We shall examine in order the nature, power, and business of each of these different comitia. (1) COMITIA CURIATA consisted 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 called _lex curiata de imperio_, whereby the king received his _imperium_, 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 by _patres auctores fiunt_, and down to the 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