128 Radtki
members of the senatorial elite would automatically have earned the right to
speak within the assembly. In fact, as in the East, only men with the rank of
illustris had a seat and a voice in the Senate.37 Clarissimi and spectabiles were
excluded from this privilege, although they might have been allowed to attend
the meetings within the curia as mere listeners.38 In general, holding the high-
est public offices granted the rank of illustris. Designation as consul, patricius,
praefectus praetorio, praefectus urbis Romae, quaestor sacri palatii, magister
officiorum, comitiva sacrarum largitionum, the comitiva rerum privatarum, and
the comitiva patrimonii provided this rank. In addition, the king could elevate
a candidate per codicillum vacans into the rank of a former consul, prefect,
or quaestor, so that he might gain the title of vir illustris and the right to vote
in the Senate even without having actually held the office. The bestowal of
the illustres offices was the king’s prerogative; it was even possible for him to
appoint someone to the Senate directly.39 In this regard, Theoderic obviously
depended upon the practices of earlier Roman emperors, which granted him
significant influence over the membership of the assembly.40 With very few
exceptions, however, Ostrogothic nobles bestowed with the title of vir illustris
were not allowed in the curia, since being a member of this traditional assem-
bly required Roman citizenship.41 On the basis of prosopographical data for
these office holders, it is possible to estimate 110 members of the Senate for the
period between 490 and 540.42
37 In this I am following the detailed analysis undertaken by Schäfer, Der weströmische
Senat, pp. 1ff.
38 Cassiodorus, Variae 7.37, ed. Mommsen indicates this with “atque ideo te spectabilita-
tis nitore decoramus, ut sententiam tuam in conventibus publicis spectandam esse cog-
noscas, cum inter nobiles decorus assederis... ” For further details see Cracco Ruggini,
“Il senato fra due crisi”, p. 347.
39 See the “Formula de his qui referendi sunt in senatu” (Cassiodorus, Variae 6.14, ed.
Mommsen).
40 Schäfer, Der weströmische Senat, pp. 2–3; Cracco Ruggini, “Il Senato fra due crisi”,
pp. 347–8.
41 One, but not the only example, was the Goth Tuluin, who was accepted into the curia
after his promotion to patricius praesentalis. See Cassiodorus Variae 8.9–11, ed. Mommsen,
PLRE II, p. 1132, Sundwall, Abhandlungen, p. 261, Schäfer, Der weströmische Senat, p. 8.
Other examples include Arigern (Martindale, PLRE II, pp. 141f.) and Eutharic (PLRE II,
p. 438), consul of the year 519.
42 See all these men enlisted in Schäfer, Der weströmische Senat, pp. 9–117.