Greek Head-dresses. (From Ancient Vases.)The left-hand figure on the top wears aκεκρύφαλοςproper (reticulum). Of the two bottom figures, the one on the left-hand wears aμίτρα, and the one on the right aσάκκος.]
Greek Head-dresses. (From Ancient Vases.)The left-hand figure on the top wears aκεκρύφαλοςproper (reticulum). Of the two bottom figures, the one on the left-hand wears aμίτρα, and the one on the right aσάκκος.]
The left-hand figure on the top wears aκεκρύφαλοςproper (reticulum). Of the two bottom figures, the one on the left-hand wears aμίτρα, and the one on the right aσάκκος.]
CŎMA (κόμη,κουρά), the hair. (1)Greek.In the earliest times the Greeks wore their hair long, and thus they are constantly called in Homerκαρηκομόωντες Ἀχαιοί. The Spartan boys always had their hair cut quite short (ἐν χρῷ κείροντες); but as soon as they reached the age of puberty (ἔφηβοι), they let it grow long. Before going to battle they combed and dressed it with especial care. It seems that both Spartan men and women tied their hair in a knot over the crown of the head. The custom of the Athenians was different. They wore their hair long in childhood, and cut it off when they reached the age of puberty. The cutting off of the hair, which was always done when a boy became anἔφηβος, was a solemn act, attended with religious ceremonies. A libation was first offered to Hercules, which was calledοἰνιστήριαorοἰνιαστήρια, and the hair after being cut off was dedicated to some deity, usually a river-god. But when the Athenians passed into the age of manhood, they again let their hair grow. In ancient times at Athens the hair was rolled up into a kind of knot on the crown of the head, and fastened with golden clasps in the shape of grasshoppers. This fashion of wearing the hair was calledκρωβύλος, and in the case of femalesκόρυμβος. The heads of females were frequently covered with a kind of band or a coif of net-work. Of these coiffures one was calledσφενδόνη, which was a broad band across the forehead, sometimes made of metal, and sometimes of leather, adorned with gold. But the most common kind of head-dress for females was called by the general name ofκεκρύφαλος, and this was divided into the three species ofκεκρύφαλος,σάκκος, andμίτρα. Theκεκρύφαλος, in its narrower sense, was a caul or coif of net-work, corresponding to the Latinreticulum. These hair-nets were frequently made of gold threads, sometimes of silk, or the Elean byssus, and probably of other materials. Theσάκκοςand theμίτραwere, on the contrary, made of close materials. Theσάκκοςcovered the head entirely like a sack or bag; it was made of various materials, such as silk, byssus, and wool. Theμίτραwas a broad band of cloth of different colours, which was wound round the hair, and was worn in various ways. It was originally an Eastern head-dress, and may, therefore, be compared to the modern turban. The Romancalauticaorcalvaticais said by Servius to have been the same as themitra, but in a passage in the Digest they are mentioned as if they were distinct.—With respect to the colour of the hair, black was the most frequent, butblonde(ξανθὴ κόμη) was the most prized. In Homer, Achilles, Ulysses, and other heroes are represented with blonde hair. At a later time it seems to have been not unfrequent to dye hair, so as to make it either black or blonde, and this was done by men as well as by women, especially when the hair was growing gray.—(2)Roman.Besides the genericcomawe also find the following words signifying the hair:capillus,caesaries,crines,cincinnus, andcirrus, the two last words being used to signify curled hair. In early times the Romans wore their hair long, and hence the Romans of the Augustan age designated their ancestorsintonsiandcapillati. But after the introduction of barbers into Italy aboutB.C.300, it became the practice to wear the hair short. The women, too, originally dressed their hair with great simplicity, but in the Augustan period a variety of different head-dresses came into fashion. Sometimes these head-dresses were raised to a great height by rows of false curls. So much attention did the Roman ladies devote to the dressing of the hair, that they kept slaves especially for this purpose, calledornatrices, and had them instructed by a master in the art. Most of the Greek head-dresses mentioned above were also worn by the Roman ladies; but themitraeappear to have been confined to prostitutes. One of the simplest modes of wearing the hair was allowing it to fall down in tresses behind, and only confining it by a band encircling the head. [Vitta.] Another favourite plan was platting the hair, and then fastening it behind with a large pin. Blonde hair was as much prized by the Romans as by the Greeks, and hence the Roman ladies used a kind of composition or wash to make it appear this colour (spuma caustica). False hair or wigs (φενάκη,πηνίκη,galerus) were worn both by Greeks and Romans. Among both people likewise in ancient times the hair was cut close in mourning [Funus]; and among both the slaves had their hair cut close as a mark of servitude.
CŌMISSĀTĬO (derived fromκῶμος), the name of a drinking entertainment, which took place after the coena, from which, however, it must be distinguished. The comissatio was frequently prolonged to a late hour at night, whence the verbcomissarimeans “to revel,” and the substantivecomissatora “reveller,” or “debauchee.”
