DECURIO, a Roman official title, used in three connections. (I ) A member of the senatorial order in the Italian towns, and in provincial towns organized on the Italian model. The number of decuriones was usually 1 oo. The qualifications for the office were fixed in each town by a special law (lex municipalis). Cicero alludes to an age limit, to a property qualification, and to certain conditions of rank. The method of appointment varied. Cicero speaks of the senate in the Sicilian towns as appointed by a vote of the township. But in most towns the chief magistrate drew up a list (album) of the senators every five years. The decuriones held office for life. They were convened by the magistrate, who presided as .in the Roman Senate. Their powers were extensive. In all matters the magistrates were obliged to act according to their direction, and in some towns they heard cases of appeal against judicial sentences passed by the magistrate. By the time of Julius Caesar (45 B.c.) special privileges were conferred on the decuriones, including the right to appeal to Rome for trial in criminal cases. Under the principate their status underwent a marked decline. The office was no longer coveted, and means were devised to compel members of the towns to undertake it. By the time of the jurists it had become hereditary and com pulsory. This change was largely due to the heavy financial bur dens which the Roman Government laid on the municipal senates.
(2) The president of a decuria, a subdivision of the curia, (q.v.).
(3) An officer in the Roman cavalry, commanding a troop of ten men (decuria).