We shall examine in order the nature, power, and business of each of these different comitia. (1) Comitia curiata consisted of the members of the thirty curiae, that is, the patricians, who formed exclusively the populus in the early times. They were convened, in the kingly period, by the king himself, or by his tribunus celerum, and in the king’s absence by the praefectus urbi. After the death of a king the comitia were held by the interrex. In the republican period, the president was always one of the high patrician magistrates, viz. a consul, praetor, or dictator. They were called together by lictors or heralds. The votes were given by curiae, each curia having one collective vote; but within a curia each citizen belonging to it had an independent vote, and the majority of the members of a curia determined the vote of the whole curia. The meeting was always held in the comitium. The comitia curiata did not possess much power in the kingly period. They could only be called together when the king (or his representative) chose, and could only determine upon matters which the king submitted to them. The main points upon which the populus had to decide were the election of the king, the passing of laws, declarations of war, the capital punishment of Roman citizens, and, lastly, certain affairs of the curiae and gentes. The priestly officers, such as the Curiones, Flamines Curiales, were likewise either elected by the curiae, or at least inaugurated by them. The right of finally deciding upon the life of Roman citizens (judicia de capite civis Romani) is said to have been given to the populus by king Tullus Hostilius. It must further be remarked, that when the king had been elected, the populus held a second meeting, in which he was formally inducted into his new office. This formality was called lex curiata de imperio, whereby the king received his imperium, together with the right of holding the comitia. Down to the time of Servius Tullius, the comitia curiata were the only popular assemblies of Rome, and remained of course in the undiminished possession of the rights above described; but the constitution of that king brought about a great change, by transferring the principal rights which had hitherto been enjoyed by the curiae to a new national assembly or the comitia centuriata. But while the patricians were obliged to share their rights with the plebeians, they reserved for themselves the very important right of sanctioning or rejecting any measure which had been passed by the centuries. The sanction of decrees passed by the centuries is often expressed by patres auctores fiunt, and down to the time of the Publilian law no decree of the centuries could become law without this sanction. By the Publilian law (B.C. 339) it was enacted that the curiae should give their assent before the vote of the comitia centuriata; so that the veto of the curiae was thus virtually abolished. The comitia curiata thus became a mere formality, and, instead of the thirty curiae themselves giving their votes, the ceremony was performed by thirty lictors. The comitia of the curiae were also called Comitia calata or “the summoned comitia” (from calare, i.e. vocare), when summoned for the purposes mentioned below:—1. On the calends it was proclaimed to the comitia calata on what day of the new month the nones fell, and perhaps also the ides as well as the nature of the other days, namely, whether they were fasti or nefasti, comitiales, feriae, &c., because all these things were known in the early times to the pontiffs exclusively. 2. The inauguration of the flamines, and after the banishment of the kings, also that of the rex sacrorum. 3. The testamenti factio, or the making of a will. 4. The detestatio sacrorum, which was in all probability an act connected with the testamenti factio, that is, a solemn declaration, by which the heir was enjoined to undertake the sacra privata of the testator along with the reception of his property. The comitia calata were summoned by the college of pontiffs, who also presided in them.

(2) Comitia centuriata. The object of the legislation of Servius Tullius was to unite the different elements of which the Roman people consisted, into one great political body, in which power and influence were to be determined by property and age. The whole people was conceived as an army (exercitus), and was therefore divided into two parts, the cavalry (equites), and infantry (pedites). The infantry was divided into five classes, or, as Dionysius has it, into six classes, for he regards the whole body of people, whose property did not come up to the census of the fifth class, as a sixth. The class to which a citizen belonged determined the tributum, or war tax, he had to pay, as well as the kind of service he had to perform in the army and the armour in which he had to serve. But for the purpose of voting in the comitia, each class was subdivided into a number of centuries (centuriae, probably because each was conceived to contain 100 men, though the centuries may have greatly differed in the number of men they contained). Hence the name of Comitia Centuriata. Each century was divided into the seniores and the juniores. Each century, further, was counted as one vote, so that a class had as many votes as it contained centuries. In like manner, the equites were divided into a number of centuries or votes. The two principal authorities on these subdivisions are Livy and Dionysius. The annexed table will show the census as well as the number of centuries or votes assigned to each class.

