Comitium of Paestum
Stand at the Comitium of Paestum and you're looking at the civic machinery of a Roman colony — the tiered, circular steps where magistrates were elected and laws adopted, a deliberate echo of the comitium back in Rome itself. It's modest by the standards of what surrounds it, but that modesty is part of the point.
When Romans arrived in 273 BCE and rechristened the old Greek city of Poseidonia as Paestum, they didn't flatten what was there — they layered their own institutions over it. The Comitium sat beside the curia, together forming the administrative heart of a city that had already been Greek, then Lucanian, and was now Roman.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who slow down here tend to notice the geometry first — the way the circular steps mirror the forum's rectangular logic around it. Walk the corridor from the forum floor into the center, then look north toward where the Temple of Bona Mens eventually shouldered into the cavea. The encroachment tells you more about Roman civic priorities than any signboard.
The story behind Comitium of Paestum
Paestum was founded as a Roman Latin colony in 273 BCE on the bones of Poseidonia, a Greek city, and before that adapted by Lucanian settlers. The Romans brought their own civic blueprint: a forum, a curia, and this comitium — circular in plan, tiered for public assembly, clearly modeled on the one in Rome. Citizens gathered here to elect local magistrates and hear public addresses.
Sometime in the 1st century BCE, the western portion of the comitium's cavea was demolished to make room for the Temple of Bona Mens. The comitium's practical life seems to have ended around then, suggesting civic assembly moved elsewhere as the city's needs — or its politics — shifted.
Good to know
Trenitalia from Salerno reaches Paestum in about 35 minutes; enter the archaeological park via Porta Sirena, 1km from the station. A single ticket (€12 March–November, €6 December–February) covers three days and includes Velia. The Comitium is worth a look, but give your best time to the Greek temples and the Tomb of the Diver in the museum.
Summer visits mean full sun and temperatures around 29°C, with almost no rain from June through August — bring water and a hat for the open site. Spring and autumn are more forgiving; November turns wet, and winter days are mild but short, with the park closing at 5:00 PM.
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The Comitium can be defined as the most important public monument of the Latin colony; in it the curia meetings (comitia centuriata) took place during which the magistrates of the colonies were elected and judgments were issued. The building was erected at the time of the establishment of the colony, or at a time immediately thereafter. It refers to a typology well known in the Roman architectural tradition and which is particularly well preserved in Paestum. Located in the center of the northern side of the forum, between two series of twelve shops on each side. The embankment was supported by a large rectangular block wall, which also had the function of orienting the space according to the rigid prescriptions of Roman ritual, according to which judicial time and that of the curia had to be marked by the course of the sun. The Curia, seat of the local senate, was set up in the center of the northern side. The building of the III century BC lost its role in the 2nd century BC for the benefit of the nearby forum and was partly absorbed by the temple of Mens Bona on the western side.
THE COMITium Not all citizens were allowed to enter this place; women, for example, were excluded. YES, IN ANCIENT TIMES, POLITICS WAS A MEN'S MATTER! The Comitium, built by the Romans after their occupation of the city in 273 BC, was the place where citizens' meetings were held and where magistrates were elected. Paestum is perhaps the only city in the ancient Mediterranean where one is fortunate enough to admire, within a few hundred meters of each other, two similar buildings serving the same purpose, but built at different times. ONE, THE EKKLESIASTERION, WHICH BELONGED TO THE GREEK CITY; THE OTHER, THE COMITIUM, BUILT FOLLOWING THE ROMAN CONQUEST. OVER TIME, THE FIRST DECLINED ITS IMPORTANCE, AND MANY OF THE POLITICAL ASSEMBLIES THAT WERE HELD INSIDE IT WERE MOVED TO THE NEARBY FORUM. IN THE COMITIUM, TWO LARGE BUILDINGS OCCUPY A LARGE PORTION OF ITS STEPS: ON ONE SIDE, THE CURIA, SEAT OF THE CITY SENATE, AND ON THE OTHER, THE SO-CALLED TEMPLE OF PEACE, ACTUALLY DEDICATED TO A DEITY CALLED MENS BONA (GOOD MEMORY). THE COMITIUM, BUILT BY THE ROMANS AFTER THE OCCUPATION OF THE CITY IN 273 BC, WAS THE PLACE WHERE CITIZENS' MEETINGS WERE HELD AND MAGISTRATES WERE ELECTED. IT SOON LOST ITS ORIGINAL FUNCTIONS, WHICH WERE TRANSFERRED TO THE FORUM SQUARE, AND IN THE 2ND CENTURY BC, ITS WESTERN SIDE WAS CUT OFF TO CREATE THE HIGH PODIUM OF THE TEMPLE OF MENS BONA. THIS BUILDING IS CONSISTING OF A SINGLE CELLA SURROUNDED ON THREE SIDES BY A COLONNADE. IT WAS DEDICATED TO THE DIVINITY MENS BONA, THE PERSONIFICATION OF GOOD MEMORY, OF THE INDELIBLE MEMORY OF A PAST AS SERVANTS, HOPE FOR A BETTER FUTURE AS FREE CITIZENS, FOR HIMSELF AND FOR HIS CHILDREN.
Part of the Paestum Archaeological Park, the Comitium is an important site to visit. A tip: download the free app to better follow the site descriptions.
Place where senators used to meet, very nice to live the same experience
Everything inside the Paestum park is fascinating but this small (very small) corner arouses a lot of curiosity due to its location and use.
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