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basilica was the hall of public justice, the court in which,during the early history of that nation, the kings sat to hearand decide the causes of their subjects ; it was, in fact, atthat period a royal palace situate in the Forum, whence thename. The word, however, is Greek, and was first appliedto the portico in the Athenian Ceramicus, immediatelybeneath the Pnyx ; the custom, as well as the building, wasborrowed by the Romans. Such edifices varied in form indifferent instances, but not to any very great extent, thesame disposition seems to have been universally observed, andwas as follows.:—
! The plan was an oblong, terminated at one, or sometimes. both ends, with a semi-circle; the semi-circle was occasionally| omitted, and sometimes there were two or three of differentI dimensions. Internally the breadth was divided into three—rarely into five—by two or four rows of columns runningdown the length of the church; at the extreme end was thesemi-circular apse, in the midst of which was the seat of thej prastor, whence he administered justice ; this was the tri-j bunal. On either side of the prastor, but lower down, werethe benches for his assessors, the centumviri, and otherofficers, and all these were separated from the other part ofthe building by an enclosure of lattice-work, to which wasgiven the name of cancelli. .Outside of this screen wasa place allotted to the notaries and advocates, the remainderof the building being occupied by the people.
We have here a three-aisled structure, the divisions beingformed by two central rows of columns and two outer walls,the columns frequently supporting a gallery in the outer divi-sions. The central portion was generally lighted from win-dows or openings in a wall raised above the columns, thusforming a sort of clere-story. This roof was invariably ofwood, and did not always cover the whole building. For afurther description, see Basilica .
Some writers suppose that several such buildings weredelivered by Constantine into the hands of the Christians ,and were employed by them as churches, or places of publicworship. Some go so far as to assert, that they were the pro-totype of the succeeding churches, not only in form, but inthe division and disposition of the parts. The writer we havehad occasion to quote in a previous part of this article, speaksthus :—
“ Had the basilica, such as we have described it, beenplanned for the express reception of a Christian congregation,it scarcely could have received a more convenient or appro-priate form—none more happily combining magnificence withutility—none more consonant to the ideas which then pre-vailed. The general shape of the church, as prescribed bythe Apostolical Constitutions, was to be an oblong like unto aship, that is, to the vessel of the ark. Does not the outlineof the ground-plot of the basilica entirely meet the sugges-tion ? and the terms nave, nef, or vaisseau, applied to themain portion of the edifice, show how enduringly the ideaprevailed in subsequent ages. The apse, in which the prastoradministered justice, surrounded by the centumviri and otherjudges, offered a dignified tribunal for the bishop and hisclergy; the dark chambers below suggested the subterraneouschapel, in which might be deposited the remains of saint ormartyr. The enclosures, the cancelli for the notaries andadvocates, might receive the singers of the choir. Thelengthened aisles would furnish space for the congregationof the faithful; the galleries seclude the women ; and theporch, fronting some of the basilicas, or the uncovered por-tion, which, if separated from the rest by a wall, would con-stitute a court, was prepared for those who had been sepa-rated from the rest of the congregation by their sins, or werenot yet allowed to participate in the sacraments. Hence we
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find, from one of those incidental notices which 0 t tb 0more instructive than the set narrative of history,basilica had been given up, bodily, for the purpose o 311tian worship. A poet, but also a rhetor, addr® 8 toemperor, tells him that these structures, heretofoi® ^ jthbe filled up with men of business, were now thron nvotaries praying for his safety; ‘ Basilica olitn p ft ti° nplena, nunc votis pro tua salute susceptis.’ This transitory;of the Roman basilic® was, nevertheless, onlyThey did not become the abiding-places of the faith. c 0 r>'this privilege denied them ? In situation they were | flt ion ’venient, placed in the centre of business and P°f r po= e3their plan and form so convenient as to invite th® ^ , v er®of worship. Unpolluted by the idol or sacrifice, te rnp iefree from the recollections rendering the heath ^ j ;l bo u1 "’odious. With the smallest proportionate expense ° ^ tlrjthe basilic® of the Forum might have been ren . pV feh'
Yet. tb ? ct u a lV
most stately and dignified of sanctuaries.
of ‘ lie ‘
-ar basilica, as from the site of the heathen ten’?, tdetermining the locality assigned to the Christian e<b»feeling necessarily determined the neglect, ruin, « nd 'fl* 6tion of the proud monuments of senators anddemolition of earlier structures, for the purpose ot j 11materials, had already been long practised. Tims theof the Coliseum displays the friezes and fragment’^up in confusion, amidst the masonry of the beauappalling circuit of its walls. These, perhaps,
ile-
existing on the site ; but under Constantine 8litions proceeded, as it should seem, equally. 11 ^ 1
excited Constant’ _
funiished by 4, J”,?-, 8 a , dmir « r ition, fell at his cow*-- Bl _
Christian emperor^ 1 'j ecoratioils of> the arch
the civil basihV-i," „ "Abandoned for more hallowed S uj C ji
supported them f r ,„ e ' e destroyed, and the column 9
arose in lenztheno i s b >or£e ^ to the new sites, trim , glir ,% their verv Perspective and barbaric s P ,e . 5 a*
retain their SUaI ‘ of the Christian c iiur ifljiil;
ness with wlii'ch 0 ! e:itur es, show the haste anddeprived of the In le ^ are reared ; one capital cut tht 0 ® t j,e
required space acanthus,, to
shrinking within '.” 0 l ler Projecting over the shaft , ,,-eil
for the touch_ _ ’ * ^ ourt l ’ the leaves blocked, an [ P vV as 10
have imparted !° bu &‘ven—of the chisel thase lvesof P u?el.if° nnthian elegance ;-t he column*
of their due „! c, . rcum ^rence or unequal ' ~
P portions, or rudely stilted to a to**
■ - 1 - mixed
sary elevation. The richest materials are ® th®_„i;,--- - „„d verd antiqu ’ iy
°f inferior on
°f the quarries of i^ avonazzo and vertl «nu r .tuie, are interm in , -• > f ne . or of Paros , and the homely’ - „This writer i, ° ' vlt hout choice or discriminate gtIs of opmion that the heathen basi
Only one example can be found of a secular basil 1 ® ^iii®converted into a Christian church—and that e ^ anl j^ e pUi'P° S [’rable as it is, does not exist in Rome . As if f° r tr ;uinp'‘ ° tof constantly demonstrating to mankind the visible ^ e j 0 pni eathe spiritual kingdom, every stage in the early o e g- a ce j 1of the empire of Christianity seemed destined 0 p. l gili c *honours of heathen sovereignty. The Christ 1 ® ^ c oSthough entirely modelled upon the heathen b flS1 fate®structed with the spoils of the basilica, was there ^
be its ruin and destruction. . e po" 1 c (;9
“ A single cause suffices—a cause of which gi-a*scarcely appreciate the potency. Veneration ttr acted j, u «of the martyrs, as an almost irresistible motive, e ihp
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attain . 0 tl>c' vlt -ilu® 1
up in confusion, amidst the masonryappalling circuit of its walls. These, r;- * pre*’ ,,o'
resulted from the removal of other buildi n o.^y ar
tO ]jil<i
of sparing expense, and the increasing iaau “ l ‘ I '/ ,vl llC J a ii‘'works of art. The splendid Forum of . com D j a , a , P/ firs*