[738] P. 301 f.

[739] “Mihi quidem eae verae videntur opiniones, quae honestae, quae laudabiles, quae gloriosae, quae in senatu, quae ad populum, quae in omni coetu concilioque profitendae sint;” cf. Leg. iii. 19. 44, quoted p. 127.

[740] The writers not included in this discussion, as Nepos and the poets, contain nothing at variance with the results here reached. Gudeman’s article on Concilium in the Thes. ling. lat. iv. 44-8, in most respects excellent, still retains the groundless distinction between republican and imperial usage.

[741] It will suffice here to mention the elder Cato; Livy xxxix. 40. 6: “Si ius consuleres, peritissumus;” Cic. Senec. 11. 38: “Ius augurium, pontificium, civile tracto.” On the subject in general, see Pais, Stor. d. Rom. I. i. 68 and notes.

[742] For citations of other authors, see Gudeman, in Thes. ling. lat. iv. 45.

[743] All three passages are quoted, p. 130 f.

[744] The classification of comitial functions into elective, legislative, and judicial follows Cicero, Div. ii. 35. 74: “Ut comitiorum vel in iudiciis populi vel in iure legum vel in creandis magistratibus.” In this volume, accordingly, “legislative” refers not merely to law-making in the narrower sense, but also to the passing of resolutions on all affairs, domestic and foreign, including necessarily the lex de bello indicendo.

[745] For separate lists of the elective and the legislative and judicial comitia, see VI (below), where will be found sufficient illustrations of (b).

[746] Only one instance of concilium as an elective body has been found; Lex Iulia Municipalis, in CIL. i. 206. 132: the election of magistrates “comitieis conciliove.” The explanation is that the usage of some of the Italian municipia differed from the Roman, and the author of the law had to adapt his language to local custom. With this exception the inscriptions are in line with the literature.

[747] P. 124.

[748] Discussed on p. 123 f.

[749] P. 132.

[750] Ibid.

[751] Ibid.

[752] Fest. ep. 38: “Concilium dicitur a concalando, id est vocando.” It is accepted by Curtius, Griech. Etym. 139; Vaniček, Griech.-lat. etym. Wörterb. 143; Walde, Lat. etym. Wörterb. 136. But Corssen, Beitr. z. ital. Sprachk. 41 f., rejects this etymology on the ground that it does not harmonize with all the meanings of the word and of its derivative “conciliare”; also Gudeman, in Thes. ling. lat. iv. 44. Corssen, analyzing it into con-cil-iu-m, and connecting -cil- with a root kal-, “to cover,” supposes the original meaning to be simply “a joining together,” “a union,”—giving that signification which he considers primary. It is equally reasonable, however, to assume the development to be (1) “a calling together,” (2) “a meeting for consultation,” (3) “a natural union of individuals of any kind.” In the third sense it is applied perhaps figuratively to inanimate things, especially the union of atoms to form objects, by Lucretius i. 183, 484, 772, 1082; ii. 120; iii. 805; cf. Ovid, Met. i. 710.

[753] The meaning consultation, deliberation, clearly appears in Plaut. Mil. 597 ff.:

Also in 249, 1013: “Socium tuorum conciliorum et participem consiliorum”; Cic. Rep. 17. 28: “Doctissimorum hominum in concilio”; Caes. B. C. i. 19; Nep. Epam. 3. 5; Verg. Aen. ii. 89 (or consiliis); iii. 679; v. 75; xi. 234; Livy 1. 21. 3; see also II (a), p. 132, and Forcellini, Lat. Lex. ii. 347. It is never a chance crowd; Diff. ed. Beck, p. 47. 43: “Concilium est convocata multitudo, conventus ex diversis locis populum in unum contrahit, coetus fortuitu congregatur.” The ancients understood this to be the meaning of the word; Varro L. L. vi. 43: “A cogitatione concilium, inde consilium,” an unsuccessful though instructive guess; Fest. ep. 38: “Concilium dicitur a populo consensu;” Isid. Etym. vi. 16. 12: “Concilium a communi intentione ductum, quasi communicilium.” This interpretation is supported by several glosses; φιλοποιεία (Corp. Gloss. Lat. ii. 471. 49), συμβούλιον (ibid. ii. 107. 5), coenobulium, caenobulium (ibid. iv. 321. 27). Lastly our derivative “council” points in the same direction. The meaning “deliberative assembly” has been accepted by Gudeman, in Thes. ling. lat. iv. 46, who has added citations from the whole range of Latin literature.

