Gerousia

The Gerousia, also called the Spartan Senate, was the council of elders of the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. In the Archaic and Classical periods it consisted of the two kings and twenty-eight citizens, the gerontes, who had to be at least sixty, were elected by the shouts of the Assembly and held office for life. It was the highest court, judging capital cases, even of kings, and it prepared the measures put to the Assembly. Aristotle called their election childish, and they were likely drawn from a few aristocratic families. In 227 BCE Cleomenes III probably made the office annual, and by the reign of Augustus the council had been reduced to twenty-three members.