Voting in Republican Rome

©2000 The American Numismatic Society. Images are not to scale. Photography by Sharon Suchma, ANS Photography Department.

1944.100.599: Rome. Silver Denarius of P. Nerva. 3.56gr. Axis 9. 113 to 112 BC. Helmeted bust of Roma left, holding shield in left hand and spear over shoulder in right; crescent above. ROMA/X. Voting scene: voter at left receives tablet from attendant below; voter at right after crossing pons places tablet in a cista. P NERVA. Crawford 292/1.

This denarius is the most complete representation of a vote held under the republican government of Rome. The standard work on the legislative process at this time remains Lily Ross Taylor's Roman Voting Assemblies, which gives a relatively lengthy description of this piece at Chapter 3, page 39. The only major change that subsequent scholars have made to Taylor's reconstruction of this scene is to identify the smaller figure as the attendant and the larger figure to the left as the voter; Taylor had it the other way round.

The institutions of the Roman republic and the voting process by which they expressed their views were complex and changed over time. In general, however, the Roman citizenry was divided into 35 tribes each of which, when assembled in the Comitia Tributa, had an equal say in the passage of most laws. This system was in place by the late 3rd century. The denarius of P. Nerva, who is otherwise unknown, illustrates the individual experience of voting when the tribes were brought together either for the purpose of passing laws or electing tribal officers. The Pons probably served to ensure that voting took place in plain view. The voter, dressed in his toga, received a blank tablet and placed it in the cista along with all the others. This ensured that each man's vote was his own and that it was anonymous. That these precautions were taken is not an indication that the Roman republic was a perfectly functioning democratic government. Indeed, the history of the later Republic shows the steady rise of prominent individuals and the declining effectiveness of popular institutions.

Crawford, M., Roman Republican Coinage. Cambridge (1974).

McManus, B., Political Offices in the Roman Republic.

Taylor, L. R., Roman Voting Assemblies. Ann Arbor (1966).