The ''sacrum consistorium'' or ''sacrum auditorium'' (from , "discuss a topic"; , "sacred assembly") was the highest political council of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

from the time of

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

on. It replaced the '' consilium principis'' that had existed during the

Principate The Principate was the form of imperial government of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the Dominate. The principate was ch ...

. The council's powers and membership varied, being ultimately dependent on the emperor. The ''

magister officiorum The (Latin; ; ) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, the office was eventually transformed into a senior honorary rank, simply called ''magist ...

'', the ''

quaestor sacri palatii The ''quaestor sacri palatii'' (, usually simply ; English: Quaestor of the Sacred Palace) was the senior legal authority in the late Roman Empire and early Byzantine Empire, Byzantium, responsible for drafting laws. In the later Byzantine Empir ...

'', the ''

comes sacrarum largitionum The ''comes sacrarum largitionum'' ("Count of the Sacred Largesses"; in , ''kómes tōn theíon thesaurōn'') was one of the senior fiscal officials of the late Roman Empire and the early Byzantine Empire. Although it is first attested in 342/3 ...

'', the '' comes rerum privatarum'' and a few other high court officials were ''ex officio'' members, but the emperor was free to appoint additional members. These were specially appointed ''comites consistoriani'', who in the 6th century held the rank of ''

vir spectabilis The title ''vir illustris'' () is used as a formal indication of standing in late antiquity to describe the highest ranks within the senates of Rome and Constantinople. All senators had the title ''vir clarissimus'' (); but from the mid fourth ce ...

'', as well as other officials or close associates who were appointed ''ad hoc'' to it. The council's proceedings differed depending on each emperor's administrative style, but generally it served as the scene of "deliberations about political and administrative matters as well as ..court procedures and the particularly solemn sanctioning of imperial laws:, while at the same time being an avenue for its members to raise issues of concern to them and influence the emperor. The term "sacrum consistorium" is also applied to a formal meeting of the College of Cardinals called by the pope (a Papal consistory), as when Pius XII created 24 new cardinals in 1953. SACRUM CONSISTORIUM ALLOCUTIO SS.MI DOMINI NOSTRI PII PP. XII Die XII mensis Ianuarii, A.D. MCMLIII https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/la/speeches/1953/documents/hf_p-xii_spe_19530112_concistoro-segreto.html

References

{{reflist Government of the Byzantine Empire Government of the Roman Empire Councils Constantine the Great