History glossary
Senate
a council of senior political figures, especially important in the Roman Republic.
- Category
- Political institution
What it means
A senate is a governing council. In Rome, the Senate was dominated by aristocratic families and shaped foreign policy, finances, religion, and prestige. Modern countries also use the word for upper houses of parliament or congress.
Related terms
Stories using this term
The Roman Empire
From Augustus to the fall of the Western Empire, Rome built a vast imperial system whose law, cities, armies and ideas shaped the ancient and medieval worlds.
The Roman Republic
From the expulsion of Rome’s kings to the rise of Augustus, the Roman Republic built a powerful mixed constitution, expanded across the Mediterranean, and ultimately collapsed into civil war and one-man rule.
The American Revolution and Early Republic
From colonial tensions to independence, this traces the birth and early struggles of the United States of America.
The Cold War
Rivalry between East and West shapes global politics - through proxy wars, propaganda, and nuclear tension.
The American Civil War and the Abolition of Slavery
The American Civil War determined the survival of the Union and led to the abolition of slavery, fundamentally reshaping the United States.
The Causes of the Second World War
From the flawed peace of 1919 to the invasion of Poland in 1939, this story traces the interlocking causes of the Second World War across two decades of crisis, ideology, and failed deterrence.
The Fall of Rome to Early Medieval Europe
From the arrival of Gothic peoples at the Danube to the crowning of Charlemagne, this story traces how the Western Roman Empire fragmented into successor kingdoms and how a new medieval world took shape.
The Treaty of Versailles and Its Consequences
From the armistice of November 1918 to Hitler's rise in 1933, this story traces how the Treaty of Versailles — its punishment, its borders, its reparations, and its resentments — helped shape the conditions for a second world war.
