Citizens' assemblies of the Roman Republic

The legislative assemblies of the Roman Republic were political institutions in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the contemporary historian Polybius, it was the people (and thus the assemblies) who had the final say regarding the election of magistrates, the enactment of Roman laws, the carrying out of capital punishment, the declaration of war and peace, and the creation (or dissolution) of alliances. Under the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the people (and thus the assemblies) held the ultimate source of sovereignty.

Since the Romans used a form of

Roman Magistrate

, and as such, it was the presiding magistrate who made all decisions on matters of procedure and legality. Ultimately, the presiding magistrate's power over the assembly was nearly absolute. The only check on that power came in the form of vetoes handed down by other magistrates.

In the Roman system of direct democracy, two primary types of gatherings were used to vote on legislative, electoral, and judicial matters. The first was the Assembly (comitia), which was a gathering that was deemed to represent the entire Roman people, even if it did not contain all of the Roman citizens or, like the comitia curiata, excluded a particular class of Roman citizens (the plebs). The second was the Council (concilium), which was a gathering of citizens of a specific class. In contrast, the Convention was an unofficial forum for communication. Conventions were simply forums where Romans met for specific unofficial purposes, such as, for example, to hear a political speech. Voters always assembled first into Conventions to hear debates and conduct other business before voting, and then into Assemblies or Councils to actually vote.

Assembly procedure

There were no set dates to hold assemblies, but notice had to be given beforehand if the assembly was to be considered formal. Elections had to be announced 17 days before the election took place. Likewise, 17 days had to pass between the proposal of legislation and its enactment by an assembly.^[1]

In addition to the presiding magistrate, several additional

Plebeian Tribune.^{[citation needed}

] In addition, decisions made by presiding magistrates could also be vetoed by higher-ranking magistrates.

On the day of the vote, the electors first assembled into their conventions for debate and campaigning.

Plebeian Tribune could use his veto against pending legislation until the point when the order of the vote was determined.^[7]

The electors were then told to break up the Convention and assemble into the formal Assembly or Council. The electors voted by placing a pebble or written ballot into an appropriate jar.[4]^[8] The baskets that held the votes were watched by specific officers, who then counted the ballots, and reported the results to the presiding magistrate. The majority of votes in any Curia, Tribe, or Century decided how that Curia, Tribe, or Century voted. Each Curia, Tribe, or Century received one vote, regardless of how many electors each Tribe or Century held. Once a majority of Curiae, Tribes, or Centuries voted in the same way on a given measure, the voting ended, and the matter was decided.^[9]

If a law was passed in violation of proper procedures (such as failing to wait 17 days before voting on a law), the Senate could declare the law nonbinding.^[10]

Assembly of the Curiae

The Curiate Assembly (comitia curiata) was the principal assembly during the first two decades of the

Consuls (the only elected magistrates at the time),^[14] and tried judicial cases. Consuls always presided over the assembly.^[15]

Shortly after the founding of the republic, most of the powers of the Curiate Assembly were transferred to the

comitia calata

.

Assembly of the Centuries

The Centuriate Assembly (comitia

Censors.^[17] The Centuriate Assembly could also pass a statute that granted constitutional command authority to Consuls and Praetors, and Censorial powers to Censors.^[17] In addition, the Centuriate Assembly served as the highest court of appeal in certain judicial cases, and ratified the results of the Census.^[12] Although the voters in this assembly wore white undecorated togas and were unarmed, while participating in the Assembly they were classified as soldiers, and as such were not allowed to meet within the physical boundary of the city of Rome.^[17]

The president of the Centuriate Assembly was usually a Consul (although sometimes a Praetor). Only Consuls (the highest-ranking of all Roman Magistrates) could preside over the Centuriate Assembly during elections because the higher-ranking Consuls were always elected together with the lower-ranking Praetors. Once every five years, after the new Consuls for the year took office, they presided over the Centuriate Assembly as it elected the two Censors.