CŎMĬTĬA. This word is formed fromco,cum, orcon, andire, and thereforecomitiumis a place of meeting, andcomitiathe meeting itself, or the assembled people. In the Roman constitution the comitia were the ordinary and legal meetings or assemblies of the people, and distinct from thecontionesandconcilia. All the powers of government were divided at Rome between the senate, the magistrates, and the people in their assemblies. Properly speaking, the people alone (thepopulus) was the real sovereign by whom the power was delegated to the magistrates and the senate. The sovereign people or populus, however, was not the same at all times. In the earliest times of Rome the populus consisted of the patricians (or patres) only, the plebs and the clients forming no part of the populus, but being without the pale of the state. The original populus was divided into thirtycuriae, and the assembly of these curiae (thecomitia curiata) was the only assembly in which the populus was represented. A kind of amalgamation of the patricians and the plebs afterwards appeared in the comitia of the centuries, instituted by king Servius Tullius, and henceforth the term populus was applied to the united patricians and plebeians assembled in thecomitia centuriata. But Servius had also made a local division of the whole Roman territory into thirty tribes, which held their meetings in assemblies calledcomitia tributa, which, in the course of time, acquired the character of national assemblies, so that the people thus assembled were likewise designated by the term populus.
We shall examine in order the nature, power, and business of each of these different comitia. (1)Comitia curiataconsisted of the members of the thirty curiae, that is, the patricians, who formed exclusively the populus in the early times. They were convened, in the kingly period, by the king himself, or by his tribunus celerum, and in the king’s absence by the praefectus urbi. After the death of a king the comitia were held by the interrex. In the republican period, the president was always one of the high patrician magistrates, viz. a consul, praetor, or dictator. They were called together by lictors or heralds. The votes were given by curiae, each curia having one collective vote; but within a curia each citizen belonging to it had an independent vote, and the majority of the members of a curia determined the vote of the whole curia. The meeting was always held in the comitium. The comitia curiata did not possess much power in the kingly period. They could only be called together when the king (or his representative) chose, and could only determine upon matters which the king submitted to them. The main points upon which the populus had to decide were the election of the king, the passing of laws, declarations of war, the capital punishment of Roman citizens, and, lastly, certain affairs of the curiae and gentes. The priestly officers, such as the Curiones, Flamines Curiales, were likewise either elected by the curiae, or at least inaugurated by them. The right of finally deciding upon the life of Roman citizens (judicia de capite civis Romani) is said to have been given to the populus by king Tullus Hostilius. It must further be remarked, that when the king had been elected, the populus held a second meeting, in which he was formally inducted into his new office. This formality was calledlex curiata de imperio, whereby the king received hisimperium, together with the right of holding the comitia. Down to the time of Servius Tullius, the comitia curiata were the only popular assemblies of Rome, and remained of course in the undiminished possession of the rights above described; but the constitution of that king brought about a great change, by transferring the principal rights which had hitherto been enjoyed by the curiae to a new national assembly or the comitia centuriata. But while the patricians were obliged to share their rights with the plebeians, they reserved for themselves the very important right of sanctioning or rejecting any measure which had been passed by the centuries. The sanction of decrees passed by the centuries is often expressed bypatres auctores fiunt, and down tothe time of the Publilian law no decree of the centuries could become law without this sanction. By the Publilian law (B.C.339) it was enacted that the curiae should give their assent before the vote of the comitia centuriata; so that the veto of the curiae was thus virtually abolished. The comitia curiata thus became a mere formality, and, instead of the thirty curiae themselves giving their votes, the ceremony was performed by thirty lictors. The comitia of the curiae were also calledComitia calataor “the summoned comitia” (fromcalare, i.e.vocare), when summoned for the purposes mentioned below:—1. On the calends it was proclaimed to the comitia calata on what day of the new month the nones fell, and perhaps also the ides as well as the nature of the other days, namely, whether they were fasti or nefasti, comitiales, feriae, &c., because all these things were known in the early times to the pontiffs exclusively. 2. The inauguration of the flamines, and after the banishment of the kings, also that of the rex sacrorum. 3. Thetestamenti factio, or the making of a will. 4. Thedetestatio sacrorum, which was in all probability an act connected with the testamenti factio, that is, a solemn declaration, by which the heir was enjoined to undertake the sacra privata of the testator along with the reception of his property. The comitia calata were summoned by the college of pontiffs, who also presided in them.
(2)Comitia centuriata.The object of the legislation of Servius Tullius was to unite the different elements of which the Roman people consisted, into one great political body, in which power and influence were to be determined by property and age. The whole people was conceived as an army (exercitus), and was therefore divided into two parts, the cavalry (equites), and infantry (pedites). The infantry was divided into five classes, or, as Dionysius has it, into six classes, for he regards the whole body of people, whose property did not come up to the census of the fifth class, as a sixth. The class to which a citizen belonged determined thetributum, or war tax, he had to pay, as well as the kind of service he had to perform in the army and the armour in which he had to serve. But for the purpose of voting in the comitia, each class was subdivided into a number of centuries (centuriae, probably because each was conceived to contain 100 men, though the centuries may have greatly differed in the number of men they contained). Hence the name ofComitia Centuriata. Each century was divided into thesenioresand thejuniores. Each century, further, was counted as one vote, so that a class had as many votes as it contained centuries. In like manner, the equites were divided into a number of centuries or votes. The two principal authorities on these subdivisions are Livy and Dionysius. The annexed table will show the census as well as the number of centuries or votes assigned to each class.
