Contio

The contio ( ; from Latin "conventio" meaning "gathering") was a common type of public meeting in Ancient Rome, which existed during the monarchy as well as in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. At the contio, magistrates gave informative or persuasive speeches about political matters. Unlike other public assemblies in Rome, such as the comitia, the contio had no procedural role and was not part of the legislative process per se. The contio served a communicative function, offering magistrates the opportunity to give the people a report about a Senate meeting or give a political speech about a piece of proposed legislation (a rogatio) or an upcoming election, so as to persuade citizens to turn out at the assemblies to vote. Magistrates also used the contio as a means of self-promotion, presenting themselves as defenders of popular interests and thereby seeking to acquire political support. Contiones could also be held during elections to attract support for political candidates. They served both as a persuasive tool as well as an early kind of get out the vote campaign to get supporters to assembly meetings.…

The contio ( ; from Latin "conventio" meaning "gathering") was a common type of public meeting in Ancient Rome, which existed during the monarchy as well as in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. At the contio, magistrates gave informative or persuasive speeches about political matters. Unlike other public assemblies in Rome, such as the comitia, the contio had no procedural role and was not part of the legislative process per se. The contio served a communicative function, offering magistrates the opportunity to give the people a report about a Senate meeting or give a political speech about a piece of proposed legislation (a rogatio) or an upcoming election, so as to persuade citizens to turn out at the assemblies to vote. Magistrates also used the contio as a means of self-promotion, presenting themselves as defenders of popular interests and thereby seeking to acquire political support. Contiones could also be held during elections to attract support for political candidates. They served both as a persuasive tool as well as an early kind of get out the vote campaign to get supporters to assembly meetings. A contio could also be held in the context of the military, with a commander convening his troops to address them for various purposes, including informing them of upcoming movements and operations, presenting awards or punishments, or making a motivational speech before a battle. Since senior Roman magistrates all had significant military experience, the customs of the military and political contiones were similar. == Military contiones== Aside from the political assembly, a contio could also be convened in the military context, with the commander of an army summoning his troops to assemble to hear a speech. The customs for summoning military contiones were similar to those for the political type; under the monarchy only the king (rex) had the right to do so. Later on, during the Republic, all military commanders summoned contiones. Usually the commander was the only speaker. A military contio could be held on various occasions: At the beginning of a campaign, the new commander usually held a contio to present himself to his troops and to inform them of the objectives of the campaign. After a successful battle, a contio was held to praise outstanding soldiers and present them with rewards for their achievements. When a riot had taken place among the troops, a general could use the contio to announce the punishments the soldiers would get for their rebellious actions. Military contiones were used to share orders, edicts and important political affairs with the troops. A contio could be summoned right before a battle to motivate and encourage the soldiers.

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1361244617 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.