Curia Hostilia

The reconstructed Curia is the large building on the right of this panorama

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.

Throughout antiquity there were two main buildings that served as the official meeting-place of the Roman Senate,
the Curia Hostilia and the Curia Julia.

The Curia Hostilia

The original Senate House of Rome is the Curia Hostilia. It is believed to have been constructed during the reign of Tullus Hostilius, around the 7th century BC[1]. This Curia Hostilia was the site of the irregular execution of the demagogue Lucius Appuleius Saturninus and his partisans in 100 BC.

The first major alteration to the building came in 80 BC when Lucius Cornelius Sulla restored and enlarged the curia. It was burned down in 52 BC when a mob cremated the body of the demagogue Publius Clodius Pulcher inside it.

Description of the Curia Hostilia

As it was the oldest Senate House in Roman history, relatively little is known about it. One feature of the Curia that is mentioned in almost all sources is the “Tabula Valeria.” The “Tabula Valeria” was a painting on the exterior of the Curia’s western wall It depicted the victory of Manius Valerius Maximus Corvinus Messalla over Hiero and the Carthaginians in 263 BC. Pliny says that the painting was the first such picture in Rome.

Another fact most sources agree on is that the Curia Hostilia was located on the north side of the Comitium. It is believed that the circular set of stairs of the Comitium to the Curia. With regard to the Curia’s location, Stambaugh writes, “The Curia Hostilia was built on rising ground so as to dominate the whole space of the Forum Romanum”. Given its prominent place in the Forum, it seems that the Curia Hostilia was a symbol of the strength of the Roman Republic.

Significance of the Curia Hostilia

During his reconstruction of the Curia Hostilia, Sulla kept the building in its original location. It was in keeping with Sulla’s “pro-senatorial policies that the Senate House should stand in this dominating position, in view of the whole Forum and above the Comitium...and the open square” . Of the reconstructed Curia, Stambaugh writes, “This was the Curia in which many of where debates over the fate of Catiline or the distribution of commands were held” It is the mighty protection of all nations” and “the shrine of holiness and majesty and wisdom and statesmanship, the very center of the city’s life” Cicero’s comments emphasize the preeminence of the Curia at this time.