According to both Dionysius and Livy, the equites voted in eighteen centuries before the seniores of the first class; and hence there were, according to Livy, 194, and, according to Dionysius, 193 centuries or votes. The latter number is the more probable, since Livy’s even number of 194 centuries would have rendered it impossible to obtain an absolute majority. In this manner all Roman citizens, whether patricians or plebeians, who had property to a certain amount, were privileged to take part and vote in the centuriata comitia, and none were excluded except slaves, peregrini, women and the aerarii. The juniores were all men from the age of seventeen to that of forty-six, and the seniores all men from the age of forty-six upwards. The order of voting was arranged in such a manner, that if the eighteen centuries of the equites and the eighty centuries of the first class were agreed upon a measure, the question was decided at once, there being no need for calling upon the other classes to vote. Hence, although all Roman citizens appeared in these comitia on a footing of equality, yet by far the greater power was thrown into the hands of the wealthy.—As regards the functions of the comitia centuriata, they were—(a.)The election of magistrates.The magistrates that were elected by the centuries are the consuls (whence the assembly is calledcomitia consularia), the praetors (hencecomitia praetoria), the military tribunes with consular power, the censors, and the decemvirs. (b.)Legislation.The legislative power of the centuries at first consisted in their passing or rejecting a measure which was brought before them by the presiding magistrate in the form of a senatus consultum, so that the assembly had no right of originating any legislative measure, but voted only upon such as were brought before them as resolutions of the senate. (c.)The decision upon war, on the ground of a senatus consultum, likewise belonged to the centuries. Peace was concluded by a mere senatus consultum, and without any co-operation of the people. (d.)The highest judicial power.The comitia centuriata were in the first place the highest court of appeal, and in the second, they had to try all offences committed against the state; hence, all cases ofperduellioandmajestas: and no case involving the life of a Roman citizen could be decided by any other court. The sanction of the curiae to the measures of the centuriae has been already explained.—The comitia centuriata could be held only ondies comitialesorfasti, on which it was lawful to transact business with the people, and the number of such days in every year was about 190; but ondies nefasti(that is,dies festi,feriati, comp.Dies), and, at first also on the nundinae, no comitia could be held, until inB.C.287 the Hortensian law ordained that the nundinae should be regarded as dies fasti.—The place where the centuries met was the Campus Martius, which contained the septa for the voters, a tabernaculum for the president, and the villa publica for the augurs.—The president at the comitia was the same magistrate who convoked them, and this right was a privilege of the consuls, and, in their absence, of the praetors. An interrex and dictator also, or his representative, the magister equitum, might likewise convene and preside at the comitia. One of the main duties devolving upon the president, and which he had to perform before holding the comitia, was to consult the auspices (auspicari). When the auspices were favourable, the people were called together, which was done by three successive and distinct acts: the first was quite a general invitation to come to the assembly (inlicium). At the same time when this invitation was proclaimedcircum moerosorde moeris, a horn was blown, which being the more audible signal, is mentioned by some writers alone, and without the inlicium. When upon this signal the people assembled in irregular masses, there followed the second call by the accensus, or the callad contionemorconventionem; that is, to a regular assembly, and the crowd then separated, grouping themselves according to their classes and ages. Hereupon the consul appeared, ordering the people to comead comitia centuriata; and led the wholeexercitus—for, in these comitia, the Roman people are always conceived as an exercitus—out of the city, to the Campus Martius.—It was customary from the earliest times for an armed force to occupy the Janiculum, when the people were assembled in the Campus Martius, for the purpose of protecting the city against any sudden attack of the neighbouring people; and on the Janiculum a vexillum was hoisted during the whole time that the assembly lasted. This custom continued to be observed even at the time when Rome had no longer anything to fear from the neighbouring tribes.—When the people were thus regularly assembled, the business was commenced with a solemn sacrifice, and a prayer of the president, who then took his seat on his tribunal. The president then opened the business by explaining to the people the subject for which they had been convened, and concluded his exposition with the words,velitis, jubeatis Quirites, e.g.bellum indici, orut M. Tullio aqua igni interdictum sit, or whatever the subject might be. This formula wasthe standing one in all comitia, and the whole exposition of the president was calledrogatio. When the comitia were assembled for the purpose of an election, the presiding magistrate had to read out the names of the candidates, and might exercise his influence by recommending the one whom he thought most fit for the office in question. If the assembly had been convened for the purpose of passing a legislative measure, the president usually recommended the proposal, or he might grant to others, if they desired it, permission to speak about the measure, either in its favour or against it (Contionem dare). When the comitia acted as a court of justice, the president stated the crime, proposed the punishment to be inflicted upon the offender, and then allowed others to speak either in defence of the accused or against him. When the subject brought before the assembly was sufficiently discussed, the president called upon the people to prepare for voting by the words,ite in suffragium, bene juvantibus diis. He then passed the stream Petronia, and went to thesepta.