In the Roman system of direct democracy, primary types of gatherings were used to vote on legislative, electoral, and judicial matters. The first was the Assembly ("comitia", literally "going together" or "meeting place"). The Curiate Assembly was a "comitia". Assemblies represented "all citizens", even if they excluded the plebs like the Curiate Assembly did, and were used for official purposes, such as for the enactment of statutes. Acts of an Assembly applied to all Roman citizens. The second type of gathering was the Council ("concilium"), which was a forum where a specific class of citizen met. In contrast, the Convention ("conventio", literally "coming together") was an unofficial forum for communication. Conventions were simply forums where Romans met for specific unofficial purposes, such as, for example, to hear a political speech. Private citizens who did not hold political office could only speak before a Convention, and not before an Assembly or a Council. Conventions were simply meetings, and no legal or legislative decisions could be made in them. Voters always assembled first into Conventions to hear debates and conduct other business before voting, and then into Assemblies or Councils to vote.