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Principal assembly of the ancient Roman Republic

The Concilium Plebis (English: Plebeian Council, Plebeian Assembly, People's Assembly or Council of the Plebs) was the principal assembly of the common people of the ancient Roman Republic. It functioned as a legislative/judicial assembly, through which the plebeians (commoners) could pass legislation (called plebiscites), elect plebeian tribunes and plebeian aediles, and try judicial cases. The Plebeian Council was originally organized on the basis of the Curia but in 471 BC adopted an organizational system based on residential districts or tribes. The Plebeian Council usually met in the well of the Comitium and could only be convoked by the tribune of the plebs. The patricians were excluded from the Council.

When the Roman Republic was founded in 509 BC, the Roman people were divided into a total of thirty curiae. Plutarch and Dionysius of Halicarnassus believed that these curiae were subdivisions of the three Romulean Tribes. The curiae were organized on the basis of the family, and thus the ethnic structure of early Rome. Each curia even had its own festivals, gods, and religious rites. The thirty curiae gathered into a legislative assembly known as the Comitia Curiata or Curiate Assembly. This assembly was created shortly after the legendary founding of the city in 753 BC, and it formally elected new Roman kings. During this time, plebeians had no political rights and were unable to influence Roman Law. Each plebeian family was dependent on a particular patrician family. Accordingly, each plebeian family belonged to the same curia as its patrician patron. While the plebeians each belonged to a particular curia, only patricians could actually vote in the Curiate Assembly. The Plebeian Council was originally organized around the office of the Tribunes of the Plebs in 494 BC. Plebeians probably met in their own assembly prior to the establishment of the office of the Tribune of the Plebs, but this assembly would have had no political role. The Offices of the plebeian tribune and plebeian aedile were created in 494 BC following the first plebeian secession. In 494 BC, the plebeians held nightly meetings in some districts, with their earliest attempts at organization focusing on matters relating to their class. Some of these issues included debt, civil and land rights, and military service. Tribunes of the Plebs were also charged with protecting the plebeian interests against the patrician oligarchy. In 492 BC, the office of Tribune was acknowledged by the patricians, thereby creating a legitimate assembly of plebeians (Concilium Plebis). and passed legislation (plebiscita) that applied only to the plebeians.

During the later years of the Roman Kingdom, King Servius Tullius enacted a series of constitutional reforms. One of these reforms resulted in the creation of a new organizational unit, the tribe, to assist in the reorganization of the army. Its divisions were not ethnic (as the divisions of the Curia were), but rather geographical. Tullius divided the city into four geographical districts, each encompassing a single tribe. Between the reign of Tullius and the late 3rd century BC, the number of tribes expanded from 4 to 35. By 471 BC, the plebeians decided that organization by tribe granted them a level of political independence from their patrician patrons that the curiae did not. Therefore, around 471 BC, a law was passed to allow the plebeians to begin organizing by tribe. Thus, the "Plebeian Curiate Assembly" began to use tribes, rather than curiae, as its basis for organization. As such, the Plebeian Council changed from a "Plebeian Curiate Assembly" to a "Plebeian Tribal Assembly". The only difference between the Plebeian Council after 471 BC and the ordinary Tribal Assembly (which also organized on the basis of the tribes) was that the tribes of the Plebeian Council included only plebeians, whereas the tribes of the Tribal Assembly included both plebeians and patricians. However, most Romans were plebeians. Therefore, the principal differences between the Plebeian Council and the Tribal Assembly were mostly legal rather than demographic. These legal differences derived from the fact that Roman law did not recognize an assembly consisting only of one group of people (plebeians in this case) from an assembly consisting of all of the People of Rome. Over time, however, these legal differences were mitigated with legislation. The Plebeian Council elected two plebeian officers, the tribunes and the aediles, and thus Roman law classified these two officers as the elected representatives of the plebeians. As such, they acted as the presiding officers of this assembly. The plebeians, through the Plebeian Council, began to gain power during this time. Two secessions in 449 BC and 287 BC brought about increased authority for the plebeian assembly and its leaders, and it was greatly due to concessions made by dictators and consuls that the now mobilized and angry plebeian population began to develop power. In 339 BC, the Lex Publilia made plebiscites (plebeian legislation) law, however this was not widely accepted by patricians until the 287 BC Lex Hortensia, which definitively gave the council the power to create laws to which both plebeians and patricians would be subject. Additionally, between 291 and 219 BC, the Lex Maenia was passed, which required of the senate to approve any bill put forward by the Plebeian Council.