[754] Lodge, Lex. Plaut. i. 288; Gudeman, Thes. ling. lat. iv. 45.

[755] Cf. Gudeman, ibid. iv. 48.

[756] Cf. n. 1 and p. 132, II (a).

[757] P. 143.

[758] P. 132.

[759] The notion sometimes expressed that the word applies more appropriately to a body of representatives of the component states of a league is without foundation, though it is true that some foreign concilia are of this character.

[760] P. 133.

[761] Ibid.

[762] P. 134.

[763] Thus is explained a phenomenon for which Mommsen could find no adequate reason—that the so-called “patricio-plebeian” tribal assembly was more apt to be called concilium than were the comitia centuriata. The deliberative feature of the concilium also explains the close approach of the word to contio—another fact which Mommsen knew but did not understand.

[764] Cf. p. 131. Notwithstanding all the confidence reposed by the moderns in this utterance of Laelius, ‘debet’ suggests that he is proposing an ideal distinction rather than stating an actual usage.

[765] P. 286, 292, 301 f.

[766] Corssen, Ausspr. i. 51; ii. 683; Vaniček, Griech.-lat. etym. Wörterb. 184; Walde, Lat. etym. Wörterb. 140; cf. SC de Bacch. in CIL. i. 196. 23: “In conventionid”; Fest. ep. 113: “In conventione in contio”; Commentaria Consularia, in Varro, L. L. vi. 88; Corp. Gloss. Lat. v. 280. 13; vi. 270, s. v.

[767] Sat. i. 16. 29: “Contra Iulius Caesar XVI auspiciorum libro negat nundinis contionem advocari posse, id est cum populo agi, ideoque nundinis Romanorum haberi comitia non posse;” cf. p. 125 f.

[768] Att. iv. 3. 4: “Contio biduo nulla.”

[769] Cf. Pliny, N. H. xviii. 3. 13: “Nundinis urbem revisitabant et ideo comitia nundinis habere non licebat, ne plebs avocaretur;” Fest. 173. 30-3.

[770] Cic. Att. i. 14. 1; Lex Gen. 81, in CIL. ii. Supplb. 5439: “In contione palam luci nundinis.” Another illustration is the statement of Gellius, xv. 27. 3, that wills were made in comitia calata, in a contio of the people. Mommsen’s assumption (Röm. Staatsr. i. 199 and n. 3) that no contio was held on a market day as a rule, to which there were exceptions, is altogether unsatisfactory. The passages cited refer to a law, not to a mere custom to be observed or not at the will of the magistrate. The contio which met on a market day must have been essentially different in nature from the contio which was forbidden for market days; cf. also Varro, L. L. vi. 93; Cic. Rab. Perd. 4. 11.

[771] The calata comitia curiata is termed contio by Gell. xv. 27. 3: “Quod calatis comitiis in populi contione fieret.” Cicero, Rab. Perd. 4. 11 (cf. 5. 15) speaks of the witnessing comitia centuriata as contio, and the lustral centuriate assembly was similarly termed; Censoriae Tabulae, in Varro, L. L. vi. 87: “Conventionem habet qui lustrum conditurus est.” A widespread idea (held by Karlowa, Röm. Rechtsgesch. i. 379; Liebenam, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. iv. 1149; Soltau, Altröm. Volksversamml. 37, and others) that all contiones were unorganized is therefore wrong.

[772] Fest. ep. 38.

[773] Cic. Vatin. i. 3; Att. xiv. 11. 1; 20. 3; xv. 2. 3; Fam. ix. 14. 7; x. 33. 2; Livy xxiv. 22. 1; Gell. xviii. 7. 6 f.; Gloss. Corp. Lat. ii. 114. 25; 269. 27; 575. 8.

[774] P. 150.

[775] Examples of military contiones are Caes. B. G. v. 48; vii. 52 f.; Livy i. 16. 1; ii. 59. 4 ff.; vii. 36. 9; viii. 7. 14; 31 f.; xxvi. 48. 13; xxx. 17. 9; xli. 10. 6; see also p. 202 f.

[776] Dion. Hal. iv. 37; v. 11. 2; Plut. Popl. 3; the candidate, too, for the regal office; Livy i. 35. 2.

[777] Cic. Leg. iii. 4. 10: “Cum populo ... agendi ius esto consuli, praetori, magistro populi equitumque eique, quem patres prodent consulum rogandorum ergo; tribunisque, quos sibi plebes creassit ... ad plebem, quod oesus erit, ferunto;” Varro, L. L. vi. 93: “Censor, consul, dictator, interrex potest (exercitum urbanum vocare).”

