View source for Comitium

{{Short description|Original open-air public meeting space of Ancient Rome}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Comitium
| image = The Comitium as recently excavated.jpg
| caption = Archaeological drawing of the excavations of the Comitium in 1899. This is the current level exposed today.
| location = [[14 regions of Augustan Rome|Regione VIII ''Forum Romanum'']]
| built = 7-4th century BC
| builder = [[Tullus Hostilius]]/[[Julius Caesar]]
| type = [[Forum (Roman)]]
| coordinates = {{WikidataCoord|display=it}}
|map_dot_label=Comitium
|map_label_position=bottom
|map_type=Italy Rome Antiquity
|map_overlay=Roma Plan.jpg
|map_caption=Shown within Augustan Rome
|map_size=270
|image_size=270
|mapframe-frame-width=270
|mapframe=yes
|mapframe-caption=Click on the map for a fullscreen view
|mapframe-zoom=12
|mapframe-marker=monument
|mapframe-wikidata=yes
}}

The '''Comitium''' ({{langx|it|Comizio}}) was the original open-air public meeting space of [[Ancient Rome]], and had major religious and [[prophetic]] significance.<ref name="Vasaly">{{cite book |title = Representations| last=Vasaly| first=Ann| publisher = University of California Press|year = 1993| pages =61–64| isbn= 978-0-520-20178-1}}</ref> The name comes from the [[Latin]] word for "assembly".<ref>[http://latin-dictionary.net/definition/11302/comitium-comiti-i Definition of comitium]</ref> The Comitium location at the northwest corner of the [[Roman Forum]] was later{{vague|date=March 2016}} lost in the city's growth and development, but was rediscovered and excavated by archaeologists at the turn of the twentieth century.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}} Some of Rome's earliest monuments, including the speaking platform known as the [[Rostra]], the [[Columna Maenia]], the [[Graecostasis]], and the [[Tabula Valeria]], were part of or associated with the Comitium.

The Comitium was the location for much of the political and [[judicial]] activity of Rome.{{when|date=July 2014}} It was the meeting place of the [[Curiate Assembly]], the earliest [[Popular assembly]] of organised voting divisions of the Republic.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Roman assemblies from their origin to the end of the republic| last=Willis| first= George | publisher = Adamant Media Corporation |year =2005| pages = 10 | isbn=978-1-4021-3683-2}}</ref> Later, during the [[Roman Republic]], the [[Tribal Assembly]] and [[Plebeian Assembly]] met there. The Comitium was in front of the meeting house of the [[Roman Senate]] – the still-existing [[Curia Julia]] and its predecessor, the [[Curia Hostilia]]. The Curia Julia is associated with the Comitium by both [[Livy]] and [[Cicero]].<ref>{{cite book |title = Rome and the Campagna | last= Burn| first=Robert| publisher = Deighton, Bell, and Co.; First Edition |date = January 1, 1871 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=fmHQAAAAMAAJ&dq=The+comitium+is+the+oldest+areas+of+Rome&pg=PA82 82]}}</ref>

Most Roman cities had a similar Comitium for public meetings (L. ''contiones'') or assemblies for election, councils and [[Roman law|tribunals]].<ref>{{cite book |title = Roman voting assemblies from the Hannibalic War to the dictatorship of Caesar |last = Taylor |first = Lily Ross |publisher = University of Michigan Press |date = February 15, 1991 |pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ol3u0RPnsN4C&dq=Roman+comitium+used+for+many+reasons&pg=PA21 21] |isbn = 978-0-472-08125-7 |url = https://archive.org/details/romanvotingassem00tayl/page/21 }}</ref> As part of the forum, where [[Roman temple|temples]], commerce, judicial, and city buildings were located, the Comitium was the center of political activity. Romans tended to organize their needs into specific locations within the city. As the city grew, the larger [[Comitia Centuriata]] met on the [[Campus Martius]], outside the city walls. The Comitium remained of importance for formal elections of some magistrates; however, as their importance decayed after the end of the republic, so did the importance of the Comitium.<ref>{{cite book |title = Recent excavations in the Roman Forum, 1898–1905| author=E. Burton-Brown| publisher =Scribner's|year = 1905| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=z98tAAAAYAAJ&dq=first+excavations+of+the+roman+comitium&pg=PA81 81]}}</ref>

