Editing Curia (section)

===Senate House===
Since the [[Roman Kingdom]], the meeting-house of the Roman senate was known as the curia. The original meeting place was said to have been a [[Roman temple|temple]] built on the spot where the Romans and Sabines laid down their arms during the reign of Romulus (traditionally reigned 753–717 BC). The institution of the senate was always ascribed to Romulus; although the first senate was said to comprise 100 members, the earliest number which can be called certain is 300, probably connected with the three tribes and 30 curiae also attributed to Romulus.<ref name="OCD2"/>

====''Curia Hostilia''====
{{Main|Curia Hostilia}}
After the original temple was destroyed by fire, it was replaced by a new meeting house by [[Tullus Hostilius]], the third [[King of Rome]] (traditionally reigned 673–642 BC). The ''Curia Hostilia'' stood on the north end of the [[Comitium]], where the ''comitia curiata'' and other Roman assemblies met, and was oriented along the four [[cardinal direction|cardinal points]]. After more than 500 years of service, the building was restored and enlarged by the [[Roman dictator|dictator]] [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]] in 80 BC. Sulla had doubled the senate's membership from 300 to 600, necessitating a larger building, which retained the original orientation of the ''Curia Hostilia'', but extended further south into the comitium. In 52 BC, following the murder of [[Publius Clodius Pulcher]], his ''clientes'' set fire to the senate house, which was rebuilt by [[Faustus Cornelius Sulla (quaestor 54 BC)|Faustus Cornelius Sulla]], son of the dictator. Following this reconstruction, the building came to be called the ''[[Curia Cornelia]].''<ref name="OCD2"/>

====''Curia Julia''====
{{Main|Curia Julia}}
[[File:Curia Iulia.JPG|thumb|The ''[[Curia Julia]]'', as restored from 1935 to 1937]]

A generation after Sulla enlarged the senate from 300 members to 600, [[Julius Caesar]] increased its membership to 900, necessitating the construction of a larger meeting house. Shortly before his death in 44 BC, Caesar began the construction of a new building, which became known as the ''[[Curia Julia]]''. This structure covered most of the ''comitium'', and abandoned the original orientation of the previous curiae, pointing slightly northwest. The building featured a large central hall with a daïs for magistrates, and marble benches on one side. There was also a record office on one side. The building was completed by Caesar's grandnephew, [[Augustus|Octavian]], the future emperor Augustus, in 29 BC, although he reduced the senate itself to its former number of 600. The ''Curia Cornelia'' was demolished, but the precise date is not known.<ref name="OCD2"/>

In AD 94, the ''Curia Julia'' was rebuilt along Caesar's original plan by the emperor [[Domitian]], who also restored the former orientation of the ''Curia Hostilia''. The building was damaged by fire during the reign of [[Carinus]] in 283, and again restored under his successor, [[Diocletian]].<ref name="OCD2"/> The Roman Senate is last mentioned in AD 600. In 630, [[Pope Honorius I]] transformed the senate house into the church of [[Sant'Adriano al Foro]], preserving the structure at its full height. In 1923, the church and an adjacent convent were bought by the Italian government. The building was further restored from 1935 to 1937, removing various medieval additions, to reveal the original Roman architecture.<ref name="OCD2"/>