[778] Schol. Bob. 330; cf. Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. I. p. xix. This passage proves that a quaestor could call a contio in his own right; and the same holds probable for the aediles.

[779] It is necessary to include them in the general statement of Messala, in Gell. xiii. 16 (17). 1, that the lower magistrates had the right; cf. the note above.

[780] Fest. ep. 38: “Contio significat conventum, non tamen alium, quam eum, qui a magistratu vel a sacerdote publico per praeconem convocatur.” The sacerdos is the rex sacrorum as well as the supreme pontiff. It was necessary for the latter to hold judicial contiones; p. 259, 327. For the former, see Varro, L. L. vi. 28; Macrob. Sat. i. 15. 9-12; Serv. in Aen. viii. 654. Strictly the contiones of the rex sacrorum were calata comitia curiata; p. 155.

[781] Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i. 193. For a contio of the Xviri leg. scrib. see Livy iii. 34. 1. On the duumviri for presiding at the election of consuls in 43, see Dio Cass. xlvi. 45. 3. In the opinion of the Romans the tribunus celerum, an officer under the kings, possessed the right; Livy i. 59. 7; Dion. Hal. iv. 71. 6; 75. 1; Serv. in Aen. viii. 646; Pomponius, in Dig. i. 2. 2. 3: “Exactis regibus lege tribunicia.” These authors suppose that L. Junius Brutus held an assembly in the capacity of tribunus celerum, whereas Cicero, Rep. ii. 25. 46, speaks of him as a private citizen.

[782] Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i. 193. But the promagistrate had a right to attend and to address a contio called for him outside the walls by a competent person; cf. Vell. i. 10. 4; p. 426 below.

[783] Varro, L. L. vi. 90.

[784] Livy xliii. 16. 5.

[785] Varro, L. L. vi. 93.

[786] For the quaestor, see Com. Anq. in Varro, L. L. vi. 91 f. For the curule aediles, Cic. Verr. i. 12. 36; v. 67. 173; Livy x. 23. 11; 31. 9; 47. 4; xxxv. 10. 11; 41. 9; Val. Max. vi. 1. 7; viii. 1. damn. 7; Pliny, N. H. xviii. 6. 42. For the plebeian aediles, Livy x. 23. 13; xxv. 2. 9; xxxiii. 42. 10; Gell. x. 6. 3; p. 290, 325 below; Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i. 196, n. 2 f.

[787] Messala, De Auspiciis, in Gell. xiii. 16 (15). 1.

[788] Messala, De Auspiciis, in Gell. xiii. 16 (15). 1.

[789] Dion. Hal. vii. 16. 4; 17. 5; 22. 2; x. 41; Cic. Sest. 37. 79; Livy iii. 11. 8; xxv. 3 f.; xliii. 16. 7-9; (Aur. Vict.) Vir. Ill. 65. 5; cf. Lange, Röm. Alt. i. 604, 826; p. 266 below.

[790] Cic. Fam. v. 2. 7: Q. Metellus Nepos forbade Cicero to address the people in contio on the occasion of his retiring from the consulship—a prohibition which Cicero declares was never before heard of. For another case, see Dio Cass. xxxviii. 12. 3; Lange, Röm. Alt. ii. 716; iii. 299 f.

[791] Lange’s supposition (Röm. Alt. ii. 716) that by the holding of a contio a tribune could prevent a patrician magistrate’s convoking comitia is not well founded. Livy, iv. 25. 1 (“Tribuni plebi adsiduiis contionibus prohibendo consularia comitia”), does not intend to express a constitutional principle; cf. Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. ii. 289; Liebenam, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. iv. 1150.

[792] Cic. Rab. Perd. 4. 11: “Tune, qui civibus Romanis in contione ipsa carnificem, qui vincla adhiberi putas oportere, qui in Campo Martio comitiis centuriatis auspicato in loco crucem ad civium supplicium defigi et constitui iubes, an ego, qui funestari contionem contagione carnificis veto ... qui castam contionem, sanctum Campum ... defendo servari oportere;” cf. 5. 15.

[793] Tac. Ann. ii. 32.

[794] Fest. 241. 29; Livy xxii. 57. 3; Suet. Dom. 8; Dio Cass. lxxix. 9. 3 f.; cf. Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. ii. 56, n. 4.

