The Concalian empire acted as pseudo-democratic society, with governance and lawmaking being divided among three bodies – the Centuriate Assembly, the Senate, and the Magistrates. The Clergy in addition had an advisory role to all three bodies, bringing whose role was to convey the will of the gods. The Clergy thus acted as a 4th pillar of governance, holding a lot of soft power due to the empire's deeply religious nature, and the difficulties the other three bodies could experience if the citizenry viewed their decrees as going against the will of the gods.
+The Concalian Empire was governed by a pseudo-democratic system, divided among three main bodies: the Centuriate Assembly, the Senate, and the Magistrates. An additional influential force was the Clergy, which, though officially advisory, wielded considerable soft power due to the empire’s deep religiosity and the populace’s reverence for divine will.
The Centuriate Assembly acted as a forum in which anyone that held a military or public service position, be that they held it currently, or had in the past. Their function was to vote on laws, laid forth by the Senate. They also voted for candidates for the different Magister positions, with the list of candidates also being laid forth by the Senate. Laws enacted by the Centuriate Assembly acted as as the foundation of Concalian law, that could only be repealed through another vote by the Centuriate Assembly.
-The Centuriate Assembly met twice a year in the capitol to discuss and vote on propositions, a process that could last anywhere from days to weeks. Each military rank, and each type of public servant, would have a set number of votes. Participants belonging to the same military rank, or type of public service, would therefore be divided into a number of groups equal to the votes their position had, where each group had to come to an agreement on how their vote would be cast. This system therefore strongly favored those with a strong persuasive character, not to mention favoring those with the resources to actually travel to and attend the Assembly. The allocation of votes given to each military rank and type of public service were also put up in such a way that the sum of votes given to those of officer rank up (and equivalent for public servant positions) was always greater than the sum of votes given to those with lower ranks. Magisters could not vote in the Centuriate Assembly.
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The Centuriate Assembly functioned as a democratic forum for those who had served, or were currently serving, in military or civil capacities. It convened biannually in the capital to vote on legislation proposed by the Senate and to elect Magistrates from candidate lists also provided by the Senate. The laws it enacted formed the bedrock of Concalian legal code, only amendable by another Assembly vote.
+Voting within the Assembly was stratified by military rank and public service role, with each rank or role being allocated a set number of votes. Participants belonging to the same rank or role would be divided into a number of groups equal to the number of votes their rank or role held, where each group had to come to an agreement on how their vote would be cast. This structure inherently favored higher ranks and those able to influence through persuasion or wealth, particularly as the sum of votes held by officers and equivalent civil positions outnumbered those held by lower ranks. Magistrates and Senators were barred from voting in the Assembly, preserving a degree of separation between legislative and executive powers.
The Magistrates were the elected government officials of Concalia. It was their job to run and govern some portion of the Concalian Empire. They held some authority in determining taxes, make laws, and enact policies for their domain, but could never make a decree that went against a law voted in by the Centuriate Assembly. Most magistrates served 2-year terms, with roughly a quarter of the positions being up for election each time the Centuriate Assembly convened. The highest position were held by the empire's two Consuls, who acted as the overall leaders of the Empire, and jointly governed the capital. The two consuls held equal power, with both importantly having the power to veto any decree made by the other. The Conculs were also responsible for appointing new members to the Senate.
Below the Conculs were the Preators, who each governed one of the empire's provinces. Preators were simultaneously the only members of Concalian Society allowed to lead military campaigns, with the only exceptions being if the Preator died or was incapacitated in the middle of a campaign. Preators therefore acted as both governors and army generals. Newly annexed would either be incorporated into the Preator's existing domain, or make made into a new province who through political machinations would typically have someone handpicked by the conquering preator to govern it. This would typically be a family member. The higher political positions thus tended to be quite dominated by a few very powerful extended families.