The Curia Julia (Latin: Curia Iulia ) is the third named curia , or senate house , in the ancient city of Rome . It was built in 44 BC, when Julius Caesar replaced Faustus Cornelius Sulla 's reconstructed Curia Cornelia , which itself had replaced the Curia Hostilia . Caesar did so to redesign both spaces within the Comitium and the Roman Forum . The alterations within the Comitium reduced the prominence of the Senate and cleared the original space. The work, however, was interrupted by Caesar's assassination at the Curia of Pompey of the Theatre of Pompey , where the Senate had been meeting temporarily while the work was completed. The project was eventually finished by Caesar's successor, Augustus Caesar , in 29 BC.
30-405: The Curia Julia is one of a handful of Roman structures that survive mostly intact. This is due to its conversion into the basilica of Sant'Adriano al Foro in the 7th century and several later restorations. However, the roof, the upper elevations of the side walls and the rear façade are modern and date from the remodeling of the deconsecrated church, in the 1930s. There were many curiae during
60-479: A "pirate". One writer, Werner Eck , says that it cannot be stated that Augustus made any false statements. Any comprehensive understanding of this period of Roman history should be supplemented by statements from other ancient sources, archaeology, and inscriptions. The introduction and first two pararagraphs of the inscription found at the Monumentum Ancyranum of Ankara read as such: ...Below
90-604: Is a copy of the acts of the Deified Augustus by which he placed the whole world under the sovereignty of the Roman people, and of the amounts which he expended upon the state and the Roman people, as engraved upon two bronze columns which have been set up in Rome. At the age of nineteen, on my own initiative and at my own expense, I raised an army by means of which I restored liberty to the republic, which had been oppressed by
120-461: Is described by Claridge as " stylized rosettes in squares alternate with opposed pairs of entwined cornucopias in rectangles, all worked in green and red porphyry on backgrounds of Numidian yellow Phrygian purple". In his Res Gestae Divi Augusti , Augustus writes of the project: "I built the Senate House... with the power of the state entirely in my hands by universal consent, I extinguished
150-462: Is not a full account of the years between 44 BC, the assassination of Augustus' adoptive father Julius Caesar , and AD 14, the year in which he died. Instead, it is a personal account of the first Emperor's life and those achievements that he decided to be worth remembering by the Roman people. It is an independent self-depiction that is written in a literary form which is unique to the ancient world, and it must be read as such. This period of history
180-450: Is seen from Augustus' perspective and the author presents facts that relate only to himself. Augustus' enemies are never mentioned by name. Caesar's murderers Brutus and Cassius are called simply "those who killed my father". Mark Antony and Sextus Pompey , Augustus' opponents in the East, remain equally anonymous; the former is "he with whom I fought the war," while the latter is merely
210-557: The Battle of Actium , in 31 BC. The altar was removed in 384 AD, as part of a general backlash against the pagan traditions of Ancient Rome after the rise of Christianity . The other main feature of the Curia's interior, the floor, is in contrast to the building's colorless exterior. Featured on the floor is the Roman art technique of opus sectile in which materials are cut and inlaid into walls and floors to make pictures of patterns. That
240-473: The bronze doors. The current bronze doors are modern replicas; the original bronze doors were transferred to the Basilica of St. John Lateran by Pope Alexander VII in 1660. A coin was found within the doors during their transfer. That allowed archaeologists to date repairs made to the Senate House and the addition of the bronze doors to the reign of Emperor Domitian (AD 81–96). The original appearance of
270-526: The Divine Augustus ) is a monumental inscription composed by the first Roman emperor , Augustus , giving a first-person record of his life and accomplishments. The Res Gestae is especially significant because it gives an insight into the image Augustus presented to the Roman people. Various portions of the Res Gestae have been found in modern Turkey . The inscription itself is a monument to
