Senate procedures

Revision as of 18:17, 21 October 2006

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This is a summary of the procedures followed in the ancient senate in the time of the free republic.

Convening the senate

Who might convene the senate

The senate could be convened (i.e. ordered to meet) by any magistrate with the ius agendi cum senatu (the power to consult the senate, also known as the ius agendi cum patribus). The magistrates with the ius agendi cum senatu were, in order of precedence:

• Dictator
• Magister equitum
• Consul
• Praetor
• Tribunus plebis
• Interrex
• Praefectus urbi

Only one magistrate could convene the senate at any given time. If more than one magistrate with the ius agendi wished to convene the senate at the same time, it would be convened by the magistrate who was highest in the order of precedence listed above. However, once the senate was convened it was possible for other magistrates with the ius agendi to consult it (see below).

How the senate was convened

The convening magistrate would announce the date and time when the senate was to meet, and the place where it was to meet. The announcement was made either on the day or in advance.

If the announcement was made on the day of the meeting, the convening magistrate would simply send a herald to the forum to announce the location of the meeting and to summon the senatores to come to that location immediately. This procedure was quite common.

If the convening magistrate thought it necessary to give advance notice of the meeting, he would arrange for notices to be posted in various public locations, stating the time and place of the meeting.

During those seasons when many senatores spent time in the Italian countryside away from Rome, the convening magistrate might also send out viatores (messengers) to inform them of the meeting.

Obstruction

There was a very strong custom, observed throughout the republican period, that a magistrate with the ius agendi cum senatu could not be prevented from convening the senate, whether by the use of intercessio or by any other means.

Date, time and location of meetings

Date of meetings

Unlike the comitia, the senate was not restricted to particular types of day for its meetings, and it is known to have met on dies fasti, nefasti, nefasti publici, comitiales, and endotercisi, and on both dies relisiosi and even dies atri.

By custom the senate did not meet during meetings of the comitia, but there were occasional exceptions.

There were some days on which the senate normally met. In particular, the senate normally met on the day when the consules entered office.

Time of meetings

Meetings of the senate generally began early in the morning, often at sunrise. This was to allow the longest possible time for the meeting itself.

Duration of meetings

No matter when the meeting began, the senate could not conclude any valid business after sunset. Any vote taken after sunset was invalid. Informal discussion could, however, continue after sunset.

For this reason, it was customary not to begin discussion on any new relatio after the tenth hour of the day. This ensured that any relatio would be guaranteed at least two hours for discussion.

A meeting which ran out of time could not strictly be adjourned for continuation on a subsequent day. If a magistrate with the ius agendi felt that matters had been left unresolved, he would of course be able to convene a new meeting on a later day; this, however, would not be a continuation of the previous meeting and so the discussion would need to begin again from the beginning.

Location of meetings

It was up to the convening magistrate to choose the location of the meeting.

The only technical requirements were that the meeting must be within one mile of the city of Rome (though it could be, and often was, outside the pomerium) and that it must take place within a templum. Any vote taken in a place which did not meet these two requirements was invalid.

Beyond these technical requirements, practical considerations meant that meetings had to take place in locations where at least 100 people could comfortably sit and move around. Meetings were normally indoors, but this was purely a practical matter, and meetings could and did occur at outdoor templa: in particular, it was customary for the senate to meet in the open air to hear reports of speaking cattle (see prodigia).

The most common meeting-place was the curia Hostilia. Other common locations inside the city were the temples of Iuppiter Capitolinus, of Castor, of Concordia, of Fides, or Honor & Virtus, of Iuppiter Stator, of Tellus, and of Quirinus, and in the atrium Vestae. Common meeting-places outside the city were the temples of Apollo and of Bellona.

Attendance

Right to attend

Senatores

Any senator (i.e. anyone whose name was on the list of senatores which had been compiled by the censores) was entitled to attend any meeting of the senate.

Former magistrates

Also entitled to attend were those former magistrates who were not senatores but who possessed the ius sententiae dicendae (the right to give their opinion the senate) by virtue of their former magistracy. These former magistrates were:

• Dictatorius
• Censorius
• Consularis
• Praetorius
• Magistri equitum priores

Over time lower magistrates also gained the ius sententiae:

• Aedilicii curules (from the fourth century B.C.)
• Aedilicii plebis (from the late third century B.C.)
• Tribunicii plebis (from the early second century B.C.)
• Quaestorii (from the early first century B.C.)

It should be noted, however, that a former magistrate could lose the ius sententiae if he lost his citizenship, became infamis, or was passed over during the lectio senatus.

Current magistrates

The ius sententiae was also held by the current occupant of any magistracy of the Roman people, who were thus entitled to attend meetings of the senate while in office, whether they were senatores or not:

• Dictator
• Censor
• Consul
• Praetor
• Magister equitum
• Aedilis curulis
• Aedilis plebis
• Tribunus plebis
• Quaestor

Flamen Dialis

Finally, the flamen Dialis also held the ius sententiae by virtue of his office and was therefore entitled to attend meetings of the senate while he held that priesthood (which was normally held for life).

