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COMITAN more upon his Memoires, which give a com- plete view of the political affairs of his time, and present a vivid picture of the character of Louis XI. They have been frequently print- ed. Lenglet Dufresnoy's edition (4 vols. 4to, London, 1747) is especially valuable on account of its annotations ; but the best and most re- cent is that published by Mile. Dupont for the society of French history (3 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1850). Comines figures in Scott's romance of "Quentin Durward." COMITAN, or Comitlan, a town in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, on the river Grijalva, an affluent of the Tabasco, about 40 m. S. E. of San Cristobal; pop. 10,000. It is well built, and has a fine church and a large Dominican convent, and some trade in cochineal, sugar, and cotton. Its inhabitants are generally in prosperous circumstances, living on the in- comes of their haciendas in the neighborhood, which they cultivate by the labor of Indians. COMITIA, the public assemblies of the Eoman people for the transaction of important politi- cal business. There were three different kinds of comitia, corresponding to the three great divisions of the Romans: the comitia curiata, the comitia centuriata, and the comitia tributa. The comitia curiata, or assemblies of the curice, were the original assemblies said to have been instituted by Eomulus, and managed all the great concerns of state prior to the establish- ment of the comitia centuriata. They elected the kings and other chief magistrates, enact- ed and abrogated laws, and judged capital of- fenders. After the institution of the comitia centuriata, their prerogatives were gradually abridged, till almost all the great powers which they once exercised were wrested from them, and hardly any remained with them, save those minor ones which they had possessed from the beginning, in common with the higher rights annulled. The comitia curiata were originally called together by the kings, but in republican times generally by some great secu- lar or sacerdotal magistrate. They were com- posed of those Roman citizens who were mem- bers of the curisa, dwelt within the pomcerium, and conformed to the customs and rights of their respective wards. The meetings were not held periodically, but as often as there was business to transact. When the members were assembled, and the omens propitious, the rogatio, or matter to be considered, was read, and then each curia, after deciding apart on the question, gave its vote, and the votes of the majority of the curiae determined the fate of the measure, or, if it was a case of election, that of the candidates. These assemblies were held in that part of the forum called the comi- tium. The comitia centuriata were instituted by Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome, with the view apparently of uniting in one body the different sections of the Roman people. Hav- ing compelled every man to give in an accurate account of his property, he divided the citi- zens into six classes, according to their wealth, COMITIA which he subdivided, according to Dionysius, into 193 centuries. Of these centuries he composed the comitia centuriata, which were held in the Campus Martius, for the election of consuls, censors, and praetors, for the trial of persons accused of what was termed crimen perduellionis, or treason, and for the confirma- tion or rejection of such laws as might be sub- mitted to their consideration. The most usual time of meeting was about the end of July or beginning of August in each year. When the centuries were assembled, they cast lots for priority of suffrage, and the century to which the lot fell voted. first, and was styled centuria prcerogativa. All the others voted in the or- der of their classes, and as they were sum- moned, and were thence termed jure vocatce. The presiding magistrate having ordered the prerogative century to be called out to give their suffrages, its members came forward and entered an enclosed space named septum or ovile, where, if it was a case of election, every man received as many tablets as there were candidates, every tablet having inscribed on it the initial letters of one candidate's name. The septa contained numerous large ballot boxes, and into one of these the voter cast that tablet which bore the initials of the name of the candidate whom he favored. If, however, it was a question of the confirmation or rejec- tion of a law, only two tablets were handed to each voter, on one of which were written V. j?., the initial letters of Uti rogas, "As thou desirest," and on the other A., the first letter ofAntiquo, "For the old," i. e., the old law (against the new). At each ballot box were stationed certain officers called custodes, who took the tablets of every century out of the ballot box, and numbered them by putting a puncture in another tablet for every one de- posited. Before the introduction of the bal- lot system, however, when every citizen voted viva voce, an officer called a rogator, stationed at the entrance of the septum, asked each indi- vidual for his vote. In the election of magis- trates, or the confirmation or rejection of laws, equality of suffrages nullified the vote of the century; but in juridical cases equality of suf- frages was deemed an acquittal of the accused. The comitia tributa, or assemblies of the tribes, were not established till 491 B. C. They were sometimes presided over by the tribunes of the people, sometimes by the con- suls or praetors, and were summoned for the election of tribunes, sediles, quaestors, and other inferior magistrates, for the trial of minor criminals, and for the enactment of special and general statutes. Their place of meeting was not fixed; occasionally they were con- vened in the Campus Martius, occasionally in the forum, and at times in the circus Flamin- ius. These were the democratic comitia. Their laws were termed plebiscita, or decrees of the plebs, and, unlike the other comitia, they could be called together without the sanc- tion of the senate. Besides these great assem-