First senate

The Ancient Romans are credited with establishing the first ever senate. The term comes from the Latin word “senex”, which means elder, old man or council of elders. The Roman Senate pre-dates both the Roman Republic and the later Roman Empire and can be traced back to the earliest days of Rome in the 8th century BC (753 BC is the apocryphal date for the founding of Rome). It continued to survive in some form until at least the 13th century AD, as part of the Eastern Roman Empire at Constantinople. The early Senate was a deliberative body, not a legislative one, meaning that it did not propose laws or vote on them. The Roman historian Livy said that the original body consisted of 100 senators, whose duty was to advise the King of Rome. Criteria for serving as a senator included having great wealth and being at least 30 years old, which is also the age requirement for serving in today’s United States Senate.