== Archaic history ==
{{Main|Roman Kingdom}}
The earliest use of the Comitium as a political assembly area, along with the beginnings of Rome itself, is blurred between legend and [[archaeology|archaeological]] discovery. The traditional stories of King [[Servius Tullius]] and [[Romulus]] have many similarities regarding the origins of the ''comitia'', leading Romulus to be often interpreted as a copy of Tullius. Both were closely related to the God [[Vulcan (mythology)|Vulcan]], played a role in organizing the ''comitia'', and were depicted as founders of Rome.<ref>{{cite book |title = The foundation of Rome: myth and history | last=Grandazzi| first=Alexandre | author-link = Alexandre Grandazzi| publisher = Cornell University Press |date = November 1997| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=lz3qqllss7IC&dq=the+comitium+legend&pg=PA206 207] | isbn=978-0-8014-8247-2}}</ref> Other conflicting, or "duel" mythologies include the supposed tomb of Romulus, who was struck and killed during the [[Sabine]] conflict and was buried under the [[Vulcanal]]. Alternative legends state that he was only wounded and that spot was where [[Faustulus]] was killed separating the twins during combat. Many of the legends themselves transferred to the Comitum from the Palatine. For example, the {{lang|la|pomeriam}} where Remus is said to have slept as well as the [[Ficus Ruminalis]] and the sculpture of the she-wolf suckling the twins have competing legends.<ref>{{cite book |title = Ancient legends of Roman history | last=Pais, Cosenzahor | first=Ettorie, Emilio | publisher = London, Swan Sonnenschein & Co., LTD.|year = 1906| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=dxEWAAAAYAAJ&dq=the+comitium+legend&pg=PA33 33]}}</ref> The original Palatine settlement, {{lang|la|[[Roma quadrata]]}}, contained the relics of Romulus. An extension of the square city is seen in the "[[Septimontium]]", the original seven hills.<ref>{{cite book |title = A history of Rome to the death of Caesar| last= How, Leigh| first=Walter Wybergh, Henry Devenish | publisher = Kessinger Publishing, LLC |date = June 2, 2008| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=Rp0WAAAAYAAJ&dq=Legends+of+Romulus+and++Servius+Tullius&pg=PA37 37]| isbn=978-1-4365-7150-0 }}</ref> Ancient stories suggest that [[Tarpeia]] was drawing water from a spring here when she saw [[Tatius]] for the first time.<ref>{{cite book |title = The ruins and excavations of ancient Rome| last=Lanciani| first=Rodolfo Amedeo | publisher = Houghton Mifflin|year = 1897 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=TGo4AAAAMAAJ&dq=the+first+excavations+of+the+comitium&pg=PA262 262]}}</ref>

The Comitium contains the earliest surviving document of the Roman State, a ''cippus'' or inscribed pedestal found on the second floor of the Comitium, and dated to 450&nbsp;BC. This inscription informs [[Roman citizenship|citizens]] of their civic duties.<ref>{{cite book |title = Libri annales pontificum maximorum | last= Frier | first=Bruce W.| publisher = University of Michigan Press|date = March 1, 1999| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=3C8QjsJ8rOoC&dq=The+early+comitium&pg=PA127 127–128]| isbn=978-0-472-10915-9 }}</ref> Roman tribunals were held in the Comitium before other alternative locations became acceptable. Eventually such trials would be moved to the basilicas or the forum, except for more elaborate affairs.<ref name=Top>{{cite book |title = The Roman Forum: a topographical study |url = https://archive.org/details/romanforum00nichgoog | last=Nichols| first=Francis Morgan | publisher =London. Longmans and Co. Rome. Spithover |year = 1877| pages = [https://archive.org/details/romanforum00nichgoog/page/n176 146]–149}}</ref> The Comitium had a number or temporary wooden structures that could be taken down during the flood season. Court would generally consist of a magistrate, the condemned (generally kept in a cage below the elevated platform), representation for the condemned, and the prosecutor. The [[Rostra|Rostra Vetera]] was a permanent tribunal eventually made into a war monument but still within the Comitium templum. The Rostra itself may have been considered a templum. A sundial that stood on the Rostra for a period of time was eventually replaced with newer devices.<ref name="Vasaly" /> The site has been used for capital punishment, as well as to display the bodies and limbs of defeated political opponents and funerals. Both the forum and Comitium had been used for public exhibitions.<ref name="Top" />

In his 1912 study, Francis Macdonald Cornford explains that the Roman Comitium was inaugurated as a temple, shaped like a square and oriented to the four corners of the sky. But Plutarch describes a circular site traced by Romulus at the founding of Rome using [[divination]], after he had sent for men of Etruria who taught him the necessary sacred rites. A circular trench was cut into the ground and votive offerings and samples of earth from each man's native lands were placed within. "The ditch is called mundus- the same name given firmament (Ολυμπος)." From the center of this circle, the circuit of the city wall was designated and plowed. Everything within this area was sacred. It was the traditional center of the city as a similar area was in the original Palatine settlement.<ref>{{cite book |title = From religion to philosophy: a study in the origins of western speculation | last=Cornford| first=Francis Macdonald | publisher = Princeton University Press |date = November 8, 1991| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=h6zT8Feca-8C&dq=traced+using+divination+called+upon+by+Romulus+at+the+founding+of+the+city&pg=PA53 53]| isbn=978-0-691-02076-1 }}</ref> The [[Umbilicus urbis Romae]] marks the center of Rome.<ref>{{cite book |title = Archaeological guide to Rome: the Roman Forum, the Palatine, the Capitol and the Capitoline museums, the Imperial forums, the Coliseum, the Domus Aurea | last= Italy. Soprintendenza archeologica di Roma| first=Adriano La Regina| publisher = Electa|year = 2004 | isbn=978-88-435-8366-9}}</ref> The senate council probably began meeting within an old Etruscan temple on the north side of the Comitium identified as belonging to the [[Curia Hostilia]] from the seventh century BC. Tradition holds that [[Tullus Hostilius]] built or refurbished this structure.<ref>{{cite book |title = The beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars ... | last=Cornell| first=Tim| publisher = Routledge; 1 edition |date = October 5, 1995| pages =[https://books.google.com/books?id=EAEOAAAAQAAJ&dq=Tullus+hostilius+organises+the+comitium&pg=PA126 126] | isbn=978-0-415-01596-7 }}</ref> A royal complex may have existed near the [[House of the Vestals|House of the Vestal Virgins]] on one end of the [[Roman Forum|Forum Romanum]].<ref>{{cite book |title = The Roman Forum |last = Watkin |first = David |publisher = Harvard University Press |year = 2009 |pages = [https://archive.org/details/romanforum00watk/page/217 217] |isbn = 978-0-674-03341-2 |url = https://archive.org/details/romanforum00watk/page/217 }}</ref>

