Subsellium
In the Ancient Rome, the subsellium was a bench or sometimes a seat of other kind. The word was used to describe seating arranged for groups of people in Roman theaters, senators' seats in the curia, seats for tribunes of the plebs. The latter meaning of a "judge's seat" transferred to mean the court or tribunal and is replicated in the modern en banc.
In the medieval churches the term was used for the misericord, a wooden ledge on the underside of a choir stall seat. When the hinged seat was put upright, the subsellium provided a modicum of support for the occupant who was otherwise supposed to be standing.
Construction
The subsellium was a common, backless bench widespread in the Roman world. Contemporary sources mention its use in private homes, theaters, the senate house, law courts, and schools. Although no definite examples survive, literary accounts strongly suggest that the subsellium was made of wood. Suetonius alone provides several examples:- benches from the senate and courts were broken into pieces to create a funeral pyre for Julius Caesar;
- a heavy man caused theater bench to collapse under his weight;
- during a brawl, combatants fought each other with pieces of broken subsellium.