Senate house (curia) in Ancient Rome: how it worked

History What it was

The Senate was a council of experienced and mostly wealthy men who advised Rome's leaders. During the Republic it was very powerful, guiding war, foreign affairs and public money. Under the emperors it kept its prestige, though real power moved to the emperor.

The Senate met in a building called the curia. The best-known is the Curia Julia in the Roman Forum. It was begun by Julius Caesar and completed by Augustus, his adopted heir, in 29 BC.

Inside the Curia Julia, with its marble floor and the low steps where senators sat. Photo: Photo taken by myself Dneale52 (talk), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

History How it worked

Inside, the hall was tall and plain, with broad, low steps along both long walls where senators sat. At the far end was a platform for the presiding officials. Senators spoke in turn, often in order of rank, and voted by moving to one side of the hall or the other.

In front of the curia was the Comitium, an open meeting place where citizens gathered and where speeches were made to the people.

History What you can see today

The building standing today is a rebuilding ordered by the emperor Diocletian after a fire in the late 3rd century AD. It survived because, in the Middle Ages, it was turned into a church. The original bronze doors were moved to the church of St John Lateran in Rome in the 1600s; the doors on the building now are copies.