Roman Senate (Late Period)

Timeline

1. c. 1–200Rome · ItalyAfter Augustus, the Senate retained dignity and ceremonial functions, deliberating on imperial proposals, conferring honorary titles, and administering Italian municipalities; real power concentrated in the emperor, senatorial membership required imperial approval, and the senatorial order became deeply integrated with the imperial bureaucracy.
2. c. 200–350Rome · ItalyMost soldier-emperors of the third century came from the provinces, and the political influence of the senatorial nobility declined; the reforms of Diocletian and Constantine further marginalized the Senate, a senate of the same name was established in Constantinople, and the Roman Senate was left mainly to administer affairs of Italy itself.
3. c. 350–476Rome · ItalyIn the fourth and fifth centuries the Roman Senate still participated in deposing and elevating emperors (such as deposing Maximinus and elevating Constantine III); senators like Boethius represented the last brilliance of classical culture; after the Western Roman emperor was deposed in 476, the Senate became a mere symbol in Western European politics.
4. 476–500Rome · ItalyUnder Odoacer and the Ostrogoths the Roman Senate formally continued to operate, with senators still holding administrative and ecclesiastical offices in Italian cities; after Justinian's reconquest of Italy the Senate gradually disappeared, and the republican tradition gave way to medieval structures of ecclesiastical and secular power.