Look at the painting on page 67 to see how similar the layout of our United States Senate chamber is to the ancient Roman Senate.
Although the Roman Senate and the U. S. Senate share the same name, they have many differences. By the late Republic, any Roman elected to serve as a magistrate automatically was part of the Senate, and senators served for life. All Roman senators (and magistrates) were men. U. S. senators can be either men or women, and they are elected to terms that last six years, although they can run for reelection as often as they like. The Roman Senate did not pass laws, though it could issue decrees, which shaped the actions magistrates took. In the United
States the Senate is a vital part of the legislative process.
The size of the two senates also varied. Voters in each U. S. state elect two senators; the current membership is 100. At its founding, the Roman Senate had 100 members, but the number reached 1,000 by the time Augustus came to power. He cut back the Senate to 600 and required senators to have a certain amount of property before they could serve. U. S. senators do not have to meet any financial requirements, although the Senate has sometimes been called "the Millionaires' Club," because it tends to attract many wealthy people who have the large sums of money required to run for office.
The two bodies have one shared trait: Some of Rome's best orators (public speakers) were its senators, who often gave long, emotional speeches on public issues. The U. S. Senate is considered a source for some of America's best public speakers, as well, and the Senate allows one speaker to talk for hours at a time.
Other citizens in the courts by offering legal aid. Using different legal handbooks, a person pursuing a court case did not have to rely on the pontiffs.
During the second century B. C.E., Rome set up its first permanent criminal courts. These dealt with major crimes, and senators sat on the juries to decide a person’s innocence or guilt. These courts lasted into the imperial era, when the Senate began to hear most criminal cases. The emperor could also hear some cases. In the empire’s provinces, governors served as judges, hearing criminal cases throughout the region. Local courts heard civil matters, but Roman citizens could not be tried in these provincial courts. In court, Roman citizens under the empire were eventually divided into two separate classes, and the wealthy and powerful received lighter punishments than the common people.
World History
