The Roman assemblies were the Comitia Curiata, the Comitia Centuriata, and the Comitia Tributa and posessed ultimate legislative and judicial powers in the Roman Republic and were also responsible for the election of magistrates. King of Rome redirects here. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... The Principate is, according to its etymological derivation from the Latin word princeps, meaning chief or first, the political regime dominated by such a head of state and government. ... The Dominate was the despotic last of the two phases of government in the ancient Roman Empire between its establishment in 27 BC and the formal date of the collapse of the Western Empire in AD 476. ... The Western Roman Empire is the name given to the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 286 AD. It would exist intermittently in several periods between the 3rd Century and the 5th Century, after Diocletians Tetrarchy and the reunifications associated with Constantine the... Byzantine Empire (Greek: Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων) is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Magistratus ordinarii (ordinary magistrates) and Magistrarus extraordinarii (extraordinary magistrates) were two categories of officials who held political, military, and, in some cases, religious power in the Roman Republic. ... For modern, semi-diplomatic or colonial consuls, see Consul (representative). ... // Definition According to Cicero, Praetor was a title which designated the consuls as the leaders of the armies of the state. ... Quaestors were elected officials of the Roman Republic who supervised the treasury and financial affairs of the state, its armies and its officers. ... See Roman Governor for the duties of a promagistrate as a governor of a province A promagistrate is a person who acts in and with the authority and capacity of a magistrate, but without holding a magisterial office. ... Aedile (Latin Aedilis, from aedes, aedis temple, building) was an office of the Roman Republic. ... Tribune (from the Latin: tribunus; Greek form tribounos) was a title shared by several elected magistracies and other governmental and/or (para)military offices of the Roman Republic and Empire. ... Censor was the title of two magistrates of high rank in the Roman Republic. ... A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief adminstator of Roman law throughout one or more of Ancient Romes many provinces. ... Magistratus ordinarii (ordinary magistrates) and Magistrarus extraordinarii (extraordinary magistrates) were two categories of officials who held political, military, and, in some cases, religious power in the Roman Republic. ... The Master of the Horse was (and in some cases, is) a historical position of varying importance in several European nations. ... The Tribuni militum consulari potestate, or Consular Tribunes were tribunes elected with consular power during the Conflict of the Orders in the Roman Republic, starting in 444 BCE and then continuiously from 408 BCE to 394 BCE, and again from 391 BCE to 367 BCE. According the the histories of... Dictator was a political office of the Roman Republic. ... The term triumvirate is commonly used to describe an alliance between three equally powerful political or military leaders. ... Decemviri (singular decemvir) is a Latin term meaning Ten Men which designates any such commission in the Roman Republic (cf. ... Alternate meanings: see Pontifex (disambiguation) In Ancient Rome, the Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the collegium of the Pontifices, the most august position in Roman religion, open only to a patrician, until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post. ... A legatus (often anglicized as legate) was equivalent to a modern general officer in the Roman army. ... Dux is Latin for leader (from the verb ducere, to pull) and could refer to anyone who commanded troops, such as tribal leaders. ... Officium (plural officia) is a Latin word with various meanings, including service, (sense of) duty, courtesy, ceremony and the likes. ... A prefect (from the Latin praefectus, perfect participle of praeficio, to make in front, i. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Vigintisexviri (sing. ... The lictor, derived from the Latin ligare (to bind), was a member of a special class of Roman civil servant, with special tasks of attending magistrates of the Roman Republic and Empire who held imperium. ... Magister militum (Master of the Soldiers) was a rank used in the later Roman Empire dating from the reign of Constantine. ... The Latin word imperator was a title originally roughly equivalent to commander during the period of the Roman Republic. ... The princeps senatus (plural principes senatus) was the leader of the Roman senate. ... Roman Emperor is the term historians use to refer to rulers of the Roman Empire, after the epoch conventionally named the Roman Republic. ... Augustus (plural augusti) is Latin for majestic or venerable. The feminine form is Augusta. ... Caesar (p. ... The Tetrarchs, a porphyry sculpture sacked from a Byzantine palace in 1204, Treasury of St. ... This is a tentative list of topics regarding political institutions of Ancient Rome. ... The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ... The cursus honorum (Latin: succession of magistracies) was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Empire. ... Collegiality is the relationship between colleagues. ... Roman Law is the legal system of ancient Rome. ... In the Roman Republic and later in the Roman Empire, all men could be very roughly divided into three classes. ... Imperium can, in a broad sense, be translated as power. ... A legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. ... The judiciary, also referred to as the judicature, consists of justices, judges and magistrates among other types of adjudicators. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... Magistratus ordinarii (ordinary magistrates) and Magistrarus extraordinarii (extraordinary magistrates) were two categories of officials who held political, military, and, in some cases, religious power in the Roman Republic. ...

