A
comitia was an assembly summoned to make a decision, about whom should be
elected, whether a law should be passed, war and peace, or
guilt. Most commonly during the republic,
comitia were used for electoral purposes and the word
comitia in Latin was used a metonymy for them. This contrasted with
contiones (
contio) where nothing was enacted. The word
concilium (glossed in English as "council") also referred to some kinds of assemblies. This included foreign ones and assemblies of the plebeians at Rome; however, the word could be used to refer to meetings of the whole Roman people. Usage of
concilium was rare in Latin – reference to an assembly of the tribes under the presidency of
plebeian tribunes only as a
concilium plebis is a modern convention – and there are instances where such an assembly was referred to as
comitia tributa. Similarly, there are instances where
concilium was used to refer to non-voting assemblies such as
contiones.
Curiate assembly Centuriate assembly Tribal assembly Plebeian council ==
Contio ==