The Centuriate assembly () was formed under the monarchy, and widely seen by the ancients as a means of allotting voting privileges in proportion to military duties demanded of the citizenry, disproportionately granting voting power to the richest in society, as at the time of its formation, the wealthiest were also expected to contribute the most to the military. By the middle Republic, the connection between voting power and military service had long ceased, turning into a system to suppress the voting power of the poor. Because of its military roots, it could only be called into session by a magistrate holding "imperium". Originally divided into 193 voting blocs, these blocs were further subdivided into five classes and a class of "equites" by wealth, each further subdivided by age into a junior and senior bloc. The first class and the "equites" held 98 of the 193 voting blocs, an absolute majority. This was later reformed around 241 BC, into an assembly of 373 voting blocs with each class having the same number of votes, though the wealth requirements necessarily meant that the wealthier classes were composed of fewer people. The body was primarily called for the election of consuls, praetors, and censors; while it could hear legislation, trials, and only it could declare an offensive war, these were increasingly rare by the second century BC.