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Legislative assemblies

The legal status of Roman citizenship was limited and a vital prerequisite to possessing many important legal rights, such as the right to trial and appeal, marry, vote, hold office, enter binding contracts, and to special tax exemptions. An adult male citizen with the full complement of legal and political rights was called optimo iure (lit. ' having the greatest rights '). Citizens who were optimo iure elected their assemblies, whereupon the assemblies elected magistrates, enacted legislation, presided over trials in capital cases, declared war and peace, and forged or dissolved treaties. There were two types of legislative assemblies: the comitia ('committees'), which were assemblies of all citizens optimo jure, and the consilia ("councils"), which were assemblies of specific groups of citizens optimo jure.

Citizens were organized on the basis of centuries and tribes, which each gathered into their own assemblies. The Comitia Centuriata ('Centuriate Assembly') was the assembly of the centuries (that is., soldiers). The Comitia Centuriata's president was usually a consul. The centuries voted, one at a time, until a measure received support from a majority. The Comitia Centuriata elected magistrates who had imperium (consuls and praetors). It also elected censors. Only the Comitia Centuriata could declare war and ratify the results of a census. It served as the highest court of appeal in certain judicial cases.

The assembly of the tribes, that is, the citizens of Rome, the Comitia Tributa, was presided over by a consul, and composed of 35 tribes. Once a measure received support from a majority of the tribes, voting ended. While it did not pass many laws, the Comitia Tributa did elect quaestors, curule aediles, and military tribunes. The Plebeian Council was identical to the assembly of the tribes but excluded the patricians. They elected their own officers, plebeian tribunes and plebeian aediles. Usually, a plebeian tribune would preside over the assembly. This assembly passed most laws and could act as a court of appeal.