Curator aedium sacrarum et operum locorumque publicorum

The Temple of Portunus, Rome. The curatores aedium would have been responsible for managing such buildings.

The curator aedium sacrarum et operum locorumque publicorum (pl. curatores) was a political position in ancient Rome.[1][2][3][4] The name translates to 'curator of sacred buildings and public works'.[5] In surviving Roman inscriptions, the words aedium sacrarum are usually preceded by the word curator, but sometimes by resitutor or subcurator.[6][7] The name utilized for this office was not officially standardized in ancient Rome. Inscriptions use any combination of the words curator, aedium sacrarum, et operum, locorumque publicorum, and populi Romani to refer to the office.[8][9]

This position may have been reserved for a pair of senators typically of praetorian but sometimes of consular rank.[8][10][11] It is also possible the position was a local, municipal title; rather than an imperial position reserved for prominent politicians. One inscription records an individual named Julius Galerius Asper, who was allowed to hold this position before he had become a quaestor. Possibly due to his prestigious father,[12] although it could also mean that the position was not exclusively for high-ranking senators. This claim is evidenced by the omission of this title in other attestations to Asper. It has been argued that if the title was important to Roman politics, it would have been mentioned.[10]

Equestrians typically held the office of subcurator aedium sacrarum.[8][13] Although, one equestrian named Furius Octavianus is recorded during the third century as a curator.[14] One inscription from Bremenium mentions a subcurator operum publicorum who is the husband of a woman named Julia Lucilla. This may be Rufinus, who is mentioned as the husband of a Julia Lucilla in another inscription from Bremenium.[15] Equestrian subcurators were attached to the senatorial position of curator aedium sacrarum.[16]

It was established between 11 BCE and 14 CE by Augustus or Tiberius to manage the upkeep and construction of public works,[17][18][19] sacred places, and temples.[20][21][22][23] These tasks were previously accomplished by the aediles.[24][25] There were two curatores aedium sacrarum, and they only held their office for one year.[10][26] Sometimes one of the curators was tasked with managing the public works, while another one of the curators was tasked with managing the sacred buildings.[8] They used a workforce consisting of freedmen.[4] The position may not have continued existing after the Julio-Claudian dynasty.[27] It is also possible that it continued to exist, even into the Later Roman Empire, becoming known as the curator operum publicorum vir clarissimus by the time of Diocletian. They may have assumed responsibility for the management of imperial edifices during this time.[28]

  1. ^ Kamińska, Renata (2019). "PROCURATORES – IMPERIAL AGENTS OR CURATORS' ASSISTANTS?". Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego – Seria Prawnicza (27): 63. ISSN 1730-3508.
  2. ^ Eck, Werner (1986), "Augustus' administrative Reformen. Pragmatismus oder systematisches Planen? –", Acta classica, 29.1986, pp. 105–120, retrieved 19 August 2022
  3. ^ Edmondson, Jonathan (24 March 2014). Augustus. Edinburgh University Press. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-7486-9538-6.
  4. ^ a b Behrwald, Ralf (26 October 2012), "Cura, curator", in Bagnall, Roger S; Brodersen, Kai; Champion, Craige B; Erskine, Andrew (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p. wbeah22069, doi:10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah22069, ISBN 978-1-4443-3838-6, retrieved 19 August 2022
  5. ^ Clausen, KB 2015, The Flavian Isea in Beneventum and Rome: The appropriation of Egyptian and Egyptianising Art in imperial Beneventum and Rome. Det Humanistiske Fakultet, Københavns Universitet. p. 38
  6. ^ James, Patrick; Arbabzadah, Moreed (2018). "New and Old Interpretations of the Stone-Cutter's Bilingual Inscription ("IG" XIV 297 = "CIL" X 7296) from Palermo". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 205: 145–150. ISSN 0084-5388. JSTOR 26603979.
  7. ^ Newton, Homer Curtis (1901). The Epigraphical Evidence for the Reigns of Vespasian and Titus (in Latin). Andrus and Church. p. 47.
  8. ^ a b c d Robinson, O. F. (27 August 2003). Ancient Rome: City Planning and Administration. Routledge. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-134-84494-4.
  9. ^ Duncan-Jones, Richard, ed. (2016), "The Career Ladder at Rome", Power and Privilege in Roman Society, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 22–35, doi:10.1017/CBO9781316575475.004, ISBN 978-1-107-14979-3, retrieved 10 November 2023
  10. ^ a b c Culham, Phyllis (1985). "A Municipal, Not Imperial, "Curator Aedium"". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 34 (4): 503–505. ISSN 0018-2311. JSTOR 4435942.
  11. ^ Boatwright, Mary T. (1987). Hadrian and the City of Rome. Princeton University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-691-00218-7.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ ILS 1425.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Foubert, Lien (1 January 2013), "Female Travellers in Roman Britain: Vibia Pacata and Julia Lucilla", Women and the Roman City in the Latin West, Brill, pp. 398–399, ISBN 978-90-04-25595-1, retrieved 28 December 2023
  16. ^ Brunt, P. A. (1983). "Princeps and Equites". The Journal of Roman Studies. 73: 45. doi:10.2307/300072. ISSN 1753-528X. JSTOR 300072. S2CID 162326412 – via Cambridge Core.
  17. ^ Ceci, Monica; Pflug, Jens; Zink, Stephan (1 January 2020). "How a Temple Survives. Resilience and Architectural Design at Temple A of Largo Argentina in Rome". Römische Mitteilungen: 417.
  18. ^ Conlin, Diane Atnally (1997). The Artists of the Ara Pacis: The Process of Hellenization in Roman Relief Sculpture. UNC Press Books. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-8078-2343-9.
  19. ^ Suet. Aug. 37
  20. ^ Alston, Richard (4 January 2002). Aspects of Roman History AD 14–117. Routledge. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-134-78782-1.
  21. ^ Syme, Ronald (8 August 2002). The Roman Revolution. OUP Oxford. p. 403. ISBN 978-0-19-280320-7.
  22. ^ Du Plessis, Paul (1 December 2004). "The protection of the contractor in public works contracts in the Roman Republic and Early Empire". The Journal of Legal History. 25 (3): 303. doi:10.1080/0144036042000290735. ISSN 0144-0365. S2CID 219623307.
  23. ^ Raepsaet-Charlier, Marie-Thérèse (2001). "Anne Daguet-Gagey, Les opera publica à Rome (180-305 ap. J.-C)". L'Antiquité Classique. 70 (1): 479–480.
  24. ^ Pearce, Susan; Flanders, Rosemary; Morton, Fiona (5 December 2016). The Collector's Voice: Critical Readings in the Practice of Collecting: Volume 1: Ancient Voices. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-96412-8.
  25. ^ Minale, Valerio Massimo; Amorosi, Virginia (9 July 2019). History of Law and Other Humanities.Views of the legal world across the time. Dykinson S.L. pp. 151–152. ISBN 978-84-1324-308-5.
  26. ^ Gahtan, Maia Wellington; Pegazzano, Donatella (1 January 2014), "Museum Archetypes and Collecting: An Overview of the Public, Private, and Virtual Collections of the Ancient World", Museum Archetypes and Collecting in the Ancient World, Brill, p. 7, ISBN 978-90-04-28348-0, retrieved 28 December 2023
  27. ^ Talbert, Richard J. A. (8 February 2022). The Senate of Imperial Rome. Princeton University Press. p. 373. ISBN 978-1-4008-4976-5.
  28. ^ Cosenza, Mario Emilio (1905). Official Positions After the Time of Constantine. New Era Printing Company. pp. 39–41.