senate
senateRegal and republican Age
Composition
In the time of the Gracchi (c.133–121 BC) the senate was a body of around 300 wealthy men of aristocratic birth, most of them ex-magistrates. Although the sources tend to assume that this state of affairs had always existed, in fact it was the product of historical development and change. Since in the early republic there were very few magistrates, and iteration of office was common, it follows that there was a time when either the majority of senators had never held a magistracy, or their number was considerably less than 300. Probably both conclusions are true for the 5th cent. This must cast doubt on the notion that the number 300 is connected with the three tribes and thirty curiae (voting groupings); in fact there is no basis for this theory in the ancient sources, and tradition itself implicitly denies it in maintaining that Romulus, who founded the tribes...[The entire page is 2753 words long]
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