Emperor Goblinus Posted January 1, 2006 Report Share Posted January 1, 2006 What exactly was the role, power, influence, and duties of the Senate in the Byzantine Empire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeke Posted January 2, 2006 Report Share Posted January 2, 2006 Two words: Very Limmited. Much like the ealier empire of Rome the Senate searved as a puppet goverment for the real power: The Emperor. It was basically a country club for the rich. Zeke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neos Dionysos Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 This does bring up an interesting question though. What role did the Constantinoplian Senate play in the years after Constantine into the Byzantine Empire... we can say limited... but surely they did something... and had influence... I think we should investigate this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobias Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 (edited) There wasn't much difference between the Byzantine senate and the Roman Senate. Originally, the Byzantine Senate consisted of Roman senators who lived in the East, and also consisted of people who were attracted to the east. Constantine offered property and grain to Senators who were interested in moving to his Senate in Nova Roma. As was said, the Senate of the Byzantine Empire was pretty much an elite social club; it's powers were purely honorary. Although, it is interesting that the senate of Constantinople did occasionally try to exercise their powers: they tried to elevate a barbarian Alan to the throne of the Emperor, they influenced the Nika Riots against Justinian etc. Senators were of course, public servants; they voted on the distribution of food, allocation of funds, taxes and public building projects until Justinian stripped them of all of this "power". After Justinian and Heraclius, the Senate is essentially neither here nor there. Senatorial titles could be bought by rich or well-off men of any class, and these titles were purely honorary and contained little or no power. Usually, the Senate met to recognize a new Emperor, but they hardly ever met apart from that. The Senate was a relic of the latin West, and declined with the influx of the Greek east, consequentially causing the decline of the latin language and literary works. After the Fourth Crusade, the Senate is not again mentioned. It is safe to assume that it was completely dissolved by the Latin rulers. The Byzantine Senate existed merely to maintain tradition; it had no real role in the hierarchy after Justinian and Heraclius. Edited January 7, 2006 by Tobias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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