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37-408: He was chosen as curule aedile in 213 BC, with his young kinsman Scipio Africanus as his colleague (although Scipio was under-age, being only 22 or 23 compared to the usual mid-thirties). He was appointed pontifex to replace the pontifex maximus Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Caudinus who had died. In 211 BC, as praetor , he was in charge of Apulia . In 209 BC, before he had been consul, he

74-662: A Roman History ( Ῥωμαϊκὴ Ἱστορία , Rhōmaïkḕ Historía ) in 80 books in Greek , later translated into Latin as the Historia Romana . On the matter of its composition, he writes the following: "I spent ten years in collecting all the achievements of the Romans from the beginning down to the death of Severus [211 AD], and twelve years more in composing my work. As for subsequent events, they also shall be recorded, down to whatever point it shall be permitted me". The books cover

111-487: A suffect consul in approximately the year 205. Dio was also proconsul in Africa and Pannonia . Severus Alexander held Dio in the highest esteem and reappointed him to the position of consul in 229. Following his second consulship, while in his later years, Dio returned to his native Bithynia, where he eventually died. Dio was either the grandfather or great-grandfather of Cassius Dio , consul in 291. Dio published

148-607: A Byzantine monk of the 11th century, and Zonaras , a Byzantine chronicler of the 12th century. Lucius Cassius Dio was the son of Cassius Apronianus , a Roman senator and member of the Cassia gens , who was born and raised at Nicaea in Bithynia . Byzantine tradition maintains that Dio's mother was the daughter or sister of the Greek orator and philosopher, Dio Chrysostom ; however, this relationship has been disputed. Although Dio

185-513: A back, between which a rich textile was stretched. The cross-framed armchair, no longer actually a folding chair, continued to have regal connotations. James I of England was portrayed with such a chair, its framing entirely covered with a richly patterned silk damask textile, with decorative nailing, in Paul van Somer 's portrait, and in his portrait by John de Critz. Similar early 17th-century cross-framed seats survive at Knole , perquisites from

222-473: A curule magistracy; when traversed by a hasta , it is the symbol of Juno . The curule seat was also used in funeral processions. Several pieces of Etruscan art, urns, and tomb reliefs from the 4th century BCE portray a magistrate's funerary procession. The curule seat was one of the many symbols displayed during the procession which indicated his status and prestige, along with the fasces , lituus-bearers, and other emblems of his office. The custom of bearing

259-534: A curule seat, though these positions did not hold imperium . Livy writes that the three flamines maiores or high priests of the Archaic Triad of major gods were each granted the honor of the curule chair. Additionally, when an interregnum occurred in the Roman republic, the interrex was also granted a sella curulis along with the other symbols of power given to a regular magistrate. The precise name of

296-405: A golden image of him. Polybus detailed that the representatives of the family would sit in the curule seats of the deceased during public ceremonies. Additionally, the curule seat of a magistrate was also ceremonially paraded while he was living. An example of this appears when the golden sella curules of Tiberius and Sejanus were displayed at the ludi scaenici in 30 CE. In Rome, the curule chair

333-566: A period of approximately 1,400 years, beginning with the tales from Roman mythology of the arrival of the legendary Aeneas in Italy ( c.  1200 BC ) and the founding of Rome by his descendant Romulus (753 BC); as well as the historic events of the republican and imperial eras through 229 AD. The work is one of only three written Roman sources that document the British revolt of 60–61 AD led by Boudica . Until

370-541: A royal event. The photo of actor Edwin Booth as Hamlet poses him in a regal cross-framed chair, considered suitably medieval in 1870. The form found its way into stylish but non-royal decoration in the archaeological second phase of neoclassicism in the early 19th century. An unusually early example of this revived form is provided by the large sets of richly carved and gilded pliants (folding stools) forming part of long sets with matching tabourets delivered in 1786 to

407-645: A scepter, golden crown, horse, armor, and embroidered robe), signified that the foreign king was worthy of this delegated power. Folding chairs of foreign origin were mentioned in China by the 2nd century AD, possibly related to the curule seat. These chairs were called hu chuang ("barbarian bed"), and Frances Wood argues that they came from the Eastern Roman Empire , since the cultures of Persia and Arabia preferred cushions and divans instead. A poem by Yu Jianwu , written about 552 AD, reads: By

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444-629: A wooden back. 19th-century dealers and collectors termed these " Dante Chairs " or " Savonarola Chairs ", with disregard to the centuries intervening between the two figures. Examples of curule seats were redrawn from a 15th-century manuscript of the Roman de Renaude de Montauban and published in Henry Shaw 's Specimens of Ancient Furniture (1836). The 15th or early 16th-century curule seat that survives at York Minster , originally entirely covered with textiles, has rear members extended upwards to form

