Senator

A senator was a member of the Roman Senate, a council central to Republican politics that retained important functions under the emperors. Membership of the Senate was not the same as holding a magistracy: a consul exercised a particular office, while many former magistrates remained senators for much longer.

Senatus is related to senex, "old man". Tradition traced the council to Rome's kings and Romulus, but these later narratives do not securely establish its earliest membership or powers.

History

In the Republic, censors revised the Senate's membership; holding magistracies gradually became the principal route into it. After Sulla's reforms, the quaestorship normally provided entry. Membership was generally long-term, but removal during a revision remained possible. Entry rules, property requirements and the council's size changed over time.

Speaking precedence reflected rank based on previous offices. The princeps senatus enjoyed an honorary precedence, not the fixed powers of a modern parliamentary speaker. An authorised magistrate summoned and presided over meetings.

In the middle and late Republic the Senate influenced foreign relations, public funds, the allocation of commands and religious decisions. Its senatus consulta were council resolutions, not simply identical to statutes passed by popular assemblies. Their practical force depended on custom, senatorial authority, implementation by magistrates and political circumstances.

Under the emperors, decisive power belonged to the ruler, but the Senate did not immediately become an empty formality. It participated in legislation and trials, and senators held senior administrative and military posts. Relations with individual emperors could involve cooperation, dependence and conflict. The imperial term princeps cannot be reduced to the position of princeps senatus.

In late antiquity there were senates at Rome and Constantinople. Their organisation and standing developed over time; the claim that Diocletian simply reduced Rome's Senate to an ordinary town council oversimplifies this history.

Approximate membership landmarks are 300 for much of the Republic, 600 after Sulla's enlargement, 900 under Caesar and 600 following Augustus's revisions. No single fixed figure fits the entire late empire: the city, date and distinction between the council and the wider senatorial order must be specified.

How the Roman Senate worked

The Senate did not meet exclusively in one building: an appropriately consecrated space was required. The Curia in the Forum became its best-known setting, but meetings also took place in temples. The convening magistrate put a question before the council, senators spoke in order and a decision followed. Procedure and the opportunities for other officeholders to intervene had political importance.

The Senate was not an assembly of all citizens. Popular assemblies voted on legislative proposals and elected magistrates; the Senate provided continuity in discussion and administration. In practice the institutions interacted rather than forming three wholly separate branches of government.

Senate, social order and citizenship

The senatorial order extended beyond the men actually sitting in the Senate, especially under the Empire. Elite membership brought prestige and career opportunities without removing dependence on the ruler or political risk. Women of senatorial families could possess high social standing without becoming senators.

Roman citizenship did not itself confer senatorial status. Distinguishing citizen, equestrian, senator and magistrate helps explain SPQR and the structure of Roman society. Routes through public office are covered under Roman magistracies.

Reconstruction

A reconstruction of a senator should specify period and setting: public appearance, private life or the exercise of an office. Under the Empire, senatorial status was associated with the broad purple stripe on the tunic, the latus clavus, and particular forms of closed footwear. The toga was formal civic dress, with distinctions depending on status and office.

One statue is not a universal senator's costume pattern. Footwear colour, ornaments and drapery should be checked against dated images and texts. Rings alone do not securely identify the social order of the person depicted.

Related topics

Toga,Tunic,Calcei,Socks

• Roman society: orders and social relationships

• Roman citizenship: rights and legal status

Literature

• Andrew Lintott. The Constitution of the Roman Republic. Oxford University Press, 1999.
• Richard J. A. Talbert. The Senate of Imperial Rome. Princeton University Press, 1984.
• V. V. Dementyeva. State and Legal Structure of Ancient Rome: Early Monarchy and Republic. Yaroslavl, 2004 [in Russian].
• Kate Cooper and Julia Hillner, eds. Religion, Dynasty, and Patronage in Early Christian Rome, 300–900. Cambridge University Press, 2007.