In the three revisions of the senatorial roll which Augustus himself conducted (28 BCE, 18 BCE. and 11 BCE), and the fourth which he entrusted to a commission in 4 CE, I think, contrary to what Irene said about shaping the Senate to his will, showed the importance he attached to the respectability of the Senate [1].
from http://janusquirinus.org/
There are 2 issues here:
- did Augustus attempt to take the authority of the Senate?
and
- did the Senate want its authority?
from http://janusquirinus.org/
I say no to the first question.
from http://janusquirinus.org/
“In general the Senate was constituted as it had been in the Republic. Augustus largely restored senatorial government along its former lines...Augustus did not claim the right to appoint Senators. The Senate did not appoint the Emperor, nor the Emperor the Senator. The right to enter the Senate was still acquired through the cursus honorum” [2].
from http://janusquirinus.org/
“Augustus apparently used his control of admission impartially for what he considered to be the best interests of the Senate and not to create a subservient body which would merely approve his acts automatically” [3]. “Only obviously unworthy men were forced to leave—meaning those whose backgrounds deviated too markedly from the generally accepted norms. Some of Augustus' political opponents were also ejected at this time. However, their removal was not the main purpose of the cuts, and the ranks of the opposition from families with distinguished records, including men like Calpurnius Piso remained unscathed.” [4] Nor did he “exclude such personal enemies as Antistius Labeo” [5]. “Apart from these occasional purges he took one other step to raise its tone”—“One of the criteria for measuring the "worthiness" of a senator was his net worth, and his corresponding income” [6].
from http://janusquirinus.org/
Dio wrote that around 9 BCE, “laws which Augustus enacted at this time he had inscribed on tablets and posted in the senate before bringing them up for consideration, and he allowed the senators to enter the chamber in groups of two and read them, so that if any provision did not please them, or if they could advise anything better, they might speak. He was very desirous indeed of being democratic...” [7]
from http://janusquirinus.org/
In fact, “Suetonius says that he used to go round the tribes with his own candidates and beg them for their votes in the customary way. ... He went on doing this until A.D. 8, when owing to growing infirmity he gave up a personal canvass, and posted up a list of the candidates whom he favoured, urging the people to vote for them.” By the end of his reign, Augustus “should 'commend' four out of the twelve praetors” [8]—4, not all.
from http://janusquirinus.org/
Augustus “avoided taking over departments of the administration of Rome himself, and entrusted them to senatorial commissioners” [9]—“the curatorships of the public works, of the aqueducts, of the bed of the Tiber, the distribution of corn to the people, the prefecture of the city, a commission of three for revising the roll of the Senate and another for revising the squadrons of equites whenever there was need” [10].
from http://janusquirinus.org/
“It is striking that Augustus left all truly powerful positions both in Rome itself and in the provinces in the hands of senators” [11]. Furthermore, let’s not forget that Augustus’ imperium was not for life, but for a term of years decided by the Senate and had to be renewed. The “military imperium was definitely granted by the Senate and was not an independent mandate to the Emperor from the army” [12].
from http://janusquirinus.org/
In short, in theory, the Senate, not Augustus, was still supreme and I do think the Senate in 7 BCE was more capable of governing effectively than it was before Julius' consolidation of authority. The question is then becomes not could it, but would it?
from http://janusquirinus.org/
As to the second question—did the Senate want its authority? That, I just don’t know. “How ready these men are to be slaves!” [13] But then again, that was in Tiberius’ reign, more than 20 years later.
from http://janusquirinus.org/
