Rebuilding Romulus’ Senate

In 18 BCE the ancient procedure for revising Senate membership, the lectio senatus, was radically changed. Thirty specially chosen senators were to nominate five individuals, with one of the five chosen by lot to become a senator; these thirty would in turn nominate five individuals. In this way, a Senate of perhaps 850 was to be reduced to its ancient size of 300. But a Senate of 300 never emerged, with 600 eventually chosen by Augustus himself amid acrimony and threats. Moreover, Augustus, trumped by Antistius Labeo’s legal auctoritas, was unable to exclude his rival Lepidus from the new Senate. By examining the lectio process and seeking to recover the legal minds behind it, this chapter shows that in 18 BCE Augustus’ hold of the res publica was not absolute, and that others, who did not know the future, had something meaningful to say about the shape of their political life.