(Footnote: These "tribes" were a territorial division, corresponding roughly to "wards" in our cities.

At this time there were probably sixteen, but later there were thirty-five.

The plebeians in the city lived mostly in one quarter, on the Aventine Hill.) The Comitia Tributa was convened and presided over by the Tribunes and Aediles.

In it were discussed matters of interest to the plebeians.
By it any member could be punished for misconduct, and though at first measures passed in it were not binding on the people at large, it presently became a determined body, with competent and bold leaders, who were felt to be a power in the state.
The aim of the patricians was now to lessen the power of the Tribunes; that of the plebeians, to restrain the Consuls and extend the influence of the Tribunes.

Party spirit ran high; even hand to hand contests occurred in the city.