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Resolution of the ancient Roman Senate
A
senatus consultum
(
Latin
: decree of the senate, plural:
senatus consulta
) is a text emanating from the senate in
Ancient Rome
. It is used in the modern phrase
senatus consultum ultimum
.
Translated into French as
senatus-consulte
, the term was also used during the
French Consulate
, the
First French Empire
and the
Second French Empire
.
Republic
[
edit
]
In the case of the ancient
Roman Senate
under the
Roman Kingdom
, it was simply an opinion expressed by the senate, such as the
Senatus consultum Macedonianum
or the
Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus
. Under the
Republic
, it referred to a text promulgated by the senate on planned laws presented to the senate by a
consul
or
praetor
. Officially these
consulta
were merely advice given to the Republic's magistrates, but in practice magistrates often followed them to the letter.
[1]
Despite only being an opinion, it was considered obligatory to have one before submitting the decision to a vote and moreover a hostile
consultum
from the senate almost systematically provoked the new law's abandonment or modification. If a
consultum
conflicted with a law promulgated by one of the Republic's legislative assemblies, the law took on a priority status and overrode the
consultum
.
[2]
All proposed motions could be blocked by a veto from a
tribune of the plebs
or an
intercessio
by one of the executive magistrates. Each motion blocked by a veto was registered in the annals as
senatus auctoritas
(will of the senate). Each ratified motion finally became a
senatus consultum
. Each
senatus auctoritas
and each
senatus consultum
was transcribed in a document by the
princeps senatus
, which was then deposited in the
Aerarium
.
[1]
Empire
[
edit
]
Under the
Roman Empire
, the Roman legislative assemblies were rapidly neutralised. The first emperors transferred all legislative powers to the senate. After this transfer, the
senatus consulta
had the force of law.
[3]
The senate's legislative power and right to issue
consulta
were suppressed in the 3rd century under the
Dominate
, in reference to the full powers conferred to the
imperium
. In the continued decline in praetorian law, the change rendered the emperor alone the guarantor of law and the Imperial constitution.
List of
senatus consulta
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Byrd
, 44
- ^
Polybius,
History
, VI.4
- ^
Abbott
, 385
- ^
Sherk,
Roman Document from the Greek East
, pp. 23, 24.
- ^
Famerie, "Aspects diplomatiques", §22.
- ^
Chaniotis, "Justifying territorial claims", pp. 193, 194.
- ^
Forsythe,
The Historian L. Calpurnius Piso
, pp. 15, 16.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Robert Byrd
,
The Senate of the Roman Republic
, 1995, U.S. Government Printing Office, Senate Document 103-23 ;
- Polybius
,
History
, book 6
- Frank Frost Abbott
,
A History and Description of Roman Political Institutions
, 1901, Elibron Classics,
ISBN
0-543-92749-0
.
- Angelos Chaniotis
, "Justifying territorial claims in classical and hellenistic Greece: the beginnings of international law", in Edward Monroe Harris,
Lene Rubinstein
(editors),
The Law and the Courts in Ancient Greece
, London, Duckworth, 2004, pp. 185?213.
ISBN
0-7156-3117-9
- Etienne Famerie, "
Aspects diplomatiques de la politique romaine dans l'orient grec (II
e
s. av. J.-C.)
",
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Annuaire, resumes des conferences et travaux
, 144
e
annee, 2011-2012, pp. 46?52.
- Gary Forsythe,
The historian L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi and the Roman annalistic tradition
, Lanham, MD, 1994.
ISBN
9780819197429
- Robert K. Sherk,
Roman Document from the Greek East,
Senatus Consulta
and
Epistulae
to the Age of Augustus
, Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins Press, 1969.