Topic summary
Contio
The contio (pl. "contiones"; 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.