Roman assemblies

The Roman Republic (Latin: Res Publica Romanorum) vested formal governmental powers in four separate people's assemblies — the Comitia Curiata, the Comitia Centuriata, the Comitia Tributa, and the Concilium Plebis. The Latin Comitia is sometimes rendered in English as Comices.

Council of the People

The Concilium Plebis was also a tribal assembly, but it excluded all patricians, who were forbidden to take part in its meetings. Only the tribunes of the people (tribuni plebis) could convoke the Council of the People, and it usually met in the well of the Comitia (patrician senators often observed from the steps of the Curia Hostilia and heckled the tribunes during meetings. Roman politics were considerably more rambunctious than even the modern House of Commons). The Council of the People was the favored legislature of the Republic, although technically its laws were called plebiscites. It elected the aediles (plebis only) and the tribunes of the people, and conducted trials; the latter function fell into disuse after Sulla established the permanent courts.

Related Topics:
Tribune - Curia Hostilia - House of Commons - Plebiscite

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