According to Livy.According to Dionysius.
I.Classis. Census: 100,000 asses.I.Classis. Census: 100 minae.
40 centuriae seniorum.40 centuriae seniorum.
40 centuriae juniorum.40 centuriae juniorum.
2 centuriae fabrum.
II.Classis. Census: 75,000 asses.II.Classis. Census: 75 minae.
10 centuriae seniorum.10 centuriae seniorum.
10 centuriae juniorum.10 centuriae juniorum.
2 centuriae fabrum (one
voting with the seniores
and the other with the
juniores).
III.Classis. Census: 50,000 asses.III.Classis. Census: 50 minae.
10 centuriae seniorum.10 centuriae seniorum.
10 centuriae juniorum.10 centuriae juniorum.
IV.Classis. Census: 25,000 asses.IV.Classis. Census: 25 minae.
10 centuriae seniorum.10 centuriae seniorum.
10 centuriae juniorum.10 centuriae juniorum.
2 centuriae cornicinum and
tubicinum (one voting with
the seniores, and the
other with the juniores).
V.Classis. Census: 11,000 asses.V.Classis. Census: 12½ minae.
15 centuriae seniorum.15 centuriae seniorum.
15 centuriae juniorum.15 centuriae juniorum.
3 centuriae accensorum,VI.Classis. Census: below 12½
cornicinum, tubicinum.minae.
1 centuria capite censorum. 1 centuria capite censorum.

According to both Dionysius and Livy, the equites voted in eighteen centuries before the seniores of the first class; and hence there were, according to Livy, 194, and, according to Dionysius, 193 centuries or votes. The latter number is the more probable, since Livy’s even number of 194 centuries would have rendered it impossible to obtain an absolute majority. In this manner all Roman citizens, whether patricians or plebeians, who had property to a certain amount, were privileged to take part and vote in the centuriata comitia, and none were excluded except slaves, peregrini, women and the aerarii. The juniores were all men from the age of seventeen to that of forty-six, and the seniores all men from the age of forty-six upwards. The order of voting was arranged in such a manner, that if the eighteen centuries of the equites and the eighty centuries of the first class were agreed upon a measure, the question was decided at once, there being no need for calling upon the other classes to vote. Hence, although all Roman citizens appeared in these comitia on a footing of equality, yet by far the greater power was thrown into the hands of the wealthy.—As regards the functions of the comitia centuriata, they were—(a.) The election of magistrates. The magistrates that were elected by the centuries are the consuls (whence the assembly is called comitia consularia), the praetors (hence comitia praetoria), the military tribunes with consular power, the censors, and the decemvirs. (b.) Legislation. The legislative power of the centuries at first consisted in their passing or rejecting a measure which was brought before them by the presiding magistrate in the form of a senatus consultum, so that the assembly had no right of originating any legislative measure, but voted only upon such as were brought before them as resolutions of the senate. (c.) The decision upon war, on the ground of a senatus consultum, likewise belonged to the centuries. Peace was concluded by a mere senatus consultum, and without any co-operation of the people. (d.) The highest judicial power. The comitia centuriata were in the first place the highest court of appeal, and in the second, they had to try all offences committed against the state; hence, all cases of perduellio and majestas: and no case involving the life of a Roman citizen could be decided by any other court. The sanction of the curiae to the measures of the centuriae has been already explained.—The comitia centuriata could be held only on dies comitiales or fasti, on which it was lawful to transact business with the people, and the number of such days in every year was about 190; but on dies nefasti (that is, dies festi, feriati, comp. [Dies]), and, at first also on the nundinae, no comitia could be held, until in B.C. 287 the Hortensian law ordained that the nundinae should be regarded as dies fasti.—The place where the centuries met was the Campus Martius, which contained the septa for the voters, a tabernaculum for the president, and the villa publica for the augurs.—The president at the comitia was the same magistrate who convoked them, and this right was a privilege of the consuls, and, in their absence, of the praetors. An interrex and dictator also, or his representative, the magister equitum, might likewise convene and preside at the comitia. One of the main duties devolving upon the president, and which he had to perform before holding the comitia, was to consult the auspices (auspicari). When the auspices were favourable, the people were called together, which was done by three successive and distinct acts: the first was quite a general invitation to come to the assembly (inlicium). At the same time when this invitation was proclaimed circum moeros or de moeris, a horn was blown, which being the more audible signal, is mentioned by some writers alone, and without the inlicium. When upon this signal the people assembled in irregular masses, there followed the second call by the accensus, or the call ad contionem or conventionem; that is, to a regular assembly, and the crowd then separated, grouping themselves according to their classes and ages. Hereupon the consul appeared, ordering the people to come ad comitia centuriata; and led the whole exercitus—for, in these comitia, the Roman people are always conceived as an exercitus—out of the city, to the Campus Martius.