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Lucius Saenius, the author of the Lex Saenia, was not a patrician then (when he introduced the law in 30 BC), and is not considered a patrician family now in historical classification. He and his entire family line belonged strictly to the plebeian order. 

The technical details of his status paint a clear picture of how social hierarchy functioned during the transition from the Roman Republic to the Empire. 

The Status of Lucius Saenius "Then"

• Plebeian Origin: Saenius came from the gens Saenia, a relatively obscure family of Etruscan origin that only rose to prominence in the final decades of the Roman Republic. 
• Octavian's Tool: He was what the Romans called a novus homo (new man) or a lesser senator who owed his entire political elevation—including his appointment as a replacement consul (consul suffectus)—directly to Octavian (the future Emperor Augustus). 
• The Irony of the Lex Saenia: In late 30 BC, Octavian used Saenius to sponsor the Lex Saenia. This law specifically authorized Octavian to elevate wealthy plebeian families into the dying patrician class to replenish its numbers for religious and prestige purposes. Ironically, while Saenius created the legal tool to make otherplebeians patricians, he himself remained a plebeian and was never recorded as being elevated into the patriciate. 

His Family's Status "Now" (Historical Record)

• Categorized as Plebeian: In modern Roman prosopography (the study of ancient lineages and social statuses), the gens Saenia is strictly categorized as a plebeian consular family. 
• Later Descendants: Later members of his family who achieved rank during the Roman Empire, such as Gaius Saenius Severus (a consul in AD 126), also retained their status as plebeians. 
• Extinction of the Title: From a modern perspective, the question of whether they are patricians "now" is also bound by the fact that the Roman patriciate completely ceased to exist as a biological or legal entity after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. 

If you are researching the social shifts of the early Roman Empire, would you like to know more about which plebeian families Octavian actually elevatedto the patriciate using this law, or how the Lex Saenia differed from Julius Caesar's earlier version (Lex Cassia)?