300-665: The Italian government acquired the Curia Julia and the adjacent convent of the Church of S. Adriano from the Collegio di Spagna for approximately £16,000. The exterior of the Curia Julia features brick -faced concrete with a huge buttress at each angle. The lower part of the front wall was decorated with slabs of marble . The upper part was covered with stucco imitation of white marble blocks. A single flight of steps leads up to
330-606: The Roman Forum) was a conversion of the Curia Julia , which had housed the Senate of Ancient Rome, by Pope Honorius I in 630. The end of the sixth and the beginning of the seventh century mark for Rome a period of profound decay. The curia had been abandoned until Honorius decided to erect the church. Its name refers to the martyr Adrian of Nicomedia . Paintings are still visible in a side chapel which depict scenes from
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#1732765194221360-423: The Senate House is known from an Emperor Augustus denarius of 28 BC, which shows the veranda held up by columns on the front wall of the building. The interior of the Curia Julia is fairly austere. The hall is 25.20 m long by 17.61 m wide. There are three broad steps that could have fitted five rows of chairs or a total of about 300 senators. The walls are stripped but were originally veneered in marble two thirds of
390-596: The Senate's increasing subordination". The reduced power of the Roman Senate during the Imperial Period is reflected by the Curia Julia's less prominent location and orientation. Still, the two buildings had similarities. Both the Curia Hostilia's Tabula Valeria and the Curia Julia's Altar of Victory in the Curia Julia, attest to the enduring preeminence of Rome's military despite the reduced role of
420-597: The Senate. [REDACTED] Media related to Curia Iulia at Wikimedia Commons Sant%27Adriano al Foro 41°53′34.55″N 12°29′7.45″E / 41.8929306°N 12.4854028°E / 41.8929306; 12.4854028 Sant'Adriano al Foro was a church in Rome , formerly in the Curia Julia in the Forum Romanum and a cardinal-deaconry (a titular church for a Cardinal-deacon ). The Church of Sant'Adriano al Foro (Italian for St. (H)Adrian at
450-526: The cardinal points of the compass, which may have marked them out as specially augurated space and at any rate set them off obliquely from the Forum rectangle that formed over the centuries". Breaking with tradition, the Curia Julia was reoriented by Julius Caesar "on more 'rational' lines, squaring it up with the rectangular lines of the Forum and even more closely with his new forum, to which the new Senate House formed an architectural appendage more in keeping with
480-529: The comitium. Each structure was rebuilt a number of times but originated from a single Etruscan temple , built to honor the truce of the Sabine conflict. When this original temple was destroyed, Tullus Hostilius rebuilt it and gave it his name. It lasted for a few hundred years until the curia was destroyed by fire from the impromptu funeral of Publius Clodius Pulcher . A new structure was dedicated to its financial benefactor, Faustus Cornelius Sulla . In fact,
510-583: The dedication to Saint Adrian added to that church. It was established in 734 as Cardinal Deaconry of S. Adriano al Foro. On 25 January 1946, the title was suppressed to establish the Cardinal Deaconry of S. Paolo alla Regola . The following Cardinals have been Cardinal deacons of the Deaconry, except in special circumstances, which are noted by italics. Res Gestae Divi Augusti Res Gestae Divi Augusti (Eng. The Deeds of
540-407: The entire text, lists various buildings that he renovated or constructed and states that Augustus spent 600 million silver denarii (24 million gold aurei) from his own funds during his reign on public projects. Ancient currencies cannot be reliably converted into modern equivalents, but it is clearly more than anyone else in the empire could afford. Augustus consolidated his hold on power by reversing
570-488: The establishment of the Julio-Claudian dynasty that was to follow Augustus. The text consists of a short introduction, 35 body paragraphs and a posthumous addendum. The paragraphs are conventionally grouped into four sections: political career, public benefactions, military accomplishments and a political statement. The first section (paragraphs 2–14) is concerned with Augustus' political career; it records
600-479: The flames of civil wars, and then relinquished my control, transferring the Republic back to the authority of the Senate and the Roman people. For this service I was named Augustus by a decree of the Senate". In fact, the relinquishment of power was truer in word than in deed; the construction of the Curia Julia coincided with the end of Republican Rome. In the past, the Curia Hostilia and Comitium "were oriented by