—It was customary from the earliest times for an armed force to occupy the Janiculum, when the people were assembled in the Campus Martius, for the purpose of protecting the city against any sudden attack of the neighbouring people; and on the Janiculum a vexillum was hoisted during the whole time that the assembly lasted. This custom continued to be observed even at the time when Rome had no longer anything to fear from the neighbouring tribes.—When the people were thus regularly assembled, the business was commenced with a solemn sacrifice, and a prayer of the president, who then took his seat on his tribunal. The president then opened the business by explaining to the people the subject for which they had been convened, and concluded his exposition with the words, velitis, jubeatis Quirites, e.g. bellum indici, or ut M. Tullio aqua igni interdictum sit, or whatever the subject might be. This formula was the standing one in all comitia, and the whole exposition of the president was called rogatio. When the comitia were assembled for the purpose of an election, the presiding magistrate had to read out the names of the candidates, and might exercise his influence by recommending the one whom he thought most fit for the office in question. If the assembly had been convened for the purpose of passing a legislative measure, the president usually recommended the proposal, or he might grant to others, if they desired it, permission to speak about the measure, either in its favour or against it (Contionem dare). When the comitia acted as a court of justice, the president stated the crime, proposed the punishment to be inflicted upon the offender, and then allowed others to speak either in defence of the accused or against him. When the subject brought before the assembly was sufficiently discussed, the president called upon the people to prepare for voting by the words, ite in suffragium, bene juvantibus diis. He then passed the stream Petronia, and went to the septa.—Respecting the mode of voting, it is commonly supposed that the people were always polled by word of mouth, till the passing of the leges tabellariae about the middle of the second century before Christ, when the ballot by means of tabellae was introduced. [[Leges Tabellariae].] It appears, however, that the popular assemblies voted by ballot, as well as by word of mouth, long before the passing of the leges tabellariae, but that instead of using tabellae, they employed stones or pebbles (the Greek ψῆφοι), and that each voter received two stones, one white and the other black, the former to be used in the approval and the latter in the condemnation of a measure. The voting by word of mouth seems to have been adopted in elections and trials, and the use of pebbles to have been confined to the enactment and repeal of laws. Previous to the leges tabellariae, the rogatores, who subsequently collected the written votes, stood at the entrance of the septa, and asked every citizen for his vote, which was taken down, and used to determine the vote of each century. After the introduction of the ballot, if the business was the passing of a law, each citizen was provided with two tabellae, one inscribed V. R. i.e. Uti Rogas, “I vote for the law,” the other inscribed A. i.e. Antiquo, “I am for the old law.” If the business was the election of a magistrate, each citizen was supplied with only one tablet, on which the names of the candidates were written, or the initials of their names; the voter then placed a mark (punctum) against the one for whom he voted, whence puncta are spoken of in the sense of votes. For further particulars respecting the voting in the comitia, see [Diribitores] and [Situla]. In judicial assemblies every citizen was provided with three tabellae, one of which was marked with A. i.e. Absolvo, “I acquit;” the second with C. i.e. Condemno, “I condemn;” and the third with N. L. i.e. Non Liquet, “It is not clear to me.” The first of these was called Tabella absolutoria and the second Tabella damnatoria, and hence Cicero calls the former litera salutaris, and the latter litera tristis.