II.

Pagan Basilicas

Roman basilicas were used for law courts or for commerce. They consisted of a roofed hall entered from a portico at the side or end. The hall contained a wide central aisle, or nave, separated from two side aisles by rows of columns. The nave walls rose above the aisle roofs and were pierced with windows, forming a clerestory to admit light. At the far end of the nave was usually a raised platform, or bema, on which stood an altar. Behind the bema the hall terminated in a semicircular or polygonal area called an apse, which has seats for officials.

This basic plan had many variations. Some basilicas had a nave and four side aisles, as, for example, the basilica of Trajan (or Ulpia, 98-112), which also had a gallery and a semicircular apse at both ends. Others had no gallery or were almost square. Most had pitched roofs with wooden rafters, but some, such as the basilica of Constantine (or Maxentius, 310-13), were vaulted with masonry.