Origins, structure and functions of the curiae in ancient Rome

This project aims to investigate the institutional structure of the curiae in early Rome, including by testing the hypothesis that they predated the city’s foundation, as well as their role in the city’s emergence.Through an analysis of the ritual and legal elements from the historical period that persisted within the comitia curiata, the research will seek to clarify the dual nature of the curiae:as territorial districts and as kinship organisations.The military origins of the curiate assemblies and the probable dominance of the patres familiae in the decision-making processes of the archaic curiae will be examined in depth.The regressive method will be employed, tracing back from evidence from the Republican and Imperial periods to the protohistoric era, incorporating linguistic/archaeological and comparative data.Expected results:To reconstruct the evolution of the curiae from autonomous village units and units of the archaic army to a constitutional structure of the city-state