[611] As distinguished from magistrates they were privati; Cic. Div. i. 40. 89.

[612] Auctor Incertus (Huschke) p. 4: “Collegium augurum ordo hominum prudentum erat, qui prodigiis publicis praeerant;” cf. Lange, Röm. Alt. i. 330.

[613] Cic. Div. ii. 34. 71 f.; cf. Livy xli. 18.

[614] Plut. Q. R. 99.

[615] Cic. Leg. ii. 8. 20; Phil. xiii. 5. 12.

[616] They are never called flamines, and no flamen was attached to their office; Wissowa, Relig. u. Kult. d. Römer, 451. The great sacerdotal colleges were more political than religious, and the college of augurs was the most thoroughly political of all; Bouché-Leclerq, in Daremberg et Saglio, Dict. i. 564.

[617] Cic. Leg. ii. 8. 20; Dio Cass, xxxvii. 24 f.; Aust, Relig. d. Römer, 199; Wissowa, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. ii. 2325-30.

[618] Fest. 333. 9: “Spectio in auguralibus ponitur pro aspectione; (data est) et nuntiatio, qui omne ius auspiciorum habent, auguribus non spectio dumtaxat, quorum consilio rem gererent magistratus, ut possent impedire, nuntiando quaecumque vidissent; privatis spectio sine nuntiatione data est, ut ipsi auspicio rem gererent, non ut alios impedirent nuntiando.”—Valeton’s emendation, in Mnemos. xviii (1890). 455 f.

[619] Cic. Leg. ii. 8. 21: “Quique agent rem duelli quique domi popularem, auspicium praemonento ollique obtemperanto;” cf. Lange, Röm. Alt. i. 332.

[620] It generally happened that both the augural and pontifical colleges were filled by statesmen, so that Cicero could lay down the principle that the sacred and political offices were held by the same persons; Div. i. 40. 89; cf. Wissowa, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. ii. 2321.

[621] Livy iv. 7. 3; viii. 23. 14-17; xxiii. 31. 13; xlv. 12. 10; Cic. Phil. ii. 33. 83; Leg. ii. 12. 31; N. D. ii. 4. 11. A defect in the auspicia impetrativa was expressed by the formula “vitio tabernaculum captum esse” (Cic. N. D. ii. 4. 11; Div. i. 17. 33; Livy iv. 7. 3; Serv. in Aen. ii. 178), whereas the phrase “vitio creatum esse” or the like (Livy viii. 15. 6; 23. 14; xxiii. 31. 13; xlv. 12. 10; Plut. Marcell. 4) denoted a failure to take the auspices or to heed unfavorable omens; Wissowa, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. ii. 2334. On the annulment of laws through augural decrees, see Cic. Leg. 8. 21; 12. 31; Div. ii. 35. 74. The decree was no more than an opinion, on which the senate acted; Rubino, Röm. Verf. 88. n. 3; Aust, Relig. d. Römer, 201.

[622] An example of such boldness was that of C. Flaminius; Livy xxi. 63; cf. Plut. Marcell. 4; Zon. vii. 20. For the case of Appius Claudius Pulcher, see Livy ep. xix; Polyb. i. 52.

[623] P. 112.

[624] Cic. Leg. ii. 8. 21. Strictly it was the templum minus as distinguished from the templum magnum, a region of the sky; Varro, L. L. vii. 7; Fest. 157. 24; Serv. in Aen. i. 92.

[625] Varro, L. L. vi. 86, 91. It was always rectangular, and was usually covered with a tent; Fest. 157. 24; Serv. in Aen. ii. 512; iv. 200; Nissen, Templum, 162 ff.; Wissowa, Relig. u. Kult. d. Römer, 455; in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. ii. 2337 ff.; Valeton, in Mnemos. xx (1892). 338-90; xxi. 62-91, 397-440; xxiii. 15-79; xxv. 93-144, 361-385; xxvi. 1-93; Bouché-Leclerq, in Daremberg et Saglio, Dict. i. 554 f.

[626] When wars were waged in the immediate vicinity of Rome the augurs could easily accompany the commander; cf. Livy iv. 18. 6; Cic. Leg. ii. 8. 21. But they certainly did not often go as far as Samnium; cf. Livy viii. 23. 16; ix. 38. 14. Though the augurs remained at Rome, the auspices followed the commander into the field; Livy xxii. 1. 6; p. 105, n. 1.

