Curia Julia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Curia Hostilia (Latin, "Hostilian Court") was the favourite meeting place of the Roman Senate in the Forum Romanum at the foot of the Capitoline Hill, near the well of the Comitia.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Tuscan origins
Tradition held that the first building on this site was built in the 6th century BC by the third King of Rome, Tullus Hostilius, hence the name.
[edit] Republic and early empire
The Curia Hostilia was the site of the irregular execution of the demagogue Lucius Appuleius Saturninus and his partisans, and burned down in 52 BC when a mob cremated the body of the demagogue Publius Clodius Pulcher inside it. A new building called the Curia Julia was financed by Julius Caesar during his dictatorship (although his murder in the meeting of the Senate on March 15, 44 BC, did not take place in the Curia Julia, but in the Theatre of Pompey), Augustus and Domitian. The Curia Julia was officially opened by Octavian in August of 29 BC. This is the building which still stands today.
[edit] Interior
The interior of the building is not as large as it might appear externally: standing inside one can see that it is about the size of a basketball court, with two low raised platforms for seats at the sides. The floors were (and largely still are) richly decorated in opus sectile, thin slices of different types of stone cut into geometric shapes which are then fitted together and set. It should be noted that all cinematographic presentations of the Senate relating to this period, showing it to be semi-circular, are therefore inaccurate; the structure is actually closer to that of the British House of Commons and the Canadian House of Commons debating chambers.
[edit] Medieval survival
The Curia Hostilia as seen in the Forum Romanum owes its survival to the fact that in 658 it was converted into the Christian church of Sant'Adriano al Foro; the remains of Byzantine frescoes are still visible in the alcoves on the walls, whilst a fresco and marble architrave from the church are in the National Museum of Rome's Crypta Balbi branch.
[edit] Reconstruction
It was rebuilt, and returned to something approaching its original form during the reign of Italian Fascist Benito Mussolini, who wished to return Italy to the greatness it had seen during the Roman Empire.
