Plebeian Council - wikipedia Plebeian Council Ancient Rome This article is part of a series on the politics and government of ancient Rome Periods Roman Kingdom 753 -- 509 BC Roman Republic 509 -- 27 BC Roman Empire 27 BC -- AD 395 Principate Dominate Western AD 395 -- 476 Eastern AD 395 -- 1453 Empire of Trebizond AD 1204 -- 1461 Timeline Roman Constitution Constitution of the Kingdom Constitution of the Republic Constitution of the Empire Constitution of the Late Empire Senate Legislative assemblies Executive magistrates Ordinary magistrates Consul Praetor Quaestor Promagistrate Aedile Tribune Censor Governor Extraordinary magistrates Dictator Magister equitum Consular tribune Rex Triumviri Decemviri Titles and honours Emperor Legatus Dux Officium Praefectus Vicarius Vigintisexviri Lictor Magister militum Imperator Princeps senatus Pontifex maximus Augustus Caesar Tetrarch Precedent and law Roman law Ius Imperium Mos maiorum Collegiality Auctoritas Roman citizenship Cursus honorum Senatus consultum Senatus consultum ultimum Assemblies Centuriate Curiate Plebeian Tribal Other countries Atlas The Concilium Plebis ( English : Plebeian Council or Plebeian Assembly ) was the principal assembly of the ancient Roman Republic. It functioned as a legislative assembly, through which the plebeians ( commoners ) could pass laws, elect magistrates, and try judicial cases. The Plebeian Council was originally organized on the basis of the Curia. Thus, it was originally a `` Plebeian Curiate Assembly ''. The Plebeian Council usually met in the well of the comitium and could only be convoked by the Tribune of the Plebs. The assembly elected the Tribunes of the Plebs and the plebeian aediles, and only the plebeians were allowed to vote. Contents 1 History 1.1 From 509 to 471 BC 1.2 From 471 to 27 BC 2 The Plebeian Council and the Conflict of the Orders 2.1 After 27 BC 3 See also 4 References 5 Notes 6 Further reading 6.1 Primary sources 6.2 Secondary source material History From 509 to 471 BC When the Roman Republic was founded in 509 BC, the Roman people were divided into a total of thirty curiae. The curiae were organized on the basis of the family, and thus the ethnic structure of early Rome. Each curia even had its own festivals, gods, and religious rites. The thirty curiae gathered into a legislative assembly known as the Comitia Curiata or Curiate Assembly. This assembly was created shortly after the legendary founding of the city in 753 BC, and it formally elected new Roman kings. During this time, plebeians had no political rights. Each plebeian family was dependent on a particular patrician family. Thus, each plebeian family belonged to the same curia as did its patrician patron. While the plebeians each belonged to a particular curia, only patricians could actually vote in the Curiate Assembly. Before the first plebeian secession in 494 BC, the plebeians probably met in their own assembly on the basis of the curiae. However, this assembly probably had no political role until the offices of plebeian tribune and plebeian aedile were created that year, in order to end the secession. As a result of the plebeian movement, the patrician aristocracy formally recognized the political power of the plebeian tribune, and thus legitimized the power of the assembly over which the plebeian tribune presided. This `` Plebeian Curiate Assembly '' was the original Plebeian Council. After 494 BC, a plebeian tribune always presided over the Plebeian Curiate Assembly. This assembly elected the plebeian tribunes and the plebeian aediles, and passed legislation ( plebiscita ) that applied only to the plebeians. From 471 to 27 BC During the later years of the Roman Kingdom, King Servius Tullius enacted a series of constitutional reforms. One of these reforms resulted in the creation of a new organizational unit, the tribe, to assist in the reorganization of the army. Its divisions were not ethnic ( as the divisions of the Curia were ), but rather geographical. Tullius divided the