Comitia

Comitia were assemblies of Roman citizens voting on elections, legislation and certain judicial matters. Votes were organised by curiae, centuries or tribes. Participants determined their group’s vote, and the result depended on a majority of groups rather than a simple total of individual ballots.

The curiate assembly retained chiefly formal and religious-legal functions. The centuriate assembly elected consuls, praetors and censors, decided important questions of war and heard certain trials. The tribal assembly included citizens organised in territorial tribes; it elected other magistrates and passed laws.

The plebeian assembly (concilium plebis) also voted by tribes, but excluded patricians and was convened by plebeian tribunes. It should not be treated as identical to the tribal comitia. The lex Hortensia of 287 BCE made plebeian enactments binding on all citizens.

An authorised magistrate convened the assembly and presented candidates or a question for decision. Citizens did not amend or debate a bill during the comitia itself; public discussion took place in meetings called contiones. Rules of convocation, religious procedures and the voting order affected outcomes.

Judicial powers gradually shifted towards standing courts. The first permanent court for extortion was established in 149 BCE; Sulla expanded this system rather than inventing it.

Under the emperors, the assemblies lost independent political importance. In 14 CE, under Tiberius, the principal elections of magistrates were transferred to the Senate. This did not simultaneously end every formal assembly or municipal election throughout the empire.

Related topics

• Senate
• Century
• Roman Kingdom
• Roman Republic
• The electoral process in Ancient Rome