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The princeps senatus (plural principes senatus) was the first member by precedence of the Roman Senate
Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
. Although officially out of the cursus honorum
Cursus honorum

The cursus honorum was the Sequence order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire....
 and owning no imperium
Imperium

Imperium in a broad sense translates as 'Power '. In ancient Rome the concept applied to people and meant something like 'power status' or 'authority' or could be used with a geographical connotation and meant something like 'territory'....
, this office brought enormous prestige to the senator holding it.
princeps senatus was not a lifetime appointment. He was chosen by every new pair of censors
Censor (ancient Rome)

A Censor was a Magistratus of high rank in the ancient Roman Republic. This position was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances....
 (that is, every 5 years). Censors could, however, confirm a princeps senatus for a period of another 5 years.






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The princeps senatus (plural principes senatus) was the first member by precedence of the Roman Senate
Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
. Although officially out of the cursus honorum
Cursus honorum

The cursus honorum was the Sequence order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire....
 and owning no imperium
Imperium

Imperium in a broad sense translates as 'Power '. In ancient Rome the concept applied to people and meant something like 'power status' or 'authority' or could be used with a geographical connotation and meant something like 'territory'....
, this office brought enormous prestige to the senator holding it.

Overview

The princeps senatus was not a lifetime appointment. He was chosen by every new pair of censors
Censor (ancient Rome)

A Censor was a Magistratus of high rank in the ancient Roman Republic. This position was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances....
 (that is, every 5 years). Censors could, however, confirm a princeps senatus for a period of another 5 years. He was selected from patrician
Patrician

The term "patrician" originally referred to a group of elitism citizens in ancient Rome, including both their natural and adopted members. In the late Roman empire, the class was broadened to include high council officials, and after the fall of the Western Empire became a term for Byzantine Imperial governors in the West....
 senators with consul
Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
ar 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
Principate

The Principate is the first period of the Roman Empire, extending from the beginning of the reign of Caesar Augustus to the Crisis of the Third Century, after which it was replaced with the Dominate....
, 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
Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
, the princeps senatus was the Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 (see also: princeps
Princeps

The Latin word Princeps means exactly 'a prime'. This article is devoted to a number of specific historical meanings the word took, by far the most important of which follows first....
). However, during the Crisis of the Third Century
Crisis of the Third Century

Crisis of the Third Century was the crumbling and near collapse of the Roman Empire between 235 and 284 caused by invasion, civil war, Plague of Cyprian, and economic collapse....
, some others held the office; the future emperor Valerian
Valerian (emperor)

Publius Licinius Valerianus , commonly known in English language as Valerian or Valerian I, was the Roman Emperor from 253 to 260....
 held the office in 238, during the reigns of Maximinus Thrax
Maximinus Thrax

Gaius Iulius Verus Maximinus , also known as Maximinus Thrax and Maximinus I, was a Roman Emperor .Maximinus is described by several ancient sources as the first barbarian who wore the imperial purple and the first emperor never to set foot in Rome....
 and Gordian I
Gordian I

Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus Africanus , known in English language as Gordian I, was Roman Emperor during the year 238....
.

List of principes senatus

  • Manius Valerius Maximus.
  • Marcus Fabius Ambustus
    Marcus Fabius Ambustus

    Marcus Fabius Ambustus is the name of:* Marcus Fabius Ambustus * Marcus Fabius Ambustus ...
    .
  • ca. 275/269 BC: Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus.
  • ca. 269/265 BC: Gaius Marcius Rutilus Censorinus?
  • In or after 258 BC: Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges
    Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges (consul 292 BC)

    Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges was the son of Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus and a Consul in 292 and 276 BC.In 295 BC he was curule aedile, and fined certain matrons of noble birth for their disorderly life....
    , son of Rullianus
  • ca. 247/241 BC: Gnaeus Cornelius Blasio?
  • ca. 236/230 BC: Gaius Duilius
    Gaius Duilius

    Gaius Duilius was a Roman Republic politician and admiral involved in the First Punic War.Not much is known about his family background or early career, since he was a novus homo, meaning not belonging to a traditional family of Roman aristocrats....
    ?
  • ca. 225 BC: Manius Valerius Maximus Messalla?
  • ca. 220 BC: Aulus Manlius Torquatus Atticus?
  • By 216 BC: Marcus Fabius Buteo
    Marcus Fabius Buteo

    Marcus Fabius Buteo was a Rome politician during the 3rd century BC. He served as consul and as Censor , and in 216 BC, being the oldest living ex-censor, he was appointed Roman dictator, legendo senatui, for the purpose of filling vacancies in the senate after the Battle of Cannae....
    .
  • 209 203 BC: Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator
    Fabius Maximus

    Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator , was a Roman politician and general, born in Rome around 280 BC and died in Rome in 203 BC. He was Roman Consul five times and was twice Roman Dictator in 221 and again in 217 BC....
    .
  • 199 184/183 BC: Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus.
  • 184/183 180 BC: Lucius Valerius Flaccus.
  • 179 153/152 BC: Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
    Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (187 BC)

    Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was a Roman consul, Pontifex Maximus and Censor .As a praetor he was governor of Sicily in 191 BC. He was elected consul in 187 BC....
    .
  • 153/152 ca. 147 BC: Position vacant.
  • ca. 147 : Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum
    Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum

    Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum was a Roman statesman and member of the gens Cornelius .Corculum was the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica , and was thus a first cousin once removed of the Roman general Scipio Africanus....
    .
  • Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio
    Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio

    Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio , the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum and his wife Cornelia Africana Major, was a member of the Gens Cornelia and a politician of the ancient Roman Republic....
    ?
  • ca. 136 130 BC?: Appius Claudius Pulcher
    Appius Claudius Pulcher

    Appius Claudius Pulcher may refer to several members of the Claudius during the Roman Republic:* Appius Claudius Pulcher , consul of 212 BC* Appius Claudius Pulcher , consul of 185 BC...
    .
  • 130 BC?: Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Lupus.
  • ca. 125 BC: Publius Cornelius Lentulus
    Publius Cornelius Lentulus

    Publius Cornelius Lentulus was the name of a number of notable Romans:*Publius Cornelius Lentulus Scipio, a prominent Roman senator, suffect consul in 24...
    .
  • 115 ca. 89 BC: Marcus Aemilius Scaurus
    Marcus Aemilius Scaurus

    Marcus Aemilius Scaurus was a Ancient Rome politician. He was considered one of the most talented and influential politicians of his day.Scaurus was born in a patrician family, although impoverished....
    .
  • By 86 BC: Lucius Valerius Flaccus
    Lucius Valerius Flaccus (princeps senatus 86 BC)

    Lucius Valerius Flaccus was a Roman consul of the Roman Republic in 100 BC and princeps senatus during the Roman civil wars#Late Republic....
    .
  • ca. 70 BC: Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus
    Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus

    Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus, Consul 77 BC and possibly Princeps Senatus was a well connected and influential figure in Late Republican politics....
    .
  • Quintus Valerius Catulus.
  • Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus.
  • 43 43 BC: Marcus Tullius Cicero.
  • 43 28 BC: Unknown.
  • 28 BC Augustus, title cohered with that of Roman emperor
    Roman Emperor

    The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
     until beginning of the Dominate
    Dominate

    The Dominate was the 'despotism' latter phase of government in the ancient Roman Empire from the conclusion of the Crisis of the Third Century of 235?284 until the formal date of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476....


External links

  • By Professor Yves Lassard and Alexandr Koptev