—There were in the Campus Martius septa or inclosures (whether they existed from the earliest times is unknown), into which one class of citizens was admitted after another for the purpose of voting. The first that entered were the eighteen centuries of the equites, then followed the first class and so on. It very rarely happened that the lowest class was called upon to vote, as there was no necessity for it, unless the first class did not agree with the equites. After the time when the comitia of the centuries became amalgamated with those of the tribes, a large space near the villa publica was surrounded with an enclosure, and divided into compartments for the several tribes. The whole of this enclosure was called ovile, septa, carceres, or cancelli; and in later times a stone building, containing the whole people, was erected; it was divided into compartments for the classes as well as the tribes and centuries; the access to these compartments was formed by narrow passages called pontes or ponticuli. On entering, the citizens received their tablets, and when they had consulted within the enclosures, they passed out of them again by a pons or ponticulus, at which they threw their vote into a chest (cista) which was watched by rogatores. Hereupon the rogatores collected the tablets, and gave them to the diribitores, who classified and counted the votes, and then handed them over to the custodes, who again checked them off by points marked on a tablet. The order in which the centuries voted was determined in the Servian constitution, in the manner described above; but after the union of the centuries and tribes, the order was determined by lot; and this was a matter of no slight importance, since it frequently happened that the vote of the first determined the manner in which subsequent ones voted. In the case of elections, the successful candidate was proclaimed twice, first by the praeco, and then by the president, and without this renuntiatio the election was not valid. After all the business was done, the president pronounced a prayer, and dismissed the assembly with the word discedite.—Cases are frequently mentioned in which the proceedings of the assembly were disturbed, so that it was necessary to defer the business till another day. This occurred—1, when it was discovered that the auspices had been unfavourable, or when the gods manifested their displeasure by rain, thunder, or lightning; 2, when a tribune interceded; 3, when the sun set before the business was over, for it was a principle that the auspices were valid only for one day from sunrise to sunset; 4, when a morbus comitialis occurred, i.e. when one of the assembled citizens was seized with an epileptic fit; 5, when the vexillum was taken away from the Janiculum, this being a signal which all citizens had to obey; 6, when any tumult or insurrection broke out in the city.

(3) Comitia tributa. These assemblies likewise were called into existence by the constitution of Servius Tullius, who divided the Roman territory into thirty local tribes. It is a disputed question whether the patricians were originally included in these tribes; but, whether they were or not, it is certain, that by far the majority of the people in the tribes were plebeians, and that, consequently, the character of these assemblies was essentially plebeian. After the decemvirate, the patricians had certainly the right of voting in the assemblies of the tribes, which were then also convened by the higher magistrates. The assemblies of the tribes had originally only a local power; they were intended to collect the tributum, and to furnish the contingents for the army; they may further have discussed the internal affairs of each tribe, such as the making or keeping up of roads, wells, and the like. But their influence gradually increased, and they at length acquired the following powers:—1. The election of the inferior magistrates, whose office it was to protect the commonalty or to superintend the affairs of the tribes. Hence the tribunes of the plebs were elected in the comitia tributa. In like manner, the aediles were elected by them, though the curule aediles were elected at a different time from the plebeian aediles and under the presidency of a consul. At a still later time, the quaestors and tribunes of the soldiers, who had before been appointed by the consuls, were appointed in the assemblies of the tribes. The proconsuls to be sent into the provinces, and the prolongation of the imperium for a magistrate who was already in a province, were likewise points which were determined by the tribes in later times. The inferior magistrates elected by the tribes are:—the triumviri capitales, triumviri monetales, the curatores viarum, decemviri litibus judicandis, tribuni aerarii, magistri vicorum et pagorum, praefecti annonae, duumviri navales, quinqueviri muris turribusque reficiendis, triumviri coloniae deducendae, triumviri, quatuorviri, &c., mensarii, and lastly, after the Domitian law, B.C. 104, also the members of colleges of priests. The pontifex maximus had been elected by the people from an earlier time. 2. The legislative power of the comitia tributa was at first very insignificant, for all they could do was