==Under the Roman Republic==
When Rome became a [[republic]], the original altar and [[Vulcanal|Shrine of Vulcan]] may have served as a podium for senators or political opponents. Next to this spot is where the Rostra has its early beginnings. It is believed that the tradition of speaking to crowds from an elevated platform for political purposes may have begun as early as the first king of Rome.<ref>{{cite book |title = A History of the Roman World, 753 to 146 BC | last=Scullard | first=Howard Hayes| publisher = Routledge; 5 edition |date = December 20, 2002| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=a9XqPMV-Wj0C&dq=excavations+of+the+Lapis+niger&pg=PA57 57]| isbn=978-0-415-30504-4}}</ref> In this area was another raised platform for speakers, with ascending and descending stairs on either side. The first structure to be called "Rostra" was on the south east section of the forecourt of the [[Curia Hostilia]] at the edge of the Comitium. As the population grew, not all Romans could fit in the Comitium, and speakers in the later Republic would turn their backs on the Curia and crowds within the Comitium and direct their speech to the crowd in the forum.<ref>{{cite book | last =Boëthius | first =Axel | author-link =Axel Boëthius | author2 =rev. by Roger Ling and Tom Rasmussen | title =Etruscan and Early Roman Architecture | publisher =Penguin Books | year =1978 | location =New York | isbn =0-14-056144-7 | url =https://archive.org/details/etruscanearlyrom00bo }}</ref> All of the city's most important decisions and laws were made in the senate. A law required that any bill not approved within an inaugurated and consecrated space was not valid. For this reason all meeting spaces of the senate were temples. Over time as the senate's size and power increased, so did the size of the senate house. In 80&nbsp;BC the curia was enlarged by [[Sulla]], who also added heating to the building for the first time.<ref>{{cite book |title = A companion to the Roman Republic| last=Rosenstein, Morstein-Marx| first=Nathan Stewart, Robert| publisher = Wiley-Blackwell |date = December 13, 2006| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=gdntTYTlzOcC&dq=A+comitium+is+the+designated+space+in+all+Roman+cities+for+assembling+elections&pg=PA354 354] | isbn=978-1-4051-0217-9 }}</ref>

In 55&nbsp;BC a political war broke out within the city between two factions, one led by [[Publius Clodius Pulcher|Clodius]], the other by his adversary [[Titus Annius Milo|Milo]]. The Rostra became a fortress and was more than once used to throw deadly missiles upon the opposing side. On January 2, 52&nbsp;BC, Clodius died at the hands of the opponents near Bovillae, setting off a riot as his followers carried the body to the Comitium and cremated it on a funeral pyre improvised with the senatorial seating from the [[Curia Hostilia]]. The fire consumed the Curia, destroying it as well as damaging the [[Basilica Porcia]]. [[Faustus Cornelius Sulla (quaestor 54 BC)|Faustus Sulla]], son of the dictator [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla|Sulla]], was commissioned by the senate to rebuild the Curia. His structure lasted only seven years until Julius Caesar replaced it with a building of his own design.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Roman forvm  | last=Hülsen | first=Christian | publisher = G.E. Stechert & Co; 2nd edition |year = 1906 | pages = 16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EEssAAAAYAAJ&q=the+Roman+comitium&pg=PA16 |asin= B00085VS26}}</ref>

