Curiate assembly: Difference between revisions

The '''Curiate Assembly''' (''comitia curiata'') was the principal assembly during the first two decades of the [[Roman Republic]]. During these first decades, the People of Rome were organized into thirty units called "[[Curia]]e".<ref name="Byrd, 33">Byrd, 33</ref><ref name="Taylor, 3, 4">Taylor, 3, 4</ref> The Curiae were ethnic in nature, and thus were organized on the basis of the early Roman family, or, more specifically, on the basis of the thirty original [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|Patrician]] (aristocratic) clans.<ref name="Abbott, 250">Abbott, 250</ref> The Curiae formed an assembly for legislative, electoral, and judicial purposes. The Curiate Assembly passed laws, elected [[Roman Consul|Consuls]] (the only elected magistrates at the time),<ref name="Abbott, 253">Abbott, 253</ref> and tried judicial cases. Consuls always presided over the assembly. While [[Plebeian]]s (commoners) could participate in this assembly, only the Patricians (the Roman aristocrats) could vote.▼

Since the Romans used a form of Direct Democracy, citizens, and not elected representatives, voted before each assembly. As such, the citizen-electors had no power, other than the power to cast a vote. Each assembly was presided over by a single Roman Magistrate, and as such, it was the presiding magistrate who made all decisions on matters of procedure and legality. Ultimately, the presiding magistrate's power over the assembly was nearly absolute. The only check on that power came in the form of vetoes handed down by other magistrates, and decisions made by presiding magistrates could also be vetoed by higher-ranking magistrates. In addition, after 493 BC, any decision made by a presiding magistrate, including one concerning the Curiate Assembly, could be vetoed by a magistrate known as a [[Plebeian Tribune]] or more popularly called a "Tribune of the Plebs".▼

In the Roman system of [[direct democracy]], primary types of gatherings were used to vote on legislative, electoral, and judicial matters. The first was the Assembly (''comitia'', literally "going together" or "meeting place").<ref name="Lintott, 42">Lintott, 42</ref> The Curiate Assembly was a ''comitia''. Assemblies represented ''all citizens'',<ref name="Abbott, 251">Abbott, 251</ref> even if they excluded the [[plebs]] like the Curiate Assembly did, and were used for official purposes, such as for the enactment of statutes. Acts of an Assembly applied to all Roman citizens. The second type of gathering was the Council (''concilium''), which was a forum where a specific class of citizen met. In contrast, the Convention (''conventio'', literally "coming together") was an unofficial forum for communication. Conventions were simply forums where Romans met for specific unofficial purposes, such as, for example, to hear a political speech.<ref name="Lintott, 42">Lintott, 42</ref> Private citizens who did not hold political office could only speak before a Convention, and not before an Assembly or a Council.<ref name="Abbott, 252">Abbott, 252</ref> Conventions were simply meetings, and no legal or legislative decisions could be made in them. Voters always assembled first into Conventions to hear debates and conduct other business before voting, and then into Assemblies or Councils to vote.<ref name="Taylor, 2">Taylor, 2</ref>▼

Shortly after the founding of the republic, the powers of the Curiate Assembly were transferred to the [[Centuriate Assembly]] and the [[Tribal Assembly]].<ref name="Byrd, 33">Byrd, 33</ref> While it then fell into disuse, it did retain some theoretical powers, most importantly, the power to ratify elections of the top-ranking [[Roman Magistrates]] (Consuls and [[Praetors]]) by passing a law (''[[lex curiata de imperio]]'' or "Curiate Law on Imperium") that gave them their legal command ([[Imperium]]) authority. In practice, however, they received this authority from the Centuriate Assembly (which formally elected them), and as such, this functioned as nothing more than a reminder of Rome's regal heritage.<ref name="Taylor, 3, 4">Taylor, 3, 4</ref> Even after it lost its powers, the Curiate Assembly continued to be presided over by Consuls and Praetors, and was subject to obstruction by [[Roman Magistrates]] (especially [[tribune|Plebeian Tribunes]]) and unfavorable omens (as were the other assemblies).<ref name="Taylor, 3, 4">Taylor, 3, 4</ref> Acts that the Curiate Assembly voted on were mostly symbolic and usually in the affirmative.<ref name="Taylor, 3, 4">Taylor, 3, 4</ref> At one point, possibly as early as 218 BC, the Curiate Assembly's thirty Curiae were abolished, and replaced with thirty [[lictors]], one from each of the original Patrician clans.<ref name="Taylor, 3, 4">Taylor, 3, 4</ref>▼

Since the Curiae had always been organized on the basis of the Roman family,<ref name="Abbott, 250">Abbott, 250</ref> it retained jurisdiction over clan matters even after the fall of the [[Roman Republic]] in 27 BC.<ref name="Abbott, 253">Abbott, 253</ref> Under the presidency of the [[Pontifex Maximus]],<ref name="Byrd, 33">Byrd, 33</ref> it witnessed wills and ratified adoptions,<ref name="Byrd, 33">Byrd, 33</ref> inaugurated certain priests, and transfer citizens from Patrician class to Plebeian class (or vice versa). In 59 BC, it transferred [[Publius Clodius Pulcher]] from Patrician status to Plebeian status so that he could run for Plebeian Tribune. In 44 BC, it ratified the will of [[Julius Caesar]], and with it Caesar's adoption of his nephew Gaius Octavian (the future [[Roman Emperor]] [[Augustus]]) as his son and heir.<ref name="Taylor, 3, 4">Taylor, 3, 4</ref>▼