[627] Livy iii. 20. 6; Aust, Relig. d. Römer, 201.

[628] Gell. xiii. 14. 1; Varro, L. L. v. 143; Wissowa, Relig. u. Kult. d. Römer, 456, n. 1.

[629] Wissowa, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. ii. 2339.

[630] Serv. in Aen. vi. 197; Varro, L. L. vi. 53; Wissowa, Relig. u. Kult. d. Römer, 456; also his article in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. ii. 2339.

[631] Varro, L. L. v. 143; Cic. Leg. ii. 8. 21; CIL. vi. 1233; Wissowa, Relig. u. Kult. d. Römer, 456 and notes.

[632] Varro, L. L. v. 33.

[633] The elder Tiberius Gracchus vitiated the election of his successors in the consulship by forgetting to renew the auspices, when, after entering the city to preside over the senate, he recrossed the pomerium to hold the election in the Campus; Cic. N. D. ii. 4. 11; Div. i. 17. 33; cf. Tac. Ann. iii. 19.

[634] Fest. 250. 12; 157. 29; cf. Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i, 97, n. 1; Valeton, in Mnemos. xviii (1890). 209 f. The reason for the auspication on such occasions is differently stated by the authorities, but the interpretation given by Jordan-Hülsen, Top. d. Stadt Rom, 1. iii. 472 f., that this brook marked the boundary of the city auspices, seems preferable.

[635] Avispex, auspex, bird-seer; Wissowa, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. ii. 2580.

[636] Livy i. 7. 1.

[637] Fest. ep. 64; Cic. Div. ii. 33. 71: “Haec certe quibus utimur, sive tripudio sive de caelo” (the auspicia tripudio being used in the military sphere, leaving only the auspicia de caelo for the city); cf. i. 16. 28; Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i. 79, n. 1; Aust, Relig. d. Römer, 203; Wissowa, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. ii. 2333.

[638] Dio Cass, xxxviii. 13. 3. Lightning from left to right especially in a clear sky was favorable; Dion. Hal. ii. 5. 2; Verg. Aen. ii. 692; vii. 141; ix. 628 (on the last, see Servius). A thunderclap was unfavorable to one entering office; xxiii. 31. 13; Plut. Marcell. 12; cf. Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i. 80, n. 2.

[639] Tac. Hist. i. 18.

[640] Cic. Div. ii. 18. 42.

[641] Cic. Div. ii. 35. 74; 18. 43; Dio Cass, xxxviii. 13. 3 f.

[642] Censoriae Tabulae, in Varro, L. L. vi. 86: “Ubi noctu in templum censor auspicaverit atque de caelo nuntium erit, praeconi sic imperato ut viros vocet.”

[643] Wissowa, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. ii. 2585. The auguraculum was doubtless used only by the augurs, not as Mommsen (Röm. Staatsr. i. 103, n. 2) supposes, by the magistrates.

[644] Livy viii. 14. 12; Cic. Vatin. 10. 24: “In rostris, in illo inquam augurato templo ac loco.”

[645] Varro, L. L. vi. 91; Val. Max. iv. 5. 3; Cic. Rab. Perd. 4. 11; Wissowa, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. ii. 2585 f.

[646] Valeton, in Mnemos. xxiii (1895). 28 ff.

[647] Censoriae Tabulae, in Varro, L. L. vi. 86; Livy viii. 23. 15; x. 40. 2.

[648] The auspices had to be taken on the day the business was to be transacted, counting the day from midnight to midnight; Gell. iii. 2. 10; Consorinus xxiii. 4.

[649] Verrius, in Fest. 347. 17; Serv. in Aen. ix. 4; Statius, Theb. iii. 459. Romulus, however, stood upright; Dion. Hall. ii. 5. 1.

[650] P. 105.

[651] Silence was essential to perfect auspices; Fest. 348. 29; ep. 64; Livy viii. 23. 15; ix. 38. 14; x. 40. 2; Pliny, N. H. viii. 57. 223.

[652] Serv. in Aen. iii. 89; Livy i. 18. 9.

[653] Cf. Livy xli. 18. 14.

[654] Cf. Livy ix. 38. 15; 39. 1.

[655] Cf. p. 115, 118, n. 2.