481-576: Is conserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de France . The "throne of Dagobert" is first mentioned in the 12th century, already as a treasured relic, by Abbot Suger , who claims in his Administratione , "We also restored the noble throne of the glorious King Dagobert , on which, as tradition relates, the Frankish kings sat to receive the homage of their nobles after they had assumed power. We did so in recognition of its exalted function and because of

518-501: The Roman Empire , the curule chair ( sella curulis , supposedly from currus , "chariot") was the seat upon which magistrates holding imperium were entitled to sit. This includes dictators , magistri equitum , consuls , praetors , curule aediles , and the promagistrates , temporary or de facto holders of such offices. Additionally, the censors and the flamen of Jupiter ( Flamen Dialis ) were also allowed to sit on

555-503: The circus maximus was awarded to the Roman dictator Manius Valerius Maximus as a result of his victory over the Sabines . According to Cassius Dio , early in 44 BC a senate decree granted Julius Caesar the curule seat everywhere except in the theatre, where his gilded chair and jeweled crown were carried in, putting him on a par with the gods. The curule chair is also used on Roman medals as well as funerary monuments to express

592-664: The history of ancient Rome , beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the subsequent founding of Rome (753 BC), the formation of the Republic (509 BC), and the creation of the Empire (27 BC) up until 229 AD, during the reign of Severus Alexander . Written in Ancient Greek over 22 years, Dio's work covers approximately 1,000 years of history. Many of his books have survived intact, alongside summaries edited by later authors such as Xiphilinus ,

629-468: The republic , was temporary, not perennial. The chair could be folded, and thus was easily transportable; this accords with its original function for magisterial and promagisterial commanders in the field. It developed a hieratic significance, expressed in fictive curule seats on funerary monuments, a symbol of power which was never entirely lost in post-Roman European tradition. 6th-century consular ivory diptychs of Orestes and of Constantinus each depict

666-526: The 12th-century epitome of Joannes Zonaras who used Dio's Roman History as a main source. Scholarship on this part of Dio's work is scarce but the importance of the Early Republic and Regal period to Dio's overall work has recently been underlined. Books 22 through 35, which are only sparsely covered by fragments, were already lost by the times of Zonaras. The books that follow, Books 36 through 54, are all nearly complete; they cover

703-722: The Tomb of the Jugglers from 520 BCE ( see in Gallery "Tomb of the Jugglers" ), the magistrate for whom the tomb is dedicated to is also seen to be seated on his sella curulis on the far right which indicates that he is the owner and magistrate. The curule chairs themselves indicated the authority of the magistrate as he conducted business while sitting in the chair. Therefore, the seats themselves have been symbolically viewed as political pawns for power over Rome itself. However, this powerful symbolism appears to be limited due to incidents where

740-456: The consul seated on an elaborate curule seat with crossed animal legs. As a form of throne , the sella might be given as an honor to foreign kings recognized formally as allies by the Roman people or Senate . The ivory curule seat specifically was used as an honorary gift which was sent to foreign kings by the senate of Rome. The presentation of the insignia of royalty which included an ivory curule seat, (along with other insignia such as

777-512: The curule chair of the magistrate at his funeral was present in Rome as well. The funerary monument from via Labicana itself is shaped like a sella curulis ( see in Gallery below ). Additionally, on the top beam of the monument, the frieze prominently features a sella curulis beside the presumed magistrate and his attendants. For example, Dio recounts that Caesar’s golden curule seat was displayed in his funeral procession along with his golden crown and

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814-418: The curule seat also varied based on the specific type and holder of the seat, such as: "sella regia (royal chair), sella ducis (general's chair), sella consularis (consular chair), sella consulis (chair of a consul), sella eburnea (an ivory seat often used a gift for foreign dignitaries), sella castrensis (the campstool, a military version of the sella curulis), and sella aurea (a gold chair)." The curule seat

851-419: The decline of archaeological neoclassicism, the curule chair disappeared; it is not found among Biedermeier and other Late Classical furnishing schemes. Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio ( c.  165  – c.  235 ), also known as Dio Cassius ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Δίων Κάσσιος Dion Kassios ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of

888-480: The first century BC, Dio provides only a summary of events; after that period, his accounts become more detailed. Dio's work has often been deprecated as unreliable and lacking any overall political aim. Recently, however, some scholars have re-evaluated his work and have highlighted his complexity and sophisticated political and historical interpretations. The first 21 books have been partially reconstructed based on fragments from other works, as well as

925-536: The name handed down you are from a foreign region coming into [China] and being used in the capital With legs leaning your frame adjusts by itself With limbs slanting your body levels by itself... In Gaul the Merovingian successors to Roman power employed the curule seat as an emblem of their right to dispense justice, and their Capetian successors retained the iconic seat: the " Throne of Dagobert ", of cast bronze retaining traces of its former gilding,

