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.