[656] Livy v. 52. 15; ix. 38. 15 f.; 39. 1; Dion. Hal. ix. 41. 3; Cic. Att. ii. 7. 2; 12. 1; viii. 3. 3. Hoffmann, Patric. u. pleb. Curien, 29 ff., is of the opinion that the assembly which passed the lex curiata was not auspicated, his idea being that the lex curiata itself conferred the ius auspiciorum publicorum. There is no ground, however, for either of these suppositions.

[657] Cic. N. D. ii. 4. 11; Dion. Hal. vii. 59. 2. On the censorial auspication of the comitia centuriata for the lustrum, see Varro, L. L. vi. 86. Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i. 98, n. 6, supposes this to be the auspication of the censor’s entrance into office (cf. 81, n. 1), believing that assemblies which did not vote were unauspicated. But cf. p. 111, n. 1 below.

[658] Dio Cass. liv. 24. 1; Cic. Fam. vii. 30. 1; cf. Varro, R. R. iii. 2. 1.

[659] Dion. Hal. ix. 41. 3; 49. 5.

[660] This is shown by the Commentarium Anquisitionis of M. Sergius, a quaestor, in Varro, L. L. vi. 91.

[661] Censoriae Tabulae, in Varro, L. L. vi. 86 f.: “Ubi noctu in templum censor auspicaverit atque de caelo nuntium erit ... tum conventionem habet qui lustrum conditurus est.” Mommsen’s interpretation (Röm. Staatsr. i. 81, n. 2, 98, n. 6) which applies these auspices to the censor’s entrance upon his office seems forced. It is not necessary, however, to suppose that this magistrate had to renew the auspices for every day of the census-taking; Mommsen, ibid. i. 113, n. 4.

[662] The current view (cf. Lange, Röm. Alt. ii. 718; Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i. 98; Karlowa, Röm. Rechtsgesch. i. 380; Liebenam, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. iv. 1150) that no contio was auspicated appears therefore to require modification.

[663] Plut. Pomp. 52; Cato Min. 42.

[664] Ael. Don. in Terent. Ad. iv. 2. 8: “Qui malam rem nuntiat, obnuntiat, qui bonam, adnuntiat: nam proprie obnuntiare dicuntur augures, qui aliquid mali ominis scaevumque viderint.” In this late author (350 A.D.) obnuntiatio is ascribed to the augurs. When Cicero says to Antony (Phil. ii. 33. 83) “Augur auguri, consul consuli obnuntiasti,” he does it only to find fault with the proceeding; cf. Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i. 111, n. 2. These are the only instances known to us in which the distinction is not observed; Mommsen, ibid.; Wissowa, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. ii. 2335; Valeton, in Mnemos. xix (1891). 75 ff., 229 ff.; Bouché-Leclerq, in Daremberg et Saglio, Dict. i. 582.

[665] Cato, De sacr. comm. in Fest. 234. 33: “Quod ego non sensi, nullum mihi vitium facit;” Pliny, N. H. xxviii. 2. 17; Serv. in Aen. xii. 259: “In oblativis auguriis in potestate videntis est, utrum id ad se pertinere velit, an refutet et abominetur;” cf. Cic. Div. ii. 36. 77; Wissowa, ibid. ii. 2335. An example of an evil omen privately reported is given by App. B. C. i. 30.

[666] Livy ix. 38. 16 with ch. 39. 1.

[667] Fest. 234. 27.

[668] P. 104; Cato, De re mil. in Fest. 214-7: “Magistratus nihil audent imperare, ne quid consul auspici peremat.”

[669] P. 114.

[670] Cic. Phil. ii. 32. 81: “Nos (augures) nuntiationem solum habemus, consules et reliqui magistratus etiam spectionem;” Varro, Rer. hum. xx, in Non. Marc. 92: “De caelo auspicari ius neminist praeter magistratum;” Fest. 333. 9 (quoted p. 106, n. 8). Madvig, Röm. Staat. i. 267, supposes that the augurs had both the spectio and the nuntiatio; but this view contradicts the clear statement of Cicero; Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. 1. 109, n. 1. The fact is, as has been stated (p. 106), they had the spectio for their own functions only, and as assistants of the magistrates simply the nuntiatio.

[671] The formula used is “in auspicio esse;” Cic. Att. ii. 12. 1.

[672] Cic. Leg. ii. 8. 20 f.; iii. 4. 11; 19. 43; N. D. ii. 3. 8; Div. ii. 33. 71; cf. Lange, Röm. Alt. i. 339.

[673] P. 106 f.