to make regulations concerning the local affairs of the tribes. But after a time, when the tribes began to be the real representatives of the people, matters affecting the whole people also were brought before them by the tribunes, which, framed as resolutions, were laid before the senate, where they might either be sanctioned or rejected. This practice of the tributa comitia gradually acquired for them the right of taking the initiative in any measure, or the right of originating measures, until, in B.C. 449, this right was recognised and sanctioned by a law of L. Valerius Publicola and M. Horatius Barbatus. This law gave to the decrees passed by the tribes the power of a real lex, binding upon the whole people, provided they obtained the sanction of the senate and the populus, that is, the people assembled in the comitia curiata or in the comitia centuriata. In B.C. 339, the Publilian law enacted ut plebiscita omnes Quirites tenerent. This law was either a re-enactment of the one passed in B.C. 449, or contained a more detailed specification of the cases in which plebiscita should be binding upon the whole nation, or, lastly, it made their validity independent of the sanction of other comitia, so that nothing would be required except the assent of the senate. In B.C. 287, the Hortensian law was passed, which seems to have been only a revival and a confirmation of the two preceding laws, for it was framed in almost the same terms; but it may also be, that the Hortensian law made the plebiscita independent of the sanction of the senate, so that henceforth the comitia tributa were quite independent in their legislative character. 3. The judicial power of the comitia tributa was much more limited than that of the comitia centuriata, inasmuch as they could take cognizance only of offences against the majesty of the people, while all crimes committed against the state were brought before the centuries. Even patricians, when they had offended against the commonalty or its members, were tried and fined by the tribes. This again constitutes a difference between the judicial power of the centuries and that of the tribes, for the former could inflict capital punishment, but the latter only fines. The comitia tributa might assemble either within or without the city, but not farther from it than 1000 paces, because the power of the tribunes did not extend farther. For elections the Campus Martius was usually chosen, but sometimes also the forum, the Capitol, or the Circus Flaminius. The presidents were commonly the tribunes, who were supported by the aediles, and no matter could be brought before the tribes without the knowledge and consent of the tribunes. As the comitia tributa, however, more and more assumed the character of national assemblies, the higher magistrates also sometimes acted as presidents, though perhaps not without previously obtaining the permission of the tribunes. The preparations for the comitia tributa were less formal and solemn than for those of the centuries. In the case of elections, the candidates had to give in their names, and the president communicated them to the people. When a legislative measure was to be brought before the assembly, a tribune made the people acquainted with it in contiones, and that on the three preceding nundines. The same was the case when the people were to meet as a court of justice. The auspicia were not consulted for the comitia of the tribes, but the spectio alone was sufficient, and the tribunes had the right of obnuntiatio. In the comitia the tribune who had been chosen to preside sat on the tribunal supported by his colleagues, and laid before the people the subject of the meeting, concluding with the words velitis, jubeatis Quirites. The bill was never read by the tribune himself, but by a praeco, and then began the debates, in which persons might either oppose or recommend the measure, though private persons had to ask the tribunes for permission to speak. When the discussion was over the president called upon the people ite in suffragium, as at the comitia centuriata. They then formed themselves into their tribes, which, like the centuries, ascertained their own votes in enclosures (septa). Which of the 35 tribes was to give its vote first, was determined by lot, and that tribe was called praerogativa or principium (the others were termed jure vocatae). The vote of the first tribe was given by some person of distinction whose name was mentioned in the plebiscitum, if it was of a legislative nature. The manner of collecting the votes was, on the whole, the same as in the comitia centuriata. The announcing of the result of the votes was the renuntiatio. If it so happened that two candidates had the same number of votes, the question was decided by drawing lots. The circumstances which might cause the meeting to break up and defer its business till another day, are the same as those which put an end to the comitia centuriata.

