Plebeian Council
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The Plebeian Council (Latin: concilium plebis) was a political feature of Ancient Rome. Established in 494 BC as a compromise between patricians and plebeians following the rebellion of the plebeian army, the council was a subset of the Comitia Tributa and consisted exclusively of plebeians. As such, it was not formally a comitia because it did not represent the whole of the Roman people, just the commoners. Initially the Plebeian Council had the power to pass laws (plebiscita) that were binding on all common people, though not on the entire Republic. It also dealt with civil litigation, though this function fell into disuse after Sulla established the permanent courts. The Tribunes of the Plebs and the plebeian aediles were chosen by the council from among the plebs to oversee the plebeians, though the tribunes' main task were in monitoring the judicial decisions of the patrician magistrates wherever plebs were concerned.
The Plebeian Council usually met in the well of the Comitia at the call of a plebeian tribune, who also presided and proposed legislation. Patrician senators often observed from the steps of the Curia Hostilia and heckled the tribunes during meetings (Roman politics were considerably more rambunctious than even the modern House of Commons). Lacking the religious requirements of the Comitia Tributa and the Comitia Curiata or the awkwardness of the Comitia Centuriata, the Plebeian Council's procedure was much less complicated than that of the various Roman assemblies. As such, it eventually became the favored legislature of the Republic, so much so that in 287 BC, plebiscites gained the full force of law and became binding on the entire Republic.
From its inception the Plebeian Council played an important role in the clash of the orders, a struggle between patricians and plebeians over political power. The significance of the council was in that it was the first political power gained by the plebs, and that it provided a legal mechanism to safeguard against the abuse of plebeians at the hands of patricians.
