Byzantine Senate
The Byzantine or Eastern Roman Senate ( Greek Σύγκλητος , Synklētos , or Γερουσία , Gerousia ) was the continuation of the Roman Senate . It was established after Constantinople was founded in 330 by Emperor Constantine the Great . The institution of the Senate survived the centuries, although its relevance steadily decreased until it disappeared in the 13th century.
The Senate of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire consisted in the first years of its existence of Roman senators who lived in the east of the empire and those who were willing to move to Constantinople , as well as a number of high-ranking bureaucrats who were appointed by the emperor in had been admitted to the Senate. Constantine the Great offered every Western Roman senator who wanted to move to Constantinople their own land and grain rations. When Constantine founded the Senate of the Eastern Roman Empire, it initially resembled the city councils of important cities such as Antioch than a regular Roman Senate. His son Constantius II raised the status of the eastern Senate from urban to imperial, so that the Senate of Constantinople now had essentially the same powers as the Senate of Rome, and its members carried the title of Vir clarissimus like the western Roman . Constantius II and his direct successors gradually increased the number of senators to over 2,000 by granting friends, courtiers and various provincial officials access to the Senate.
The Eastern Senate existed parallel to the Western Roman Senate in Rome until the late 6th century, until it dissolved around 590. From then on, the Senate in Constantinople was the only Roman Senate.
Admission and composition
The principle of hereditary membership of the senatorial class ( ordo senatorius ), which had been in force since Augustus, and the practice that the path to the senate usually took place through cladding to a magistrate, remained. At the latest after the de facto permanent division of the Roman Empire in 395, the tasks of the praetors were limited to the urban level. Their job was to manage the public funds for the organization of circus games and the maintenance of public buildings. Despite the decline of other traditional Roman offices such as that of the Tribune , the praetur remained an important “stepping stone” for aristocrats who were thereby able to gain admission to the Western or Eastern Senate. But the praetor was an expensive office because the praetors were expected to pay for the city's duties out of their own pocket. Eight praetora offices have come down to us from the Eastern Roman Empire . They shared the financial burdens among themselves. The consulate also continued to exist until 541 , with at least one of the two consuls in the Roman Empire usually coming from Eastern Europe. The late ancient Eastern Roman senate differed quite significantly from the republican senate, especially since the office of aedile had not been occupied for a long time (the people's tribunate only very sporadically) and around the middle of the 4th century the bailiff was on the verge of disappearing, with the exception of Provincial Magistrate. The emperor or the senate could also issue a decree to admit persons who were not born with the title of senator. Often people who had become senators in this way were exempted from the duty to exercise the costly praetor office. Several posts in the imperial administration were connected with admission to the Senate in late antiquity.
The Senate was composed of the most important state officials of the empire, such as the magister officiorum and the army master , but also of provincial governors and former civil servants in retirement. The senatorial families of the Eastern Roman Empire tended to be less wealthy and less significant than those of the West (where the number of senators had also increased to 2,000 in the 4th century). Some members of the upper class tried to escape the burdens imposed on the nobles by many late Roman emperors such as Diocletian (284–305 AD) by admitting them to the Senate . The Curiales , the members of the local upper class in the Poleis , were often forced to assume the office of decurion since the 3rd century , where they were confronted with the task of financing the urban community at their own expense, collecting taxes and all public To settle debts from their private assets. Senators, on the other hand, were immune to these duties. Since it soon became apparent that many who were striving for the senatorial honor were only trying to evade the ruinous duties of a decurion, Emperor Theodosius I ordered that the members of the Senate had to fulfill their public duties even after their entry into the Senate, provided that they should have previously been decurions.
The Senate meetings were usually conducted by the Prefect of Constantinople, who also presided over all discussions between the Senate and the Emperor. Until the 7th century, he and all senators wore the toga during the meetings , which was otherwise out of fashion as this was stipulated by law ( Cod. Theod. 14,10). Until the de facto abolition of the consulate in 541, the incumbent consul ordinarius could also take over the chairmanship. The late antique senate consisted of three classes in east and west, the illustres , spectabiles and clarissimi . The illustres were active or former holders of the highest offices in the empire, such as army masters or praetorian prefects. The spectabiles formed the middle class among the senators and consisted of important public servants such as the proconsuls , the vicars , military commanders of the provinces ( duces ) and the closest employees of illustrious offices. The clarissimi finally formed the lowest rank in the Senate; the rank was attached to the civil administrators of the provinces and other smaller offices. As in the times of the Republic, the most distinguished senator bore the title of princeps senatus . Members of the two lower ranks were permitted to live anywhere in the Reich; as senators they were generally inactive; at the same time, only the rank of clarissimus was hereditary, so sons of spectabiles and illustres were only clarissimi .
