Comitia Tributa
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The supreme power in the Roman Republic was the assembly which was made up of all the citizens of Rome. There were two assemblies, the assembly of centuries (comitia centuriata) and the assembly of tribes (comitia tributa).
The comitia tributa was made up of the thirty-five tribes, of which there were four tribes in the city itself, sixteen in the immediate vicinity, and fifteen in the area beyond. When a vote was taken (in Rome), each tribe had a single vote. Those citizens living in the outlying farm areas had more impact per vote than those living in the densely packed urban area, but it was a hardship to leave the farm to get to Rome. This tribal voting system kept the urban dwellers from making decisions that hurt the farmers upon whose productivity all Rome depended.
The Comitia Tributa elected the financial magistrates known as Quaestores and the patrician Curule Aedile.
Main Source: Marsh, Frank Burr; revised by H.H. Scullard. A History of the Roman World From 146 to 30 B.C. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1971.