—Respecting the mode of voting, it is commonly supposed that the people were always polled by word of mouth, till the passing of the leges tabellariae about the middle of the second century before Christ, when the ballot by means of tabellae was introduced. [Leges Tabellariae.] It appears, however, that the popular assemblies voted by ballot, as well as by word of mouth, long before the passing of the leges tabellariae, but that instead of using tabellae, they employed stones or pebbles (the Greekψῆφοι), and that each voter received two stones, one white and the other black, the former to be used in the approval and the latter in the condemnation of a measure. The voting by word of mouth seems to have been adopted in elections and trials, and the use of pebbles to have been confined to the enactment and repeal of laws. Previous to the leges tabellariae, the rogatores, who subsequently collected the written votes, stood at the entrance of the septa, and asked every citizen for his vote, which was taken down, and used to determine the vote of each century. After the introduction of the ballot, if the business was the passing of a law, each citizen was provided with two tabellae, one inscribed V. R.i.e.Uti Rogas, “I vote for the law,” the other inscribed A.i.e.Antiquo, “I am for the old law.” If the business was the election of a magistrate, each citizen was supplied with only one tablet, on which the names of the candidates were written, or the initials of their names; the voter then placed a mark (punctum) against the one for whom he voted, whencepunctaare spoken of in the sense of votes. For further particulars respecting the voting in the comitia, seeDiribitoresandSitula. In judicial assemblies every citizen was provided with three tabellae, one of which was marked with A.i.e.Absolvo, “I acquit;” the second with C.i.e.Condemno, “I condemn;” and the third with N. L.i.e.Non Liquet, “It is not clear to me.” The first of these was calledTabella absolutoriaand the secondTabella damnatoria, and hence Cicero calls the formerlitera salutaris, and the latterlitera tristis.—There were in the Campus Martius septa or inclosures (whether they existed from the earliest times is unknown), into which one class of citizens was admitted after another for the purpose of voting. The first that entered were the eighteen centuries of the equites, then followed the first class and so on. It very rarely happened that the lowest class was called upon to vote, as there was no necessity for it, unless the first class did not agree with the equites. After the time when the comitia of the centuries became amalgamated with those of the tribes, a large space near the villa publica was surrounded with an enclosure, and divided into compartments for the several tribes. The whole of this enclosure was calledovile, septa, carceres, orcancelli; and in later times a stone building, containing the whole people, was erected; it was divided into compartments for the classes as well as the tribes and centuries; the access to these compartments was formed by narrow passages calledpontesorponticuli. On entering, the citizens received their tablets, and when they had consulted within the enclosures, they passed out of them again by aponsorponticulus, at which they threw their vote into a chest (cista) which was watched byrogatores. Hereupon therogatorescollected the tablets, and gave them to thediribitores, who classified and counted the votes, and then handed them over to thecustodes, who again checked them off by points marked on a tablet. The order in which the centuries voted was determined in the Servian constitution, in the manner described above; but after the union of the centuries and tribes, the order was determined by lot; and this was a matter of no slight importance, since it frequently happened that the vote of the first determined the manner in which subsequent ones voted. In the case of elections, the successful candidate was proclaimed twice, first by the praeco, and then by the president, and without this renuntiatio the election was not valid. After all the business was done, the president pronounced a prayer, and dismissed the assembly with the worddiscedite.—Cases are frequentlymentioned in which the proceedings of the assembly were disturbed, so that it was necessary to defer the business till another day. This occurred—1, when it was discovered that the auspices had been unfavourable, or when the gods manifested their displeasure by rain, thunder, or lightning; 2, when a tribune interceded; 3, when the sun set before the business was over, for it was a principle that the auspices were valid only for one day from sunrise to sunset; 4, when amorbus comitialisoccurred,i.e.when one of the assembled citizens was seized with an epileptic fit; 5, when the vexillum was taken away from the Janiculum, this being a signal which all citizens had to obey; 6, when any tumult or insurrection broke out in the city.