(4) The comitia centuriata mixed with the comitia tributa.—The Servian constitution was retained unaltered so long as no great change took place in the republic; but when the coinage and the standard of property had become altered, when the constitution of the army had been placed on a different footing, and, above all, when the plebeians began to be recognized as a great and essential element in the Roman state, it must have been found inconvenient to leave to the equites and the first class so great a preponderance in the comitia of the centuries, and it became necessary to secure more power and influence to the democratic element. A change, therefore, took place, and the comitia centuriata became mixed with the comitia tributa; but neither the time nor the exact nature of this change is accurately ascertained. Some refer it to the censorship of C. Flaminius, B.C. 220, others to that of Q. Fabius and P. Decius, B.C. 304. But there is evidence that it must be assigned to even an earlier date than this, for the (tribus) praerogativa is mentioned as early as B.C. 396 in the election of the consular tribunes, where the pure comitia tributa cannot be meant, and a centuria praerogativa is a thing unknown. With regard to the manner of the change, the most probable opinion is, that the citizens of each tribe were divided into five property classes, each consisting of seniores and juniores, so that each of the 35 tribes contained ten centuries, and all the tribes together 350 centuries. According to this new arrangement, the five ancient classes, divided into seniores and juniores, continued to exist as before, but henceforth they were most closely united with the tribes, whereas before the tribes had been mere local divisions and entirely independent of property. The union now effected was that the classes became subdivisions of the tribes, and that accordingly centuries occur both in the classes and in the tribes. Each tribe contained ten centuries, two of the first class (one of the seniores and one of the juniores), two of the second (likewise seniores and juniores), two of the third, two of the fourth, and two of the fifth class. The equites were likewise divided according to tribes and centuries, and they seem to have voted with the first class, and to have been in fact included in it, so as to be called centuries of the first class. The centuries of the cornicines, tubicines and fabri, which are no longer mentioned, probably ceased to exist as distinct centuries. The voting by tribes can hardly be conceived, except in those cases in which the ten centuries of every tribe were unanimous; this may have been the case very often, and when it was so, the tribus praerogativa was certainly the tribe chosen by lot to give its unanimous vote first. But if there was any difference of opinion among the centuries making up a tribe, the true majority could only be ascertained by choosing by lot one of the 70 centuriae of the first class to give its vote first, or rather it was decided by lot from which tribe the two centuries of the first class were to be taken to give their vote first. (Hence the plural praerogativae.) The tribe, moreover, to which those centuries belonged which voted first, was itself likewise called tribus praerogativa. Of the two centuries, again, that of seniores gave its vote before the juniores, and in the documents both were called by the name of their tribe, as Galeria juniorum, i.e. the juniores of the first class in the tribus Galeria, Aniensis juniorum, Veturia juniorum. As soon as the praerogativa had voted, the renuntiatio took place, and the remaining centuries then deliberated whether they should vote the same way or not. When this was done all the centuries of the first tribe proceeded to vote at once, for there would not have been time for the 350 centuries to vote one after another, as was done by the 193 centuries in the comitia centuriata.—These comitia of the centuries combined with the tribes were far more democratical than the comitia of the centuries; they continued to be held, and preserved their power along with the comitia tributa, even after the latter had acquired their supreme importance in the republic. During the time of the moral and political corruption of the Romans, the latter appear to have been chiefly attended by the populace, which was guided by the tribunes, and the wealthier and more respectable citizens had little influence in them. When the libertini and all the Italians were incorporated in the old thirty-five tribes, and when the political corruption had reached its height, no trace of the sedate and moderate character was left by which the comitia tributa had been distinguished in former times. Under Augustus the comitia still sanctioned new laws and elected magistrates, but their whole proceedings were a mere farce, for they could not venture to elect any other persons than those recommended by the emperor. Tiberius deprived the people even of this shadow of their former power, and conferred the power of election upon the senate. When the elections were made by the senate the result was announced to the people assembled as comitia centuriata or tributa. Legislation was taken away from the comitia entirely, and was completely in the hands of the senate and the emperor. From this time the comitia may be said to have ceased to exist, as all the sovereign power formerly possessed by the people was conferred upon the emperor by the lex regia. [[Lex Regia].]

COMMĔĀTUS, a furlough, or leave of absence from the army for a certain time.

COMMENTĀRĬUS or COMMENTĀRĬUM, a book of memoirs or memorandum-book, whence the expression Caesaris Commentarii. It is also used for a lawyer’s brief, the notes of a speech, &c.

COMMERCĬUM. [[Civitas] (Roman).]