ACTA SENATUS or COMMENTARII SENATUS, minutes of the discussions of the Roman senate. Before the first consulship of Julius Caesar (5g B.c.), minutes of the proceedings of the senate were occasionally published, unofficially; Caesar, however, ordered them to be issued authoritatively. The keeping of them was continued by Augustus, but their publication was forbidden. A young senator was chosen to draw up these Acta, which were kept in the imperial archives and public libraries. Special permission from the city praefect was necessary in order to examine them. (See ACTA DIURNA.)