== Structures within the Comitium ==
The Comitium was open towards the forum. At the boundary were the monuments and statues recording political events and recognizing famous Romans.<ref>{{cite book |title = Etruscan and early Roman architecture | last=Boëthius| first=Axel | publisher =Yale University Press 
|date = November 25, 1992| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=1nZswjfqROUC&dq=Republican+Comitium+amphitheatre&pg=PA112 112]| isbn=978-0-300-05290-9 }}</ref> There were four sacred fig trees in the city, three of which were within the forum. A tree planted near the [[Temple of Saturn]] was removed when its root system began undermining a valued statue. In the ''medio foro'' a fig tree stood aside an olive tree and a grape vine. Verrius Flaccus, Pliny and [[Tacitus]] state that a third tree stood in the Comitium near the statue of the [[augur]] Attus Navia who, legend says, split a wet stone with a razor in the Comitium and transferred the ''Ficus ruminalis'' or its sacred importance from the base of the Palatine hill to the assembly area.<ref name="Gowing2005">{{cite book|author=Alain M. Gowing|title=Empire and Memory: The Representation of the Roman Republic in Imperial Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BXf5bkC3r5YC&pg=PA134|access-date=18 March 2013|date=11 August 2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-44582-5|pages=134–}}</ref><ref name="Ramsay1859">{{cite book|author=William Ramsay|title=An Elementary Manual of Roman Antiquities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f8spAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA8|access-date=18 March 2013|year=1859|publisher=Griffin|pages=8–}}</ref> Scholars still refer to the ''[[Ficus Navia]]'' as the ''Ficus Ruminalis'' while accepting the difference.<ref>{{cite book |title = The art of persuasion: political propaganda from Aeneas to Brutus| last=Evans | first=Jane DeRose | publisher = University of Michigan Press |date = September 1, 1992| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=2AsRrF3ej38C&dq=Statue+of+Attus+Navia&pg=PA75 75–78]| isbn=978-0-472-10282-2}}</ref> [[Livy]] reports that a statue to [[Publius Horatius Cocles]] was erected in the Comitium.<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab urbe condita (book)|Ab urbe condita]]'', 2.10</ref> There existed another grandstand within the Comitium beside the Rostra. The [[Graecostasis]] was located on the northwest side of the forum.<ref name="Johanson2008">{{cite book|author=Christopher John Johanson|title=Spectacle in the Forum: Visualizing the Roman Aristocratic Funeral of the Middle Republic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=akK3XX2d-TQC&pg=PA69|access-date=18 March 2013|year=2008|isbn=978-1-109-12079-0|pages=69–}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Beside the Rostra and the Graecostasis was the [[Columna Maenia]]. In 338 BC, Consul [[Gaius Maenius]] erected a column that some historians believe to be from the atrium of his home which was sold to [[Cato the Elder|Cato]] and [[Flaccus]]{{which|date=March 2024}} as mentioned by Pseudo-Asconius (''Caec''. 50).<ref>{{cite book |title = A commentary on Livy, books 38-40 | last=Briscoe| first= John | publisher = Oxford University Press, USA |date = February 25, 2008| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=EcY_P5h1SIgC&dq=Columna+Maenia&pg=PA366 366]| isbn=978-0-19-929051-2 
}}</ref> [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] states that the ''accensus consulum'' announced the ''supremam horam'', the time when the sun had moved downward from the Columna Maenia to the Carcer. This was done from the same location as the call for midday, the Curia. The column was south of the place of observation or on a line which passed from the Rostra and Graecostasis.<ref>{{cite journal |last=O'Connor |first=Charles James |date=September 1909 |title=The Graecostasis and its vicinity |journal=Bulletin: Philology and Literature Series|volume=  3 |pages= 188|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X-wNAAAAYAAJ&q=Columna+Maenia&pg=PA188 |access-date=2009-08-15 }}</ref> The Tabula Valeria was one of the first public works of its kind in the city. In 263&nbsp;BC, Consul [[Manius Valerius Maximus Corvinus Messalla]] placed a painting of his victory over Heiro and the Carthaginians in Sicily, on the side of the ancient curia. Samuel Ball Platner states in his book, ''The topography and monuments of ancient Rome'' (1911):

{{blockquote|A more probable explanation is that the Tabula Valeria was an inscription in bronze or marble, containing the provisions of the famous Valerio-Horatian laws concerning the office of tribune. Such a tablet might very naturally be set up near their subsellia."<ref>{{cite book |title = The topography and monuments of ancient Rome| last=Platner| first=Samuel Ball| publisher = Allyn and Bacon|year = 1911| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=E1RoAAAAMAAJ&dq=Tabula+valeria&pg=PA232 232]}}</ref>}}

The Comitium changed after the time of Caesar. The original spot of many of the monuments and statues was altered drastically. One of the biggest changes was to the ''Rostra Vetera''.<ref name="Smith1873">{{cite book|author=William Smith|title=A dictionary of Greek and Roman geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L55QAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA792|access-date=18 March 2013|year=1873|publisher=J. Murray|pages=792–}}</ref><ref name="Sumi2005">{{cite book|author=Geoffrey S. Sumi|title=Ceremony And Power: Reforming Politics in Rome Between Republic And Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PPSFPs2xsnMC&pg=PA51|access-date=18 March 2013|year=2005|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-472-11517-4|pages=51–}}</ref> This structure changed considerably even before 44&nbsp;BC. It began with the first curia for the senate in 600 BC and a shrine that was added 20 years later<ref name="Rupke2012">{{cite book|author=Jorg Rupke|title=Religion in Republican Rome: Rationalization and Ritual Change|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2cKc9qG1WYC&pg=PA9|access-date=18 March 2013|date=28 May 2012|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-0657-9|pages=9–}}</ref> where, it is said, miraculous events occurred of milk and blood raining down from the heavens.<ref name="Burn1876">{{cite book|author=Robert Burn|title=Rome and the Campagna: An Historical and Topographical Description of the Site, Buildings, and Neighbourhood of Ancient Rome|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fmHQAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA82|access-date=18 March 2013|year=1876|publisher=Deighton, Bell|pages=82–}}</ref>

