Princeps senatus

The princeps senatus (plural principes senatus) was the first member by precedence of the Roman senate. Although officially out of the cursus honorum and owning no imperium, this office brought enormous prestige to the senator holding it.

The princeps senatus was not a lifetime job. He was chosen by every new pair of censors (that is, every 5 years). Censors could, however, confirm a princeps senatus for a period of another 5 years. He was selected from patrician senators with consular rank, usually former censors. The successful candidate had to be a patrician with an impeccable political record, respected by his fellow senators.

Originally, the position of the princeps was one of honor: he had the privilege of speaking first on the topic presented by the presiding magistrate. This gave the position great dignitas as it allowed the princeps to set the tone of the debate in the Senate. In the late Republic and in the Principate, the office gained the prerogatives of the presiding magistrates and additional powers, namely:

• Summoning and adjourning the Senate
• Deciding its agenda
• Deciding where the session should take place
• Imposing order and other rules of the session
• Meeting, in the name of the senate, with embassies of foreign countries
• Writing, in the name of the senate, letters and dispatches

After the fall of the Roman Republic, the princeps senatus was the Roman Emperor (see also: princeps). However, during the Crisis of the Third Century, some others held the office; the future emperor Valerian held the office in 238, during the reigns of Maximinus Thrax and Gordian I.

Incomplete list of principes senatus

• …
• 214 BC – Marcus Fabius Buteo
• 209 BC – Quintus Fabius Maximus
• 199 BC – Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus
• 184 BC – Lucius Valerius Flaccus
• 179 BC – Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (187 BC)
• 147 BC – Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica
• 136 BC – Appius Claudius Pulcher
• 131 BC – Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Lupus
• 125 BC – Publius Cornelius Lentulus
• 115 BC – Marcus Aemilius Scaurus
• 86 BC - Lucius Valerius Flaccus
• 28 BC – Augustus
• - Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus
• …

External links

• The Roman Law Library By Professor Yves Lassard and Alexandr Koptev