Abstract

Summary The fragmentary inscription on the ludi saeculares contains mention of two senatus consulta of year 17 BCE. This paper gives new arguments for identifying the five known consulars heading the drafting commission of the senatus consultum of 17 February: M. Iunius Silanus, Cn. Cornelius Lentulus, L. Marcius Censorinus, C. Asinius Pollio and L. Vinicius. This list challenges the accepted notion that senators named as members of the drafting commissions of senatus consulta were always arranged according to their seniority. Such an open new approach could question or even significantly alter the chronology of Roman magistracies that has been accepted on the basis of seniority hierarchy so far.