Until the Servian reforms, the passing of laws and judgment was the prerogative of the
comitia curiata (curiate assembly), made up from thirty
curiae; Roman sources describe ten curiae for each of the three aristocratic tribes, the Ramnes, the Tities, and the Luceres, each claiming
patrician status and privilege to election as magistrates by virtue of their descent from Rome's founding families. These tribes, supposedly based on three of Rome's hills, comprised approximately 200
gentes (clans), each of which contributed one senator ("elder") to the
Senate. The senate advised the king, devised laws in his name, and was held to represent the entire
populus Romanus (Roman people); but it could only debate and discuss. Its decisions had no force unless approved by the
comitia curiata. By the time of Servius, if not long before, the tribes of the
comitia were a minority of the population. Rome's far more populous citizen-commoners (
plebeians) could participate in this assembly in limited fashion, and perhaps offer their opinions on decisions but only the
comitia curiata could vote. An aristocratic minority thus exercised power and control over the commoner majority. Roman tradition held that Servius formed a
comitia centuriata of commoners, elected by the citizens as a whole, to augment or displace the
comitia curiata as Rome's central legislative body. This required his development of the first Roman
census, making Servius the first
Roman censor. The census was organised on military lines; citizens assembled by tribe in the
Campus Martius, to register their social rank, household, property and income. This established an individual's tax obligations; his capacity to muster arms at his own expense, when required to do so by the citizen's obligation to give military service; and his assignment to a particular voting bloc in elections and law-making. The institution of the census and the
comitia centuriata are speculated as Servius' attempt to erode the civil and military power of the Roman aristocracy, and seek the direct support of his newly enfranchised citizenry in civil matters; if necessary, under arms. The
comitia curiata continued to function through the Regal and Republican eras, but the Servian reform had reduced its powers to those of a largely symbolic "
upper house" whose noble members were expected to do no more than ratify decisions of the
comitia centuriata.
Classes and army The census classified Rome's male citizen population according to status, wealth and age. The classes were subdivided into groups called
centuriae (centuries), nominally of 100 men (Latin
centum = 100) but in practice of variable number, further divided into
seniores (men aged 46 – 60, of a suitable age to serve as, reserves, "home guards" or city police) and
iuniores (men aged 17 – 45, to serve as front-line troops when required). Adult male citizens were obliged, when called upon, to fulfill military service according to their means, which was supposedly assessed by
as, a monetary unit that in the archaic period represented a particular weight of bronze or copper. This evaluated wealth of a citizen was based primarily on
land ownership (
jugera) and head of
livestock (
pecunia) until the introduction of a
monetary system in the 2nd century BC. A citizen's wealth and class would therefore have defined their position in the civil hierarchies, and up to a point, within the military; but despite its apparent military character, and its possible origins as the mustering of the citizenry-at-arms, the system would have primarily served to determine the voting qualifications and wealth of individual citizens for taxation purposes, and the weight of their vote. Wars were occasional but taxation was a constant necessity; and the
comitia centuriata met whenever required to do so, in peace or war. In effect, the
comitia centuriata was the representative assembly, in a civil and political context, of Rome's citizenry-at-arms. Though each century had voting rights, the wealthiest had the most centuries, and voted first, and those beneath them were convened only in the event of deadlock or indecision. The lowest were unlikely to vote at all and was in large exempted from military service. The centuriate classes were as follows: • 1st class, with 100,000 in
asses, infantry self-equipped with helmet, breastplate, greaves, round shield, spear and sword, comprising 40 centuries of
seniores, and 40 of
iuniores. • 2nd class, with 75,000 in
asses, infantry self-equipped with helmet, greaves, oblong shield, spear and sword, comprising 10 centuries of
seniores and 10 of
iuniores. • 3rd class: 50,000 in
asses, infantry self-equipped with helmet, oblong shield, spear and sword, comprising 10 centuries of
seniores and 10 of
iuniores. • 4th class: 25,000 in
asses, infantry self-equipped with oblong shield, spear, javelin, and sword comprising 10 centuries of
seniores and 10 of
iuniores. • 5th class: 11,000
asses (12,500 in Dionysius), infantry self-equipped with sling and sling-stones (and javelin, in Dionysius), comprising 15 centuries of
seniores and 15 of
iuniores. • Supernumaries:
Proletarii (
Capite censi, poor citizens, with no estate), 1 century. Military specialists:
Equites (cavalry); 18 centuries (6
seniores, 12
iuniores). Engineers; 2 centuries. Musicians; 2 centuries. Cornell suggests that the voting order of the
equites (after infantry of the first class) reflects their subordination to the relatively low-status infantry in the centuriate system, but takes the view that
equites in the archaic period "consisted mainly, if not exclusively, of patricians". Rosenstein distinguishes the "smaller, select group of 1,800 whose horses were furnished at public expense (
equites equo publico)" from the majority of
equites, who were wealthy enough to maintain and equip their own horse (
equites equis suis). The Servian reforms established both the Roman army's
centuria system and its order of battle; men picked from civilian
centuriae were slipped into military ones, and each battle line in the
phalanx formation was composed of a single class. In the early Republican era, as during the Regal era, the highest officers of the army were drawn from the same social stratum as the aristocratic
comitia curiata. Even after the institution of the
comitia centuriata, the most immediate and effective plebeian defense against aristocratic power was the actual or threatened
withdrawal of labour, including military service. The first known
plebeian officers (tribunes) were elected by the plebs from among their own number after the secession of 494 BC.
New tribal division and expansion of the city The reformation of the tribal divisions increased the city's sacred boundary (the
pomerium) to include
Rome's seven hills and their inhabitants. Some form of defence was constructed to protect the enlarged city, later reinforced by a
wall, and the enclosed area was divided into four new administrative
regiones (regions, or quarters); the Suburana, Collina, Palatina, and the Esquilana, where Servius himself is said to have taken a new residence. The situation beyond the walls is unclear: similar tribal areas, perhaps known as
pagi, may have extended into the surrounding Roman territories (the ancient
ager Romanus), and some of their inhabitants would have qualified for citizenship under the Servian class reforms. Either way, membership of a Roman voting-tribe depended thereafter on residence, rather than ancestry and inheritance. This would have brought significant numbers of urban and rural
plebs into active political life; and a number of these would have been allocated to centuries of the first class, the most likely to vote.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, writing in the late first century BC, adds that the tribal divisions were where citizens paid their taxes. The city's division into "quarters" remained in use until 7 BC, when
Augustus divided the city, by now much more densely populated, into
14 new regiones. ==See also==