An aedile (English: /ˈiːdʌɪl/ EE-dighl) was a magistrate in the Roman Republic who had responsibilities for the upkeep of the city, such as its buildings, roads, and markets; the availability of grain at reasonable prices; and the holding of games. It also had some judicial functions, being able to issue fines and corporal punishments with an additional right to prosecute crimes before the assemblies, but by the middle republic was mostly an office used for distributing largesse to win the officeholder popular acclaim.

There were two kinds of aediles, plebeian aediles and curule aediles. The former were, according to Roman tradition, the first aediles created (c. 494 BC), initially as assistants to the plebeian tribunes, with the curule aediles created c. 367 BC. The plebeian aediles, even though originally tribunician assistants, assimilated with the curule aediles: by the middle republic, aediles were junior to praetors and senior to quaestors, with the tribunate usually held before an aedilate. The two types of aediles had largely the same duties.

The duties of the aediles did not long survive the republic. While the office continued to exist under the empire, many of their public functions were assumed by the emperor or his appointees. There were, however, aediles in self-governing communities outside of Rome who continued to be elected by and support their localities in much the same way the republican aediles at Rome did.

The Latin word for aedile, aedilis, is derived from the word aedes (meaning temple or dwelling place) with the suffix -ilis.

There were two kinds of aediles: curule and plebeian. Curule aediles were elected in the tribal assembly, while plebeian aediles were elected in the plebeian council from plebeian candidates by a plebeian tribune. While curule aediles possessed a curule chair, they did not possess imperium or the immunity from prosecution which it implied.

By the late middle republic the two pairs of aediles had largely overlapping duties in the upkeep of temples, markets, and streets. They were also responsible for two major sets of annual games: the curule aediles held the ludi Romani and the Megalensian games; the plebeian aediles held the ludi plebii and the Floralian and Cerealian games. Plebeian aediles also had responsibilities to keep plebeian records, which were likely stored at the Temple of Ceres on the Aventine.

It was not necessary to hold the aedilate as part of the cursus honorum; however, if held, by the middle and late republic it usually was held after the plebeian tribunate and before the praetorship. Customarily, though not entirely observed by the late republic, two years had to elapse between the holding of the aedilate and the praetorship.

One of the main responsibilities of the aediles was management of Rome's marketplaces. This included a responsibility to ensure the availability of grain and tolerable prices. Aediles managed markets by promulgating an edict specifying the Rome's commercial law and regulations observed therein, while also providing men to ensure the proper enforcement of those rules. Aediles also had a role in stabilising grain prices, but until the development of public granaries from Gaius Gracchus' tribunate in 122 BC, the aediles' ability achieve this goal was limited and contingent on officeholders' foreign contacts, their financial resources, and the availability of shipping.