(3)Comitia tributa.These assemblies likewise were called into existence by the constitution of Servius Tullius, who divided the Roman territory into thirty local tribes. It is a disputed question whether the patricians were originally included in these tribes; but, whether they were or not, it is certain, that by far the majority of the people in the tribes were plebeians, and that, consequently, the character of these assemblies was essentially plebeian. After the decemvirate, the patricians had certainly the right of voting in the assemblies of the tribes, which were then also convened by the higher magistrates. The assemblies of the tribes had originally only a local power; they were intended to collect the tributum, and to furnish the contingents for the army; they may further have discussed the internal affairs of each tribe, such as the making or keeping up of roads, wells, and the like. But their influence gradually increased, and they at length acquired the following powers:—1.The election of the inferior magistrates, whose office it was to protect the commonalty or to superintend the affairs of the tribes. Hence the tribunes of the plebs were elected in the comitia tributa. In like manner, the aediles were elected by them, though the curule aediles were elected at a different time from the plebeian aediles and under the presidency of a consul. At a still later time, the quaestors and tribunes of the soldiers, who had before been appointed by the consuls, were appointed in the assemblies of the tribes. The proconsuls to be sent into the provinces, and the prolongation of the imperium for a magistrate who was already in a province, were likewise points which were determined by the tribes in later times. The inferior magistrates elected by the tribes are:—the triumviri capitales, triumviri monetales, the curatores viarum, decemviri litibus judicandis, tribuni aerarii, magistri vicorum et pagorum, praefecti annonae, duumviri navales, quinqueviri muris turribusque reficiendis, triumviri coloniae deducendae, triumviri, quatuorviri, &c., mensarii, and lastly, after the Domitian law,B.C.104, also the members of colleges of priests. The pontifex maximus had been elected by the people from an earlier time. 2.The legislative powerof the comitia tributa was at first very insignificant, for all they could do was to make regulations concerning the local affairs of the tribes. But after a time, when the tribes began to be the real representatives of the people, matters affecting the whole people also were brought before them by the tribunes, which, framed as resolutions, were laid before the senate, where they might either be sanctioned or rejected. This practice of the tributa comitia gradually acquired for them the right of taking the initiative in any measure, or the right of originating measures, until, inB.C.449, this right was recognised and sanctioned by a law of L. Valerius Publicola and M. Horatius Barbatus. This law gave to the decrees passed by the tribes the power of a reallex, binding upon the whole people, provided they obtained the sanction of the senate and the populus, that is, the people assembled in the comitia curiata or in the comitia centuriata. InB.C.339, the Publilian law enactedut plebiscita omnes Quirites tenerent. This law was either a re-enactment of the one passed inB.C.449, or contained a more detailed specification of the cases in which plebiscita should be binding upon the whole nation, or, lastly, it made their validity independent of the sanction of other comitia, so that nothing would be required except the assent of the senate. InB.C.287, the Hortensian law was passed, which seems to have been only a revival and a confirmation of the two preceding laws, for it was framed in almost the same terms; but it may also be, that the Hortensian law made the plebiscita independent of the sanction of the senate, so that henceforth the comitia tributa were quite independent in their legislative character. 3.The judicial powerof the comitia tributa was much more limited than that of the comitia centuriata, inasmuch as they could take cognizance only of offences against the majesty of the people, while all crimes committed against the state were brought before the centuries. Even patricians, when they had offended against the commonalty or its members, were tried and fined by the tribes. This again constitutes a difference between the judicial power of the centuries and that of the tribes, for the former could inflict capital punishment, but the latter only fines. The comitia tributamight assemble either within or without the city, but not farther from it than 1000 paces, because the power of the tribunes did not extend farther. For elections the Campus Martius was usually chosen, but sometimes also the forum, the Capitol, or the Circus Flaminius. The presidents were commonly the tribunes, who were supported by the aediles, and no matter could be brought before the tribes without the knowledge and consent of the tribunes. As the comitia tributa, however, more and more assumed the character of national assemblies, the higher magistrates also sometimes acted as presidents, though perhaps not without previously obtaining the permission of the tribunes. The preparations for the comitia tributa were less formal and solemn than for those of the centuries. In the case of elections, the candidates had to give in their names, and the president communicated them to the people. When a legislative measure was to be brought before the assembly, a tribune made the people acquainted with it incontiones, and that on the three preceding nundines. The same was the case when the people were to meet as a court of justice. The auspicia were not consulted for the comitia of the tribes, but thespectioalone was sufficient, and the tribunes had the right ofobnuntiatio. In the comitia the tribune who had been chosen to preside sat on the tribunal supported by his colleagues, and laid before the people the subject of the meeting, concluding with the wordsvelitis, jubeatis Quirites. The bill was never read by the tribune himself, but by a praeco, and then began the debates, in which persons might either oppose or recommend the measure, though private persons had to ask the tribunes for permission to speak. When the discussion was over the president called upon the peopleite in suffragium, as at the comitia centuriata. They then formed themselves into their tribes, which, like the centuries, ascertained their own votes in enclosures (septa). Which of the 35 tribes was to give its vote first, was determined by lot, and that tribe was calledpraerogativaorprincipium(the others were termedjure vocatae). The vote of the first tribe was given by some person of distinction whose name was mentioned in the plebiscitum, if it was of a legislative nature. The manner of collecting the votes was, on the whole, the same as in the comitia centuriata. The announcing of the result of the votes was therenuntiatio. If it so happened that two candidates had the same number of votes, the question was decided by drawing lots. The circumstances which might cause the meeting to break up and defer its business till another day, are the same as those which put an end to the comitia centuriata.
