STATE ASSEMBLIES

While the existence of the various assemblies gives the Roman constitution an air of democracy, the senate was principally an advisory body, and in none of the others did members vote as individuals. Voting was by group or category, according to the assembly’s composition; the majority voice of a group represented a single vote. State officials (magistri) were elected by this means.

Senate: about three hundred members up to the reforms of Sulla. Nominations were originally automatic and by birth or rank; later they were made by the consuls and, after about 350 BC, by the censors. Plebeians were admitted during the fourth century BC, after which the senate became a body predominantly of men who had served as state officials. It did not pass laws so much as refer its advice (senatus consultum). It had, however, control over finance, administration of the state and empire, and relations with foreign powers. It also adjudicated on religious matters and acted as an intermediary between the Roman people and the gods.

Comitia curiata: assembly of representatives of wards, ten each from the three original tribes of Rome, and the original people’s council at the time of the kings. In the fourth century BC its functions were largely assumed by the comitia centuriata.

Comitia centuriata: originally the assembly of representatives of military units (centuries). It was reconstituted in 193 centuries, to which eligible voters (all Roman citizens) were allocated according to their means. Each century comprised an indefinite and variable number of members. Ninety-eight of the votes (a majority) were in the hands of the eighteen centuries of equestrians and the eighty representing the top five property bands. The assembly elected senior state officials, declared war, instituted peace treaties, approved legislation, and, until the function was transferred to the courts, had the final say in cases of execution or exile.

One of the great plebeian dynasties and a pillar of the nobility was the family of the Caecilii Metelli. Inscriptions from the Arch of Augustus in the Forum name all Roman consuls from 753 BC to 19 AD. This part of a slab lists those from 123 to 115 BC, nine years during which four men named Caecilius Metellus held the highest office of state. (Capitoline Museums, Rome: René Seindal)

Concilium plebis (meeting of the people): the original plebeian parliament, sitting and voting in 35 tribal or district divisions. It elected its own officers and formulated decrees (plebiscita) for observance by its own kind, which, after 287 BC, could be made binding on the whole community.

Comitia tributa (tribal assembly): organized in tribes in the same way as the concilium plebis but open to all citizens. It elected minor officials and was a means of approving legislation on a different voting basis to the comitia centuriata.

Republican coin, issued by the moneyer P. Licinius Nerva, showing voting in an assembly. Two voters are casting their ballots: the voter on the left receives his tablet from an attendant below, while the other, after crossing the bridge, places his tablet in the voting urn. Below, a drawing of the image. (VRoma: National Museums, Rome: Barbara McManus)