Constitution of The Roman Kingdom - Senate

The Roman Senate was a political institution starting in the ancient Roman Kingdom. The Latin term, "senātus," is derived from senex, which means "old man". Therefore, senate literally means "board of old men." The prehistoric Indo-Europeans that settled Italy in the centuries before the legendary founding of Rome in 753 BC were structured into tribal communities. These communities would often include an aristocratic board of tribal elders. The early Roman family was called a gens, or "clan". Each clan was an aggregation of families under a common living male patriarch, called a pater (Latin for "father"), who was the undisputed master of his clan. When the early Roman gentes were aggregating to form a community, the patres from the leading clans were selected for the confederated board of elders (which later became the Roman Senate). Over time, the patres came to recognize the need for a single leader. Therefore, they elected a Roman king (rex), and vested in him their sovereign power. When the king died, that sovereign power would naturally revert to the patres. The senate of the Roman Kingdom held three principal responsibilities: it functioned as the ultimate repository for the executive power, served as counsel to the king, and functioned as a legislative body in concert with the people of Rome.

During the years of the monarchy, the Senate's most important function was to select new kings. The period between the death of one king and the election of the next, was called an interregnum. When a king died, a member of the Senate (the "interrex"') would nominate a candidate to replace the king. After the Senate gave its initial approval of the nominee, he would then be formally elected by the people, and then receive the Senate's final approval. So while the king was officially elected by the people, it was effectively the Senate's decision. The Senate's most significant role outside of royal elections was as an advisory council to the king. While the king was not bound by the Senate's advice, the growing prestige of the Senate made its advice increasingly impolitic to ignore. Technically, the Senate could also make laws, though it would be incorrect to view the Senate's decrees as legislation in the modern sense. Only the king could decree new laws, although he would often involve both the Senate and the Curiate Assembly (the popular assembly) in the process.