== Under Julius Caesar ==
Caesar's rise to power as a military general along with his successful campaigns led to sharing of power within the Republic, known as the [[First Triumvirate]]. The shared power did not last and Caesar became [[Roman dictator|dictator]] for life (and the last Roman dictator). The Comitium was reduced in size twice in consecutive order by [[Cornelius Sulla]] and again by [[Julius Caesar]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Nicole Maser |title=Authority In Public Spaces |publisher=Georgia Institute of Technology |date=2004-05-23 |url=http://www.coa.gatech.edu/~italy/forum/assets/maser.pdf |access-date=2007-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060910220022/http://www.coa.gatech.edu/~italy/forum/assets/maser.pdf |archive-date=2006-09-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref> One of Caesar's many building projects was to remove or replace the Rostra Vetera, level the Comitium and dismantle the curia and realign it with the new Rostra.<ref>{{cite book |title = Ceremony and power: performing politics in Rome between Republic and Empire | last=Sumi| first=Geoffrey| publisher = University of Michigan Press; illustrated edition |date = September 28, 2005| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=PPSFPs2xsnMC&dq=Cicero+the+honor+of+speaking+on+the+rostra&pg=PA78 78–80]| isbn=978-0-472-11517-4 }}</ref>

An episode that may have contributed to the [[Liberatores]] conspiracy against Caesar was on the occasion of the festival of the Lycea, or [[Lupercalia]]. Mark Antony, as one of the participants, approached Caesar while he stood in the Comitium on the Rostra. Antony ceremoniously attempted to place a [[laurel wreath]] on Caesar's head. Caesar theatrically refused, and received applause from the people. This was done several times until the wreath was finally placed upon the head of a statue of Caesar, which was then immediately torn down by Caesar's enemies.<ref>{{cite book |title = Makers of Rome, nine lives: Coriolanus, Fabius Maximus, Macellus, Cato the ... | last=Plutarch, Scott-Kilvert| first=Plutarch, Ian| publisher = Penguin Classics |date = October 30, 1965| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZqExlQ_5ccC&dq=Mark+Antony+offers+Caesar+the+crown+upon+the+Rostra&pg=PA281 281–282]| isbn=978-0-14-044158-1 }}</ref>

The Rostra was the most prestigious spot in Rome to speak from. Cicero remarked{{where|date=March 2016}} on the honor in his first speech during his term as [[praetor]]. It was the first time Cicero spoke from the Rostra.<ref>{{cite book |title = Mass oratory and political power in the late Roman Republic  | last=Morstein-Marx| first=Robert| publisher = Cambridge University Press |date = March 15, 2004| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZwkJh1cZb1YC&dq=Cicero%27s+speech+from+the+rostra&pg=PA53 53]| isbn=978-0-521-82327-2 }}</ref> The ''[[Philippicae|Philippics]]'' became one of the most popular writings of the orator. The works marked a return to active politics in 43&nbsp;BC after a long retirement. In them,{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} he attacked Mark Antony as the greatest threat to republican government after Caesar's death.<ref>{{cite book |title = Homosexuality in Greece and Rome: a sourcebook of basic documents | last=Hubbard| first=Thomas K.| publisher = University of California Press; 1 edition |date = May 12, 2003| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=s_fPF_BZWEEC&dq=Cicero+Philippics&pg=RA2-PA341 341]| isbn=978-0-520-23430-7 }}</ref> He wrote of the ''libertas'' or freedoms that the citizens of Rome had forfeited under Julius Caesar and violently denounced Mark Antony.<ref>{{cite book |title = Visions of politics | last=Skinner| first=Quentin| publisher = Cambridge University Press |date = September 16, 2002| pages =[https://books.google.com/books?id=7K_SCTwTRAgC&dq=Cicero+Philippics&pg=RA1-PA314 314]| isbn=978-0-521-58925-3}}</ref> He made at least one of these epic speeches from the Rostra. When the conspirators had all been defeated, Augustus had tried but failed to keep Cicero's name off the death list. Eventually Antony wins and has the orator's head and hands displayed on the Rostra.<ref>{{cite book |title =Classical rhetorics and rhetoricians: critical studies and sources | last=Ballif, Moran| first=Michelle, Michael | publisher = Praeger Publishers |date = March 30, 2005| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=CYykAGVyqvwC&dq=Mark+Antony+has+the+head+and+hands+of+Cicero+displayed&pg=PA105 105] | isbn=978-0-313-32178-8}}</ref>