(4)The comitia centuriata mixed with the comitia tributa.—The Servian constitution was retained unaltered so long as no great change took place in the republic; but when the coinage and the standard of property had become altered, when the constitution of the army had been placed on a different footing, and, above all, when the plebeians began to be recognized as a great and essential element in the Roman state, it must have been found inconvenient to leave to the equites and the first class so great a preponderance in the comitia of the centuries, and it became necessary to secure more power and influence to the democratic element. A change, therefore, took place, and the comitia centuriata became mixed with the comitia tributa; but neither the time nor the exact nature of this change is accurately ascertained. Some refer it to the censorship of C. Flaminius,B.C.220, others to that of Q. Fabius and P. Decius,B.C.304. But there is evidence that it must be assigned to even an earlier date than this, for the (tribus) praerogativa is mentioned as early asB.C.396 in the election of the consular tribunes, where the pure comitia tributa cannot be meant, and a centuria praerogativa is a thing unknown. With regard to the manner of the change, the most probable opinion is, that the citizens of each tribe were divided into five property classes, each consisting of seniores and juniores, so that each of the 35 tribes contained ten centuries, and all the tribes together 350 centuries. According to this new arrangement, the five ancient classes, divided into seniores and juniores, continued to exist as before, but henceforth they were most closely united with the tribes, whereas before the tribes had been mere local divisions and entirely independent of property. The union now effected was that the classes became subdivisions of the tribes, and that accordingly centuries occur both in the classes and in the tribes. Each tribe contained ten centuries, two of the first class (one of the seniores and one of the juniores), two of the second (likewise seniores and juniores), two of the third, two of the fourth, and two of the fifth class. The equites were likewise divided according to tribes and centuries, and they seem to have voted with the first class, and to have been in fact included in it, so as to be called centuries of the first class. The centuries of the cornicines, tubicines and fabri, which are no longer mentioned, probably ceased to exist as distinct centuries. The voting by tribes can hardly be conceived, except in those cases in which the ten centuries of every tribe were unanimous;this may have been the case very often, and when it was so, the tribus praerogativa was certainly the tribe chosen by lot to give its unanimous vote first. But if there was any difference of opinion among the centuries making up a tribe, the true majority could only be ascertained by choosing by lot one of the 70 centuriae of the first class to give its vote first, or rather it was decided by lot from which tribe the two centuries of the first class were to be taken to give their vote first. (Hence the pluralpraerogativae.) The tribe, moreover, to which those centuries belonged which voted first, was itself likewise called tribus praerogativa. Of the two centuries, again, that of seniores gave its vote before the juniores, and in the documents both were called by the name of their tribe, asGaleria juniorum,i.e.the juniores of the first class in the tribus Galeria,Aniensis juniorum, Veturia juniorum. As soon as the praerogativa had voted, the renuntiatio took place, and the remaining centuries then deliberated whether they should vote the same way or not. When this was done all the centuries of the first tribe proceeded to vote at once, for there would not have been time for the 350 centuries to vote one after another, as was done by the 193 centuries in the comitia centuriata.—These comitia of the centuries combined with the tribes were far more democratical than the comitia of the centuries; they continued to be held, and preserved their power along with the comitia tributa, even after the latter had acquired their supreme importance in the republic. During the time of the moral and political corruption of the Romans, the latter appear to have been chiefly attended by the populace, which was guided by the tribunes, and the wealthier and more respectable citizens had little influence in them. When the libertini and all the Italians were incorporated in the old thirty-five tribes, and when the political corruption had reached its height, no trace of the sedate and moderate character was left by which the comitia tributa had been distinguished in former times. Under Augustus the comitia still sanctioned new laws and elected magistrates, but their whole proceedings were a mere farce, for they could not venture to elect any other persons than those recommended by the emperor. Tiberius deprived the people even of this shadow of their former power, and conferred the power of election upon the senate. When the elections were made by the senate the result was announced to the people assembled as comitia centuriata or tributa. Legislation was taken away from the comitia entirely, and was completely in the hands of the senate and the emperor. From this time the comitia may be said to have ceased to exist, as all the sovereign power formerly possessed by the people was conferred upon the emperor by the lex regia. [Lex Regia.]
COMMĔĀTUS, a furlough, or leave of absence from the army for a certain time.
COMMENTĀRĬUS or COMMENTĀRĬUM, a book of memoirs or memorandum-book, whence the expressionCaesaris Commentarii. It is also used for a lawyer’s brief, the notes of a speech, &c.
COMMERCĬUM. [Civitas(Roman).]
