| Politics of theRoman Republic | ||||||||||
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| 509 – 27 BC | ||||||||||
| Constitution and development | ||||||||||
| Magistrates and officials | ||||||||||
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| Senate | ||||||||||
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Theprinceps senatus (pl.principes senatus), in English theleader of the senate, was the first member by precedence on the membership rolls of theRoman Senate.[1][2] Although officially out of thecursus honorum and possessing noimperium, this office conferred prestige on the senator holding it.
The position was created in the first half of the third century BC and retained its prominence for two centuries. Theprincipes were often the most famous Roman politicians of the period, suchMarcus Aemilius Lepidus,Scipio Africanus, andMarcus Aemilius Scaurus. It lost its importance after thereforms of the dictatorSulla in 82–80 BC, but might have been temporarily restored forCicero, its possible last incumbent during the struggle betweenMark Antony and the Senate in 43 BC. TheRoman emperors merged theprinceps senatus' prerogatives with their own, although there are occasional mentions of distinctive principes during the later Empire.
Theprinceps senatus was chosen by the pair ofcensors (that is, every 5 years on average) whenever there was a vacancy on the seat during their tenure.[3] Theprinceps senatus was not a lifetime appointment. However, in practice, the incumbentprinceps senatus was always re-appointed by the censors.[4]
Traditionally, theprinceps senatus had the honour of speaking first on any motion or topic presented by the presidingmagistrate.[5] By the middle republic,[6] theprinceps senatus was the most prestigious position in Rome and had adduced further privileges: he moved all routine senate business, having power to have his input directly moulded into them by choosing their wording. He also set out the possible options on controversial proposals.[7] Some notable principes of this period were the famousScipio Africanus (appointed in 199, 194, and 189) andMarcus Aemilius Lepidus, who was appointed a record six times between 179 and 154 and combined his position with that ofpontifex maximus – the Roman chief priesthood.[8]
The position ofprinceps senatus was not defined by law (lex), but by tradition (mos), which makes it more difficult to follow its evolution. For a long time, modern historians were influenced by the works ofTheodor Mommsen, who thought that theprincipes senatus could only bepatricians of thegentes maiores – the most illustrious patrician families (Cornelia,Valeria,Fabia,Aemilia,Manlia, andClaudia).[9] However, Francis Ryan showed that Mommsen's argument was circular: he first asserted that the princeps must be from agens maior, and later said the list ofgentes maiores can be drawn from the principes – while ancient sources are silent on many principes and do not give the list of thegentes maiores.[10][11] Ryan has argued instead that the princeps could be a plebeian: first, ancient sources never mention Mommsen's patrician requirement; second, because the post was established after the end of theConflict of the Orders, the plebeians would not have allowed the patricians to create an office barred to them.[12]
Theprinceps senatus appeared in the beginning of the third century BC, possibly in 275.[13] It finds its origin in thelex Ovinia ofc. 313 BC,[14] which considerably changed the composition of the Senate. Before this law, senators were about a hundred and appointed by the consuls from among their supporters; membership of the Senate therefore changed every year. Thelex Ovinia transferred the power to appoint senators to thecensors, who could only remove senators in case of misconduct, thus making them appointed for life. The law also increased their number to 300. These changes led the censors to make an official list of senators, recording their right to sit in the Senate. The first censor to make this list was likelyAppius Claudius Caecus, who was said to have invented therhotacism inLatin, perhaps in the process of writing this list, since several Latin names changed in these years.[15] Another reform of the Senate followed a few decades later: senators were by now picked from among former magistrates.[16] As a result, senators were ordered by the censors in several ranks according to their past magistracies. This ordering by seniority led to the creation of the princeps senatus: the first name on the list of senators, who was always the most senior ex-censor, patrician or plebeian; the censors could not make a choice between candidates.[17] Caecus was almost certainly not the first princeps, because the extensive tradition about him would not have failed to mention this fact. He is also described as an old man speaking in the Senate againstPyrrhusc. 280 BC. Since he was the most senior former censor at that date, the first princeps was necessarily appointed after his death.[18] The most probable candidate is thereforeQuintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, chosen by the censors of 275, whoselectio left a mark in ancient sources.[19]
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In 209 BC, the censorPublius Sempronius Tuditanus went against the tradition and appointedQuintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus instead ofTitus Manlius Torquatus, the senior ex-censor. Tuditanus justified his choice by saying that Fabius was the foremost of all the Romans ("princeps Romanae civitatis").[20] After this date, the princeps was the most important politician of the day, chosen among the ex-consuls, and often one of the sitting censors, appointed by the other censor.[21] When the censors could not agree on a candidate, the choice was solved by lot, as in 209 BC.[22]
The status and function ofprinceps senatus ceased to be relevant after thereforms of Sulla in 82–80 BC. Asdictator,Sulla established a strictoligarchic order in order to prevent any man from rising above the rest (for example, iteration of the consulship was banned). Several scholars, such as Theodor Mommsen andErnst Badian, believe that Sulla even abolished the office.[23][24] However, Sulla would probably not have demoted his close ally, the princepsLucius Valerius Flaccus, who had enabled his appointment as dictator though thelex Valeria.[25] Although the position probably continued – there was still a list of senators and someone had to be listed first – the prerogatives of the office fell away. In particular, consuls designate assumed the honour of speaking first.[26][27] This may be because, through the 80s and 70s, the senior living ex-censors – the most senior members of the senate, in the absence of a formalprinceps senatus due to the paucity of censoriallectiones, – were largely uninfluential and unimportant men. Even when named first in the list of senators, they were largely so named by default or custom and were unable to assert speaking privilege before more influential, but junior, consulars.[28]
Pierre Willems and Francis Ryan have suggested thatCicero may have been the last princeps senatus of the Republic, appointed after April 43 by his fellow senators. Such restoration of this ancient office was part of "diehard republicans"' propaganda againstMark Antony, whom Cicero had violently attacked in hisPhilippicae.[29] Cicero's ascribed leadership of the senate, however, may not have been through the office ofprinceps senatus as such.[30]
The position was revived byAugustus in 28 BC; he, irregularly, appointed himself. If the post was limited to certaingentes, theJulii were possibly ineligible, and Augustus was not yet then one of the customary candidates (senior ex-censors). Regardless, Augustus held the office until his death; it then absorbed into theemperor's offices and powers.[31]
In the emperor's absence, it is possible that a senator was granted the privilege of holding this role when the Senate met; the notoriously unreliableHistoria Augusta claimed that during theCrisis of the Third Century, some others held the position; in particular, it stated that the future emperorValerian held the office in AD 238, during the reigns ofMaximinus Thrax andGordian I, and he continued to hold it through to the reign ofDecius.[32][citation needed] The same source also makes the same claim aboutTacitus when the Senate acclaimed him emperor in AD 275.[33][citation needed]