[795] Cf. Livy xli. 15. 10; Lex Gen. 81, in CIL. ii. Supplb. 5439.

[796] Livy iii. 66. 2; v. 11. 15; 12. 1; xxxviii. 52. 4; 53. 6. On the judicial contio, see p. 259.

[797] Livy xliii. 16. 5.

[798] XIII. 16. 13.

[799] Cic. Att. ii. 21. 5; Verr. i. 15. 44; Sest. 12. 29; Rep. i. 4. 7; Nep. Tim. iv. 3; Them. i. 3; Livy ii. 2. 4; 24. 4-6; 27. 2; iii. 31. 2; 41. 5 ff.; 54. 6; 67 f.; iv. 15; xli. 10. 13.

[800] Livy x. 13, 21; (Cic.) Herenn. iv. 55. 68. A contio, described by Livy vi. 39-41, was held by the tribunes Licinius and Sextius in the ninth year of their tribunate, after the day of election for the following year had been set. This meeting however was as much for the consideration of the proposed laws as of their own candidacy, and hence could not be thought of as strictly pertaining to the election. Mommsen’s opinion (Röm. Staatsr. iii. 392, n. 1) that stories of the kind prove nothing does not accord with his own general attitude toward the sources for the earlier history of Rome.

[801] P. 470.

[802] Cic. Sest. 50. 107 f.; Red. in Sen. 10. 26; Pis. 15. 34.

[803] P. 259 f.

[804] Livy xxxix. 17. 4 f.; Plut. Aem. 30; Pseud. Sall. Declam. in Cat. 19; cf. the Twelve Tables, in Censorin. 24. 3.

[805] Livy xlii. 33. 2.

[806] Besides the Forum or Comitium (Dion. Hal. ix. 41. 4) it sometimes met in the Area Capitolina (Cic. Frag. A. vii. 49; Livy xxxiii. 25. 6; xxxiv. 1. 4), or in the Circus Flaminius (Livy xxvii. 21. 1; Cic. Att. i. 14. 1; Sest. 14. 33). In general, see Liebenam, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encycl. iv. 1151; Karlowa, Röm. Rechtsgesch. i. 380.

[807] Cic. Flacc. 7. 16 (contrasting the sitting contio of the Greeks); Brut. 84. 289; Leg. Agr. ii. 5. 13; Acad. Pr. 47. 144; Tusc. iii. 20. 48; Orat. 63. 213. But probably the contio in the Flaminian circus was seated; Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. iii. 396, n. 3.

[808] P. 107, 110. Although the tribune of the plebs did not auspicate their assemblies, they like other magistrates occupied a templum during the meeting; Livy ii. 56. 10.

[809] Censoriae Tabulae, in Varro L. L. vi. 86. For the summons by the consul, see the Commentaria Consularia, ibid. 88; and by the quaestor, Commentarium Anquisitionis of M. Sergius, ibid. 91.

[810] Varro, L. L. vi. 86.

[811] Censoriae Tabulae, in Varro, L. L. vi. 87: “Praeco in templo primum vocat, postea de moeris item vocat;” cf. 90 f.; Livy xxxix. 32. 11; Cic. Fam. vii. 30. 1.

[812] Documents, in Varro, L. L. vi. 86, 91.

[813] Livy xxv. 3. 17; Cic. Sest. 50. 107 f.

[814] Caesar, a praetor and friend of the presiding tribune, sat with him on the porch of the temple of Castor and Pollux—used on that occasion as the speaker’s platform; Plut. Cat. Min. 27; Cic. Vatin. 10. 24: “In rostris, in illo, inquam, augurato templo ac loco ... quo auctoritatis exquirendae causa ceteri tribuni pl. principes civitatis producere consuerunt.”

[815] Documents, in Varro, L. L. vi. 88, 91; cf. 93.

[816] Livy xxxix. 15. 1: “Consules in rostra escenderunt, et contione advocata cum solemne carmen precationis, quod praefari, priusquam populus adloquantur, magistratus solent, peregisset consul, ita coepit: Nulli umquam contioni, quirites, tam non solum apta sed etiam necessaria haec sollemnis deorum comprecatio fuit.” The prayer was made at the opening of elective as well as of deliberative assemblies (Cic. Mur. 1; Plin. Paneg. 63) by plebeian as well as by patrician magistrates; (Cic.) Herenn. iv. 55. 68. Every speech addressed to the people began with a prayer; Serv. in Aen. xi. 301; Cic. Caecil. 13. 43; Gell. xiii. 23. 1; Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. iii. 390, n. 2.

