The rules and procedures of the Roman Senate were both complex and ancient. It developed from the Senate of the Roman Kingdom, and became the Senate of the Roman Empire. In addition, during a couple of instances between the end of the Second Punic War in 201 BC and the beginning of the Social War in 91 BC, although they had no legal power to do so, several Consuls were known to have vetoed acts of the Senate. [2], At the beginning of the year, the first Senate meeting always took place at the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.

The presiding magistrate began each meeting with a speech (the verba fecit),[9] which was usually brief, but was sometimes a lengthy oration. Usually, vetoes were handed down by plebeian tribunes. [14], Laws were also enacted to strengthen the requirement that three days pass between the proposal of a bill, and the vote on that bill. Possible reasons for punishing a member included corruption, abuse of capital punishment, or the disregard of a colleague's veto, constitutional precedent, or the auspices.
This law also required the censors to appoint any newly elected magistrate to the Senate.

De Romeinse senaat was een politieke instelling in het oude Rome en was een van de langst in functie zijnde instellingen in de Romeinse geschiedenis, opgericht in de eerste dagen van de stad (traditioneel gesticht in 753 v. Around the year 318 BC, the "Ovinian Plebiscite" (plebiscitum Ovinium) gave this power to another Roman magistrate, the censor, who retained this power until the end of the Roman Republic.

Tijdens het begin van de republiek was de senaat politiek zwak, terwijl de uitvoerende magistraten vrij machtig waren.

Strikt genomen was het slechts een aanbeveling die door de volksvertegenwoordigingen moest worden goedgekeurd.
[3] The Senate was only allowed to meet in a building of religious significance, such as the Curia Hostilia. The Senate also had an enormous degree of power over the civil government in Rome. The most important senators were the great landowners throughout the empire, whose position became almost feudal. De Senaat van het West-Romeinse Rijk bleef werken tot 603 na Christus. Three circumstances had combined to bring this about. The power and authority of the Senate derived from precedent, the high caliber and prestige of the senators, and the Senate's unbroken lineage, which dated back to the founding of the Republic in 509 BC. The number of Italian and provincial senators increased (especially under Vespasian), but the Italians were not outnumbered by the provincials until after the reign of Septimius Severus (ad 193–211). This was especially the case with regard to its management of state finances, as only it could authorize the disbursal of public monies from the treasury.