Although the Plebeian Council survived the fall of the Roman Republic, it quickly lost its legislative, judicial and electoral powers to the Senate. By virtue of their status as perpetual tribunes, both Julius Caesar and the Emperor Augustus always had absolute control over the Plebeian Council. had become exhausted and bitter. In 339 BC they facilitated the passage of a law (the lex Publilia), which brought the Conflict of the Orders closer to a conclusion. Before this time, a bill passed by any assembly could become law only after the patrician senators gave their approval, which came in the form of a decree called the auctoritas patrum ("authority of the fathers" or "authority of the patrician senators"). The lex Publilia required the auctoritas patrum to be passed before a law could be voted on by one of the assemblies, rather than afterward. This modification seems to have made the auctoritas patrum irrelevant. Thus, the Plebeian Council became independent of the patrician aristocracy in everything but name. By 287 BC, the economic condition of the average plebeian had deteriorated further. The problem appears to have centered on widespread indebtedness. The plebeians demanded relief, but the senators, most of whom belonged to the creditor class, refused to abide by the plebeians' demands. The plebeians withdrew en masse to the Janiculum hill, resulting in the final plebeian secession. To end this movement, a plebeian dictator (Quintus Hortensius) was appointed, who ultimately passed a law called the "Hortensian Law" (lex Hortensia). The most significant component of this law was its termination of the requirement that auctoritas patrum be obtained before any bill could be considered by the Plebeian Council. In this way the law removed from the patrician senators their final check over the Plebeian Council. The lex Hortensia, however, should not be viewed as the final triumph of democracy over aristocracy. Close relations between the plebeian tribunes and the senate meant that the senate could still exercise a great degree of control over the Plebeian Council. Thus, the ultimate significance of this law was that it robbed the patricians of their final weapon over the plebeians. This ended the Conflict of the Orders, and brought the plebeians to a level of full political equality with the patricians.

At its formation, the Plebeian Council was organized by Curiae and served as an electoral council wherein plebeian citizens could vote to pass laws. The Plebeian Council would elect Tribunes of the Plebs to preside over their meetings. It is unlikely, however, that the council had any constitutional recognition before the creation of the Twelve Tables between 451 and 450 BC. At the meetings of the Plebeian Council, they would pass resolutions, conduct trials, and discuss matters pertaining to the condition of the plebeians. Their ability to perform political prosecutions was later restricted by the Twelve Tables. They served as spokespeople for the plebeians of Rome, with a purpose of protecting the interests of the plebeians against patrician supremacy. The Tribunes could call meetings of the council over which they presided. Since plebeians were not able to take political actions themselves, the Tribunes had the opportunity to make lasting impacts through their political office. De Martino and Von Fritz believe that after the Lex Hortensia of 287 BC, patricians must not have been excluded from the Plebeian Council, as the laws created by the council were now applicable to the patricians. Felix’s theory, although widely followed, is also heavily contested. His theory supposes that a concilium denotes an exclusive assembly which included only a part of the universus populus, whereas a comitia designates a meeting of a whole universus populus. Lex Ogulnia (300 BC), which entitled plebeian citizens to one half of the priesthoods in the pontifices and augures colleges. Lex Hortensia (287 BC), which made all Roman citizens subject to the laws created by the Plebeian Council. Lex Maenia (between 291 and 219 BC), which required the senate to approve all bills approved by the Plebeian Council.

Legislative Actions by the Concilium Plebis can be categorized into four principal categories based on their purpose. These categories are: (1) Equality, (2) Broadening of Participation, (3) Protection and (4) Mutually Binding Consultation. Specifically, legislative Actions that fall under the 'Equality' category are actions which move to create equality between different groups of people. 'Broadening of Participation' is indicative of actions which aim to increase the political participation of groups which had previously been denied. The category of 'Protection' includes legislative actions seeking to place limits on arbitrary action of the state, as well as seeking rights (personal rights, rights to property). Finally, legislative actions under the category of 'Mutually Binding Consultation' are those which aim to solidify and increase the power and authority of the Council of the Plebs. These categories are based on Tilly's Dimensions of Democratization.