CŌMOEDĬA (κωμῳδία), comedy. (1)Greek.Comedy took its rise at the vintage festivals of Dionysus. It originated with those who led off the phallic songs of the band of revellers (κῶμος), who at the vintage festivals of Dionysus gave expression to the feelings of exuberant joy and merriment which were regarded as appropriate to the occasion, by parading about, partly on foot, partly in waggons, with the symbol of the productive powers of nature, singing a wild, jovial song in honour of Dionysus and his companions. These songs were commonly interspersed with, or followed by petulant, extemporal witticisms with which the revellers assailed the bystanders. This origin of comedy is indicated by the nameκωμῳδία, which undoubtedly means “the song of theκῶμος,” though it has sometimes been derived fromκώμη, as if the meaning were “a village song.” It was among the Dorians that comedy first assumed any thing of a regular shape. The Megarians, both in the mother country and in Sicily, claimed to be considered as its originators, and so far as the comedy of Athens is concerned, the claim of the former appears well founded. Among the Athenians the first attempts at comedy were made at Icaria by Susarion, a native of Megara, aboutB.C.578. Susarion no doubt substituted for the more ancient improvisations of the chorus and its leader premeditated compositions. There would seem also to have been some kind of poetical contest, for we learn that the prize for the successful poet was a basket of figs and a jar of wine. It was also the practice of those who took part in the comus to smear their faces with wine-lees, either to prevent their features from being recognised, or to give themselves a more grotesque appearance. Hence comedy came to be calledτρυγῳδία, or lee-song. Others connected the name with the circumstance of a jar of new wine (τρύξ) being the prize for the successful poet. It was, however, in Sicily, that comedy was earliest brought to something like perfection. Epicharmus was the first writer who gave it anew form, and introduced a regular plot. In his efforts he appears to have been associated with Phormis, a somewhat older contemporary. The Megarians in Sicily claimed the honour of the invention of comedy, on account of Epicharmus having lived in Megara before he went to Syracuse. In Attica, the first comic poet of any importance whom we hear of after Susarion is Chionides, who is said to have brought out plays inB.C.488. Euetes, Euxenides, and Myllus were probably contemporaries of Chionides; he was followed by Magnes and Ecphantides. Their compositions, however, seem to have been little but the reproduction of the old Megaric farce of Susarion, differing, no doubt, in form, by the introduction of an actor or actors, separate from the chorus, in imitation of the improvements that had been made in tragedy.—That branch of the Attic drama which was called theOld Comedy, begins properly with Cratinus, who was to comedy very much what Aeschylus was to tragedy. The old comedy has been described as the comedy of caricature, and such indeed it was, but it was also a great deal more. As it appeared in the hands of its great masters Cratinus, Hermippus, Eupolis, and especially Aristophanes, its main characteristic was that it was throughoutpolitical. Everything that bore upon the political or social interests of the Athenians furnished materials for it. The old Attic comedy lasted from Ol. 80 to Ol. 94 (B.C.458-404). From Cratinus to Theopompus there were forty-one poets, fourteen of whom preceded Aristophanes. The later pieces of Aristophanes belong to the Middle rather than to the Old Comedy. The chorus in a comedy consisted of twenty-four. [Chorus.] The dance of the chorus was theκόρδαξ, the movements of which were capricious and licentious, consisting partly in a reeling to and fro, in imitation of a drunken man, and in various unseemly and immodest gestures. Comedies have choric songs, but noστάσιμα, or songs between acts. The most important of the choral parts was the Parabasis, when the actors having left the stage, the chorus, which was ordinarily divided into four rows, containing six each, and was turned towards the stage, turned round, and advancing towards the spectators delivered an address to them in the name of the poet, either on public topics of general interest, or on matters which concerned the poet personally, criticising his rivals and calling attention to his merits; the address having nothing whatever to do with the action of the play. The parabasis was not universally introduced: three plays of Aristophanes, the Ecclesiazusae, Lysistrata, and Plutus, have none. As the old Attic comedy was the offspring of the political and social vigour and freedom of the age during which it flourished, it naturally declined and ceased with the decline and overthrow of the freedom and vigour which were necessary for its development.—It was replaced by a comedy of a somewhat different style, which was known as theMiddle Comedy, the age of which lasted from the end of the Peloponnesian war to the overthrow of liberty by Philip of Macedon. (Ol. 94-110.) The comedy of this period found its materials in satirizing classes of people instead of individuals, in criticising the systems and merits of philosophers and literary men, and in parodies of the compositions of living and earlier poets, and travesties of mythological subjects. It formed a transition from the old to the new comedy, and approximated to the latter in the greater attention to the construction of plots which seem frequently to have been founded on amorous intrigues, and in the absence of that wild grotesqueness which marked the old comedy. As regards its external form, the plays of the middle comedy, generally speaking, had neither parabasis nor chorus. The most celebrated authors of the middle comedy were Antiphanes and Alexis.