The Curia of Pompey was one of several named meeting halls from Republican Rome of historic significance. A curia was a designated structure for meetings of the senate. The Curia of Pompey was located at the entrance to the Theater of Pompey.
A 3D reconstruction of the Curia of Pompey | |
Curia of Pompey Shown within Rome | |
| Location | Regio IX Circus Flaminius |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°53′42″N 12°28′26″E / 41.895°N 12.474°E |
| Type | Exedra |
| History | |
| Builder | Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus |
| Founded | 62 BC |
The Curia was attached to the porticus directly behind the theatre section and was a Roman exedra, with a curved back wall and several levels of seating. It was where the Senate met on the Ides of March in 44 BC and where the dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated. After Caesar's death, his heir Augustus removed the large statue of Pompey and had the hall walled up. Eventually it was converted into a latrine.
History
In 55 BC, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) dedicated the opening of the largest theater in the ancient world before its full completion. Built from the profits of his war campaigns, the structure was a political statement meant to raise the status of the Roman general and consul, as well as to memorialize his achievements throughout his career.
The full structure consisted of a large theater section, incorporating a temple, a pulpitum or stage, scaenae frons and cavea (seating) at one end, a large quadriporticus that surrounded an extensive garden and housed Pompey's collection of art and literature, and the curia itself at the opposite end from the theater. While the theater complex overall would stand for centuries, the curia itself would last for only about a decade. In 44 BC, eleven years after the structure opened, Julius Caesar was assassinated in it. During Augustus' rule he had the statue of Pompey in it removed – moving it to another place in Pompey's theatre complex – and later had the curia walled up. It was some time later converted into a latrine, according to Cassius Dio, and may be archaeologically visible as a large set of tufa blocks in the modern Area Sacra di Largo Argentina.
Archaeology
The structure is located in an area now called Largo di Torre Argentina. The site was excavated by order of the dictator Benito Mussolini in the 1930s.[failed verification] For the most part, only the foundations of the original structure have been excavated and a modern roadway and rail system are now raised above the remains of the curia. As of 2023, the site has been opened for tourists to access via constructed walkways. Visitors can now walk around the site where Julius Caesar was assassinated, as opposed to viewing it from the street above.
Bibliography
- Richardson, L (1992). "Curia Pompeii". A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 104. ISBN 978-0-8018-4300-6.
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