Senate
Senate names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Senate in ancient history
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
in ancient history, the deliberative assembly of the Roman people; but the term has been applied to very different powers and constitutions in different countries. In the Greek republics, as well as among the Romans, the number of senators was regulated by the number of tribes into which the state was divided. Accordingly, while Attica was divided into four tribes, the number of senators was 400; and when the number of tribes was increased to 10, the number of senators was also enlarged to 500. The Roman Senate, during the primitive days of the city, participated in the judicial and executive powers of the king, and even in the management of military affairs. Romulus was said to have have originated originated the Senate; but in doing this, he only imitated all the civilized nations dwelling on the shores of the Mediterranean, who all deemed it necessary to have an assembly of the elder citizens of the state, besides a popular assembly. Under Tarquinius Priscus, the number of senators was increased to 300, each of the 300 houses (gentes), which composed the three tribes, having its decurio, or representative head, in the Senate. Subsequently, the election of the senators was made by the censor reading aloud once in every luster (five years) the names of the senators, the worthiest first; the one first named being styled princeps senatus. Those who were deemed uns worthy of the dignity were degraded by the omission of their names. The senators were chiefly drawn from the ranks of the equestrian order. In the days of the republic, a senator was required to possess sess property to the value of about $22,500, and in the days of Augustus of about $32,500. The Senate was assembled by the supreme officers of government, deciding the propositions laid before it, article by article, by a majority of voices. A decree of the Senate was called senatus consultum. If the decree was opposed by the tribune, or if the Senate was not full, the act was termed senatus auctoritas, and was submitted to the people, whose tribunes could reject every proposition by their vote. The Senate had within its jurisdiction all matters of public administration, questions of peace or war, the choice of public officers, and the financial concerns of the republic. Under the empire, the Senate gradually lost its political consideration, but till the time of Constantine the Great many of its decrees took the place of the laws enacted by the people. In France the upper legislative chamber under Napoleon I. and Napoleon III. was called the Senate, and the name is still in use in the French republic. The Senate is composed of 314 members; they are elected indirectly for a term of nine years.
Senate UNITED STATES, the higher branch of Congress
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
UNITED STATES, the higher branch of Congress; composed of senators from each Sta irrespectwo State, ifre State, tive of the population therein. Up to May 31, 1913, they were elected by the State legislatures. On that date the 17th amendment to the United States Constitution providing for the election of senators by direct popular vote and for the filling of vacancies by appointment from the Governors of the States, went into effect. Some of the most important functions of the Senate, as distinct from the House, are the supervision of the presidential appointments of the highest grade of public officers, the passing of judgment on all treaties contracted with reign powers, and the sole power to try all impeachments. In the latter case impeachment proceedings must originate in the House, which presents the charges , to the Senate; in turn turn, acts Vice-President of the court. The United States is president of the Senate, but has no vote therein excepting in the case of a tie, and is really an officer with limited power. It is customary after the Vice-President has been installed as presiding officer of the Senate, for him to preside over a few sessions of that body and then ask for a leave of absence, when members the Senate elects one of its own as president pro tem., and the member so chosen acts as presiding officer whenever the Vice-President does not wish to exercise that privilege.
Senate . See Congress Seneca (4 B
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
. See Congress Seneca (4 B. C.-65 A. D.), a Roman philosopher. He was a member of the Roman Senate and an accomplished courtier. He taught Nero when a youth and had great influence over him when emperor. He accumulated a fortune of $15,000,000. Falling into disfavor, he was commanded to commit suicide, and did so. His writings are bulky. They have little interest as literature, but are of great value as a picture of the social ideas of his day. Seneca was an upholder of the stoic philosophy. A few quotations are given here: Not lost, but gone before. No great genius without a tincture of madness. Fire is the test of gold; adversity of strong men. I do not distinguish by the eye, but by the mind, which is the proper judge of the man.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921 the 17th Amendment was fresh news, only eight years old; direct popular election of senators is now so routine that the old system of choice by state legislatures is forgotten. The chamber Collier's described had 96 members from 48 states; Alaska and Hawaii brought it to 100 in 1959, and the first woman was seated in 1922, the year after the entry appeared. The Vice-President's tie-breaking vote, dismissed there as "limited power," has proved decisive: Kamala Harris cast 33 such votes between 2021 and 2024, more than any predecessor, overtaking John C. Calhoun's 31. The Senate has also tried three presidential impeachments since "" Bill Clinton in 1999 and Donald Trump in 2020 and 2021 "" all ending in acquittal. On the French side, the Senate now has 348 members serving six-year rather than nine-year terms.
Written for this edition, 2026.