transparency and minimize the potential for abuse.

If the Senate proposed a bill that the plebeian tribune (the magistrate who was the chief representative[clarification needed] of the people) did not agree with, he issued a veto, which was backed by the promise to literally "interpose the sacrosanctity of his person" (or intercessio) if the Senate did not comply.

[16] Once a vote occurred, and a measure passed, he could do nothing, since his promise to physically interpose his person against the senators was now meaningless.

If there was no veto, and the matter was of a significant nature, there was usually a physical division of the house, where senators voted by taking a place on either side of the chamber.

This document included the name of the presiding magistrate, the place of the assembly, the dates involved, the number of senators who were present at time the motion was passed, the names of witnesses to the drafting of the motion, and the substance of the act.

Representation of a sitting of the Roman Senate: Cicero attacks Catiline , from a 19th-century fresco
Chart showing the checks and balances of the Constitution of the Roman Republic
The Orator , c. 100 BC, an Etrusco - Roman bronze sculpture depicting Aule Metele (Latin: Aulus Metellus), an Etruscan man of Roman senatorial rank, engaging in rhetoric . He wears senatorial shoes and a toga praetexta of the "skimpy" ( exigua ) Republican type. [ 6 ] The statue features an inscription in the Etruscan alphabet
The so-called " Togatus Barberini ", a statue depicting a Roman senator holding the imagines ( effigies ) of deceased ancestors in his hands; marble, late 1st century BC; head (not belonging): mid 1st century BC.