[674] Cic. Phil. ii. 33. 83; Div. i. 40. 89: “Privati eodem sacerdotio praediti rem publicam religionum auctoritate rexerunt,” an exaggeration; Leg. ii. 12. 31; Livy i. 36. 6. In this capacity the augur did not look for omens with a view to reporting them, but merely announced those which came unexpectedly.

[675] Phil. ii. 33. 82 f.

[676] P. 115.

[677] Three were present at curiate assemblies; Cic. Att. iv. 17. 2; cf. ii. 7. 2.

[678] In this case the augur not only assisted with his special knowledge, but also acted as crier; Varro, L. L. vi. 95.

[679] Varro, R. R. iii. 2. 2; 7. 1.

[680] Leg. ii. 12. 31.

[681] Cic. Phil. ii. 32. 81.

[682] P. 104, 112.

[683] Gell. xiii. 15. 1; cf. Rubino, Röm. Verf. 79.

[684] Cic. Att. i. 16. 13: “Lurco tribunus pl. solutus est et Aelia et Fufia, ut legem de ambitu ferret;” Sest. 61. 129: “Decretum in curia ... ne quis de caelo servaret, ne quis moram ullam adferret” (that no one should watch the heavens or interpose any delay in the proceedings for the recall of Cicero). Both measures here referred to were so popular and the magistrates were so nearly unanimous in their support that the senate felt it could in these cases forestall the opposition of one or two opponents.

[685] In the famous case of Bibulus against Caesar, 59; Suet. Caes. 20; cf. Dio Cass. xxxviii. 4. 2 f.

[686] Proved by the fact that the watching of the sky by Bibulus should have annulled the arrogation of Clodius (Cic. Dom. 15. 39 f.; Har. Resp. 23. 48; Att. ii. 12. 2; 16. 2; Prov. Cons. 19. 45; Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i. 113, n. 2), which was brought about by an act of the curiae under the presidency of the supreme pontiff. Any one competent to observe the heavens necessarily had the obnuntiatio.

[687] Cic. Sest. 36. 78. Probably obnuntiatio against tribunes is referred to by Cic. Phil. v. 3. 7 f. and by Ascon. 68 (the last is the abolition of the Livian laws of 91), but the obnuntiating magistrate is not known. In Cic. Vatin. 7. 17 (“Num quem post urbem conditam scias tribunum pl. egisse cum plebe, cum constaret servatum esse de caelo”) the principle is laid down that any one who has the right to obnuntiate may use this power against a tribune. The validity of the tribunician law for the interdiction of Cicero from fire and water was maintained on the ground that no one was then watching the sky; Cic. Prov. Cons. 19. 45.

[688] Cic. Sest. 37. 79; cf. 38. 83; Phil. ii. 38. 99; Att. iv. 3. 3 f.; 17. 4; Q. Fr. iii. 3. 2 (cf. Drumann-Gröbe, Gesch. Roms, iii. 6; Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i. 113, n. 3); Dio Cass, xxxix. 39; Plut. Crass. 16; App. B. C. ii. 18. 66 (cf. Cic. Div. i. 16. 29); iii. 7. 25.

[689] Cic. Att. iv. 9. 1.

[690] Cic. Vatin. 7. 16.

[691] Cic. Dom. 15. 39: “(Augures) negant fas esse agi cum populo, cum de caelo servatum sit.”

[692] Cic. Att. iv. 3. 3.

[693] Cic. Phil. ii. 32. 81.

[694] Cic. Att. iv. 3. 4. In like manner Bibulus, after obnuntiating in vain against Caesar’s agrarian law (p. 439), determined to remain at home and continually to watch the sky for the remainder of the year. This procedure invalidated all acts passed during that time by the assembly; Cic. Dom. 15. 39 f.; Har. Resp. 23. 48; Prov. Cons. 19. 45.

[695] This procedure too was followed by Bibulus; Dio Cass. xxxviii. 6. 1; cf. Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i. 82, n. 3.

[696] That they were two separate enactments, and not one complex statute by joint authors, is clearly indicated by Cic. Har. Resp. 27. 58: “Sustulit duas leges Aeliam et Fufiam;” Sest. 15. 33. Generally they are spoken of as separate laws, though Cicero occasionally, as Vatin. 5. 7, groups them in one. That they were plebiscites is held probable by Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i. 111, n. 4.

