COMITIA, kii-mishi-a (Lat. aassembliesp), with the Romans, the assemblies of the people in which the public business was transacted, and measures taken in conformity with the will of the majority. ' They existed even under the kings. In the time of the republic they were convoked by the consuls; in their absence often by the dictator, the tribunes, and in extraor dinary cases even by the pontifex maximus. There were three comitia among the Romans, which were called comitia curiata, comitia cen turion; and comitia tributa. (1) The oldest of these was the comitia curiata, so called because in it the people voted by curia, or wards. It consisted exclusively of the patricians, the original ruling class at Rome, and the class to which the name of populus was at first restricted. They were divided into three tribes, the Luceres, Ramnes and Tities, each of which was divided into 10 curim, so that there were 30 curite who voted in the comitia curiata. (2) The comitia centuriata was a mixed assembly of the patri cians and plebeians, in which the people voted by centuries, as these had been formed by Servius Tullius. On the institution of this co mitia the principal privileges of the comitia curi ata were transferred to it, and in course of time the functions of the latter became a mere for mality, so that even before the time of Cicero these were not performed by the curiz them selves, but by 30 lictors representing them. The rights of the comitia centuriata were thus very important, comprising the right of electing the higher magistrates, the right of passing or rejecting laws proposed to them, th0 right of deciding upon war on the ground of a senatus consultum or decree of the Senate, and the highest judicial power. This comitia could be held only on certain days, and it must be sum moned 17 days before the day of meeting. On the day of the comitia itself the presiding magistrate, with an augur, went into a tent be fore the city in order to observe the aus pices. If the augur declared them unexception able, the comitia was held; if not, it was post poned to another day. Before sunrise and after sunset no business was transacted in the comitia. The presiding magistrate, on his curule chair, opened the assembly by a prayer, vrhich he re peated after the words of the augur. In earlier times, first the equites, then the centuries of the first class, etc., were called upon to vote. In
later times lots were cast for the order of vett ing. The opinion of the century which first voted was usually followed by all the rest. In the earliest times every century voted verbally; in later times by ballot. What was concluded in each century by the majority was proclaimed by the herald as the vote of this century. The comitia was interrupted if any one in the assem bly was attacked by a fit of epilepsy (which was called for this reason morbus comitialis), or if a tribune of the people pronounced his veto, and under some other circumstances. (3) The other comitia, the comitia tributa, which was also an institution of Servius Tullius, was es sentially plebeian in its nature, for if the pa tricians were not, as some thinlc, entirely ex cluded from it, they were in so small a minority that their influence was scarcely felt It was based upon the division which Servius Tullius made of the whole Roman territory into 30 local tribes, which were afterward increased to 35. Its power was at first very limited, being merely local, but it gradually increased, so that it in the end came to possess the right of exercis ing electoral, legislative and judicial functions, though not so extensive as those of the comitia centuriata. It had the right of electing only the inferior magistrates; legislatively, it was merely entitled to pass resolutions proposed by the tribunes, which before becoming law had to be sanctioned by the Senate; judicially, it had the right of trying only those who had com mitted offenses against the majesty of the peo ple, and the only punishment it could inflict was a fine. It might assemble either within or with out the walls of the city, but not at a greater distance than 1,000 paces, which was the limit of the power of the tribunes. The comitia ten turiata, on the other hand, always met in the Campus Martins. Sometimes the comitia cen turiata was mixed with the comitia tributa, but in what manner it is not known. The emperors retained these assemblies for the sake of ap pearance, but used them only as instrtnnents for the accomplishment of their purposes. Con-. sult Greenidge, (Roman Public Life' (London 1901); Botsford, 'The Roman Assetnblies', (New York 1909); Mommsen, (Romische For schungen) (Berlin 1879).