—TheNew Comedywas a further development of the last mentioned kind. It answered as nearly as may be to the modern comedy of manners or character. Dropping for the most part personal allusions, caricature, ridicule, and parody, which, in a more general form than in the old comedy, had maintained their ground in the middle comedy, the poets of the new comedy made it their business to reproduce in a generalized form a picture of the every-day life of those by whom they were surrounded. There were various standing characters which found a place in most plays, such as we find in the plays of Plautus and Terence, theleno perjurus,amator fervidus,servulus callidus,amica illudens,sodalis opitulator,miles proeliator,parasitus edax,parentes tenaces,meretrices procaces. In the new comedy there was no chorus. It flourished from aboutB.C.340 toB.C.260. The poets of the new comedy amounted to 64 in number. The most distinguished was Menander.—(2)Roman.—The accounts of the early stages of comic poetry among the Romans are scanty. Scenic entertainments were introduced at Rome inB.C.363 from Etruria, where it would seem they were a familiar amusement. Tuscan players (ludiones), who were fetched from Etruria, exhibited a sort of pantomimic dance to the music of a flute, without any song accompanying their dance, and without regulardramatic gesticulation. The amusement became popular, and was imitated by the young Romans, who improved upon the original entertainment by uniting with it extemporaneous mutual raillery, composed in a rude irregular measure, a species of diversion which had been long known among the Romans at their agrarian festivals under the name ofFescennina[Fescennina]. It was 123 years after the first introduction of these scenic performances before the improvement was introduced of having a regular plot. This advance was made by Livius Andronicus, a native of Magna Graecia, inB.C.240. His pieces, which were both tragedies and comedies, were merely adaptations of Greek dramas. The representation of regular plays of this sort was now left to those who were histriones by profession, and who were very commonly either foreigners or slaves; the free-born youth of Rome confined their own scenic performances to the older, irregular farces, which long maintained their ground, and were subsequently calledexodia. [Exodia;Satura.] Livius, as was common at that time, was himself an actor in his own pieces. The first imitator of the dramatic works of Livius Andronicus was Cn. Naevius, a native of Campania. He composed both tragedies and comedies, which were either translations or imitations of those of Greek writers. The most distinguished successors of Naevius were Plautus, who chiefly imitated Epicharmus, and Terence, whose materials were drawn mostly from Menander, Diphilus, Philemon, and Apollodorus. The comedy of the Romans was throughout but an imitation of that of the Greeks, and chiefly of the new comedy. Where the characters were ostensibly Greek, and the scene laid in Athens or some other Greek town, the comedies were termedpalliatae. All the comedies of Terence and Plautus belong to this class. When the story and characters were Roman, the plays were calledtogatae. But the fabulae togatae were in fact little else than Greek comedies clothed in a Latin dress.
The togatae were divided into two classes, thetrabeataeandtabernariae, according as the subject was taken from high or from low life. In the comediae palliatae, the costume of the ordinary actors was the Greek pallium. The plays which bore the name ofpraetextatae, were not so much tragedies as historical plays. It is a mistake to represent them as comedies. There was a species of tragi-comedy, named from the poet who introduced that styleRhinthonica. A tragedy the argument of which was Greek was termedcrepidata. The mimes are sometimes classed with the Latin comedies. [Mimus.] The mimes differed from the comedies in little more than the predominance of the mimic representation over the dialogue. Latin comedies had no chorus, any more than the dramas of the new comedy, of which they were for the most part imitations. Like them, too, they were introduced by a prologue, which answered some of the purposes of the parabasis of the old comedy, so far as bespeaking the good will of the spectators, and defending the poet against his rivals and enemies. It also communicated so much information as was necessary to understand the story of the play. The prologue was commonly spoken by one of the players, or, perhaps, by the manager of the troop. Respecting theAtellanae fabulaesee that article.
COMPĬTĀLĬA, also called LŪDI COMPĬTĀLĬCĬI, a festival celebrated once a year in honour of the lares compitales, to whom sacrifices were offered at the places where two or more ways met. In the time of Augustus, the ludi compitalicii had gone out of fashion, but were restored by him. The compitalia belonged to theferiae conceptivae, that is, festivals which were celebrated on days appointed annually by the magistrates or priests. The exact day on which this festival was celebrated appears to have varied, though it was always in the winter, generally at the beginning of January.
COMPLŪVĬUM. [Domus.]
CONCĬLĬUM generally has the same meaning asconventusorconventio, but the technical import of concilium in the Roman constitution was an assembly of aportionof the people as distinct from the general assemblies or comitia. Accordingly, as the comitia tributa embraced only a portion of the Roman people, viz. the plebeians, these comitia are often designated by the termconcilia plebis. Concilium is also used by Latin writers to denote the assemblies or meetings of confederate towns or nations, at which either their deputies alone or any of the citizens met who had time and inclination, and thus formed a representative assembly. Such an assembly or diet is commonly designated ascommune concilium, orτὸ κοινόν, e.g.Achaeorum,Aetolorum,Boeotorum,Macedoniae, and the like.
CONFARRĔĀTĬO. [Matrimonium.]
CONGĬĀRĬUM (scil. vas, fromcongius), a vessel containing acongius. [Congius.] In the early times of the Roman republic thecongiuswas the usual measure of oil or wine which was, on certain occasions, distributed among the people; and thuscongiariumbecame a name for liberal donations to the people, in general, whether consisting of oil, wine, corn, money, or other things, whiledonations made to the soldiers were calleddonativa, though they were sometimes also termedcongiaria. Many coins of the Roman emperors were struck in commemoration of such congiaria.Congiariumwas, moreover, occasionally used simply to designate a present or a pension given by a person of high rank, or a prince, to his friends.