[697] When Cicero, Vatin. 9. 23, states that these laws survived the ferocity of the Gracchi, the audacity of Saturninus, etc., he places their origin in the times before the Gracchi; and when he speaks of their abolition, 58, he tells us that they had been in force about a hundred years (Pis. 5. 10).

[698] Dio Cass. xxxviii. 13.

[699] Vatin. 7. 18.

[700] Ibid. 9. 13.

[701] Red. in Sen. 5. 11; cf. Har. Resp. 27. 58; Pis. 4. 9: “Propugnacula murique tranquillitatis atque otii.” With other provisions of these statutes (cf. Cic. Att. i. 16. 13; Schol. Bob. 319 f.) the present discussion is not concerned. See further on these laws, p. 358 f. below.

[702] Kleine Schriften, i. 274 ff., 341; Röm. Alt. ii. 315, 477 f.

[703] Att. iv. 3. 4; 16. 5; Phil. ii. 32. 81.

[704] Cic. Vatin. 6. 15; 7. 18.

[705] Cic. Red. in Sen. 5. 11: “Legem tribunus pl. tulit, ne auspiciis obtemperaretur, ne obnuntiare concilio aut comitiis, ne intercedere liceret, ut lex Aelia et Fufia ne valeret;” Har. Resp. 27. 58; Sest. 15. 33; Prov. Cons. 19. 46; Pis. 4. 9; 5. 11; Dio Cass. xxxviii. 13. 5 f.; 14. 2; Ascon. 9; Schol. Bob. 319 f.

[706] Cic. Att. iv. 3. 4; 16. 5; Phil. ii. 32. 81; cf. Fröhlich, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. iv. 84; Drumann-Gröbe, Gesch. Roms, ii. 204 f.

[707] VIII. 23. 13 ff.

[708] Polyb. vi. 56. 6 ff.

[709] The former view was taken by Appius Claudius Pulcher, consul in 54 and author of a work De disciplina augurali (Fest. 298. 26), and the latter by C. Claudius Marcellus, consul in 50, and by Cicero—all three being public augurs; Cic. Div. i. 47. 105; ii. 18. 42; 33. 70; 35. 75; Leg. ii. 13. 32 f.; N. D. i. 42. 118; in general Div. ii. At that time auspices were a mere pretence; the chicken omens were forced, and the celestial signs were not seen; Cic. Div. ii. 33 f., 71 f.; Dion. Hal. ii. 6. On the decline of augury and the auspices, see Wissowa, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. ii. 2315, 2333.

[710] Probably the jurist of that name who lived under Hadrian, and who is mentioned by Paulus, in Dig. v. 4. 3.

[711] XV. 27. 4: “Is qui non universum populum, sed partem aliquam adesse iubet, non comitia, sed concilium edicere debet.”

[712] For the purpose of the present discussion the plebeian assembly—that is, the assembly which convened under the tribunes of the plebs and which issued plebiscita—is assumed to be a gathering of only a part of the people. If it admitted patricians (p. 300), and if therefore there was no assembly comprised exclusively of plebeians, no argument would be needed to prove the error of the conventional distinction between comitia and concilium.

[713] In Livy iii. 16. 6, this meeting is called a concilium.

[714] P. 341.

[715] Röm. Forsch. i. 170, n. 8; Röm. Staatsr. iii. 149, n. 3.

[716] Mil. 3. 7; cf. p. 122, n. 3 below.

[717] “Cum se in mediam contionem intulissent, abstinere suetus ante talibus conciliis.”

[718] His last citation on this point, Livy v. 47. 7 (“Vocatis ad concilium militibus”) has reference to the soldiers only—to a part of the people—and is therefore altogether unlike the others. For an explanation of it, see p. 135 f.

[719] A closely related question is whether concilium is ever restricted to the deliberative stage of a session preliminary to the division into voting units, with comitia limited in a corresponding manner to the final, voting stage of the session. A few passages, as examples (2) and (4), might be explained by such a conjecture, but others, as Livy iii. 13. 9 (“Virginio comitia habente conlegae appellati dimisere concilium”) prove the supposition impossible. Concilium denotes the assembly in its final as well as in its initial stage, voting as well as deliberating, whereas in ordinary political language contio is used to denote the merely listening or witnessing assembly, whether organized or unorganized, whether called to prepare the citizens for voting or for any other purpose.

[720] Röm. Forsch. i. 170, n. 8.

[721] Ibid. i. 195 f. It is true that the plebeian assembly came to be subject to the obnuntiatio (p. 117), but it would be absurd on this ground to suppose that Livy’s statement refers especially to gatherings of the kind.

