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A religious or political elder is valued for his (it is usually a man, though there are exceptions) wisdom, by the logic that the older you are the more you know. The concept of an elder was common in parts of the world where what is now called civilization had taken over.
In the Senate of Rome, the senators were men. Senator comes from the Latin Senex, meaning old man, and the senators were actually called patres -- 'fathers'.
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