under the presidency of the pontifex maximus, as it then usually conferred the imperium through the agency of thirty lictors representing its thirty curiae.

COMITIA CENTURIATA

133. The comitia centuriata, the centuriate assembly, takes its name from the one hundred and ninety-three centuries of which it was composed. It was based on the classification of the Roman people which was made by Servius Tullius. This classification, comprising patricians and plebeians alike, was originally a military organization, and was as follows:

Equites

18 centuries

NOTE 1.

I century

193 centuries

- The equites, or knights, were men of wealth. In the army they served as cavalry. The five classes were arranged according to wealth. The ages of the juniors ranged from seventeen to forty-five; those of the seniors, from forty-five to sixty.

NOTE 2. The century, as the name implies, probably meant a hundred men originally, but as here used it means simply a division. NOTE 3. — Observe that in this assembly wealth and age have the controlling influence, as each century has one vote and as the equites, or knights, and the first class, both representing wealth, have ninetyeight votes, a majority of the whole number, one hundred and ninetythree, and as a century of juniors doubtless contained more members than a century of seniors, each senior had more influence on the final vote than a junior in the same class.

NOTE 4. The centuriate assembly, as it was founded upon a military organization, always met outside the city, generally in the Campus Martius.1

During the

134. Powers of the Comitia Centuriata. first two centuries of the republic, the comitia centuriata was the chief popular assembly of the Roman people. Its powers were threefold. It had elective, legislative, and judicial functions.

1. Under the presidency of a consul it elected consuls, consular tribunes, praetors, and censors. This election, however, during the early republic, had to be ratified by the patrician senators, but after 287 B.C. the consent of these senators was given in advance of the election and thus became a mere matter of form.

2. During the first two centuries of the republic it was also the chief legislative assembly of Rome, though during the latter part of this period the comitia tributa and the concilium plebis began to exercise legislative functions. The ordinary procedure in legislation at this time was as follows the consul, having the initiative, laid the subject before the senate and thus obtained senatus consultum, which he next submitted to the vote of the comitia centuriata. If the bill was approved by that body it would, of

1 See plan of Rome.

course, be ratified by the patrician senators and would thus become a law.

3. The Roman constitution gave all criminals under sentence of death the right to appeal to the people. All such questions of appeal were decided by the centuriate assembly under the presidency of the praetor; but the permanent courts, established by Sulla, 81 B.C., abolished the death penalty, and thus put an end to these questions of appeal.

135. Reform of the Centuriate Assembly. - About the middle of the third century B.C., the centuriate assembly, though still voting by centuries, was reorganized on the basis of tribes. Under the new arrangement each of the thirty-five tribes, into which the state was then divided, had five classes of seniors and five of juniors, and each class formed one century and cast one vote; each tribe therefore contained ten centuries and cast ten votes. Thus the thirtyfive tribes contained three hundred and fifty centuries; to which must be added the eighteen centuries of knights and the five additional centuries as before, making a grand total of three hundred and seventy-three (350+ 18+5).

NOTE. Observe that in this organization wealth has lost the immense advantage which it had under the previous arrangement, as the first class now has no more weight than the fifth. The only advantage that wealth and age still retained is found in the fact that the first class was probably smaller than the others and the seniors fewer than the juniors.

136. Decline of the Centuriate Assembly. From this time the influence of the centuriate assembly declined rapidly, in view of the growing importance of the comitia tributa, which was gradually supplanting it. Still its exclusive right to declare war was recognized.