630-420: The history of the Roman civilization, many of them existing at the same time. Curia means simply "meeting house". While the senate met regularly at the curia within the comitium space, there were many other structures designed for it to meet when the need occurred: for example, meeting with someone who was not allowed to enter the sanctified curias of the Senate. The Curia Julia is the third named curia within
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#1732765194221660-568: The life of St. Adrian; there are also some Byzantine paintings. It was designated by Pope Sergius I (687-701) as the starting point for the litanies during certain the procession liturgical feasts of the Virgin Mary, Presentation in the Temple, Annunciation, Assumption and Nativity. Pope Gregory IX made substantial changes to the building in 1228. In the 17th century, its large bronze doors were moved by order of Pope Alexander VII to adorn
690-470: The main portal of the Basilica of St. John Lateran . Its structure was modified multiple times before it was deconsecrated in the 1930s to recover the ancient structure of the building. On either side of the entrance are niches corresponding to medieval burials. The painting of the Holy Family, a product of the school of Raphael, was moved to the modern Church of Santa Maria della Mercede (1958), and
720-407: The offices and political honours that he held. Augustus also lists numerous offices he refused to take and privileges he refused to be awarded. The second section (paragraphs 15–24) lists Augustus' donations of money, land and grain to the citizens of Italy and his soldiers, as well as the public works and gladiatorial spectacles that he commissioned. The text is careful to point out that all this
750-478: The prior tax policy beginning with funding the aerarium militare with 170 million sesterces of his own money. The text was completed just one month before Augustus' death (19 August AD 14), although most of its content was written years earlier and likely went through many revisions. Augustus left the text with his will, which instructed the Senate to set up the inscriptions. The original, which has not survived,
780-455: The structure now in the forum is the second incarnation of Caesar's curia. From 81 to 96, the Curia Julia was restored under Domitian . In 283, it was heavily damaged by a fire, at the time of Emperor Carinus . From 284 to 305, the Curia was then rebuilt by Diocletian . It is the remnants of Diocletian's building that stands today. In 412, the Curia was restored again, this time by Urban Prefect Annius Eucharius Epiphanius . On July 10, 1923,
810-414: The tyranny of a faction. For which service the senate, with complimentary resolutions, enrolled me in its order, in the consulship of Gaius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius, giving me at the same time consular precedence in voting; it also gave me the imperium. As propraetor it ordered me, along with the consuls, "to see that the republic suffered no harm." In the same year, moreover, as both consuls had fallen in war,
840-423: The way up. The two main features of the interior of the Curia Julia are its Altar of Victory and its striking floor. At the far end of the hall could be found the "Altar of Victory ". It consisted of a statue of Victoria, the personification of victory, standing on a globe , extending a wreath . The altar was placed in the Curia by Augustus to celebrate Rome's military prowess, more specifically his own victory at
870-673: Was engraved upon a pair of bronze pillars and placed in front of Augustus' mausoleum . Many copies of the text were made and carved in stone on monuments or temples throughout the Roman Empire , some of which have survived; most notably, almost a full copy, written in the original Latin and a Greek translation was preserved on a temple to Augustus in Ancyra (the Monumentum Ancyranum of Ankara , Turkey ); others have been found at Apollonia and Antioch , both in Pisidia . The text
900-466: Was paid for out of Augustus' own funds. The third section (paragraphs 25–33) describes his military deeds and how he established alliances with other nations during his reign. Finally the fourth section (paragraphs 34–35) consists of a statement of the Romans' approval for the reign and deeds of Augustus. The appendix is written in the third person and likely not by Augustus himself. It summarizes
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