The majority of those actually active in the Senate were the illustres , whose offices were often tied to the city of Constantinople, which is why they were able to regularly attend the Senate. In the second quarter of the fifth century, the members of the two lower classes were then officially excluded from the sessions of the Senate; however, they retained their social and legal privileges. This reduced the number of active senate members to a maximum of 100 men, who represented the elite of officials in the Eastern Roman Empire. During Justinian's reign , the number of clarissimi was again increased significantly, which meant that many officials had to be elevated to the rank of spectabiles . This in turn meant an increase in the number of illustres who had previously been considered the elite class of the Senate. As a result, a new rank, the gloriosi , was created to please the most distinguished senators; but this new rank did not prevail. It is important to underline that the "office" of active senator was only a minor career for most actual senators (i.e. illustres ), as they usually also held important offices in the administration or army of the Empire. "Senator" was more of a title than a job title.
Power and functions
In the East and West, the Senate was a symbol of Roman greatness and the traditions of the res publica . A Roman state (and the Byzantine Empire saw itself as such until the end) was unthinkable without a Senate. As an assembly of the highest active and former dignitaries, the body had considerable weight due to the reputation of its members; Although the institutional power of the Senate was already very limited since the Principate , it was able to pass resolutions ( senatus consulta ), which the emperor could promulgate in the form of edicts if it was in accordance with his policy. The Senate was thus able to propose laws across the empire and from time to time served as the emperor's advisory body. Some laws took the form of 'speeches to the Senate' and were read aloud to the Senatorial Assembly. Traditionally, it was also up to the Senate to officially declare someone an enemy of the state ( hostis publicus ), for example in 398 Stilicho .
In the 5th century the importance of the Senate grew: the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III. and the Eastern Emperor Theodosius II (?) formulated a legislative process in AD 446 that again granted the Senate a right to participate: every new law had to be discussed before the Senate and the Consistory before it was confirmed by the Kaiser. This procedure found its way into the Codex Iustinianus and was thus nationwide law, although it is unclear to what extent the process was actually implemented in the East. In connection with the fact already mentioned that at this time only the illustrious senators in the narrowest sense were left, since the other two groups were excluded from the meetings, this measure led to the exclusivity and authority of the body, which is now only There were still around 100 members, again significantly increased: The specific powers and tasks of the Senate remained small, but as an assembly of the most important active and former officials of the empire, the body was de facto once again of considerable importance. In 529, Justinian even reassigned several senators with military command, but this was an exception.
In addition, the emperor could use the senate as a court of justice; sometimes cases of treason were entrusted to the Senate. In 467 Emperor Leo accused the son of Aspars (see below), the army master Ardaburius, of conspiracy with the Sassanids before the Senate . Ordinary crimes were also regularly judged by a court consisting of the city prefect and five senators, who were determined by lot, provided that the accused were senators. The Senate also retained constitutional relevance, as all emperors had to be officially proclaimed by the military and the Senate. In practice, the succession to the throne was almost always hereditary, but in succession crises the senators could play a relevant role.
Conflicts with the emperor
There have been incidents in which the Senate appears to have come into conflict with the emperor and tried to derive authority through its "constitutional" meaning in the election of a new emperor. In 457 AD, important senators allegedly offered Aspar (a Roman military leader of Alan descent) the dignity of emperor, while other senators preferred Anthemius , but the tribune and (lower-ranking) Senator Leo , a subordinate of Aspar, were finally able to ascend the throne. In 532, some senators supported the Nika uprising against Justinian, who was a social climber who neither liked nor trusted the rich, aristocratic senators. After 541 the Senate lost many of its members because of the so-called Justinian Plague and the economic crisis that followed. In addition, Justinian confiscated the wealth of many of the remaining senators, according to Prokopios of Caesarea , but this is likely to be an exaggeration. The usurper Phokas , who had only been a simple non-commissioned officer before his emperor's rise in 602, quickly got into conflict with the Senate and had numerous high dignitaries executed. In 608 a "Carthaginian Senate", which probably consisted of refugee senators, declared Herakleios the Elder and his son Herakleios consuls. The younger Herakleios was finally proclaimed emperor in 610. Phocas was deposed and imprisoned in a church by two senators before he was executed.
