Intro: Eternal Senate
The Senate was created by the Ventrue Magistrate Collat in the 4th century B.C. He desired at least one representative of each lineage to claim a reasonable population within the Roman Empire, preferably more. Collat also needed a means of selecting Senators that would prevent the ascension of anyone powerful enough to challenge his supremacy, yet one that would not open him up to accusations of favoritism.
His eventual solution was simple yet elegant. Anyone who wished to claim a seat on this "Cainite Senate" could step forward. He then, however, had to be selected by a vote of every other perspective senator. The votes of his own lineagemates counted thrice, weighting any given election toward the desires of the lineage being represented. Furthermore, candidates were not permitted a vote.
The result was a Senate full of squabbling, boon-laden elders who were in no position to challenge Collat 's own power. Because every election inevitably involved more candidates than it did open positions, the political maneuvering required substantial deal-making and compromise. This ensured that the victors of the elections were, to the last, not the most qualified, but the least threatening. As the Ventrue Magistrate had anticipated, upon learning that they could not vote for themselves, the elders each voted for those they thought would be easily influenced from behind the scenes, or those whom they assumed nobody else would support and thus couldn't possibly win.
Collat had what Magistrates of the modern world could only wish for - an advisory council that was truly in a position to do absolutely nothing other than advice. Collat cemented his position even further by granting the senate the ability to overrule his decisions, but only with an absolutely unanimous vote. Since the odds of these squabbling Cainites all agreeing on anything were somewhat less than the odds of Collat himself becoming a sun-worshipper, his power was secure.
This "Senate" of Collat lasted only as long as he did. After Camilla became Magistrate of Rome, he disbanded his predecessor's council of advisors. Camilla was far more heavily involved with Rome's mortal government than Collat had been, maneuvering for seats on the Roman Senate rather than worrying about his own - and when the threat of Carthage appeared in the horizon, Camilla steadfastly opposed to the growing power of the Carthaginian Brujah. The Eternal Senate elected him pater patriae (father of the fatherland).
Military Wing of the Eternal Senate
The Eternal Senate considers the The Primordia Hersey primitive, and uncultured.
The Eternal Senate considers the Ki-sikil-lil-la-ke a heretical movement and members are executed on the spot.
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