Senatus Consultum

In Roman law. A decision or decree of the Roman senate, having the force of law, made without the concurrence of the pcople. These enactments began to take the place of laws enacted by popular vote, when the commons had grown so great in number that they could no longer be assembled for legislative purposes. Mackeld. Rom. Law, § 33; Hunter, Rom. Law, xlvii; Inst. 1, 2, 5.

— Senatus consultum Marcianum. A decree of the senate, in relation to the celebration of the Bacchanalian mysteries, enacted in the consulate of Q. Marcius and S. Postumus.

— Senatus consultum Orflcianum. An enactment of the senate (Orficius being one of the consuls and Marcus Antoninus emperor) for admitting both sons and daughters to the sac-cession of a mother dying intestate. Inst. 3, 4, pr.

— Senatus consultum Pegasianum. The Pegasian decree of the senate. A decree enacted in the consulship of Pegasus and Pusio, in the reign of Vespasian, by which an heir, who was requested to restore an inheritance, was allowed to retain one-fourth of it for himself. Inst. 2, 23, 5.

— Senatus consultum Trebellianum. A decree of the senate (named from Trebellius, in whose consulate it was enacted) by which it was provided that, if an inheritance was restored under a trust, all actions which, by the civil law, might be brought by or against the heir should be given to and against him to whom the inheritance was restored. Inst. 2, 23, 4; Dig. 36, 1.

— Senatus consultum ultimæ necessitatis. A decree of the senate of the last necessity. The name given to the decree which usually preceded the nomination of a dictator. 1 Bl. Comm. 136.

— Sonatas consultum VeUeianum. The Vel-leian decree of the senate. A decree enacted in the consulship of Velleius, by which married women were prohibited from making contracts. Story, Confl. Laws, § 425.