The Centuriate Assembly was supposedly founded by the legendary

Roman King Servius Tullius, less than a century before the founding of the Roman Republic in 509 BC. As such, the original design of the Centuriate Assembly was known as the "Servian organization". Under this organization, the assembly was supposedly designed to mirror the Roman army during the time of the Roman Kingdom. Soldiers in the Roman army were classified on the basis of the amount of property that they owned, and as such, soldiers with more property had more influence than soldiers with less property. The 193 Centuries in the assembly under the Servian Organization were each divided into one of three different grades: the officer class, the enlisted class, and a class of unarmed adjuncts.^[18] The officer class was grouped into eighteen Centuries.^[18] The enlisted class was grouped into five separate property classes, for a total of 170 Centuries.^[19] The unarmed soldiers were divided into the final five Centuries.^[20] Of five enlisted classes, the wealthiest controlled 80 of the votes.^[21] During a vote, all of the Centuries of one class had to vote before the Centuries of the next lower class could vote.^[22] The first candidate to reach a majority of 97 votes was victorious. When a measure or candidate received 97 votes, a majority of the centuries, the voting ended, and as such, many lower ranking Centuries rarely if ever had a chance to actually vote. Combined the 18 equites and the 80 centuries of the first property class had one more century than needed, and a unanimous vote from the elite would thus elect a candidate.^[23]

In 241 BC, the assembly was reorganized, though the exact details are uncertain. Some sources have a new total of 373 Centuries,^[24] but Cicero still writes of 193 centuries in his era, and most scholars still use that number.^[25] It is known that the first property class was reduced from 80 to 70 centuries, and the order of voting was changed so that the first class would go first, and be followed by the equites.^[26]

The lowest ranking Century in the Centuriate Assembly was the fifth Century (called the proletarii) of the unarmed adjunct class. This Century was the only Century composed of soldiers who had no property, and since it was always the last Century to vote, it never had any real influence on elections.

During his

Roman Emperor, Augustus, after the fall of the Roman Republic in 27 BC.^[27]

Assembly of the Tribes

The Tribal Assembly (comitia populi tributa) of the

Roman Magistrate) or a Praetor (the second-highest ranking Roman Magistrate). The Tribal Assembly elected three different magistrates: Quaestors, Curule Aediles, and Military Tribunes.^[28] The Tribal Assembly also had the power to try judicial cases.^[29]

In addition to the above-mentioned magistrates, the Tribal Assembly elected the

Pontifex Maximus

. His was a lifetime appointment, however, and so the Tribal Assembly only elected a new Pontifex Maximus after the previous one died.

The thirty-five Tribes were not ethnic or kinship groups, but rather a generic division into which Roman citizens were distributed. When the Tribes were created the divisions were geographical, similar to modern

Parliamentary constituencies. However, since one joined the same Tribe that one's father belonged to, the geographical distinctions were eventually lost.^[30] The order that the 35 Tribes voted in was selected randomly by lot. The order was not chosen at once, and after each Tribe had voted, a lot was used to determine which Tribe should vote next.^[31] The first Tribe selected was usually the most important Tribe, because it often decided the matter. It was believed that the order of the lot was chosen by the Gods, and thus, that the position held by the early voting Tribes was the position of the Gods.^[32] Once a majority of Tribes had voted the same way, voting ended.^[9]

Plebeian Council

The Plebeian Council (concilium plebis) was the principal popular gathering of the

Plebeian Secession that year.^[29]

According to legend, the

Tribal Assembly (which also organized on the basis of the Tribes) was that the Tribes of the Plebeian Council only included Plebeians, whereas the Tribes of the Tribal Assembly included both Plebeians and Patricians.^[29]

The Plebeian Council elected two 'Plebeian Magistrates', the Plebeian Tribunes and the Plebeian Aediles.

Plebiscites") only applied to Plebeians.^[34] However, in 449 BC, a statute of an Assembly was passed which gave Plebiscites the full force of law over all Romans (Plebeians and Patricians).^[35] It was not until 287 BC, however, that the last mechanism which allowed the Roman Senate to veto

acts of the Plebeian Council was revoked. After this point, almost all domestic legislation came out of the Plebeian Council.

Notes

^ Lintott, 44
^ ^a ^b Taylor, 63
^ Taylor, 96
^ ^a ^b Taylor, 2
^ Lintott, 45
^ Taylor, 16
^ Lintott, 46
^ Lintott, 46–47
^ ^a ^b Taylor, 40
^ Lintott, 62
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Byrd, 33
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Taylor, 3–4
^ ^a ^b Abbott, 250
^ ^a ^b Abbott, 253
^ Holland, 5
^ McCullough, 943
^ ^a ^b ^c Abbott, 257
^ ^a ^b Taylor, 85
^ Taylor, 87
^ ^a ^b Abbott, 21
^ E. S. Staveley. Greek and Roman Voting and Elections. Cornell University Press, 1972, p. 126.
^ Taylor, 86
^ Rachel Feig Vishnia. Roman Elections in the Age of Cicero: Society, Government, and Voting. Routledge, Mar 12, 2012, p. 113.
^ Abbott, 75
^ E. S. Staveley. Greek and Roman Voting and Elections. Cornell University Press, 1972, p. 127.
^ Rachel Feig Vishnia. Roman Elections in the Age of Cicero: Society, Government, and Voting. Routledge, Mar 12, 2012, p. 123.
^ Abbott, 107
^ Taylor, 7
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Abbott, 261
^ Lintott, 51
^ Taylor, 77
^ Taylor, 76
^ ^a ^b Abbott, 196
^ Byrd, 31
^ Abbott, 51

References

Abbott, Frank Frost (1901). A History and Description of Roman Political Institutions. Elibron Classics.
ISBN 0-543-92749-0
.

Byrd, Robert (1995). The Senate of the Roman Republic. US Government Printing Office Senate Document 103–23.

Cicero, Marcus Tullius (1841). The Political Works of Marcus Tullius Cicero: Comprising his Treatise on the Commonwealth; and his Treatise on the Laws. Vol. 1 (Translated from the original, with Dissertations and Notes in Two Volumes By Francis Barham, Esq ed.). London: Edmund Spettigue.

Holland, Tom (2005). Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic. Random House Books.
ISBN 1-4000-7897-0
.

Lintott, Andrew (1999). The Constitution of the Roman Republic. Oxford University Press.
ISBN 0-19-926108-3
.

Polybius (1823). The General History of Polybius: Translated from the Greek. Vol. 2 (Fifth ed.). Oxford: Printed by W. Baxter.

Taylor, Lily Ross (1966). Roman Voting Assemblies: From the Hannibalic War to the Dictatorship of Caesar. The University of Michigan Press.
ISBN 0-472-08125-X
.

McCullough, Colleen (1990). The First Man in Rome. Avon Books.
ISBN 0-380-71081-1
.

External links

[Lintott,_44-1] Lintott, 44

[Taylor,_63-2] Taylor, 63

[Taylor,_96-3] Taylor, 96

[Taylor,_2-4] Taylor, 2

[Lintott,_45-5] Lintott, 45

[Taylor,_16-6] Taylor, 16

[Lintott,_46-7] Lintott, 46

[Lintott,_46–47-8] Lintott, 46–47

[Taylor,_40-9] Taylor, 40

[Lintott,_62-10] Lintott, 62

[Byrd,_33-11] Byrd, 33

[Taylor,_3,_4-12] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Taylor, 3–4

[Abbott,_250-13] Abbott, 250

[Abbott,_253-14] Abbott, 253

[Holland,_5-15] Holland, 5

[McCullough,_943-16] McCullough, 943

[Abbott,_257-17] Abbott, 257

[Taylor,_85-18] Taylor, 85

[Taylor,_87-19] Taylor, 87

[Abbott,_21-20] Abbott, 21

[21] E. S. Staveley. Greek and Roman Voting and Elections. Cornell University Press, 1972, p. 126.

[Taylor,_86-22] Taylor, 86

[23] Rachel Feig Vishnia. Roman Elections in the Age of Cicero: Society, Government, and Voting. Routledge, Mar 12, 2012, p. 113.

[Abbott,_75-24] Abbott, 75

[25] E. S. Staveley. Greek and Roman Voting and Elections. Cornell University Press, 1972, p. 127.

[26] Rachel Feig Vishnia. Roman Elections in the Age of Cicero: Society, Government, and Voting. Routledge, Mar 12, 2012, p. 123.

[Abbott,_107-27] Abbott, 107

[Taylor,_7-28] Taylor, 7

[Abbott,_261-29] Abbott, 261

[Lintott,_51-30] Lintott, 51

[Taylor,_77-31] Taylor, 77

[Taylor,_76-32] Taylor, 76

[Abbott,_196-33] Abbott, 196

[Byrd,_31-34] Byrd, 31

[Abbott,_51-35] Abbott, 51

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