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The Basilica of Maxentius (), sometimes known by its original Latin name, Basilica Nova or, less commonly, the Basilica of Constantine (Italian: ''Basilica Constantini''), was a civic
basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...
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 ...
. At the time of its construction, it was the largest building in the Forum, and the last Roman basilica built in the city.Samuel Ball Platner
Basilica Constantini
''Uchicago.edu'', 1929


History

In
ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
, a
basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...
was a rectangular building with a large central open space, and often a raised
apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...
at the far end from the entrance. Basilicas served a variety of functions, including a combination of a court-house, council chamber and meeting hall. There might be, however, numerous statues of the gods displayed in niches set into the walls. Under Constantine and his successors this type of building was chosen as the basis for the design of the larger places of Christian worship, presumably as the basilica form had fewer pagan associations than those of the designs of traditional Greco-Roman temples, and allowed large congregations. As a result of the building programmes of the Christian Roman emperors the term basilica later became largely synonymous with a large church or cathedral. Construction began on the northern side of the forum under the emperor
Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius ( 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized as a legitimate ...
in 308 AD, and was completed in 312 by
Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...
after his defeat of Maxentius at the
Battle of the Milvian Bridge The Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine the Great, Constantine I and Maxentius on 28 October AD 312. It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber. Constantine won the batt ...
. The building rose on the north side of the Via Sacra, close to the Temple of Peace, at that time probably neglected, and the Temple of Venus and Rome, whose reconstruction was part of Maxentius' interventions. During the 6th century, the building was called "templum Romae".


Architecture

The colour of the building before it was destroyed was white. The basilica stood on a concrete and rectangular platform. The thickness of the platform is not known/communicated. The central nave was long, wide, high, with side aisles wide and high. Eight massive marble columns high and in circumference stood at the corners of the nave. They were all destroyed except one that was removed by
Paul V Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...
in 1613 to the
Santa Maria Maggiore Santa Maria Maggiore (), also known as the Basilica of Saint Mary Major or the Basilica of Saint Mary the Great, is one of the four Basilicas in the Catholic Church#Major and papal basilicas, major papal basilicas and one of the Seven Pilgrim C ...
where it still stands. The building consisted of a central
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
covered by three groin vaults suspended above the floor on four large piers, ending in an
apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...
at the western end containing a colossal statue of Constantine (remnants of which are now in a courtyard of the
Palazzo dei Conservatori The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; ; ), between the Roman Forum, Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn (mythology), Saturn. The wo ...
of the
Musei Capitolini The Capitoline Museums () are a group of art and archaeology, archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo Nuovo, facing ...
). The lateral forces of the groin vaults were held by flanking
aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...
s measuring . The aisles were spanned by three semi-circular barrel vaults perpendicular to the nave, and narrow arcades ran parallel to the nave beneath the barrel vaults. The nave itself measured creating a floor. Like the great imperial baths, the basilica made use of vast interior space with its emotional effect. Running the length of the eastern face of the building was a projecting arcade. On the south face was a projecting ('' prostyle'') porch with four columns ('' tetrastyle''). The south and central sections were probably destroyed by the earthquake of 847. In 1349 the vault of the nave collapsed in another earthquake. The only one of the eight high columns that survived the earthquake was brought by
Pope Paul V Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...
to Piazza
Santa Maria Maggiore Santa Maria Maggiore (), also known as the Basilica of Saint Mary Major or the Basilica of Saint Mary the Great, is one of the four Basilicas in the Catholic Church#Major and papal basilicas, major papal basilicas and one of the Seven Pilgrim C ...
in 1614. All that remains of the basilica today is the north aisle with its three concrete barrel vaults. The ceilings of the barrel vaults show advanced weight-saving structural skill with octagonal ceiling
coffer A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, al ...
s. On the outside wall of the basilica, facing onto the
via dei Fori Imperiali The Via dei Fori Imperiali (formerly ''Via dei Monti'', then ''Via dell'Impero'') is a road in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, that is in a straight line from the Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum. Its course takes it over parts of the For ...
, are contemporary maps showing the various stages of the rise of the Roman Empire which were added during the Fascist regime of
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
. A map depicting Mussolini's "New Roman Empire" was removed from the wall after the war. The
wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...
events were held here during the 1960 Summer Olympic Games.


Engineering

The basilica Maxentius took aspects from Roman baths as well as typical Roman basilicas. At that time, it used the most advanced engineering techniques known including innovations taken from the Markets of Trajan and the
Baths of Diocletian The Baths of Diocletian (Latin: ''Thermae Diocletiani'', Italian: ''Terme di Diocleziano'') were public baths in ancient Rome. Named after emperor Diocletian and built from AD 298 to 306, they were the largest of the imperial baths. The project w ...
. Similar to many basilicas at the time such as the Basilica Ulpia, the Basilica of Maxentius featured a huge open space in the central nave. However, instead of having columns support the ceiling like other basilicas, it was built using arches, a much more common appearance in Roman baths than basilicas. Another difference from traditional basilicas is the roof of the structure. While the former were built with a flat roof, the Basilica of Maxentius featured a folded roof, decreasing the overall weight of the structure and decreasing the horizontal forces exerted on the outer arches.


Legacy

The artist
Giovanni Battista Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric " ...
(1720–1778) drew many etchings of the basilica. The building became an inspiration for many buildings built afterwards, including New York City's former Penn Station.Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine: Architecture
''Wellesley.edu''


See also

*
Colossus of Constantine The ''Colossus of Constantine'' () was a many times life-size acrolithic early-4th-century statue depicting the Roman emperor Constantine the Great (''c.'' 280–337), commissioned by himself, which originally occupied the west apse of the Bas ...
, originally situated in the west apse of the Basilica. * List of monuments of the Roman Forum


References


Sources


1960 Summer Olympics official report.
Volume 1. pp. 76, 79. * ''The Roman Empire: From the Etruscans to the Decline of the Roman Empire'', Henri Stierlin, TASCHEN, 2002, Edited by Silvia Kinkle, Cologne,


External links


A reconstruction at the ''Plan de Rome''
*High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images o
Basilica of Maxentius , Art Atlas
* Weitzmann, Kurt, ed.,
Age of spirituality: late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century
', no. 103, 1979,
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, New York, ; full text available online from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries * {{DEFAULTSORT:Basilica Of Maxentius 312 Buildings and structures completed in the 4th century
Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius ( 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized as a legitimate ...
Venues of the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestling venues Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Rome Roman Forum Rome R. X Campitelli Maxentius