Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

Roman History – The Brief Version

over whether any citizen or just members of certain elite clans (“patricians”) could hold office, but the broader view (also including “plebeians”) won out by a little after 300 bc. The Senate continued to exist during this period. By the end of the Republic, membership in the Senate was a more or less automatic benefit of being elected to one of the mag istracies, and seats were held for life. While the formalization of these rules came fairly late, the general practice seems to have been customary as far back as we can see. Technically, the Senate remained a largely advisory body, now assisting the consuls rather than the king. Only the people, not the Senate, could pass laws. The Senate exercised power in two ways. Less importantly, laws were occasionally passed specifically autho rizing the Senate to fulfill certain functions, such as choosing provincial governors. This was rare, and most of the instances are from quite late in the Republic. More importantly, politi cal figures spent most of their careers in the Senate and very little in the magistracies. Hence, the magistrates tended to do as they were “advised” by the Senate. In particular, it became conventional (though never strictly required) to get legislation approved by the Senate before presenting it to the people for formal passage. An important point about the Roman government that is probably not clear from the discussion so far has to do with its size. Two things make it almost unbelievably small from a modern point of view. First, we are accustomed today to gov ernment with many levels: not just cities and nations, but a variety of levels in between, such as counties, states, provinces,

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