In the Roman system of direct democracy, two primary types of gatherings were used to vote on legislative, electoral, and judicial matters. The only check on that power came in the form of vetoes handed down by other magistrates. Ultimately, the presiding magistrate's power over the assembly was nearly absolute. Each assembly was presided over by a single Roman Magistrate, and as such, it was the presiding magistrate who made all decisions on matters of procedure and legality. As such, the citizen-electors had no power, other than to cast a vote. Since the Romans used a form of direct democracy, citizens, and not elected representatives, voted before each assembly. Under the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the people (and thus the assemblies) held the ultimate source of sovereignty. According to the contemporary historian Polybius, it was the people (and thus the assemblies) who had the final say regarding the election of magistrates, the enactment of Roman laws, the carrying out of capital punishment, the declaration of war and peace, and the creation (or dissolution) of alliances. The legislative assemblies of the Roman Republic were political institutions in the ancient Roman Republic.
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