Senate, Roman

Senate, Roman, assembly that played a role of varying significance in the governing of the Roman Empire. Although the power it wielded altered throughout the history of the empire, the Senate nevertheless remained a constant in the political system.

According to legend, the Roman Senate was first convened by Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome. The earliest certain information about the Senate indicates that, in the period of the Kings of Rome, when the monarch held absolute power for life, it was an advisory body of 300 patricians. When the monarchical system ended in 510 bc, the Senate became an advisory body to the two consuls that jointly ruled the Roman Republic for a period of one year at a time; since the rule of individual consuls was finite, the permanent body of the Senate became increasingly important in the formulation of policy. The Senate held particular responsibility for foreign affairs, for the supervision of state religion, and for the auditing of public accounts.

In the last two centuries of the Roman Republic, the function of the Senate underwent significant alterations, and it acquired considerable and officially acknowledged powers, no longer subject to the authority of the consuls. From this period, the powers of the Senate continued to increase for some time, and by 82 bc it had become the chief source of power in Rome, advising on all aspects of government.

However, this growing influence was not accepted by the tribunes and, eventually, with the collapse of the Republic, the Senate ceased to function. Although the Senate was restored by Augustus, it did not recover the powers it had previously held, and was now merely a subsidiary advisory body to the emperor. In this period, the Senate also became increasingly important as a court of law. The Senate appears to have ceased to exist after the 6th century ad.