[722] This statement admits that concilium here designates an assembly of the whole people; but Mommsen does not tell us why the word applies with greater propriety to the “patricio-plebeian” tribal assembly than to the centuriate assembly. For the true reason, see p. 137, n. 5.

[723] Röm. Staatsr. iii. 149, n. 3.

[724] Undoubtedly the Caesar who was consul in 64 B.C.; Teuffel and Schwabe, Rom. Lit. i. 348. § 3; Drumann-Gröbe, Gesch. Roms, iii. 120, n. 6.

[725] “P. Lucullus et L. Annius, tribuni plebis, resistentibus collegis continuare magistratum nitebantur, quae dissensio totius anni comitia impediebat.”

[726] De com. trib. et conc. pl. discr. (1875); Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. iii. 149, n. 1; Kornemann, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. iv. 802. The correctness of my results is acknowledged in the Thesaurus linguae latinae, iv. 44 ff.

[727] “Tribunicii candidati compromiserunt HS quingenis in singulos apud M. Catonem depositis petere eius arbitratu, ut, qui contra fecisset, ab eo condemnaretur. Quae quidem comitia si gratuita fuerint, ut putantur, plus unus Cato potuerit quam omnes leges omnesque iudices.” The translation given above is Shuckburgh’s.

[728] “Permagni nostra interest te, si comitiis non potueris, at, declarato illo, esse Romae.”

[729] Cf. Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. ii. 482.

[730] “Venio ad comitia, sive magistratuum placet sive legum. Leges videmus saepe ferri multas. Omitto eas, quae feruntur ita, vix ut quini, et ii ex aliena tribu, qui suffragium ferant, reperiantur. De me, quem tyrannum atque ereptorem libertatis esse dicebat illa ruina rei publicae, dicit se legem tulisse. Quis est, qui se, cum contra me ferebatur, inisse suffragium confiteatur? cum autem de me eodem ex senatus consulto comitiis centuriatis ferebatur, quis est, qui non profiteatur se adfuisse et suffragium de salute mea tulisse? Utra igitur causa popularis debet videri, in qua omnes honestates civitatis, omnes aetates, omnes ordines una mente consentiunt, an in qua furiae concitatae tamquam ad funus rei publicae convolant?”

[731] “Ferri de singulis nisi centuriatis comitiis noluerunt. Descriptus enim populus censu, ordinibus, aetatibus plus adhibet ad suffragium consilii quam fuse in tribus convocatus. Quo verius in causa nostra vir magni ingenii summaque prudentia, L. Cotta, dicebat nihil omnino actum esse de nobis; praeter enim quam quod comitia ilia essent armis gesta servilibus, praeterea neque tributa capitis comitia rata esse posse neque ulla privilegii: quocirca nihil nobis opus esse lege, de quibus nihil omnino actum esset legibus. Sed visum est et vobis et clarissimis viris melius, de quo servi et latrones scivisse se aliquid dicerent, de hoc eodem cunctam Italiam quid sentiret, ostendere.”

[732] Röm. Forsch. i. 161, n. 53.

[733] See list of citations for electoral assemblies, p. 133.

[734] “Tribus locis significari maxime populi Romani iudicium ac voluntas potest, contione, comitiis, ludorum gladiatorumque consessu.”

[735] “Qui (optimates) non populi concessu, sed suis comitiis hoc sibi nomen adrogaverunt.”

[736] “Iubet enim tribunum plebis, qui eam legem tulerit, creare decemviros per tribus septemdecim, ut, quern novem tribus fecerint, is decemvir sit. Hic quaero, quam ob causam initium rerum ac legum suarum hinc duxerit, ut populus Romanus suffragio privaretur.... Etenim cum omnes potestates, imperia, curationes ab universo populo Romano proficisci convenit, tum eas profecto maxime, quae constituuntur ad populi fructum aliquem et commodum, in quo et universi deligant, quem populo Romano maxime consulturum putent, et unus quisque studio et suffragio suo viam sibi ad beneficium impetrandum munire possit. Hoc tribuno plebis potissimum venit in mentem, populum Romanum universum privare suffragiis, paucas tribus non certa condicione iuris, sed sortis beneficio fortuito ad usurpandam libertatem vocare;” cf. Imp. Pomp. 15. 44; 22. 64.

[737] Sest. 51. 109.