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The Comitium ((イタリア語:Comizio)) was the original open-air public meeting space of ancient Rome, and had major religious and prophetic significance. The name comes from the Latin word for "assembly".〔(Definition of comitium )〕 The Comitium location at the northwest corner of the Roman forum was later lost in the city's growth and development, but was rediscovered and excavated by archeologists at the turn of the twentieth century. Some of Rome's earliest monuments; including the speaking platform known as the Rostra, the Column 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. It was the meeting place of the Curiate Assembly, the earliest Popular assembly of organised voting divisions of the republic. 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 is associated with the comitium by both Livy and Cicero. Most Roman cities had a similar comitium for public meetings (L. ''contiones'') or assemblies for elections, councils and tribunals. As part of the forum, where 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. == Archaic history == (詳細はarchaeological discovery. The mythologies of King Servius Tullius and Romulus have many similarities regarding the origins of the Comitia. Romulus has often been interpreted as a copy of Tullius. Both were closely related to the god Vulcan, played a role in organizing the ''comitia'', and were depicted as founders of Rome. Other conflicting, or "duel" mythology 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. The ''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. The original Palatine settlement, the ''Roma Quatrata'', contained the relics of Romulus. An extension of the square city is seen in the "Septimontium", the original seven hills. Ancient stories suggest that Tarpeia was drawing water from a spring here when she saw Tatius for the first time. The comitium contains the earliest surviving document of the Roman State. A ''cippus'' found on the second stratigraphic level, dated to 450 BC, informs citizens of their civic duties. Roman tribunals began in the comitium before other alternative locations became acceptable. Eventually such trials would be moved to the Basilicas or the forum with the exception of more elaborate affairs. The site 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 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 had been placed on the rostra for a period that was eventually replaced with newer devices.〔 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.〔 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. The Umbilicus urbis Romae marks the center of Rome. 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. A royal complex may have existed near the House of the Vestal Virgins on one end of the Forum Romanum. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「comitium」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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