The Senate ( Latin senatus , from senex - the old man, the council of elders) is one of the highest state authorities in ancient Rome [1] .
It was created from the council of elders of the patrician clans at the beginning of the tsarist period by the first king of Rome - Romulus - initially it consisted of 100 people.
Content
Republic Senate
With the establishment of the republic, the Senate, along with magistrates and popular assemblies ( comitia ), became an essential element of public life. The senate included former magistrates for life - thus, the political forces and state experience of Rome were concentrated here.
Senate members were divided into ranks in accordance with previously held positions . During the discussions, senators received the floor according to these ranks. At the head of the senate was the most deserved, the first of the senators - princeps (princeps senatus). Also, the senator was always required diligent behavior, education, attention and responsibility.
During the republic during the class struggle of the plebeians with the patricians ( V - III century BC ), the power of the senate was somewhat limited in favor of comitia (public assemblies) [1] .
In the III- I centuries BC. e. the senate preliminarily considered the bills proposed for voting in comitia, it belonged to the top leadership of military affairs, foreign policy, finance and state property, the supervision of religious cults, the right to declare a state of emergency, etc. The Senate approved laws and election results, controlled the activities of magistrates . Thus, the senate actually exercised state leadership.
The decisions of the Senate ( sc , senatus consulta ) had the force of law, as well as the decisions of the national assembly and the assembly of plebeians - a plebiscite .
According to Polybius (that is, from the point of view of the Romans), decisions in Carthage were made by the people (plebs), and in Rome by the best people, that is, the Senate [2] . And this despite the fact that according to many historians Carthage ruled the oligarchy [2] .
Empire Senate
During the empire, the power of the senate was increasingly limited, concentrating in the hands of the emperor , although formally the senate continued to be considered one of the highest state institutions [1] . In fact, the Senate has become a collection of representatives of noble families, which does not have much political influence. Decisions of the Senate retained the force of laws, but were usually adopted at the initiative of the emperor. Beginning with Octavian Augustus , the actual emperor of Rome bore the title "princeps" - that is, "the first of the senators."
Under Diocletian (end of the 3rd century ), the senate was turned into the city council of Rome; under Constantine ( 4th century ), a senate was established in Constantinople - the “second Rome”, equal in rights with the Senate of Rome [1] .
Senate after the fall of the Western Roman Empire
Even after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Senate in Rome continued to function under barbarian rule, while maintaining influence at the city level. For example, the episode is known when “ Theoderich sent the emperor Zeno the legate of Fest, the head of the senate, hoping to receive royal clothing for himself” [3] . However, in the middle of the VI century, the number of Roman noble families decreased as a result of the wars between the Ostrogoths and Byzantium, as the city passed from hand to hand, and the barbarians led representatives of the nobility as hostages. The last mention of the Roman Senate dates back to 603 : the Gregorian register mentions that this year the Senate welcomed the discovery of statues of Emperor Foki and his wife Leonty . It is assumed that as an institution, the Senate disappeared around 630 , when, with the permission of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius I , the Basilica of St. Adrian was built in the Roman Curia [4] .
Senate Size
The number of senators has repeatedly changed:
- initially - 100,
- in the days of the early republic (up to 88 BC ) - 300,
- since the time of Sulla - 600,
- under Caesar - 900,
- since the time of Augustus - again 600,
- in the period of late antiquity ( dominate ) - 2000.
Initially, the senate included only members of primordially Roman surnames, but from the 1st century BC. e. Italians also received this right, and during the time of the empire, even noble provincials.
From 313 BC e. he was accepted by the censor as a member of the Senate — he compiled a list of people holding or holding a magistracy with a certain property qualification (for example, under Augustus ( 1st century A.D. ) - 1 million sisters). In the days of the empire, this became the prerogative of the emperor.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Senate - Great Soviet Encyclopedia - Encyclopedias & Dictionaries . enc-dic.com. Date of treatment April 28, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 S. I. Kovalev “History of Rome”
- ↑ Anonymous Valesia, 60
- ↑ History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages / Volume II (Inaccessible link - history ) . Date of appeal February 19, 2011. (unavailable link)
Literature
- Rostovtsev M.I. Roman Senate // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Talbert RJA The Senate of Imperial Rome. - Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
- Dementieva, V. V. The state-legal structure of ancient Rome: the early monarchy and the republic : Textbook / V. V. Dementieva. - Yaroslav. state un-t - Yaroslavl, 2004.
- Religion, Dynasty, and Patronage in Early Christian Rome, 300–900 . - Cambridge University Press, September 13, 2007 .-- ISBN 978-1-139-46838-1 .