Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A popular assembly in ancient Rome having legislative or electoral duties.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In Roman antiquity, assemblies of the people.
- An assembly.
- In the English universities, same as
act , 5.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun plural (Rom. Antiq.) A public assembly of the Roman people for electing officers or passing laws.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun historical A
popular legislative assembly inancient Rome
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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These assemblies when legally convoked were called comitia: they were usually held in the public square in Rome or at the Campus Martius, and were distinguished by the names of Comitia Curiata, Comitia Centuriata, and Comitia Tributa, according to the form under which they were convoked.
The Social Contract Jean Jacques Rousseau 1947
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When lawfully summoned, these were called comitia: they were usually held in the public square at Rome or in the Campus Martius, and were distinguished as comitia curiata, comitia centuriata, and comitia tributa, according to the form under which they were convoked.
The Social Contract 2002
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He can deceive himself with impunity on the tribunes, comitia, and dictatorships.
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When the comitia were abolished at Rome, the Prætorian guards took their place: insolent, greedy, barbarous, and idle soldiers were the republic.
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No law received its sanction and no magistrate was elected, save in the comitia; and as every citizen was enrolled in a curia, a century, or a tribe, it follows that no citizen was excluded from the right of voting, and that the Roman people was truly sovereign both de jure and de facto.
The Social Contract 2002
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For the comitia to be lawfully assembled, and for their acts to have the force of law, three conditions were necessary.
The Social Contract 2002
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This seems less clear when two or more orders enter into the constitution, as patricians and plebeians did at Rome; for quarrels between these two orders often disturbed the comitia, even in the best days of the Republic.
The Social Contract 2002
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Most of the tumults that arose in the comitia at Rome were due to ignorance or neglect of this rule.
The Social Contract 2002
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Without going here into further details, we may gather from what has been said above that the comitia tributa were the most favourable to popular government, and the comitia centuriata to aristocracy.
The Social Contract 2002
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The comitia curiata were founded by Romulus; the centuriata by Servius; and the tributa by the tribunes of the people.
The Social Contract 2002
hernesheir commented on the word comitia
(n): in Roman antiquity, a popular assembly called to attend to elections or legislations. (adj): comitial.
January 15, 2009