city into four geographical districts, each encompassing a single tribe. Between the reign of Tullius and the late 3rd century BC, the number of tribes expanded from 4 to 35. By 471 BC, the plebeians decided that organization by tribe granted them a level of political independence from their patrician patrons that the curiae did not. Therefore, around 471 BC, a law was passed to allow the plebeians to begin organizing by tribe. Thus, the `` Plebeian Curiate Assembly '' began to use tribes, rather than curiae, as its basis for organization. As such, the Plebeian Council changed from a `` Plebeian Curiate Assembly '' to a `` Plebeian Tribal Assembly ''. The only difference between the Plebeian Council after 471 BC and the ordinary Tribal Assembly ( which also organized on the basis of the tribes ) was that the tribes of the Plebeian Council included only plebeians, whereas the tribes of the Tribal Assembly included both plebeians and patricians. However, most Romans were plebeians. Therefore, the principal differences between the Plebeian Council and the Tribal Assembly were mostly legal rather than demographic. These legal differences derived from the fact that Roman law did not recognize an assembly consisting only of one group of people ( plebeians in this case ) from an assembly consisting of all of the People of Rome. Over time, however, these legal differences were mitigated with legislation. The Plebeian Council elected two plebeian officers, the tribunes and the aediles, and thus Roman law classified these two officers as the elected representatives of the plebeians. As such, they acted as the presiding officers of this assembly. The Plebeian Council and the Conflict of the Orders Chart showing the checks and balances of the Constitution of the Roman Republic. The creation of the office of plebeian tribune and plebeian aedile marked the end of the first phase of the struggle between the plebeians and the patricians ( the Conflict of the Orders ). The next major development in this conflict occurred through the Plebeian Council. During a modification of the original Valerian law in 449 BC, plebiscites acquired the full force of law, and thus applied to all Romans. Before this time, plebiscites had applied only to plebeians. By the early 4th century BC, the plebeians, who still lacked any real political power, had become exhausted and bitter. In 339 BC they facilitated the passage of a law ( the lex Publilia ), which brought the Conflict of the Orders closer to a conclusion. Before this time, a bill passed by any assembly could become law only after the patrician senators gave their approval, which came in the form of a decree called the auctoritas patrum ( `` authority of the fathers '' or `` authority of the patrician senators '' ). The lex Publilia required the auctoritas patrum to be passed before a law could be voted on by one of the assemblies, rather than afterward. This modification seems to have made the auctoritas patrum irrelevant. Thus, the Plebeian Council became independent of the patrician aristocracy in everything but name. By 287 BC, the economic condition of the average plebeian had deteriorated further. The problem appears to have centered on widespread indebtedness. The plebeians demanded relief, but the senators, most of whom belonged to the creditor class, refused to abide by the plebeians ' demands. The plebeians withdrew en masse to the Janiculum hill, resulting in the final plebeian secession. To end this movement, a plebeian dictator ( Quintus Hortensius ) was appointed, who ultimately passed a law called the `` Hortensian Law '' ( lex Hortensia ). The most significant component of this law was its termination of the requirement that auctoritas patrum be obtained before any bill could be considered by the Plebeian Council. In this way the law removed from the patrician senators their final check over the Plebeian Council. The lex Hortensia, however, should not be viewed as the final triumph of democracy over aristocracy. Close