The contio (plural 'contiones', from the Latin word 'conventio', meaning 'gathering') was a public assembly in Ancient Rome, which existed during the monarchy as well as in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. At the contio, magistrates informed the Roman citizens on various topics related to politics. The main difference between the contio and other public assemblies in Rome, such as the comitia, is that the citizens who attended contiones did not get to vote. The contio merely served a communicative function, offering magistrates the opportunity to give the people a report of what had been decided during a senate meeting or to discuss a proposed legislative bill (rogatio) in front of the citizens to help them make up their mind before they had to vote on it in other assemblies. Magistrat