Roman Assemblies - Legislative Assemblies of The Roman Republic

Legislative Assemblies of The Roman Republic

The Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Republic were political institutions in the ancient Roman Republic. There were two types of Roman assembly. The first was the committee (comitia), which was an assembly of all Roman citizens. Here, Roman citizens gathered to enact laws, elect magistrates, and try judicial cases. The second type of assembly was the council (concilium), which was an assembly of a specific group of citizens. For example, the "Plebeian Council" was an assembly where Plebeians gathered to elect Plebeian magistrates, pass laws that applied only to Plebeians, and try judicial cases concerning Plebeians. A convention (conventio), in contrast, was an unofficial forum for communication, where citizens gathered to debate bills, campaign for office, and decide judicial cases. The voters first assembled into conventions to deliberate, and then they assembled into committees or councils to actually vote. In addition to the curia (familial groupings), Roman citizens were also organized into centuries (for military purposes) and tribes (for civil purposes). Each gathered into an assembly for legislative, electoral, and judicial purposes. The Century Assembly was the assembly of the Centuries, while the Tribal Assembly was the assembly of the Tribes. Only a block of voters (Century, Tribe or Curia), and not the individual electors, cast the formal vote (one vote per block) before the assembly. The majority of votes in any Century, Tribe, or Curia decided how that Century, Tribe, or Curia voted.

The Century Assembly was divided into 193 (later 373) Centuries, with each Century belonging to one of three classes: the officer class, the infantry, and the unarmed adjuncts. During a vote, the Centuries voted, one at a time, by order of seniority. The president of the Century Assembly was usually a Roman Consul (the chief magistrate of the republic). Only the Century Assembly could elect Consuls, Praetors and Censors, only it could declare war, and only it could ratify the results of a census. While it had the power to pass ordinary laws (leges), it rarely did so.

The organization of the Tribal Assembly was much simpler than was that of the Century Assembly, in contrast, since its organization was based on only thirty-five Tribes. The Tribes were not ethnic or kinship groups, but rather geographical divisions (similar to modern U.S. Congressional districts). The president of the Tribal Assembly was usually a Consul, and under his presidency, the assembly elected Quaestors, Curule Aediles, and Military Tribunes. While it had the power to pass ordinary laws (leges), it rarely did so. The assembly known as the Plebeian Council was identical to the Tribal Assembly with one key exception: only plebeians (the commoners) had the power to vote before it. Members of the aristocratic patrician class were excluded from this assembly. In contrast, both classes were entitled to a vote in the Tribal Assembly. Under the presidency of a Plebeian Tribune (the chief representative of the people), the Plebeian Council elected Plebeian Tribunes and Plebeian Aediles (the Plebeian Tribune's assistant), enacted laws called plebiscites, and presided over judicial cases involving Plebeians. Originally, laws passed by the Plebeian Council only applied to Plebeians. However, by 287 BC, laws passed by the Plebeian Council had acquired the full force of law, and from that point on, most legislation came from the council.