ABSTRACT
In the ancient Roman republic, legislation was enacted by the assembly of the people, the comitia. The comitia would be convened for this purpose by one of the magistrates, usually one of the consuls, who held office for one year only. A parliament is a place for discussion and that the comitia was not. However, as a parliament today is thought of as being a legislative assembly, it is difficult to describe the Senate as a parliament, despite it being a body which met to discuss legislative proposals, for it had no power to enact them. The introductory phase is that by which a legislative proposal, in the form of a draft law, is placed before both chambers of the parliament for consideration. The Constitution grants the legislative initiative to the government and to members of the parliament.