Unlike legislatures in countries such as the United States, the Roman assemblies were seen to embody the People of Rome, not merely being an appointed body of representatives, and thus posessed ultimate legislative powers, including the ability to pass ex post facto laws and bills of attainder. They were also not deliberative assemblies: normal citizens neither debated nor proposed legislation (only magistrates could propose legislation). The assemblies also posessed judicial powers, some of which were transfered to permanent courts later in the Republic. The absence of modern separation of powers did not mean that checks and balances were absent from Roman government (they were in fact remarkably elaborate). A legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. ... A legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. ... An ex post facto law (Latin for from a thing done afterward), also known as a retrospective law, is a law that is retroactive, i. ... A bill of attainder (or act of attainder) was an act of legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime, and punishing them, without benefit of a trial. ... A deliberative body (or deliberative assembly) is an organization which collectively makes decisions after debate and discussion. ... Magistratus ordinarii (ordinary magistrates) and Magistrarus extraordinarii (extraordinary magistrates) were two categories of officials who held political, military, and, in some cases, religious power in the Roman Republic. ... The judiciary, also referred to as the judicature, consists of justices, judges and magistrates among other types of adjudicators. ... The separation of powers (or trias politica, coined by French political thinker Montesquieu) is a model for the governance of the state which requires the division of political power between an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary. ...

In the later Republic, a subset of the Comitia Tributa, the Concilium Plebis, gained the legislative powers of the assemblies and became the favored legislative mechanism.

The honoured expression Senatus Populusque Romanus (abbreviated as SPQR), often used as an indication for the Roman state, clearly testifies to the general perception that Rome was legitimately ruled by the will of the people (in the assemblies) guided by the Senate, and under their authority by the magistrates. Only when the principate was established—within the republic, which was never abolished—did a single person, the Roman emperor, start to embody the state politically and hence incarnate the maiestas of Rome. See also the SPQR series of murder mystery novels and the SPQR board game. ... The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ... The Principate is, according to its etymological derivation from the Latin word princeps, meaning chief or first, the political regime dominated by such a head of state and government. ... Roman Emperor is the term historians use to refer to rulers of the Roman Empire, after the epoch conventionally named the Roman Republic. ...

Constitution

Comitia Curiata

The Comitia Curiata (Curiate Assembly) was the oldest Roman assembly after the Comitia Calata. It was organized in 30 curiae, which were voting units that each cast one collective vote. This assembly originally elected all higher magistrates, inaugurated them, and granted their imperium and also adopted laws. Later, though, it only retained the right to inaugurate and to grant the imperium, acting as a power to confirm those elected by the Centuriate Assembly. The Comitia Calata was the most ancient and least-known of the Ancient Rome popular assemblies. ... A Curia in early Roman times was a subdivision of the people, i. ...

Comitia Centuriata

The Comitia Centuriata (Centuriate Assembly) included both patricians and plebeians organized into five economic classes (knights and senators being the First Class) and distributed among internal divisions called centuries. Membership in the Centuriate Assembly required certain economic status, and power was heavily vested in the First and Second Classes. The Centuriate Assembly met annually to elect the next year's consuls and praetors, and quintannually (every 5 years) to elect the censors. It also sat to try cases of high treason (perduellio), although this latter function fell into disuse after Lucius Appuleius Saturninus introduced a more workable format (maiestas). Patricians were originally the elite caste in ancient Rome. ... In Ancient Rome, the plebs was the general body of Roman citizens, distinct from the privileged class of the patricians. ... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... A senate is a deliberative body, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature. ... This page is about centuries as units of time. ... For modern, semi-diplomatic or colonial consuls, see Consul (representative). ... // Definition According to Cicero, Praetor was a title which designated the consuls as the leaders of the armies of the state. ... For omission and secrecy, see censorship. ... Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, Roman demagogue. ...

A citizen's vote did not count in the Centuriate Assembly. Rather, the individual's vote was counted within his century and determined the outcome of the century's vote. Because only the first eighteen (and richest) centuries were kept to the nominal size of 100 members, members of those centuries exerted a disproportionate influence over the outcome of votes. The Centuriate Assembly, originally a military assembly of knights, had to meet outside the pomerium of Rome on the Campus Martius since no army was permitted inside the pomerium. It also consisted of many people, which when combined with the meeting place made the assembly extremely clumsy to convoke and manage. Thus, although it had legislative powers, it was not normally used except to elect magistrates. The pomerium (or pomoerium) was the sacred boundary of the city of Rome. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1285 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2. ... The Campus Martius, or Field of Mars, was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about 2 km² (600 acres) in extent. ...

