Definition: The curule aediles were 2 annually-elected, minor magistrates originally chosen from the patricians in response to the refusal of the plebeian aediles, in 365 B.C., to celebrate the ludi Romani for 4 days instead of 3, according to Livy.
From 365 onwards Rome kept 4 aediles (2 plebeian and 2 curule), who superintended different parts of the city. The honors of the curule aediles were: the honorary chair known as a sella curialis, the toga praetexta, precedence in speaking in the senate, and the right of the nobility to have a wax mask in their likeness. Curule aediles could also announce edicts related to trade. Like a plebeian aedile, the person of the curule aedile was sacrosanct.
The curule aediles had responsibility for the ludi Romani and the Megalenses, which could be very expensive.
Source: Aediles
from the
William Smith Dictionary
Examples:
Under Julius Caesar the number of aediles was increased to 6, of which 4 were plebeian and the remaining two, curule aediles. The two extra plebeian aediles, the Cereales, had charge of grain supply.