962-463: The period from 65 BC to 12 BC, or from the eastern campaign of Pompey and the death of Mithridates to the death of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa . Book 55 contains a considerable gap, while Books 56 through 60 (which cover the period from 9–54 AD) are complete and contain events from the defeat of Varus in Germany to the death of Claudius . Of the 20 subsequent books in

999-797: The royal châteaux of Compiègne and Fontainebleau . With their Imperial Roman connotations, the backless curule seats found their way into furnishings for Napoleon, who moved some of the former royal pliants into his state bedchamber at Fontainebleau. Further examples were ordered, in the newest Empire taste: Jacob-Desmalter 's seats with members in the form of carved and gilded sheathed sabres were delivered to Saint-Cloud about 1805. Cross-framed drawing-room chairs are illustrated in Thomas Sheraton 's last production, The Cabinet-Maker, Upholsterer and General Artist's Encyclopaedia (1806), and in Thomas Hope 's Household Furniture (1807). With

1036-529: The sella curulis was destroyed. According to Livy , the curule seat, like the Roman toga , originated in Etruria , and it has been used on surviving Etruscan monuments to identify magistrates. However, much earlier stools supported on a cross-frame are known from the New Kingdom of Egypt . One of the earliest recorded examples of the curule chair proper was in 494 BC when the honour of a curule chair in

1073-432: The sella curulis was purposely destroyed. The destruction of the chair as a means to disrupt or attack a magistrate’s rule did not actually prevent the owner of the curule seat from exercising his power. In Cassius Dio ’s Roman History , Dio recounts the event where Glabrio destroyed Lucius Lucullus’ curule seat out of anger towards Lucullus. However, Lucullus and his attending officials still proceeded with business although

1110-419: The series, there remain only fragments and the meager abridgement of John Xiphilinus , a Byzantine monk from the 11th century sponsored by emperor Michael VII Doukas . The abridgment of Xiphilinus, as now extant, commences with Book 35 and continues to the end of Book 80. The last book covers the period from 222 to 229 AD (the first half of the reign of Alexander Severus ). The fragments of

1147-589: The use of Latin words. Curule A curule seat is a design of a (usually) foldable and transportable chair noted for its uses in Ancient Rome and Europe through to the 20th century. Its status in early Rome as a symbol of political or military power carried over to other civilizations, as it was also used in this capacity by kings in Europe, Napoleon , and others. In the Roman Republic and

Marcus Cornelius Cethegus (consul 204 BC) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-409: The value of the work itself." Abbot Suger added bronze upper members with foliated scrolls and a back-piece. The "Throne of Dagobert" was coarsely repaired and used for the coronation of Napoleon . In the 15th century, a characteristic folding-chair of both Italy and Spain was made of numerous shaped cross-framed elements, joined to wooden members that rested on the floor and further made rigid with

1221-574: Was proconsul in Italia Superior, where, in conjunction with the praetor Publius Quintilius Varus, he gained a hard-won victory over Mago Barca , Hannibal 's brother, at the Battle of Insubria , which forced him to retreat from Italy. He died in 196 BC during an epidemic in Rome. He had a great reputation as an orator , and is characterised by Ennius as the quintessence of persuasiveness ( suadae medulla ). Horace calls him an authority on

1258-484: Was a Roman citizen , he wrote in Greek. Dio always maintained a love for his hometown of Nicaea, calling it "my home", as opposed to his description of his villa in Capua , Italy ("the place where I spend my time whenever I am in Italy"). For the greater part of his life, Dio was a member of the public service . He was a senator under Commodus and governor of Smyrna following the death of Septimius Severus ; he became

1295-473: Was carried by public slaves when being transported from place to place. This custom further symbolized the authority of the magistrate/owner of the sella curulis. Imagery of a slave carrying a curule seat can be seen in archaic Etruscan art ( see in Gallery "Tomb of the Augurs" 530 BCE ). As seen on the Tomb of Augurs, a small slave is seen to be bearing a sella curulis on his shoulders in the lower left corner. In

1332-581: Was elected censor with Publius Sempronius Tuditanus . During their censorship, Cethegus disagreed with his colleague about which senator should be elected Princeps Senatus. Tuditanus had the right of choice and chose Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus , while Cethegus wanted the most senior censor Titus Manlius Torquatus to be the Princeps Senatus . In 204 BC, he was elected consul , possibly to aid his kinsman Scipio, then in Africa. In 203 BC he

1369-401: Was traditionally made of or veneered with ivory , with curved legs forming a wide X; it had no back, and low arms. Although often of luxurious construction, this chair was meant to be uncomfortable to sit on for long periods of time, the double symbolism being that the official was expected to carry out his public function in an efficient and timely manner, and that his office, being an office of

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