Comitia Tributa

The Comitia Tributa (Tribal Assembly) included both patricians and plebeians distributed among the thirty-five tribes into which all Roman citizens were placed for administrative and electoral purposes. The vast majority of the urban population of Rome was distributed among the four urban tribes, which meant that their votes were individually insignificant. Like the Centuriate Assembly, voting was indirect, with one vote apportioned to each tribe. The voting was therefore heavily slanted in favor of the thirty-one rural tribes. The Tribal Assembly met in the well of the Comitia in the Forum Romanum, and elected the aediles curulis, the quaestors, and the military tribunes (tribuni militum). It conducted most trials until the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla established the standing courts (quaestiones). The Roman Forum (Forum Romanum) was a central area of ancient Rome in which commerce, business, trading and the administration of justice took place. ... Aedile (Latin Aedilis, from aedes, aedis temple, building) was an office of the Roman Republic. ... Quaestors were elected officials of the Roman Republic who supervised the treasury and financial affairs of the state, its armies and its officers. ... Military tribunes were officers of the Roman Legions. ... Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (Latin: L·CORNELIVS·L·F·P·N·SVLLA·FELIX) ¹ (ca. ...

A subset of the Tribal Assembly, called the Plebeian Council, legislated for the plebeians and lower classes and elected the plebeian tribunes and aediles. Their plebiscites only had the force of law for the entire Republic after 287 BC. Ancient Roman Official. ... Aedile (Latin Aedilis, from aedes, aedis temple, building) was an office of the Roman Republic. ... A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ...

Reform and abandonment

Sulla's Changes

During his consulate in 88 BC, Lucius Cornelius Sulla passed a series of three laws impeding the Tribal Assembly and the Plebeian Council from considering any law unless it was sent to them by senatus consultum with a favorable "do pass" recommendation. His fourth law restructured the Centuriate Assembly such that the First Class — the senators and the most powerful knights — had nearly fifty percent of the voting power. His fifth law stripped both popular assemblies — the Tribal Assembly and the Plebeian Council — of their legislative functions, leaving all legislation in the hands of the restructured Centuriate Assembly. The tribal assemblies were left with the election of certain magistrates and the conduct of trials — but no trials could be held unless authorized by senatus consultum. Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC - 80s BC - 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC Years: 93 BC 92 BC 91 BC 90 BC 89 BC - 88 BC - 87 BC 86 BC 85... Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (Latin: L·CORNELIVS·L·F·P·N·SVLLA·FELIX) ¹ (ca. ...

These reforms were overturned by the populares led by Marius and Lucius Cornelius Cinna, restored by Sulla during his dictatorship rei publicae constituendae, and were again overturned after his death. They represent one of the most wide-ranging and direct shifts in the constitutions of the Roman state during both the Republic and the Empire. Gaius Marius (Latin: C·MARIVS·C·F·C·N)¹ (157 BC - January 13, 86 BC) was a Roman general and politician elected Consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. ... Lucius Cornelius Cinna (Latin: L·CORNELIVS·L·F·L·N·CINNA), a member of the Cinna family of the Cornelii of ancient Rome, was a supporter of Marius in his contest with Sulla. ... Dictator was a political office of the Roman Republic. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ...

Under the Empire

Augustus maintained the forms of republican government while he and his successors concentrated more and more power in their own hands by having themselves elected to various magistracies for life. Augustus transferred the legislative functions of the popular assemblies to the Senate and the senators were appointed by the emperor. Tiberius transferred the election of magistrates to the Senate as well. The assemblies, apart from the Senate, did not meet again after the reign of Caligula. When Constantine founded Constantinople he established a Senate in the new city which existed, in vestigial form, until 1453. The famous statue of Octavian at the Prima Porta (Vatican Museums) Caesar Augustus (Latin:IMP·CAESAR·DIVI·F·AVGVSTVS) ¹ (23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), known to modern historians as Octavian for the period of his life prior to 27 BC, is considered the first and one of... A bust of younger Emperor Tiberius For the city in Israel, see Tiberias. ... Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus (August 31, 12 – January 24, 41), most commonly known as Caligula, was the third Roman Emperor and a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from 37 to 41. ... Contemporary bronze head of Constantine. ... Map of Constantinople. ... Events May 29 - Fall of Constantinople to Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire). ...