[817] P. 430, 439.

[818] Caesar first brought his agrarian bill before the senate; and calling on the senators one after another by name to say whether they found any fault with it, he promised to amend it or to drop it altogether, if any clause proved unsatisfactory to any member. As the senators would not debate the merits of the proposal, but did all they could to delay its consideration, he offered the bill to the assembly without their consent; and for the remainder of his consulship he brought no more bills before the senate, but referred them directly to the people; Dio Cass, xxxviii. 2-4; cf. p. 148.

[819] Dion. Hal. v. 11. 2; Plut. Popl. 3. Besides the king it was supposed that the interrex and the tribunus celerum alone were competent; Dion. Hal. iv. 71. 6; 75. 1. The ancient writers seem to have been brought to this conception by a desire to contrast the despotism of the monarchy with the liberty of the republic. But according to Livy, i. 16. 5 ff., and Cicero, Rep. ii. 10. 20 (cf. Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. i. 200, n. 6) Proculus Julius, a private person, made a speech in a contio of the regal period; and in judicial assemblies speaking by private persons was necessary; cf. Livy i. 26. For the general usage in the primitive European assembly, see p. 169.

[820] In presenting his agrarian bill to the people Caesar first called on his colleague, despite the fact that the latter was known to be opposed to the measure; Dio Cass. xxxviii. 4. 1.

[821] Commentarium Anquisitionis, in Varro, L. L. vi. 91. Clodius, tribune of the plebs, brought forward the two consuls into the Flaminian circus, where they gave their sanction and formal approval of all the tribune had been saying against Cicero; Cic. Sest. 14. 33. On this occasion the consul Piso condemned Cicero’s consulship for its cruelty; Cic. Pis. 6. 14; Red. in Sen. 6. 13. In 44 Cannutius, a tribune of the plebs, introduced into a contio the consul Mark Antony, who spoke regarding the assassins of Caesar; Cic. Fam. xii. 3. 2. Earlier instances are Livy iii. 64. 6; iv. 6. 1 f. A tribune brought the augurs into a contio, to ask of them information concerning the auspices; Cic. Dom. 15. 40.

[822] Although the senators were invited to sit on the platform (Comm. Anq. in Varro, L. L. vi. 91), speaking by them was exceptional; in the assembly they were no more than eminent private persons; Dio Cass, xxxviii. 4. 4; cf. ch. 5.

[823] E.g. Cic. Att. iv. 1. 6: “Habui contionem. Omnes magistratus praesentes praeter unum praetorem et duos tribunos dederunt.” In a certain contio a tribune asked Scipio Aemilianus what he thought of the conduct of Ti. Gracchus; Val. Max. vi. 2. 3. At the suggestion of the consul Piso, Fufius, a tribune, brought Pompey upon the platform and asked his opinion as to the selection of jurors for a particular case; Cic. Att. i. 14. 1; cf. Ascon. 50. The tribune M. Servilius invited Cicero to speak in a contio in support of C. Cassius (Cic. Fam. xii. 7. 1), and it was in response to an invitation of another tribune, P. Appuleius (Phil. vi. 1), that he delivered the sixth Philippic. Other references to tribunician invitations are Cic. Att. xiv. 20. 5; Dio Cass. xlv. 6. 3.

[824] Ascon. 38.

[825] Sall. Iug. 33 f.

[826] The Rhodian ambassadors were introduced by the tribune Antony to the senate (Polyb. xxx. 4. 6), as the context (cf. § 8) indicates, not as Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. ii. 313, n. 1, supposes, to the people. There is no question, however, as to the right of a magistrate to bring such persons before the popular assembly.

[827] Val. Max. iii. 8. 6: “Quid feminae cum contione? Si patrius mos sevetur, nihil.” The lex Horatia, which is alleged to have granted the Vestal Gaia Taracia among many honors the right to give testimony [Gell. vii (vi). 7. 1-3], and which is assigned by Cuq (Inst. jurid. d. Rom. i. 255; and in Daremb. et Saglio, Dict. iv. 1145) to the consul Horatius, 509, is a myth (Lange, Röm. Alt. ii. 608), though doubtless in the course of the republic laws of the kind were occasionally passed, the language of which might be quoted by the annalists (Gell. l. c.). The rule that women were intestabiles is proved by such exceptions.

[828] XXXIV. 2. 11.

[829] Frag. 83. 8.

[830] III. 8. 6.

[831] Appian, B. C. iv. 32-4; see also p. 326.

