DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42778#0143
TEMPLES, BASILICAS, AND THEATRES.
83
framework composed of ten radiating ribs meeting at the ring which
enclosed the central opening in the crown of the dome, resting
on a lofty polygonal drum lighted by large windows, and
strengthened on the outside by powerful buttresses between
the niches corresponding to the reentrant angles inside, and raised
somewhat by means of steps above the impost of the cupola in
order to be the better able to resist its thrust. (Rivoira, Roman
Architecture, 182.) In the latter, there is a vaulted dome, lightened
by concentric rings of amphorae1; the dome was thus able to be
set up without any buttresses, upon a lofty drum, lightened by
niches on its exterior, and pierced by windows. The prototype
of the vaulted aisled rotunda (S. Costanza, the Mausoleum of
Constantia, dating from the early part of the 4th century, Plate
XLIV) is simply the Mausoleum of Helena set on an open arcade.
Basilicas.
The first basilica built in Rome was the basilica Porcia, erected
in 184 b.c. by Porcius Cato, who provided it to relieve the over-
crowding of the Forum. A portion of it was set apart as a court of
justice, and the remainder served as an exchange for merchants.
A second basilica, the Fulvia, followed in 179 b.c., and a third in
170 (the Sempronia), which again was pulled down in 54 b.c., to
make way for the basilica Julia, the complete plan of which is now
laid bare in the Forum. The central area of the basilica Julia was
260 by 60 feet, and as rebuilt by Diocletian, it was surrounded by
a double aisle of arches resting on piers, with transverse arches
carrying quadripartite groined vaults (Plate XXX) with angle sup-
ports for their springing (an anticipation of the compound pier of
Lombardic and Gothic architecture)2. The nave was lighted by a
clerestory3. Over the outer aisle was a flat roof on one side over-
looking the Forum, and probably occupied by spectators when
meetings were held there, and above the inner aisle a gallery over-
looking the central area. Externally the lower storey was decorated
with engaged columns of the Doric order between the arches, and
the upper storey with Ionic pilasters.
The nave of the basilica Aemilia on the north side of the Forum
measured as much as 221 by 100 feet (70 by 29 metres). It had a
nave and three lines of columns, one on the S.W. and two on the
1 Rivoira, Lombardic Architecture, II, 22 : Roman Architecture, 230.
2 Rivoira, Lombardic Architecture, I, 24 : Roman Architecture, 203.
3 See the reconstruction in Hiilsen’s Roman Forum.
83
framework composed of ten radiating ribs meeting at the ring which
enclosed the central opening in the crown of the dome, resting
on a lofty polygonal drum lighted by large windows, and
strengthened on the outside by powerful buttresses between
the niches corresponding to the reentrant angles inside, and raised
somewhat by means of steps above the impost of the cupola in
order to be the better able to resist its thrust. (Rivoira, Roman
Architecture, 182.) In the latter, there is a vaulted dome, lightened
by concentric rings of amphorae1; the dome was thus able to be
set up without any buttresses, upon a lofty drum, lightened by
niches on its exterior, and pierced by windows. The prototype
of the vaulted aisled rotunda (S. Costanza, the Mausoleum of
Constantia, dating from the early part of the 4th century, Plate
XLIV) is simply the Mausoleum of Helena set on an open arcade.
Basilicas.
The first basilica built in Rome was the basilica Porcia, erected
in 184 b.c. by Porcius Cato, who provided it to relieve the over-
crowding of the Forum. A portion of it was set apart as a court of
justice, and the remainder served as an exchange for merchants.
A second basilica, the Fulvia, followed in 179 b.c., and a third in
170 (the Sempronia), which again was pulled down in 54 b.c., to
make way for the basilica Julia, the complete plan of which is now
laid bare in the Forum. The central area of the basilica Julia was
260 by 60 feet, and as rebuilt by Diocletian, it was surrounded by
a double aisle of arches resting on piers, with transverse arches
carrying quadripartite groined vaults (Plate XXX) with angle sup-
ports for their springing (an anticipation of the compound pier of
Lombardic and Gothic architecture)2. The nave was lighted by a
clerestory3. Over the outer aisle was a flat roof on one side over-
looking the Forum, and probably occupied by spectators when
meetings were held there, and above the inner aisle a gallery over-
looking the central area. Externally the lower storey was decorated
with engaged columns of the Doric order between the arches, and
the upper storey with Ionic pilasters.
The nave of the basilica Aemilia on the north side of the Forum
measured as much as 221 by 100 feet (70 by 29 metres). It had a
nave and three lines of columns, one on the S.W. and two on the
1 Rivoira, Lombardic Architecture, II, 22 : Roman Architecture, 230.
2 Rivoira, Lombardic Architecture, I, 24 : Roman Architecture, 203.
3 See the reconstruction in Hiilsen’s Roman Forum.