chief and priest of a curia.—Romulus, upon dividing the people into curiae, gave each division a chief, who was to be priest of that curia, under the title of curio and flamen curialis. His business was to provide and officiate at the sacrifices of the curia, which were called curionia; the curia furnishing him with a sum of money on that consideration, which pension or appointment was called curionium. Each division had the election of its curia; but all these particular curios were under the direction of a superior or general, called curio maximus; who was the head of the body, and elected by all the curios assembled in the comitia curiatis.

All these institutions were introduced by Romulus, and confirmed by Numa, as Halicarnassus relates it.

Curius, an officer of the Roman empire during the middle age, appointed to take care that no frauds and irregularities were committed; particularly no abuses in what related to the posts, the roads, &c. and to give intelligence to the court of what passed in the provinces. This made the curious people of importance, and put them in a condition of doing more harm than they prevented; on which account, Honorius cashiered them, at least in some parts of the empire, anno 415.

The curious came pretty near to what we call con-

trollers. They had their name from cura, "care;" quod curis agendis & evocationibus cursus publici inspiciendi operam darent.