The Senate of the Roman Kingdom was a political institution in the ancient

Roman Kingdom The Roman Kingdom (also referred to as the Roman monarchy, or the regal period of ancient Rome) was the earliest period of Roman history when the city and its territory were ruled by kings. According to oral accounts, the Roman Kingdom began wi ...

. The word ''

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

'' derives from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

word '' senex'', which means "old man". Therefore, ''senate'' literally means "board of old men" and translates as "Council of Elders". The prehistoric Indo-Europeans who settled Rome in the centuries before the legendary founding of Rome in 753 BCAbbott, 3 were structured into tribal communities.Abbott, 1 These tribal communities often included an aristocratic board of tribal elders, who were vested with supreme authority over their tribe.Abbott, 12 The early tribes that had settled along the banks of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by th ...

eventually aggregated into a loose confederation, and later formed an alliance for protection against invaders. The early Romans were deeply patriarchal. The early Roman family was called a ''

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (plural: ''stirpes''). The ''gen ...

'' or "

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, mea ...

".Abbott, 1 Each clan was an aggregation of families under a common living male patriarch, called a '' pater'' (the Latin word for "father"). The ''pater'' was the undisputed master of his clan.Abbott, 6 He had the absolute power to resolve any disputes, and to make any decisions for the collective ''gens''. When the early Roman ''gens'' were aggregating to form a common community, the ''patres'' from the leading clans were selectedAbbott, 16 for the confederated board of elders (what would become the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

).Abbott, 6 Legend states that the senate grew to a membership of 300 after three blocks of 100 senators were added at fixed points in time. According to Abbott, however, what likely happened was a gradual aggregation of ''patres'' over time, as more clans achieved high status.Abbott, 16 The early senate derived its ultimate sovereignty from the fact that it was composed of the patriarchal heads of the leading families. As the individual ''patres'' led their families, the board of ''patres'' led the confederation of those families. In time, the ''patres'' came to recognize the need for a single leader. Therefore, they elected a

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

(''rex''),Abbott, 6 and vested in him their sovereign power.Byrd, 42 The king presided over the senate, appointed individuals to the senate (for life), and expelled individuals from the senate. When the king died, his sovereign power naturally reverted to the ''patres''.Abbott, 6

Origin and Development

According to

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

, The senate was created by Rome's first king,

Romulus Romulus () was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of these ...

and consisted of 100 men. The descendants of those 100 men subsequently became the patrician class. 100 more were added to the Senate by Rome's fifth king,

Lucius Tarquinius Priscus Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, or Tarquin the Elder, was the legendary fifth king of Rome and first of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned for thirty-eight years.Livy, ''ab urbe condita libri'', I Tarquinius expanded Roman power through military conq ...

, from amongst the minor leading families.

, ''

Ab urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an ex ...

'', 1:35

Powers of the senate

The senate of the

could only be convened by the king, and usually met in either a ''templum'', or in some other location that had been consecrated by a religious official (an

augur An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying ...

).Abbott, 17 While the senate could pass "laws", it would be incorrect to view the "laws" passed during the time of the kingdom as legislation. In effect, these "laws" were actually the decrees of the king. The king had the absolute power to make any law. However, he often involved both the senate and the

popular assembly A popular assembly (or people's assembly) is a gathering called to address issues of importance to participants. Assemblies tend to be freely open to participation and operate by direct democracy. Some assemblies are of people from a location ...

(the "Curiate Assembly") in the process. The primary role of the senate in this process was to either assist the king, or to provide additional legitimacy to a decree of the king by declaring its support. Sometimes this involved debate in the senate over the proposed law or an actual vote on the law. However, the king was free to ignore any ruling that the senate ultimately passed.Abbott, 17 In addition, during the days of the kingdom, the senate's limited prestige made it an accepted practice for the king to ignore advice handed down by the senate. The senate did, however, become an influential advisory council to the king. This tradition was maintained throughout the life of the Roman Republic, although in practice, the republican magistrates rarely acted against the wishes of the senate.Abbott, 17 Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres 019

The ''

patres The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

'' that filled the ranks of the early senate held a position of absolute dominance over their respective families.Abbott, 6 Since the senate was filled with the ''patres'' of the leading families, their individual dominance over their individual families was consolidated into collective dominance over the collective families of the early Roman community. These were the original patrician families. While the king was technically elected by the people, it was actually the senate who chose each new king. Since the consolidated authority of the ''patres'' of the senate chose the king, the king became the embodiment of that authority. Since the authority of each ''pater'' over his family was absolute,Abbott, 6 the king was vested with the absolute authority over those families (and thus over the entire state). Since the king derived his authority from the ''patres'', he (theoretically) could not pass that power on to an heir upon his death. Thus, the authority reverted to the senate when the king died. The period between the death of one king, and the election of a new king, was called the

interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...

, ''

'', 1:17 The interregnum was the only period during which the senate exercised its sovereign power. During the first interregnum after the death of Romulus, the senate, comprised at that time of 100 men, arranged itself into ten decuries, and each decurio governed Rome for five days as

interrex The interrex (plural interreges) was literally a ruler "between kings" (Latin ''inter reges'') during the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic. He was in effect a short-term regent. History The office of ''interrex'' was supposedly created follow ...

. The decurios continued to rotate the government amongst themselves for a year until the senate elected

Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions ar ...

as king. The practice eventually evolved that, when a king died, it was a member of the senate (the Interrex) who nominated a candidate to replace the king.Abbott, 14 If the senate gave its approval, then in practice, the people were unlikely to reject the nominee.Byrd, 20 The formal election of the king by the people, however, did serve to confirm to the senate that the people (many of whom fought in the armies that were commanded by the king) found their new potential commander-in-chief to be acceptable.Abbott, 14 After the senate gave its final approval, the Interrex declared the individual king, and then returned to the ranks of the senate.Abbott, 14 In effect, the senate chose the king, the people ratified that choice, and the senate finalized the decision.

References

* Abbott, Frank Frost (1901). ''A History and Description of Roman Political Institutions''. Elibron Classics (). * Byrd, Robert (1995). ''The Senate of the Roman Republic''. U.S. Government Printing Office, Senate Document 103–23. * Cicero, Marcus Tullius (1841). ''The Political Works of Marcus Tullius Cicero: Comprising his Treatise on the Commonwealth; and his Treatise on the Laws. Translated from the original, with Dissertations and Notes in Two Volumes''. By Francis Barham, Esq. London: Edmund Spettigue. Vol. 1. * Lintott, Andrew (1999). ''The Constitution of the Roman Republic''. Oxford University Press (). * Polybius (1823). ''The General History of Polybius: Translated from the Greek''. By James Hampton. Oxford: Printed by W. Baxter. Fifth Edition, Vol 2. * Taylor, Lily Ross (1966). ''Roman Voting Assemblies: From the Hannibalic War to the Dictatorship of Caesar''. The University of Michigan Press ().

Origin and Development

Powers of the senate

See also

References

Notes

Further reading

Primary sources

Secondary source material