Editing Curia (section)

===Municipal curiae===
{{Main|Local government (ancient Roman)}}
In the Roman Empire a town council was known as a curia, or sometimes an ''ordo'', or ''boule''. The existence of such a governing body was the mark of an independent city. Municipal curiae were co-optive, and their members, the [[Decurion (administrative)|decurions]], sat for life. Their numbers varied greatly according to the size of the city. In the Western Empire, one hundred seems to have been a common number, but in the East five hundred was customary, on the model of the Athenian Boule. However, by the fourth century, curial duties had become onerous, and it was difficult to fill all the posts; often candidates had to be nominated. The emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] exempted Christians from serving in the curiae, which led to many rich pagans claiming to be priests in order to escape these duties.<ref>A. H. M. Jones, ''The Later Roman Empire'', p. 724.</ref>