| In the Roman Republic, the Centuriate Assembly was a voting unit consisting of all male citizens serving in the army. The assembly was so named because it was divided into "centuries" of 80-100 men.
The Centuriate Assembly was called to vote on major policy decisions, most commonly declarations of war. By the historical period of Roman History, the Centuriate Assembly's votes were largely symbolic, and almost always resulted in a vote of "yes." Thus leaders generally went to the Assembly when a decision had already been made and sometimes even already put into action.
The Centuriate Assembly was divided into five classes based on wealth (measured by how much equipment a man could afford) and since the wealthiest class had an absolute majority, the lowest classes usually were not even called upon to cast their votes. | 
