plebeians swore an oath to take vengeance on anyone who would bring them harm. Over time, the Concilium Plebis became the most effective medium of legislation in the Republic, until the introduction of Sulla’s measures in 88 BC. Tribune of the Plebs The Tribunes of the Plebs were elected by the Plebeian Council. At first, only 2 to 5 Tribunes were elected until the College of 10 was introduced in 457 BC. They served as spokespeople for the plebeians of Rome, with a purpose of protecting the interests of the plebeians against patrician supremacy. The Tribunes could call meetings of the council over which they presided. Since plebeians were not able to take political actions themselves, the Tribunes had the opportunity to make lasting impacts through their political office. Tribunes were responsible for organizing support for legislation, organizing contiones, a form of discourse or assembly, as well as prosecute criminals before the council. Their position as leaders of the Plebeian Council gave the Tribunes great control over the city in their ability to organize the plebeians into a political weapon. Comitia Tributa Populi The Comitia Tributa was a tribal assembly which organized citizens by place of residence. There is confusion concerning the difference between The Plebeian Council and the Comitia Tributa. Some scholars have found reason in believing that the Concilium Plebis became the Comitia Tributa in 339 or 287 BC. De Martino and Von Fritz believe that after the Lex Hortensia of 287 BC, patricians must not have been excluded from the Plebeian Council, as the laws created by the council were now applicable to the patricians. However, others believe that they were separate assemblies. Stavely introduced the possibility that Livy may not have recorded the emergence of the Comitia Tributa due to a lack of importance in terminological differences. Stavely therefore has proposed that the Comitia Tributa were established in 449 BC. Laelius Felix and G.W. Botsford have proposed theories attempting to distinguish the terms concilium and comitia. Felix’s theory, although widely followed, is also heavily contested. His theory supposes that a concilium denotes an exclusive assembly which included only a part of the universus populus, whereas a comitia designates a meeting of a whole universus populus. The principal arguments against his theory are (1) his definition depends on a distinction between assemblies of the populus and of the plebeians, despite the routine denial of the existence of