1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Curule

CURULE (Lat. currus, “chariot”), in Roman antiquities, the epithet applied to the chair of office, sella curulis, used by the “curule” or highest magistrates and also by the emperors. This chair seems to have been originally placed in the magistrate’s chariot (hence the name). It was inlaid with ivory or in some cases made of it, had curved legs but no back, and could be folded up like a camp-stool. In English the word is used in the general sense of “official.” (See Consul, Praetor and Aedile.)