== Archaeology ==

===The Comitium in Rome===
During the Middle Ages artifacts from the ancient Roman civilization sparked curiosity with collectors.{{vague|date=March 2016}} Early digging throughout Europe amounted to little more than destructive treasure hunting and grave robbing. Formal archaeology in Rome only began in the 19th century with the foundation of the ''Instituto di Corrispondenza'' and the work of [[Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Gerhard|Edward Gerhard]]. Starting with museums rather than excavation, archaeological work began by studying and cataloguing existing collections as background knowledge for the philological study of antiquity.<ref>{{cite book |title = Between artifacts and texts| last=Andrén| first=Anders | publisher = Springer; 1 edition |date = January 31, 1998| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=wB96CJtw0iMC&dq=the+first+real+archaeological+excavations+in+Rome+began+in&pg=PA15 15]| isbn=978-0-306-45556-8 }}</ref>

A number of German archaeologists joined Gerhard to map out the city of Rome, the forum and the Comitium being of great importance as the topographical center.<ref name=Smith>{{cite book |title = A dictionary of Greek and Roman geography  | last=Smith| first=Sir William| publisher = Boston: Little Brown 1854. Complete two volume set|year = 1854| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=UhkQAAAAYAAJ&dq=Eduard+Gerhard+comitium&pg=PA853 853]}}</ref> He was joined by [[Chevalier Bunsen]], [[Earnst Platner]], [[Wilhelm Röstell]], [[Barthold Georg Niebuhr|B. G. Niebuhr]] and [[Friedrich Hoffmann]] in writing the book ''Beschreibung der Stadt Rom'' in 1817, which was published in 1832.<ref>{{cite book |title = Beschreibung der Stadt Rom | last=Platner, Bunsen, Gerhard, Röstell, Urlichs, Niebuhr, Hoffmann | first=Ernest Zacharias, Christian Karl Josias, Eduard, Wilhelm, Ludwig von, Barthold Georg, Friedrich | publisher = J. G. Cotta; Elibron Classics edition |date = January 1, 1832| isbn=978-0-543-99903-0 }}</ref> The theories presented did not have full support from their peers. In his book, ''A dictionary of Greek and Roman geography'' published in 1854, Sir William Smith remarked:

{{blockquote|The German views respecting the Capitol, the Comitium, and several other important points, have found many followers; but to the writer of the present article they appear for the most part not to be proved; and he has endeavoured in the preceding pages to give his reasons for that opinion.}}

No major excavation of the Comitium was undertaken until the turn of the century. Previous digs had only uncovered levels dated to the late empire. Such was the case in 1870, when later pavements or structures were located and digging was stopped by request for viewing and study and never resumed. In 1898, a committee was established to examine and study the earlier architectural fragments to establish an order for restoration of ancient buildings. The conclusion of this study was that new and more detailed excavations were required. That same year, [[Giacomo Boni (archaeologist)|G. Boni]] requested that the tramway in front of the church of [[Sant'Adriano al Foro]] be removed. His request was met in October and substantial new funds were made available for an extended excavation.<ref>{{cite book |title = Talking to Virgile | last=Wiseman| first=Timothy Peter | publisher = University of Exeter Press; 1 edition |date = January 1, 1992| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=q79h981CmrcC&dq=discoveries+of+G.+Boni+in+the+comitium&pg=PA134 134]| isbn=978-0-85989-375-6 }}</ref> In December 1898, excavations began. Between 1899 and 1903 Boni and his collaborators discovered the [[Lapis Niger]] (the "Black Rock") as well as other artifacts while excavating the Comitium.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Ashby|first= Thomas|author-link=Thomas Ashby (archaeologist)|date=January 1904 |title=THE RECENT EXCAVATIONS IN THE FORUM ROMANUM, 1898-1903|journal= The Builder|volume= LXXXVI|pages= [2]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5rQDAAAAYAAJ&q=Giacomo+Boni+excavations+1898+1903&pg=PA2 |access-date=2009-08-13 }}</ref> During the medieval period the Comitium had been converted into a Christian cemetery and part of the Curia made into a catacomb. Consequently, over 400&nbsp;bodies were unearthed and moved during excavations.<ref>{{cite book |title = Walks in Rome: (including Tivoli, Frascati, and Albano)| last=Hare| first=Augustus John Cuthbert | publisher = LONDON: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO. LTD |year = 1905| pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=L40BAAAAYAAJ&dq=excavations+of+the+Curia+Hostilia&pg=PA135 135]}}</ref>

In the [[American Journal of Archaeology]], second series, volume 4 1900, a letter from [[Samuel Ball Platner]] was published dated July 1, 1899. In the letter he stated:

{{blockquote|In front of the Arch of Severus begins the line along which the main work of the past months has been done. The whole front wall of San Adriano, the Curia of Diocletian, and the Comitium are now in sight. The Comitium is paved with blocks of travertine and extends to and around the lapis niger, which, although on the same level, is protected on at least two sides by a sort of curb. This pavement of the Comitium extends out to a point directly opposite the middle of the Arch of Severus, and ends just beyond the lapis niger with a curved front wall, which is itself built over an older tufa pavement. Further back it also rests upon older structures. Part of the Comitium had evidently been built over at a late period in something the same way as the Basilica Aemilia.}}

