Curia Iulia
About
Third permanent Senate House on this site, begun by Julius Caesar in 44 BCE to replace the Curia Cornelia/Hostilia, completed and dedicated by Augustus in 29 BCE; rebuilt again after a fire under Domitian c. 94 CE. Standing and in use as the meeting hall of the Senate in 117 CE. Survives today largely intact because it was converted into the church of Sant'Adriano in 630 CE.
What happened here
The doors stand open during a session, so the crowd outside can hear. Inside, the order of speaking is the order of rank, and a man's whole career is measured by how early his name is called. Members sit on tiered benches facing each other rather than a chair, which makes the room argumentative by design. Business is read out by a clerk: letters from governors, embassies waiting in the corridor, requests for temple money, permission for a town to build. Voting is done with the feet, one side of the room against the other. Nothing said inside leaves formally, and everything said inside is repeated by evening. In a provincial town the local council does the same work in a smaller room, and cares about it just as much.
In ancient writing
- Cassius Dio, Roman History 51.22
Records Augustus dedicating the Curia Julia in 29 BCE, with the altar and statue of Victory set inside it.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →