The Basilica Julia () was a structure that once stood in the

Roman Forum A forum (Latin: ''forum'', "public place outdoors", : ''fora''; English : either ''fora'' or ''forums'') was a public square in a municipium, or any civitas, of Ancient Rome reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, alon ...

. It was a large, ornate, public building used for meetings and other official business during the Roman Empire. Its ruins have been excavated. What is left from its classical period are mostly foundations, floors, a small back corner wall with a few arches that are part of both the original building and later imperial reconstructions and a single column from its first building phase. The Basilica Julia was built on the site of the earlier Basilica Sempronia (170 BC) along the south side of the Forum, opposite the

Basilica Aemilia The Basilica Aemilia (), or the Basilica Paulli, was a civil basilica in the Roman Forum. Lucius Aemilius Paullus initiated its construction, but the building was completed by his son, Paullus Aemilius Lepidus, in 34 BCE. Under Augustus, it was ...

. It was initially dedicated in 46 BC by

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

, with building costs paid from the spoils of the Gallic War, and was completed by

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

, who named the building after his adoptive father. The ruins which have been excavated date to a reconstruction of the Basilica by the Emperor

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

, after a fire in 283 AD destroyed the earlier structure.

History and use

Ancient Rome

The first iteration of the Basilica Julia was begun around 54 BC by

, though it was left to his heir

to complete the construction and name it in honor of his adoptive father. The basilica was built over the remains of two important Republican structures: the Basilica Sempronia, which was demolished by Caesar to make way for the new basilica, and pre-dating both, the house of

Scipio Africanus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (, , ; 236/235–) was a Roman general and statesman who was one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Ancient Carthage, Carthage in the Second Punic War. Often regarded as one of the greatest milit ...

, Rome's legendary general. The Basilica Sempronia was built in 169 BC by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and required the demolition of the house of Africanus and a number of shops to make room. The first Basilica Julia burned in 9 AD, shortly after completion, but it was reconstructed, enlarged, and rededicated to Augustus' adoptive sons

Gaius Gaius, sometimes spelled Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People * Gaius (biblical figure) (1st century AD) *Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist * Gaius Acilius * Gaius Antonius * Gaius Antonius Hybrida * Gaius Asinius Gal ...

and

Lucius Lucius is a masculine given name derived from Lucius (Latin ; ), abbreviated L., one of the small group of common Latin forenames () found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius probably derives from Latin word ( gen. ), meaning "light" (<

in 12 AD. The Basilica was restored after a fire in 199 AD by

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

, and later reconstructed by the Emperor

after another fire in 283 AD. The Basilica is bordered on its short sides by two important ancient roads which led from the Tiber to the Forum: the Vicus Jugarius to the west, and the Vicus Tuscus to the east. The ground floor was divided into five east–west aisles inside, with the central aisle forming a large hall that measured 82x18 meters, sheltered by a three-story high roof. The adjoining aisles to the north and south of the central hall were divided by marble-faced brick columns which supported concrete arcades; the columns in turn supported the upper level of the basilica, which was used as a public gallery. The floor of the central hall was paved in colorful polychrome marble slabs, contrasting with the plain white marble of the adjoining aisles. The Basilica's façade as it appeared after the Augustan restoration was two stories high and arcaded, with engaged

Carrara marble Carrara marble, or Luna marble (''marmor lunense'') to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara ...

columns decorating the piers between the arches on both levels. The Basilica housed the civil law courts and tabernae (shops), and provided space for government offices and banking. In the 1st century, it also was used for sessions of the

Centumviri The centumviral court (''centumviri'') was the Court of equity, chancery court (court of Equity (law), equity) of ancient Rome. It was a court of justice dealing with private law (also known as Civil law (common law), civil law). Evolution The t ...

(''Court of the Hundred''), who presided over matters of inheritance. In his

Epistle An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo; 61 – ), better known in English as Pliny the Younger ( ), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and e ...

describes the scene as he pleaded for a senatorial lady whose 80-year-old father had disinherited her ten days after taking a new wife.

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

states that

Caligula Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), also called Gaius and Caligula (), was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Augustus' granddaughter Ag ...

greatly enjoyed showering the crowd in the forum below with money while standing on the roof of the Basilica Julia. It was the favorite meeting place of the Roman people. This basilica housed public meeting places and shops, but it was mainly used as a law court. On the pavement of the portico, there are diagrams of games scratched into the white marble. One stone, on the upper tier of the side facing the

Curia Curia (: curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally probably had wider powers, they came to meet ...

, is marked with an eight by eight square grid on which games similar to

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), is a group of Abstract strategy game, strategy board games for two players which involve forward movements of uniform game ...

could have been played. The last recorded restoration of the Basilica Julia was undertaken by the Urban Prefect Gabinius Vettius Probianus in 416 AD, who also relocated several Greek statues by the sculptors

Polykleitos Polykleitos (; ) was an ancient Greek sculptor, active in the 5th century BCE. Alongside the Athenian sculptors Pheidias, Myron and Praxiteles, he is considered as one of the most important sculptors of classical antiquity. The 4th century B ...

and Timarchus for display near the center of the façade. The inscribed bases of these statues recording the restoration still survive.

Late antiquity and medieval era

The Basilica Julia was partially destroyed in 410 AD when the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...

sacked Rome and the site slowly fell into ruin over the centuries. The marble was especially valuable in the medieval and early modern eras for burning into lime, a material used to make mortar. The remnants of kilns on the site, which were found in early excavations, confirmed that most of the building's components were destroyed in this way. Part of the remains of the basilica were converted into a church, generally identified as that of ''Santa Maria de Cannapara'' which is mentioned in catalogues from the 12th through the 15th centuries. Other parts of the basilica were sectioned off in the medieval period for the use of different trades. The marble workers, or ''marmorarii'', took up most of the remaining space not occupied by the church in the 11th century for re-fashioning and selling marble architectural ornaments; the eastern aisle was occupied by the rope-makers and was called the ''Cannaparia'' as a result. In the 16th century, the long-buried site of the Basilica was used as a burial ground for patients of the adjacent ''Ospedale della Consolazione''. The building consists now only of a rectangular area, levelled off and raised about one metre above ground level, with jumbled blocks of stone lying within its area. A row of marble steps runs full length along the side of the basilica facing the

Via Sacra The Via Sacra (, "''Sacred Street''") was the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum (where it is the widest street), to the Colosseum. The road ...

, and there is also access from a taller flight of steps (the ground being lower here) at the end of the basilica facing the

Temple of Castor and Pollux The Temple of Castor and Pollux () was an ancient Roman temple, temple in the Roman Forum, Rome, Central Italy. It was originally built in gratitude for victory at the Battle of Lake Regillus (495 BC). Castor and Pollux (Greek Polydeuces) were th ...

Archaeology and excavation

The earliest excavations of the Basilica Julia in the late 15th and 16th centuries were destructive, their main purpose being to recover valuable travertine and marble for re-use. In 1496, travertine was mined from the ruins to build the façade of the Palazzo Torlonia, the Roman palace of Cardinal

Adriano Castellesi Adriano Castellesi (-), also known as Adriano de Castello or Hadrian de Castello, was an Italian cardinal, an English agent in Rome, and a writer. He was born in Corneto, which is today's Tarquinia. He was the child of a modest family. Biograp ...

. There were also excavations in 1500, 1511–12, and 1514, as well as a destructive excavation in 1742 which uncovered the portion of the Cloaca Maxima which runs underneath the basilica. In the process the Giallo antico yellow marble which covered the floor was stripped and sold to a stone-cutter. The Chevalier Frédenheim also undertook excavations between November, 1788 and March, 1789; Frédenheim dismantled much of the remaining colored marble pavement and removed many architectural fragments. The site was excavated by Pietro Rosa in 1850 who reconstructed a single marble column and travertine supports. In 1852 segments of concrete vaulting with stuccowork coffering was unearthed but later destroyed in 1872.

References

Sources

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External links

*High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images o
Basilica Julia , Art Atlas
* {{Julius Caesar, state=collapsed Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century BC Buildings and structures completed in the 3rd century Julia Roman Forum Rome R. X Campitelli Julius Caesar