===The Comitia of other urban centers===
In 1953 an American excavation at the Roman [[Colonia (Roman)|Latin colony]] of [[Cosa]], {{convert|138|km}} northwest of Rome, along the coast of Italy, in modern [[Tuscany]], identified the remains of the city's Comitium and found rounded amphitheatre steps directly in front of the local senate house. The discovery prompted further excavations in Rome at the site of the Comitium in 1957.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Mute Stones Speak| last=MacKendrick | first=Paul | publisher = W.W. Norton & Co.; Second Edition |date = November 17, 1983 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=vxjJyq-MZZ4C&dq=the+first+excavations+of+the+comitium&pg=PA98 98] | isbn=978-0-393-30119-9 }}</ref> Cosa was founded in 237&nbsp;BC as a military outpost in the newly conquered territory of the Etruscans. The city's port and town features were laid out in the third century&nbsp;BC using regular town plans, with intersecting streets at right angles and forum and cult center on the [[Arx (Roman)#Other arces|arx]].<ref>{{cite book |title = A late antique shrine of Liber Pater at Cosa| last=Collins-Clinton| first=Jacquelyn| publisher =Brill Academic Pub |date = August 1997 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=CsoUAAAAIAAJ&q=4&pg=PA4]| isbn=978-90-04-05232-1 }}</ref>

== Commentary on the Comitium ==
[[Vitruvius]]' [[wikiquote:Vitruvius#De architectura .28The Ten Books On Architecture.29 .28.7E 15BC.29|''De architectura'']] (ca. 30 BC) contains the following statement:
<blockquote>
In Sparta, paintings have been taken out of certain walls by cutting through the bricks, then have been placed in wooden frames, and so brought to the Comitium to adorn the [[w:Aedile|aedileship]] of [C. Visellius] Varro and [C. Licinius] Murena.<ref>Vitruvius Pollio, ''The Ten Books on Architecture'' or ''De Architectura'', Harvard University Press (1914) Bk.2, Ch.8, Sec.9, p.53</ref>
</blockquote>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Ancient Rome}}
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Cicero]]
* [[Curia Cornelia]]
* [[Curia Hostilia]]
* [[Curia Julia]]
* [[Curia of Pompey]]
* [[Graecostasis]]
* [[Lapis Niger]]
* [[Roman Forum]]
* [[List of monuments of the Roman Forum]]
}}

== References ==
{{reflist|33em}}

== Bibliography ==
{{cite book | last = Andrén | first = Anders | title = Between Artifacts and Texts | publisher = Plenum Press | location = New York | year = 1998 | isbn = 978-0-306-45556-8 }}

{{cite book | last = Ballif | first = Michelle | title = Classical Rhetorics and Rhetoricians | publisher = Praeger | location = New York | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-0-313-32178-8 }}

{{cite book | last = Boëthius | first = Axel | title = Etruscan and Early Roman Architecture | publisher = Penguin Books | location = New York | year = 1978 | isbn = 0-14-056144-7 | url = https://archive.org/details/etruscanearlyrom00bo }}

{{cite book | last = Botsford | first = George | title = The Roman Assemblies from Their Origin to the End of the Republic | publisher = Adamant Media Corporation | location = City | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-1-4021-3683-2 }}  (originally published in 1909)

{{cite book | last = Collins-Clinton | first = Jacquelyn | title = A Late Antique Shrine of Liber Pater at Cosa | publisher = Brill Academic Pub | location = City | year = 1997 | isbn = 978-90-04-05232-1 }}

{{cite book | last = Cornell | first = Tim | title = The Beginnings of Rome | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-0-415-01596-7 }}

{{cite book | last = Cornford | first = Francis | title = From Religion to Philosophy | url = https://archive.org/details/fromreligiontoph0000corn | url-access = registration | publisher = Princeton University Press | location = Princeton | year = 1991 | isbn = 978-0-691-02076-1 }}

{{cite book | last = Evans | first = Jane | title = The Art of Persuasion | publisher = University of Michigan Press | location = Ann Arbor | year = 1992 | isbn = 978-0-472-10282-2 }}

{{cite book | last = Frier | first = Bruce | title = Libri Annales Pontificum Maximorum | publisher = University of Michigan Press | location = Ann Arbor | year = 1999 | isbn = 978-0-472-10915-9 }}

{{cite book | last = Grandazzi | first = Alexandre | author-link = Alexandre Grandazzi| title = The Foundation of Rome | publisher = Cornell University Press | location = Ithaca | year = 1997 | isbn = 978-0-8014-8247-2 }}

{{cite book | last = Hubbard | first = Thomas | title = Homosexuality in Greece and Rome | publisher = University of California Press | location = Berkeley | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-0-520-23430-7 }}

{{cite book | last = MacKendrick | first = Paul | title = The Mute Stones Speak | publisher = Norton | location = New York | year = 1983 | isbn = 978-0-393-30119-9 }} (first ed. 1960; second edition issued to claim copyright)

