A
basilica in
Ancient Rome was a large public building where business or legal matters could be transacted.[1]
Origins
In ancient Italy, basilicas began as large, covered buildings near city centers, adjacent to the forum, often at the opposite end from a
temple. The building's form gradually came to be rectangular, covered with a
post-and-lintel roof over an open hall flanked by columns and aisles extending from one end to the other, with entrances on the long sides, one of which would often be the side facing the forum. As such buildings came be used for judicial purposes, a semicircular
apse would be built at one end, to give a place for the magistrate.[1][2]
Traditional civic basilicas and bouleuteria declined in use with the weakening of the
curial class (Latin: curiales) in the 4th and 5th centuries, while their structures were well suited to the requirements of congregational religious liturgies.[3] The conversion of these types of buildings into Christian basilicas was also of symbolic significance, asserting the dominance of Christianity and supplanting the old political function of public space and the city-centre with an emphatically Christian social statement.[3]
Built in
184 BC by
Cato the Elder, during his
censorship, its remains were found in the north corner of the
Roman Forum, between the
Curia and the Atrium Libertatis (the headquarters of the censors).[4] The remains show signs of reconstruction dating back to the age of
Sulla. The basilica became the centre of intense economic activity and its architectural form recalled the "Egyptian Hall".
Founded in 121 BC on the north corner of the Roman Forum[6] by
consulLucius Opimius, who also financed the reconstruction of the adjoining
Temple of Concord. It was probably destroyed during the renovation of the temple under
Tiberius.
Basilica Fulvia
Also known as Fulvia–Aemilia, it was built on the northeast side of the Roman Forum, behind the tabernae novae argentariae, by the censors in the year
179 BC, probably replacing a former basilica cited by
Plautus. It was replaced in mid-
1st century BC by the Basilica Aemilia.
Basilica Aemilia, or Basilica Paulli, was situated on the northeastern side of the Roman Forum.[7] It replaced the Basilica Fulvia or Fulvia–Aemilia behind the tabernae novae argentariae between
55 and
34 BC. It underwent various restorations until the
5th century.
Built on the southwestern side of the Roman Forum,[8] starting in
55 BC, it replaced the Basilica Sempronia and the tabernae veteres. It was inaugurated in
46 BC, but was damaged by fire in
12 BC. Having been restored and dedicated to the grandchildren of
Augustus,
Gaius and
Lucius Caesar in
12 AD (Basilica Gai et Luci), it was destroyed by fire in
283, and once again restored by
Diocletian.
Mentioned in late sources, it has been identified by the two-aisled portico on pillars located on the left side of the
Temple of Venus Genetrix in the
Forum of Caesar[9] and was pertinent to the renovation of the complex under
Trajan.
Also known as the Basilica Constantini or Basilica Nova, its construction began under
Maxentius around
305 AD on the slopes of the
Velian Hill towards the Roman Forum[11] and ended under
Consantine I. Probably in the
4th century, it was integrated with a porticoed entrance towards the
Via Sacra and an apse in the central niche of the opposite wall.
This is a small basilica on the
Caelian Hill,[13] it is now situated under a
modern military hospital [
it]. It was built in the
mid-2nd century at the behest of the margaritarius (pearl merchant) Manius Publicius Ilarius[14] and was intended for the college of the dendrophores, a religious congregation linked to the cult of
Magna Mater and
Attis,[15] in which Ilarius had the role of quinquennalis perpetuus.[16] The complex, modified in the
3rd century, was abandoned in the
7th, maybe following an earthquake in
618 AD. It was partially underground: twelve steps outlined with marble led to a vestibule with black and white mosaics, depicting an eye struck by a spear with a ring of birds and animals around it; a threshold depicting the footprint of two feet, one entering and one leaving, led to a room with a basin and the base of a statue dedicated to Ilarius.[17]
It is remembered by
Vitruvius as a long and narrow building, with vestibules (chalcidica) on the short sides. Its location is unknown: it could have been the name of the Basilica Julia at the time of
Caesar.
It is identified with the brick hall whose remains are preserved behind the
Pantheon,[19] dating back to the era of
Hadrian.[19] The hall, connected to the
Baths of Agrippa, had a cross vaulted roof; and the walls were articulated by columns with a frieze depicting dolphins, with a rich marble covering. It was supposedly used for business negotiations.
^Samuel Ball Platner, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Oxford: 1929, p. 80.
^Filippo Coarelli, «I monumenti dei culti orientali in Roma», in La soteriologia dei culti orientali nell'Impero romano, Brill Archive, 1982,
ISBN9789004065017, p. 34.