Roman Curul Chair

Roman Curule seat chair

A curule seat (sella curulis) was a chair of political or military status and power.

The curule chair was said to have been based on a chariot and was the seat of the magistrates, chariots were not only the vehicle of choice of the rich they were the choice of the mythical gods and those who thought to emulate them. To sit on the Curure chair, one had to hold imperium, a superior office or rank in the military or government. Imperium was superior to auctoritas and potestas in the Roman Republic and Empire.

Auctoritas was the social standing a person in Roman society and referred to the individual's power to lead others. Potestas originally was the power of coercion, of officers such as the magistrates and military officers. The exercise of both powers one required prudentes or wisdom.

The Roman writer, Livy said that the curule seat, like the Roman toga, was a symbol of a person's social status and prowess. The type of toga worn reflected a citizen's rank in the civil hierarchy. The Toga praetexta was a semi-circle of boiled woollen cloth with a broad purple stripe on its border. It eas the toga worn by those with the right to sit as a magistrate.

The chair was a particular shape, based on a folding chair made of crossed struts forming a wide X at the base. It had no back and low and arms. The chair was deliberately designed to be uncomfortable to sit, thus encouraging speed of deliberation and the alertness necessary to perform one's duties with diligence.