[832] Livy xlv. 21. 6; 36. 1.

[833] Livy xlv. 36; cf. the statement of Dion. Hal. x. 41. 1, that on a certain occasion the crier invited all who wished to speak. These two passages are credible, notwithstanding the doubt expressed by Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. iii. 395, n. 2, if we regard the general invitation as a concession on the part of the presiding magistrate rather than as a right of the people.

[834] P. 136.

[835] Plut. Q. R. 63.

[836] Quint. Inst. iii. 11. 13: “Qui bona paterna consumpserit, ne contionetur.”

[837] (Cic.) Herenn. i. 11. 20; cf. Lex Bant. (133-118 B.C.) in CIL. i. 197. 2 f.

[838] Such a grant in Alexandria Troas, mentioned by CIL. iii. 392, Mommsen (Röm. Staatsr. i. 201, n. 3) believes to have been in imitation of Roman usage.

[839] Varro, Rer. hum. xxi, in Gell. xiii. 12. 6.

[840] Ibid.; cf. Val. Max. iii. 7. 3: “C. Curiatius tr. pl. productos in contionem consules compellebat ut de frumento emendo referrent.” Mommsen’s interpretation (Röm. Staatsr. ii. 313, n. 2), that the tribunes could not summon the consuls but could compel them to speak when present, is not altogether satisfactory. The comment of Gellius (§ 7 f.: “Huius ego iuris, quod M. Varro tradit, Labeonem arbitror vana tunc fiducia, cum privatus esset, vocatum a tribunis non isse. Quae, malum, autem ratio fuit vocantibus nolle obsequi, quos confiteare ius habere prendendi? Nam qui iure prendi potest, et in vincula duci potest”) supports the view given above in the text. A magistracy might afford some degree of protection, but on the principle enunciated by Gellius the tribune, who had the power to arrest a consul, was in a position practically to compel him to appear at a public meeting. As further examples of the president’s power to force speaking, Cato, a tribune of the plebs, compelled the keepers of the Sibylline books to come before the people in contio and declare the prophecy; Dio Cass. xxxix. 15. 4; cf. also Cic. Vatin. 10. 24; Att. ii. 24; Plut. Cic. 9; Dio Cass. xxxvi. 44. 1.

[841] P. 146.

[842] P. 145, n. 3.

[843] Dio Cass. xxxviii. 2-5.

[844] Cic. Att. ii. 24. 3: “Caesar, is qui olim praetor cum esset, Q. Catulum ex inferiore loco iusserat dicere, Vettium in rostra produxit;” Vatin. 10. 24: “Cum L. Vettium ... in contionem produxeris, indicem in rostris, in illo, inquam, augurato templo ac loco collocaris, quo auctoritatis exquirendae causa ceteri tribuni pl. principes civitatis producere consuerunt.”

[845] Dio Cass. xxxix. 34. 2; Plut. Cat. Min. 43.

[846] Or as Foster translates, “about the distressing condition of the times.”

[847] Dio Cass. xxxix. 34; Plut. ibid.

[848] Cic. Imp. Pomp. 24. 69.

[849] Livy x. 8. 12.

[850] Ibid. xxxiv. 4. 20.

[851] Dio Cass. xxxix. 35. 1.

[852] Ibid.

[853] Livy ii. 56. 9: “Quirites, ... crastino die adeste.”

[854] Commentaria Consularia, in Varro, L. L. vi. 88: “Impero qua convenit ad comitia centuriata.”

[855] Livy ii. 56. 12: “Si vobis videtur, discedite, quirites.”

[856] Preparatory to voting, the plebeian tribune Laetorius ordered the removal of all, including patricians, who were not to vote; Livy ii. 56. 10: “Submoveri Laetorius iubet praeterquam qui suffragium ineant.”

[857] In the case referred to in the note above, some of the young patricians stood their ground and refused to give way before the viator; § 11; cf. Dion. Hal. ix. 48. Again on other occasions the patricians when ordered refused to withdraw before the voting (cf. Livy iii. 11. 4), from which we may infer that the right to attend the comitia presided over by tribunes was claimed by the patricians but denied them by the tribunes. The word used in these passages to designate the removal of the unqualified is “submovere.” In Livy xxv. 3. 16 (cf. Cic. Flacc. 7. 15) “tribuni populum summoverunt” has reference to the adjournment of the people to their voting divisions, and probably also to the exclusion of those who had no right to vote; cf. Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. iii. 390, n. 1.