Roman basilica What is a Roman basilica?
In ancient Rome "basilica" was just a name for a certain type of building like a hall or a meeting house. A basilica was a very big hall with a roof that was used for important things such as business and the law. Inside a basilica there were pathways with huge stone columns either side. They were huge spaces with lots of air and light inside.

What did they use the basilicas for?

These basilicas were often used like more private versions of the forum, open only to people who were welcome.

Important people would do business with their partners in the basilica. A public basilica might also be used as an office by certain people in the government.

For instance, the Basilica Porcia was used by the Tribunes who were supposed to stand up for the will of the common people in government.

What are some of the more famous basilicas?

One of the most famous and most grand basilicas was the Basilica of Maxentius. It was the largest building in the Roman Forum and was used for all sorts of things over its history.

More recently it was used during the Olympics in the 1960s, when they held the wrestling event there.

When Rome became a Christian Empire, the basilicas began to be used as worship places by the Christians.

Christians did not build temples in the same way as the pagans did, because they worshipped very differently. Pagan sacrifices happened outdoors but the Christians wanted to worship primarily indoors.

Christians did not want to use anything that the Pagans used, because they thought that the pagan beliefs were evil.

How did basilicas change when Rome became Christian?

One of the first persons to change a basilicas was Constantine.  He converted his palace into a church by replacing the throne with a place for the priest to speak from.

This is where a lot of the ideas behind the ways that modern churches are built came from. The basilicas were long and rectangular and had lots of high windows with arches, like our cathedrals.

To make these buildings even more Christian, they began to add transepts. This sounds like a complicated word, but isn't.

The Christians used the cross as their symbol.  It's one long rectangle with another short rectangle cutting across it. In order to make the rectangular basilicas into the shape of a cross, they added bits to the side called transepts. This made the building even more Christian.

St Peter's Basilica is a famous Church in Vatican City, Italy which was built in the same style. It is the biggest Christian Church in the world and it is mainly used by Roman Catholic Christians.

St. Peter is thought to be buried underneath the church. He was a Roman citizen who lived in Palestine in the Middle East, which was then part of the Roman Empire. He had a huge effect on history when he helped to write the Bible and found the Christian church.

Other great pages to visit in "Cities" are:

Timeline, Town plans, Roman Forums, Roman baths, Amphitheatres and colosseums, Romans and their gods, Roman Houses, Aqueducts,
 

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