Curular chair
The term curular chair ( Latin sella curulis Femininum, "chariot chair") referred to the official chair of the higher magistrates as a sign of power in ancient Rome . The sella curulis probably had its origin in the chair of the ( Etruscan ) kings who, sitting on it, spoke right from their chariot .
From the right to sit on the sella curulis , the holder of higher offices was called curulis . The curular magistrates (curular aedile , praetor , consul and, outside the cursus honorum, the censor ) were more highly regarded than the non-curular ones ( tribune , plebeian aedile and quaestor ). The dictator , the magister equitum , the Interrex , the Decemvir and the Flemish Dialis were also allowed to sit on the sella curulis .
The chair as such was a folding chair and had legs bent in an X-shape, but no arm and back rests. It was an award and a status symbol . Later, often adorned with noble materials such as gold and ivory , which emphasized the special status, this chair was not intended for everyday use, but only for official acts such as court sessions in particular.
The sella curulis remained a central symbol for the exercise of legal political power and jurisdiction even in the imperial period and late antiquity ; even after the end of antiquity , it was associated with imperial and royal authority and secular rule.
literature
- Ole Wanscher : Sella curulis. The folding stool, an ancient symbol of dignity. Rosenkilde and Bagger, Copenhagen 1980, ISBN 87-423-0337-0 .
- Thomas Schäfer : Imperii insignia. Sella curulis and fasces. To represent Roman magistrates (= communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Roman Department . Supplement 29). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1989, ISBN 3-8053-1035-8 .
