Editing Basilica (section)

=== Constantinian period ===
[[File:20140819-20140819- HLB9362.jpg|thumb|[[Aula Palatina]], [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]]'s basilica at [[Trier]], c. 310]]
In the early 4th century [[Eusebius]] used the word basilica ({{Langx|grc|βασιλική|translit=basilikḗ}}) to refer to Christian churches; in subsequent centuries as before, the word basilica referred in Greek to the civic, non-ecclesiastical buildings, and only in rare exceptions to churches.<ref name=":3">{{Citation|last1=Johnson|first1=Mark J.|title=Basilica|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0668|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|last2=Wilkinson|first2=John}}</ref> Churches were nonetheless basilican in form, with an apse or tribunal at the end of a nave with two or more aisles typical.<ref name=":3" /> A [[narthex]] (sometimes with an exonarthex) or [[Vestibule (architecture)|vestibule]] could be added to the entrance, together with an [[Atrium (architecture)|atrium]], and the interior might have [[transept]]s, a [[pastophorion]], and [[Gallery (theatre)|galleries]], but the basic scheme with clerestory windows and a wooden [[truss roof]] remained the most typical church type until the 6th century.<ref name=":3" /> The nave would be kept clear for liturgical processions by the clergy, with the [[laity]] in the galleries and aisles to either side.<ref name=":3" /> The function of Christian churches was similar to that of the civic basilicas but very different from temples in contemporary [[Graeco-Roman polytheism]]: while pagan temples were entered mainly by priests and thus had their splendour visible from without, within Christian basilicas the main ornamentation was visible to the congregants admitted inside.<ref name=":172" /> Christian priests did not interact with attendees during the rituals which took place at determined intervals, whereas pagan priests were required to perform individuals' sacrifices in the more chaotic environment of the temple precinct, with the temple's façade as backdrop.<ref name=":172" /> In basilicas constructed for Christian uses, the interior was often decorated with [[fresco]]es, but these buildings' wooden roof often decayed and failed to preserve the fragile frescoes within.<ref name=":19" /> Thus was lost an important part of the early history of [[Early Christian art and architecture|Christian art]], which would have sought to communicate early Christian ideas to the mainly illiterate Late Antique society.<ref name=":19" /> On the exterior, basilica church complexes included cemeteries, baptisteries, and [[Baptismal font|fonts]] which "defined ritual and liturgical access to the sacred", elevated the social status of the Church hierarchy, and which complemented the development of a Christian historical landscape; Constantine and his mother [[Helena (empress)|Helena]] were patrons of basilicas in important Christian sites in the [[Holy Land]] and Rome, and at Milan and Constantinople.<ref name=":19" />

Around 310, while still a self-proclaimed ''augustus'' unrecognised at Rome, Constantine began the construction of the ''Basilica Constantiniana'' or {{Langx|la|[[Aula Palatina]]|lit=palatine hall|label=none}}, as a reception hall for his imperial seat at [[Trier]] ({{Langx|la|[[History of Trier#Roman Empire|Augusta Treverorum]]|label=none}}), capital of [[Belgica Prima]].<ref name=":2" /> On the exterior, Constantine's palatine basilica was plain and utilitarian, but inside was very grandly decorated.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Thomas|first=Edmund|year=2010|editor-last=Barchiesi|editor-first=Alessandro|editor2-last=Scheidel|editor2-first=Walter|title=Architecture|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199211524.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199211524-e-054|website=The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies|pages=837–858|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199211524.001.0001|isbn=9780199211524}}</ref>

In the reign of Constantine I, a basilica was constructed for the [[Pope]] in the [[Castra Nova equitum singularium|former barracks]] of the ''[[Equites singulares Augusti]]'', the [[cavalry]] arm of the [[Praetorian Guard]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation|last=Davis|first=Raymond Peter|title=Constantine I|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-174|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony}}</ref> (Constantine had disbanded the Praetorian guard after his defeat of their emperor Maxentius and replaced them with another bodyguard, the ''[[Scholae Palatinae]]''.)<ref name=":12" /> In 313 Constantine began construction of the ''Basilica Constantiniana'' on the Lateran Hill.<ref name=":172" /> This basilica became Rome's [[cathedral]] church, known as [[St John Lateran]], and was more richly decorated and larger than any previous Christian structure.<ref name=":172" /> However, because of its remote position from the ''Forum Romanum'' on the city's edge, it did not connect with the older imperial basilicas in the fora of Rome.<ref name=":172" /> Outside the basilica was the [[Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius]], a rare example of an Antique statue that has never been underground.<ref name=":242"/>

According to the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'', Constantine was also responsible for the rich interior decoration of the [[Lateran Baptistery]] constructed under [[Pope Sylvester I]] (r. 314–335), sited about {{Convert|50|m|ft|abbr=}}.<ref name=":17" /> The Lateran Baptistery was the first monumental free-standing baptistery, and in subsequent centuries Christian basilica churches were often endowed with such baptisteries.<ref name=":17" />

At [[Cirta]], a Christian basilica erected by Constantine was taken over by his opponents, the [[Donatism|Donatists]].<ref name=":12" /> After Constantine's failure to resolve the Donatist controversy by coercion between 317 and 321, he allowed the Donatists, who dominated [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]], to retain the basilica and constructed a new one for the [[Catholic Church]].<ref name=":12" />

The original [[titular church]]es of Rome were those which had been private residences and which were donated to be converted to places of Christian worship.<ref name=":172" /> Above an originally 1st century AD villa and its later adjoining [[Horreum|warehouse]] and [[Mithraeum]], a large basilica church had been erected by 350, subsuming the earlier structures beneath it as a crypt.<ref name=":172" /> The basilica was the first church of [[San Clemente al Laterano]].<ref name=":172" /> Similarly, at [[Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio]], an entire ancient [[city block]] – a 2nd-century [[Insula (building)|''insula'']] on the [[Caelian Hill]] – was buried beneath a 4th-century basilica.<ref name=":172" /> The site was already venerated as the ''martyrium'' of three early Christian burials beforehand, and part of the ''insula'' had been decorated in the style favoured by Christian communities frequenting the early [[Catacombs of Rome]].<ref name=":172" />

By 350 in [[History of Sofia|Serdica]] ([[Sofia]], [[Bulgaria]]), a monumental basilica – the [[Saint Sophia Church, Sofia|Church of Saint Sophia]] – was erected, covering earlier structures including a Christian chapel, an oratory, and a cemetery dated to c. 310.<ref name=":172" /> Other major basilica from this period, in this part of Europe, is the [[Great Basilica, Plovdiv|Great Basilica]] in [[Philippopolis (Thrace)|Philippopolis]] ([[Plovdiv]], Bulgaria) from the 4th century AD.