Expert: Francesco Marchesani - 5/16/2008

Question
Hello, I wonder if you could tell me when did the roman senate effectively disappeared during or after the end of the roman empire in 476 ? Was there also a senate in Constantinople and if yes for how long did it survive ? I would also like to know if there were still roman senators even after christianity became the official religion of the state ? I am just curious if such an institution really disappeared as such during the middle ages. Thanks in advance !

Answer
Hello,
the Roman Senate continued to exist after the end of the Empire in 476: even though it lost much of its importance after the capital was moved to Constantinople, the Senate was never abolished, and continued its work well after christianity became the official religion of the state. It regained some importance when Justinian conquered Italy during the Ghotic Wars (535-554), and the last known record of Senate activities was an embassy sent to the emperor in Constantinople in year 580.
It's not very clearly what happened afterward, but we know an homily by Pope Gregory the Great around the year 590, lamenting the disappearance of such an ancient institution.
However, during the 12th century the people of Rome struggled against the Papal authority to re-create a Republic, and in 1144 a new Senate was created, as a consultory body for the civic government; the Pope regained full control of Rome in 1155, abolishing the Commune, but the Senate continued to exist, and has existed since then, becoming finally the city council of Rome, housed in the so-called Palazzo Senatorio (Senatorial Palace) on the Capitol Hill.
When Constantinople was chosen as the new capital of the Empire, a Senate was created there, and it continued to exist till the 12th century. After the Fourth Crusade (1204) Constantinople became the seat of the Latin Empire of the East, without a Senate, and when the Byzantines reconquered the city in 1261, they didn't re-establish a Senate.