relations between the plebeian tribunes and the senate meant that the senate could still exercise a great degree of control over the Plebeian Council. Thus, the ultimate significance of this law was that it robbed the patricians of their final weapon over the plebeians. This ended the Conflict of the Orders, and brought the plebeians to a level of full political equality with the patricians. After 27 BC Although the Plebeian Council survived the fall of the Roman Republic, it quickly lost its legislative, judicial and electoral powers to the senate. By virtue of their status as perpetual tribunes, both Julius Caesar and the Emperor Augustus always had absolute control over the Plebeian Council. The Plebeian Council disappeared shortly after the reign of Tiberius. See also Roman Kingdom Roman Republic Roman Empire Roman Law Centuria Curia Roman consul Praetor Roman censor Quaestor Aedile Roman Dictator Master of the Horse Roman Senate Cursus honorum Byzantine Senate Pontifex Maximus Princeps senatus Interrex Procurator Acta Senatus References Abbott, Frank Frost ( 1901 ). A History and Description of Roman Political Institutions. Elibron Classics ( ISBN 0 - 543 - 92749 - 0 ). Byrd, Robert ( 1995 ). The Senate of the Roman Republic. U.S. Government Printing Office, Senate Document 103 - 23. Cicero, Marcus Tullius ( 1841 ). The Political Works of Marcus Tullius Cicero : Comprising his Treatise on the Commonwealth ; and his Treatise on the Laws. Translated from the original, with Dissertations and Notes in Two Volumes. By Francis Barham, Esq. London : Edmund Spettigue. Vol. 1. Lintott, Andrew ( 1999 ). The Constitution of the Roman Republic. Oxford University Press ( ISBN 0 - 19 - 926108 - 3 ). Polybius ( 1823 ). The General History of Polybius : Translated from the Greek. By James Hampton. Oxford : Printed by W. Baxter. Fifth Edition, Vol. 2. Taylor, Lily Ross ( 1966 ). Roman Voting Assemblies : From the Hannibalic War to the Dictatorship of Caesar. The University of Michigan Press ( ISBN 0 - 472 - 08125 - X ). Notes ^ Jump up to : Abbott, 261 ^ Jump up to : Abbott, 196 Jump up ^ Abbott, 21 Jump up ^ Abbott, 260 Jump up ^ Abbott, 35 Jump up ^ Abbott, 50 Jump up ^ Abbott, 51 ^ Jump up to : Abbott, 52 ^ Jump up to : Abbott, 53 ^ Jump up to : Abbott, 397 Further reading Ihne, Wilhelm. Researches Into the History of the Roman Constitution. William Pickering. 1853. Johnston, Harold Whetstone. Orations and Letters of Cicero : With Historical Introduction, An Outline of the Roman Constitution, Notes, Vocabulary and Index. Scott, Foresman and Company. 1891. Mommsen, Theodor. Roman Constitutional Law. 1871 - 1888 Tighe, Ambrose. The Development of the Roman Constitution. D. Apple & Co. 1886. Von Fritz, Kurt. The Theory of the Mixed Constitution in Antiquity. Columbia University Press, New York. 1975. The Histories by Polybius Cambridge Ancient History, Volumes 9 -- 13. A. Cameron, The Later Roman Empire, ( Fontana Press, 1993 ). M. Crawford, The Roman Republic, ( Fontana Press, 1978 ). E.S. Gruen, `` The Last Generation of the Roman Republic '' ( U California Press, 1974 ) F. Millar, The Emperor in the Roman World, ( Duckworth, 1977, 1992 ). A. Lintott, `` The Constitution of the Roman Republic '' ( Oxford University Press, 1999 ) Primary sources Cicero 's De Re Publica, Book Two Rome at the End of the Punic Wars : An Analysis of the Roman Government ; by Polybius Secondary source material Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline, by Montesquieu The Roman Constitution to the Time of Cicero What a Terrorist Incident in Ancient Rome Can Teach Us Smith 's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, article Concilium Roman Constitution Ancient Rome History Constitution Senate Assemblies Curiate Century Tribal Plebeian Magistrates Roman Kingdom History Constitution Senate Assemblies Magistrates Roman Republic History Constitution ( reforms of Sulla reforms of Caesar reforms of Augustus ) Senate Assemblies Magistrates Roman Empire History ( post Diocletian ) Constitution ( post Diocletian ) Senate Assemblies Magistrates Miscellaneous Sulla 's Constitutional Reforms Caesar 's Constitutional Reforms Conflict of the Orders Roman law Ancient Rome topics Outline Timeline Epochs Foundation Kingdom overthrow Republic Empire Pax Romana Principate Dominate Western Empire fall historiography of the fall Byzantine Empire decline fall Constitution History Kingdom Republic Empire Late Empire Senate Legislative assemblies Curiate Centuriate Tribal Plebeian Executive magistrates SPQR Government Curia Forum Cursus honorum Collegiality Emperor Legatus Dux Officium Prefect Vicarius Vigintisexviri Lictor Magister militum Imperator Princeps senatus Pontifex Maximus Augustus Caesar Tetrarch Optimates Populares Province Magistrates Ordinary Consul Censor Praetor Tribune Tribune of the Plebs Military tribune Quaestor Aedile Promagistrate Governor Extraordinary Rex Interrex Dictator Magister Equitum Decemviri Consular Tribune Triumvir Law Twelve Tables Mos maiorum Citizenship Auctoritas Imperium Status Litigation Military History Borders Establishment Structure Campaigns Political control Strategy Engineering Frontiers and fortifications castra Technology Army Legion Infantry tactics Personal equipment Siege engines Navy Auxiliaries Decorations and punishments Hippika gymnasia Economy Agriculture Deforestation Commerce Finance Currency Republican currency Imperial currency Technology Abacus Numerals Civil engineering Military engineering Military technology Aqueducts Bridges Circus Concrete Domes Forum Metallurgy Roads Sanitation Thermae Culture Architecture Art Bathing Calendar Clothing Cosmetics Cuisine Hairstyles Education Literature Music Mythology Religion Romanization Sexuality Theatre Wine Society Patricians Plebs Conflict of the Orders Secessio plebis Equites Gens Tribes Naming conventions Demography Women Marriage Adoption Slavery Bagaudae Latin History Alphabet Versions Old Classical Vulgar Late Medieval Renaissance New Contemporary Ecclesiastical Romance languages Writers Latin Ammianus Marcellinus Appian Appuleius Asconius Pedianus Augustine Aurelius Victor Ausonius Boëthius Caesar Catullus Cassiodorus Censorinus Cicero Claudian Columella Ennius Eutropius Fabius Pictor Festus Florus Frontinus Fulgentius Gellius Horace Jerome Juvenal Livy Lucan Lucretius Macrobius Marcus Aurelius Martial Orosius Ovid Petronius Phaedrus Plautus Pliny the Elder Pliny the Younger Priscian Propertius Quintilian Quintus Curtius Rufus Sallust Seneca the Elder Seneca the Younger Servius Sidonius Apollinaris Statius Suetonius Symmachus Tacitus Terence Tertullian Tibullus Valerius Antias Valerius Maximus Varro Velleius Paterculus Verrius Flaccus Virgil Vitruvius Greek Arrian Cassius Dio Diodorus Siculus Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dioscorides Eusebius of Caesaria Galen Herodian Josephus Pausanias Philostratus Phlegon of Tralles Photius Plutarch Polybius Porphyrius Procopius Strabo Zonaras Zosimus Major cities Alexandria Antioch Aquileia Berytus Bononia Carthage Constantinopolis Eboracum Leptis Magna Londinium Lutetia Mediolanum Pompeii Ravenna Roma Smyrna Vindobona Volubilis Lists and other topics Cities and towns Climate Consuls Distinguished women Emperors Generals Gentes Geographers Institutions Laws Legacy Legions Nomina Tribunes Wars and battles Fiction Films Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plebeian_Council&oldid=860898744 '' Categories : Roman Kingdom Popular assemblies Hidden categories : Pages using columns with the default column width Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Esperanto Français 한국어 Italiano Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Slovenčina 中文 5 more Edit links This page was last edited on 23 September 2018, at 20 : 35 ( UTC ). 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Question: what was the name for the powerful leaders elected by the plebeians
Answer: The Concilium Plebis (English: Plebeian Council or Plebeian Assembly)