The Roman Republic
oftheequites,andthedivisionofthecenturiesofthefirstclassamongthe
tribes,acenturyofiunioresandoneofsenioresfromeach.Strictlyspeaking,
suchanewprinciplemighthavebeeninstitutedatanytime.Butitisprob-
ably right that, as Livy implies (, , ), it belongs after —‘‘after the
full numberof tribes had been reached.’’ It was surely this that Diony-
siusmeantinsayingthattherehadbeenasubsequentremodellingbywhich
thecenturiateassemblywasmademoredemocratic—μεταβέβληκεν εἰςτὸ
δημοτικώτερον(,,).See,forexample,L.J.Grieve,‘‘TheReformofthe
CenturiateAssembly,’’Historia():,rightlyseeingthisasasignifi-
cantchange.Iwouldonlyaskwhyitshouldbeassumed(Grieve,‘‘Reform
oftheCenturiate,’’)thattherelevantlawwillhavebeenputthroughby
aconsulorcensor.Whynotatribunicianlaw?Atalleventsitsfullimpor-
tancewillonlyappearwhenitisputinthecontextofamuchwiderrangeof
constitutionallegislationinthisperiod;withinthatcontext,itisofcourse
significantthatthispartialmeasureofdemocratizationcameverylate.
Thatthecenturiateassemblywasstillbiasedinfavouroftheupperclasses
is,andwas,patent,anditwasindeedpreciselyforthatreasonthatCatoand
Ciceroapprovedofit(Cicero,De rep.,/–).Butthetribalassembly
wasnotsostructured,andnosourceclaimsthatiteverhadbeen.Thatthis
fact is not more clearly stressed in analyses of the Roman political system
isdueinparttotheexcessiveemphasisonelections,aboveallelectionsto
theconsulship,andaconsequentialfailuretogivesufficientimportanceto
legislation.
Thequestionoftheconditionsunderwhichactsofcollectivevotingcon-
stitutedlegislationintheearlyRepublicofcourserepresentsaminefieldof
confusion.Butitwouldbecarryingscepticismtoofartorejecttheunani-
mous view of our sources that the Lex Hortensia of .., passed by a
dictatorafterthelastsecessionoftheplebs,representedamajorlandmark,and
didsobecauseitlaiddownthatvotesoftheplebswerebindingonthewhole
people—‘‘ut plebiscita universum populum tenerent’’ (Gaius,Inst.,);or
‘‘uteoiurequodplebsstatuissetomnesQuiritestenerentur’’(AulusGellius
, , ; full sources in Marina R.Torelli,Rerum Romanarum Fontes[],
–).Thekeypoint,ifwemaybelieveGellius,isthatanassemblycalled
byatribunewasonlyaconcilium,notameetingoftheuniversus populus(the
whole people), because it had excluded patricians. How we reconcile that
withrepeatedreportsoftribunesofthepreviousperiodpassingwhatlooks
remarkablylike‘‘legislation’’incommon-languageterms(forinstance,the
LexOgulniaof..addingplebeianstothepreviouslypatriciancolleges
ofpriests)isnotoriouslyunclear.Butsupposethatwhatwasatstakein
wastherightoftheconciliumplebis(plebeianassembly)togiveinstructionsto