Note 130 — THE FIRST WAR WITH THE SAMNITES. PROGRESS OF LEGISLATION.

By this remark the difficulty is obviated, which otherwise arises as to how in an assembly wherein those only voted who happened to be present, it could have been the majority of the votes which decided. Applying this to Rome, how could the members of the Tribus Velina, the residence of which was very far off, not have felt grievously prejudiced in comparison with those of the Palatina? But all this is explained by the fact, that each tribe had only one vote; so that in important discussions the distant ones sent their most able men to town, and thus arose de facto a representative government.