Court current one with apprehension initially (5)
I believe the answer is:
curia
'court' is the definition.
(type of court in ancient Rome)
I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for curia that I've seen before include "Central church administration in the Vatican" , "Ecclesiastical courts" , "The administrative department of the Vatican" , "church court" , "Governing body of the Roman Catholic church" .)