Legislative Assemblies

While the Roman assemblies continued to meet after the founding of the empire, their powers were all transferred to the Roman Senate, and so senatorial decrees (senatus consulta) acquired the full force of law.[16]
In theory, the emperor and the senate were two equal branches of government, but the actual authority of the senate was negligible and it was largely a vehicle through which the emperor disguised his autocratic powers under a cloak of republicanism. Still prestigious and respected, the Senate was largely a glorified rubber stamp institution which had been stripped of most of its powers, and was largely at the emperor's mercy.
Many emperors showed a certain degree of respect towards this ancient institution, while others were notorious for ridiculing it. During senate meetings, the emperor sat between the two consuls,[17] and usually acted as the presiding officer. Higher ranking senators spoke before lower ranking senators, although the emperor could speak at any time.[17] By the third century, the senate had been reduced to a glorified municipal body.


house painters
fibroid uterine