Roman Constitution - Senate

Senate

The Roman senate was the most permanent of all of Rome's political institutions. It was probably founded before the first king of Rome ascended the throne. It survived the fall of the Roman Kingdom in 510 BC, the fall of the Roman Republic in 27 BC, and the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD. It was, in contrast to many modern institutions named 'Senate', not a legislative body.

The power of the senate waxed and waned throughout its history. During the days of the kingdom, it was little more than an advisory council to the king. The last king of Rome, the tyrant Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was overthrown following a coup d'état that was planned in the senate.

During the early republic, the senate was politically weak. During these early years, the executive magistrates were quite powerful. The transition from monarchy to constitutional rule was probably more gradual than the legends suggest. Thus, it took a prolonged weakening of these executive magistrates before the senate was able to assert its authority over those magistrates. By the middle republic, the senate reached the apex of its republican power. This occurred because of the convergence of two factors. The plebeians had recently achieved full political enfranchisement. Therefore, they were not as aggressive as they had been during the early republic in pushing for radical reforms. In addition, the period was marked by prolonged warfare against foreign enemies. The result was that both the popular assemblies and the executive magistrates deferred to the collective wisdom of the senate. The late republic saw a decline in the senate's power. This decline began following the reforms of the radical tribunes Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. The declining influence of the senate during this era, in large part, was caused by the class struggles that had dominated the early republic. The end result was the overthrow of the republic, and the creation of the Roman Empire.

The senate of the very early Roman Empire was as weak as it had been during the late republic. However, after the transition from republic to empire was complete, the senate arguably held more power than it had held at any previous point. All constitutional powers (legislative, executive and judicial) had been transferred to the senate. However, unlike the senate of the republic, the senate of the empire was dominated by the emperor. It was through the senate that the emperor exercised his autocratic powers. By the late principate, the senate's power had declined into near-irrelevance. It never again regained the power that it had held before that point.

Much of the surviving literature from the imperial period was written by senators. To a large degree, this demonstrates the strong cultural influence of the senate, even during the late empire. The institution survived the fall of the Empire in the West, and even enjoyed a modest revival as imperial power was reduced to a government of Italy only. The senatorial class was severely affected by the Gothic wars.