{{cite book | last = Morstein-Marx | first = Robert | title = Mass Oratory and Political Power in the Late Roman Republic | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-0-521-82327-2 }}

{{cite book | last = Richardson  | first = Lawrence Jr.| title = A new topographical dictionary of ancient Rome | publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press | location = Baltimore | year = 1992 | isbn = 978-0-801-84300-6 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/newtopographical0000rich }}

{{cite book | last = Rosenstein | first = Nathan | title = A Companion to the Roman Republic | publisher = Wiley-Blackwell | location = City | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-1-4051-0217-9 }}

{{cite book | last = Scott-Kilvert | first = Ian | title = Makers of Rome | publisher = Penguin | location = Harmondsworth Eng. | year = 1981 | isbn = 978-0-14-044158-1 }}

{{cite book | last = Scullard | first = H. | title = A History of the Roman World, 753-146 B.C.| publisher = Routledge | location = New York | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-0-415-30504-4 }} (Since the 4th ed., 1980, issues have only been reprints)

{{cite book | last = Skinner | first = Quentin | title = Visions of Politics | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-0-521-58925-3 }}

{{cite book | last = Sumi | first = Geoffrey | title = Ceremony and Power | publisher = University of Michigan Press | location = Ann Arbor | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-0-472-11517-4 }}

{{cite book | last = Taylor | first = Lily | title = Roman Voting Assemblies: from the Hannibalic War to the Dictatorship of Caesar | publisher = University of Michigan Press | location = Ann Arbor | year = 1991 | isbn = 978-0-472-08125-7 | url = https://archive.org/details/romanvotingassem00tayl }} (These Jerome Lectures were published in 1966; the date 1991 only refers to the paperback edition)

{{cite book | last = Vasaly | first = Ann | title = Representations | publisher = University of California Press | location = Berkeley | year = 1996 | isbn = 978-0-520-20178-1 }}

=== Other authors referenced ===
''These books are out of print and have no ISBN. Their age means some information in the books or journals may have changed or newer theories advanced since the original publication. They are used in this article where information is either the earliest, the original, or the very first works printed on the subject, or where information is still pertinent today.''

----

{{cite book | last = Brown | first = E. Burton- | title = Recent excavations in the Roman Forum | publisher = Scribner's | year = 1905 }}

{{cite book | last = Burn | first = Robert | title = Rome and the Campagna | url = https://archive.org/details/romecampagna00burn | publisher = Deighton, Bell, and Co | year = 1871 }}

{{cite book | last = Hülsen | first = Christian | title = The Roman forvm | publisher = G.E. Stechert & Co | year = 1906 }}

{{cite book | last = Lanciani | first = Rodolfo Amedeo  | title = The ruins and excavations of ancient Rome | url = https://archive.org/details/cu31924028273997 | publisher = Houghton Mifflin | year = 1897 }}

{{cite book | last =O'Connor  | first = Charles James  | title = The Graecostasis and its vicinity | publisher = University of Wisconsin | year = 1909 }}

{{cite book | last = Pais, Cosenzahor | first = Ettorie, Emilio  | title = Ancient legends of Roman history | publisher = Swan Sonnenschein & Co., LTD. | location = London | year = 1906 }}

{{cite book | last = Platner, Bunsen, Gerhard, Röstell, Urlichs, Niebuhr, Hoffmann | first = Ernest Zacharias, Christian Karl Josias, Eduard, Wilhelm, Ludwig von, Barthold Georg, Friedrich | title = Beschreibung der Stadt Rom | publisher = . G. Cotta; Elibron Classics edition | date = January 1, 1832 }}

{{cite book | last = Platner | first = Samuel Ball | title = The topography and monuments of ancient Rome | url = https://archive.org/details/topographyandmo02platgoog | publisher = Allyn and Bacon | year = 1911 }}

{{cite book | last = Smith | first = Sir William | title =  dictionary of Greek and Roman geography | url = https://archive.org/details/dictionarygreek16smitgoog | publisher = Little Brown| location = Boston | year = 1854 }}

==External links==
* [http://dlib.etc.ucla.edu/projects/Forum/resources/Richardson/Comitium Digital Roman Forum: Resource: Comitium UCLA]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/sets/72157603440482574/with/4561491148/ Prof. Giacomo Boni: The Roman Forum & the Antiquarium Forense - Rediscovery and the Restoration (2009–10), the Comitium Excavations (2009–10).]
*{{cite book |first=M. |last=Lucentini |title=The Rome Guide: Step by Step through History's Greatest City|date=31 December 2012 |publisher=Interlink |isbn=9781623710088 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=laMDAQAAQBAJ}}

{{commons-inline}}
{{Sequence
| prev = [[Basilica Ulpia]] 
| list = Landmarks of Rome
| curr = Comitium
| next = [[Curia Julia]]
}}
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{{Monuments of Rome}}
{{Roman Forum}}
{{Ancient Rome topics|state=collapsed}}

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