Page:Roman public life (IA romanpubliclife00greeiala).pdf/175

 sought in the single experienced, permanent, and deliberative body in the state, the Senate. The assumption of the reins of government by a power, which as an independent authority was not contemplated in the original constitution, necessarily gave rise to a body of constitutional custom by the side of the older constitutional law. The applications of this new code can only be estimated by a more detailed treatment of the three factors of government—the magistracy, the people, and the Senate.