Rogatōres
Officers appointed to act at the Roman
Comitia
(q.v.), whose duty it was to stand at the nearest end of the bridge (
pons
suffragiorum), which each citizen ascended in order to record his vote upon coming out
from the enclosure (
ovile) in which he had been previously mustered with
the other members of his century, and to present a balloting token (
tabella) to every one of them in turn, by whom it was taken and thrown into the box
(
cista) placed at the opposite extremity of the bridge. The
illustration, from a coin, explains the entire process, showing at bottom the railing
which enclosed the
ovile, a voter ascending the bridge and receiving his
ballot from the
rogator, while another one at the opposite end is engaged
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Rogator at the Ovilé.
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in depositing his in the box. The term, however, originated before the practice of
secret voting had obtained, when the poll-clerk had only to ask (
rogare）
the citizens how they intended to vote, and to register the result upon a waxed tablet
containing a list of the candidates by making a mark or point (
punctum）
against the name of each one as a suffrage was recorded in his favour (
Cic. N. D. ii. 4; id.
Div. ii. 35; id. i. 17; id.
Sen. 11; id.
Pis. 15).