When Emperor Herakleios died in 641, he left the rule of the empire to his sons: Constantine III. from his first marriage and Heraklonas from his second marriage. Martina , the second wife of Herakleios and mother of Heraklonas, now claimed the reign as the imperial widow, which she announced in a large ceremony in the hippodrome of Constantinople , attended by the senate and other dignitaries of the city . Since public opinion and that of the people turned strongly against her, however, because Herakleios' eldest son Constantine was wanted on the throne instead of her, Martina was forced to return to the Grand Palace of Constantinople without having achieved anything . Constantine III died just four months later, making his brother Heraklonas the sole ruler. Immediately rumors spread that Martina had Konstantin murdered. A little later, General Valentinus began an uprising that forced Heraklonas to recognize his young nephew Konstans II , son of Constantine III, as co-emperor (basileus) . In an attempt to get around this, Heraklonas raised his younger brothers David Tiberios and Martinos to co-emperors ( Basileus ) as well. However, this did not diminish the discontent in the Senate and among the people, and a little later senators and military officials deposed Heraklonas. His nose was split open, Martina's tongue was cut out and both were exiled to Rhodes . Constans II became sole ruler under the reign of a senate college with Patriarch Paulus II at its head; until the young emperor came of age, this body actually seems to have been actively involved in government affairs, a remarkable process.
Decline
The power of the Senate gradually diminished over the years after the transition from the late antique to the middle Byzantine period. Nevertheless, it still existed until at least the 13th century. From the 7th century onwards , however, the Senate must be viewed even less than before as an institution and more as a collection of dignitaries, especially as much of the power it had regained since the later 5th century through emperors such as Basil I and Leo VI. was withdrawn again. In addition, in the course of the turmoil of the 7th century, most of the old Eastern Roman families perished and were replaced by a new military elite.
Even so, the Senate retained considerable prestige as an institution, especially in the 11th century when the “court party” came to power after the death of Emperor Basil II . With the final triumph of the military party through the accession to the throne of Alexios I Komnenus, the Senate then began to sink into insignificance, and the title "Senator" could be bought by the Emperor. The last known act of the Senate as a body was the election of Nikolaos Kanabos as counter-emperor in opposition to Isaac II and Alexios IV during the Fourth Crusade . Under the dynasty of the palaeologists , at least the title of senator survived for a while, but during the crises from the middle of the 14th century the traces of the late antique institution are lost for good.
Senate building
There were two Senate buildings in Constantinople; one, built by Constantine and repaired by Justinian, was on the east side of the Augustaion , near the Imperial Palace, at the Magnaura , while the other was on the north side of the Forum of Constantine. These buildings were lost to the Senate in the 6th century. From then on he met in the Great Palace of Constantinople.
Remarks
- ↑ a b c J. B. Bury : History of the Later Roman Empire , Volume 1, London 1923, Chapter 1.
- ^ Judith Herrin: The Formation of Christendom . Princeton University Press, Princeton 1987 .
- ^ Gilbert Dagron : Emperor and Priest. The Imperial Office in Byzantium . Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-03697-9 , p. 324
- ↑ Jonathan Phillips: The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople . New York 2004, pp. 222-226.
literature
- Hans-Georg Beck : Senate and people of Constantinople. Problems of the Byzantine constitutional history (= Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class, meeting reports. Born 1966, number 6). CH Beck, Munich 1966.
- Albrecht Berger: The Senate of Constantinople . In: Boreas. Volume 18, 1995, pp. 131-142.
- Peter Schreiner : Senate II (Byzantium) . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 7, LexMA-Verlag, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7608-8907-7 , Sp. 1745 f.