In Roman law. An assembly, either (1) of the Roman curiae, in which case it was called the “comitia curiata vel calata;” or (2) of the Roman centuries, in which case it was called the “comitia centu- riata;” or (3) of the Roman tribes, in which case it was called the “comitia tributa.” Only patricians were members of the first comitia, and only plebians of the last; but the comitia centuriata comprised the entire populace, patricians and plebians both, and was the great legislative assembly passing the leges, properly so called, as the senate passed the senatus consulta, and the comitia tributa passed the plebiscita. Under the Lex Hortensia, 287 B. C., the plebiscitum acquired the force of a lex. Brown.
Black’s Law Online Dictionary
