DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61893#0440
412
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch. XII
purposes of Christian worship. Narrow oblong
edifices, frequently dark and lighted only from the
entrance, they seem to have been constructed
merely as sanctuaries to receive the statues of
their respective gods, while the multitude of
adorers filled the porticos, or crowded the colon-
nades without, and waited till the trumpets an-
nounced the moment of sacrifice, or the priest
proclaimed the oracles of the god. The external
ornaments, and the vast extent of porticos and
galleries that surrounded the principal temples,
and not the capacity of the interior, constituted
their map'nificence. The Adyta or Penetralia,
seem mostly to have been on a contracted scale,
and though well calculated for a chapel or oratory
for a small assembly, are too confined for a parish
church, and for the accommodation of a large
congregation.
The Basilic®, on the contrary, presented every
convenience and seemed as if expressly erected
for the purpose of a Christian assembly. The
aisles on either side seemed formed to receive and
screen the women; the vast area in the middle
furnished a spacious range for the men; the apsis
or semicircular retreat raised on a flight of steps
at the end, gave the bishop and his presbyters an
elevated and honorable station; while the sacred
table surrounded with youth and innocence, stood
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch. XII
purposes of Christian worship. Narrow oblong
edifices, frequently dark and lighted only from the
entrance, they seem to have been constructed
merely as sanctuaries to receive the statues of
their respective gods, while the multitude of
adorers filled the porticos, or crowded the colon-
nades without, and waited till the trumpets an-
nounced the moment of sacrifice, or the priest
proclaimed the oracles of the god. The external
ornaments, and the vast extent of porticos and
galleries that surrounded the principal temples,
and not the capacity of the interior, constituted
their map'nificence. The Adyta or Penetralia,
seem mostly to have been on a contracted scale,
and though well calculated for a chapel or oratory
for a small assembly, are too confined for a parish
church, and for the accommodation of a large
congregation.
The Basilic®, on the contrary, presented every
convenience and seemed as if expressly erected
for the purpose of a Christian assembly. The
aisles on either side seemed formed to receive and
screen the women; the vast area in the middle
furnished a spacious range for the men; the apsis
or semicircular retreat raised on a flight of steps
at the end, gave the bishop and his presbyters an
elevated and honorable station; while the sacred
table surrounded with youth and innocence, stood