tors, to
different parts of the house. He who presided, said, "Let those who are
of such an opinion pass over to that side, those who think differently,
to this." Those Senators who only voted, but did not speak, or as some
say, had the right of voting, but not of speaking, were called
_pedarii_, because they signified their opinion by their feet, and not
by their tongues. When a decree was made without any opinion being asked
or given, it was called "_senatus consultum per discessionem_." But if
the contrary, it was simply called "_Senatus consultum_."

In decreeing a supplication to any general, the opinion of the Senators
was always asked. Hence Cicero blames Antony for omitting this in the
case of Lepidus. Before the vote was put, and while the debate was going
on, the members used to take their seats near that person whose opinion
they approved, and the opinion of him who was joined by the greatest
number was called "_Sententia maxime frequens_."

When affairs requiring secrecy were discussed, the clerks and other
attendants were not admitted: but what passed, was written out by some
of the Senators, and the decree was called tacitum.

Public registers were kept of what was done in the Senate, in the
assemblies of the people, and courts of justice; also of births and
funerals, of marriages and divorces, &c. which served as a fund of
information for historians.

In writing a decree, the time and place were put first; then, the names
of those who were present at the engrossing of it; after that, the
motion with the name of the magistrate who proposed it; to all which was
subjoined what the Senate decreed.

The decrees were kept in the public treasury with the laws and other
writings, pertaining to the republic. Anciently they were kept in the
temple of Ceres. The place where the public records were kept was called
"_Tabularium_." The decrees of the Senate concerning the honors
conferred on Caesar were inscribed in golden letters, on columns of
silver. When not carried to the treasury, they were reckoned invalid.
Hence it was ordained under Tiberius, that the decrees of the Senate,
especially concerning the capital punishment of any one, should not be
carried there before the tenth day, that the emperor, if absent from the
city, might have an opportunity of considering them, and if he thought
proper of mitigating them.

Decrees of the Senate were rarely reversed. While a question was under
debate, every one was