[citation needed] The ancient Senate continued to function after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, but it became increasingly irrelevant and seems to have disappeared in the seventh century.
It is last attested in 603, when it acclaimed new statues of Emperor Phocas and Empress Leontia in 603,[1][2] and in 630 the Senate House was transformed into a church by Pope Honorius I.
[4] In 1144, the Commune of Rome attempted to establish a government modeled on the old Roman Republic in opposition to the temporal power of the higher nobles (in particular the Frangipani family) and the pope.
[citation needed] This new form of civil government was constantly under pressure from the papacy and the Holy Roman Emperor.
For example, Pope Clement IV bestowed it on Henry of Castile in 1267 to reward him for his support of Charles I of Naples.