Others by special permission

Anyone who was not normally entitled to attend meetings of the senate could be given special permission to attend a particular meeting by the presiding magistrate. Such people were entitled to attend only for so long and on such terms as the presiding magistrate permitted.

This permission was most commonly given to the apparitores and lictores of the presiding magistrate himself, as well as to any special guests such as foreign ambassadors.

Listeners in the antechamber

Some people, though not permitted to enter the place where the senate was meeting, were customarily permitted to enter the antechamber and listen from there. These included, in particular, the young sons of men who were taking part in the meeting. This was also where the tribuni plebis listened to proceedings before they gained the ius sententiae in the third century B.C.

Listeners outside

Meetings of the senate were not in principle secret, and although only certain people were allowed to attend meetings there was no rule preventing others from listening to the meetings. On many occasions it is recorded that members of the public stood around the doorway of the building where a meeting was taking place and listened to the proceedings; if a large crowd gathered, those closer to the door would pass on the details to those further away.

The presiding magistrate did, however, have a discretion to close the doors and thus prevent members of the public hearing the debate.

Obligation to attend

Senatores

Of those who were entitled to attend meetings of the senate (see above), only senatores were obliged to attend.

Enforcement

This obligation could be enforced by the presiding magistrate, who could fine absentees or even seize and threaten to destroy their property (commonly their home) in order to compel them to attend. In practice, however, this was rarely done.

Exemption

A senator who was absent from Rome on public business was not obliged to attend; nor was one who was too old or infirm. In the first century B.C., and perhaps before, senatores were also permitted to be absent in order to fulfil a vow at a shrine outside Italy. This latter exemption came to be abused by some senatores to justify absences on entirely private business, and from M. Cicerone C. Antonio cos.‡ (DCXCI a.u.c.) such absences were limited to a maximum of one year.

Quorum

General rule

During the republican period there was no minimum number of votes required to vote on an ordinary relatio and pass an ordinary senatus consultum. It was left to the presiding magistrate to judge whether the meeting was sufficiently full (frequens) for meaningful business to be done, and his decision was not open to challenge.

Exceptions

Sometimes the senate was empowered by a lex or a senatus consultum to make decisions on particular issues, and in some cases the relevant lex or senatus consultum specified that such a vote would not be valid unless the meeting was attended by a certain minimum number of senatores.

As far as we know, such leges and senatus consulta never specified a minimum of more than half the total membership of the senate, and more commonly only required the attendance of one third of the total.

It is not entirely clear whether such numbers included only senatores or also others with the ius sententiae. Almost certainly they did not include current magistrates, since current magistrates did not vote at all (see below); but it probably did include former magistrates with the ius sententiae, and the flamen Dialis.

When a minimum number was required, there was no fixed procedure for checking that the required number of people were actually present, and it may well have been possible for a vote to go ahead without the required number so long as everyone present acquiesced. Any participant in the meeting could, however, shout "numera", whereupon the presiding magistrate was obliged to count those present and could not go ahead with the vote if the numbers were insufficient.

Seating

Ordinary participants

The senatores and other private citizens with the ius sententiae sat on benches. Where the meeting-place was square or rectangular, the benches were probably arrayed along the two walls either side of the main door. Some meeting-places, however, were built with special curved benches.

Particular areas of seating were not reserved for particular political parties or alliances, nor is there any evidence that some seats were reserved for more senior members. As will be seen below, participants were likely to change seats over the course of the meeting. In practice, however, there may have been some expectation that the more junior participants would sit where they could more easily get up and move about (see below).

Curule magistrates with the ius agendi

Curule magistrates with the ius agendi cum senatu (i.e. dictatores, consules, praetores, and magistri equitum) sat on their sellae curules on a raised platform.

In square or rectangular meeting-places, the platform was probably placed along the wall facing the main entrance. It would thus be at right-angles to the two sets of benches.

Tribuni plebis

The tribuni plebis sat together on a long bench (longa subsellio), which must have been long enough to accommodate ten people.

The normal location of the long tribunician bench is uncertain. Since the tribuni had originally sat outside in the antechamber, and had exerted pressure on the senate by blocking the exit, one may conjecture that when they gained admittance to the main chamber in the third century B.C. they took up a position somewhere just inside the entrance, and their long bench may have remained near the entrance thereafter.

Other magistrates

Current magistrates other than those just mentioned sat on chairs placed in a semi-circle around the foot of the platform which supported the consules, praetores, &c.

Rituals and formalities

Entry and exit of magistrates

When a magistrate entered or left the meeting, the senatores and private citizens with the ius sententiae would stand up. They might also stand up on the arrival or departure of any individual to whom they wished to show particular respect.

Sacrifice and auspices

The presiding magistrate would generally make a sacrifice and take auspices before beginning the meeting. Since the senate was technically an advisory body, these were private auspices and were taken merely for the satisfaction of the presiding magistrate himself. Accordingly a failure to take auspices did not render the proceedings invalid, as it would in the comitia.