Curia
A building which served as the main meeting place for the senate in Rome
Curia (plural curiae) is a Latin term referring to an assembly building in ancient Rome used by the senate for political meetings. The first curia built in Rome was said to have been dedicated by Rome’s third king, Tullus Hostilius, sometime in the 6th or 7th century BCE. This curia, the curia Hostilia, was built near the north-west corner of the Forum Romanum and served as the main meeting place for the council of elders (still called the senate) during Rome’s Regal period. After the overthrow of the monarchy in 509 BCE, the curia Hostilia became the main meeting place for the Republican senate, and was perhaps the single most important building in Roman politics. While the curia was the main meeting place for the senate, it was not the only place the senate could meet; the senate could meet at any consecrated sanctuary, or templum, and various temples (aedes) throughout the city which contained templa were used as temporary meeting sites for the senate (Holter, Kames, n.d.). The curia Hostilia remained the main meeting place for the senate until the dictatorship of Sulla between 82-80 BCE, when it became necessary to expand the curia after Sulla increased the senate membership from 300 to 600. This new curia came to be known as the curia Cornelia, but it was burned to the ground in 52 BCE during a riot after the murder and public display of Clodius. A new curia was built in its spot, at a slightly different orientation and now to accommodate 900 senators, by Julius Caesar during the construction of the Forum Iulium - although Caesar’s murder in 44 BCE prevented him from seeing the completion of the curia Iulia by Augustus in 29 BCE. While the curia Iulia was still used for political purposes, Augustus used it as one of many ways to display his power, popularity, and prestige through artistic and monumental propaganda. The curia Iulia was mostly destroyed in 283 CE by a fire in the north-west corner of the Forum Romanum, and was rebuilt for a final time by the Tetrarchy, where its ruins are still visible today (Holter, Kames, n.d.).
Bibliography
Latin Dictionary Entry
Curia - Perseus Digital Library
Jay Brodzeller, 2022