Tribal Assembly
During the regal period, the king nominated two equestrians to serve as his assistants, and after the overthrow of the monarchy, the Consuls retained this authority. However, in 447 BC, Cicero tells us that the Equators began to be elected by a tribal assembly that was presided over by a magistrate. It seems as though this was the first instance of a joint Patricia-Plebeian Tribal Assembly, and thus was probably an enormous gain for the Plebeians. While Patricians were able to vote in a joint assembly, there were never very many Patricians in Rome. Thus, most of the electors were Plebeians, and yet any magistrate elected by a joint assembly had jurisdiction over both Plebeians and Patricians. Therefore, for the first time, the Plebeians seemed to have indirectly acquired authority over Patricians. Most contemporary accounts of an assembly of the Tribes refer specifically to the Plebeian Council.