Editing Basilica (section)

=== Valentinianic–Theodosian period ===
In the late 4th century the dispute between [[Nicene Christianity|Nicene]] and [[Arian Christianity]] came to head at ''[[Mediolanum]]'' ([[Milan]]), where [[Ambrose]] was bishop.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web|last=Perkins|first=Pheme|date=8 November 2018|editor-last=Uro|editor-first=Risto|editor2-last=Day|editor2-first=Juliette J.|editor3-last=Roitto|editor3-first=Rikard|editor4-last=DeMaris|editor4-first=Richard E.|title=Ritual and Orthodoxy|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198747871.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780198747871-e-41|website=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Ritual|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198747871.001.0001|isbn=9780198747871}}</ref> At [[Easter]] in 386 the [[Arianism|Arian]] party, preferred by the [[Theodosian dynasty]], sought to wrest the use of the basilica from the Nicene partisan Ambrose.<ref name=":22" /> According to [[Augustine of Hippo]], the dispute resulted in Ambrose organising an 'orthodox' [[sit-in]] at the basilica and arranged the miraculous invention and translation of [[martyr]]s, whose hidden remains had been revealed in a [[Vision (spirituality)|vision]].<ref name=":22" /> During the sit-in, Augustine credits Ambrose with the introduction from the "eastern regions" of [[antiphon]]al chanting, to give heart to the orthodox congregation, though in fact music was likely part of Christian ritual since the time of the [[Pauline epistles]].<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''Confessiones'', {{Smallcaps|ix}}:7:15–16</ref><ref name=":22" /> The arrival and reburial of the martyrs' uncorrupted remains in the basilica in time for the Easter celebrations was seen as powerful step towards divine approval.<ref name=":22" />

At [[Philippi]], the market adjoining the 1st-century forum was demolished and replaced with a Christian basilica.<ref name=":25" /> Civic basilicas throughout Asia Minor became Christian places of worship; examples are known at Ephesus, [[Aspendos]], and at [[Magnesia on the Maeander]].<ref name=":26"/> The ''Great Basilica'' in [[Antioch of Pisidia]] is a rare securely dated 4th century Christian basilica and was the city's cathedral church.<ref name=":26" /> The mosaics of the floor credit Optimus, the bishop, with its dedication.<ref name=":26" /> Optimus was a contemporary of [[Basil of Caesarea]] and corresponded with him c. 377.<ref name=":26" /> Optimus was the city's delegate at the [[First Council of Constantinople]] in 381, so the 70 m-long single-apsed basilica near the city walls must have been constructed around that time.<ref name=":26" /> [[Pisidia]] had a number of Christian basilicas constructed in Late Antiquity, particularly in former ''bouleuteria'', as at [[Sagalassos]], [[Selge]], [[Pednelissus]], while a civic basilica was converted for Christians' use in [[Cremna]].<ref name=":26"/>

At [[Chalcedon]], opposite Constantinople on the Bosporus, the relics of [[Euphemia]] – a supposed Christian martyr of the Diocletianic Persecution – were housed in a ''martyrium'' accompanied by a basilica.<ref name=":27">{{Citation|last=Klein|first=Konstantin|title=Chalcedon|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-966|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=2020-07-08}}</ref> The basilica already existed when [[Egeria (pilgrim)|Egeria]] passed through Chalcedon in 384, and in 436 [[Melania the Younger]] visited the church on her own journey to the Holy Land.<ref name=":27" /> From the description of [[Evagrius Scholasticus]] the church is identifiable as an aisled basilica attached to the ''martyrium'' and preceded by an ''atrium''.<ref>Evagrius Scholasticus, ''Ecclesiastical History'', II.3: "The precinct consists of three huge structures: one is open-air, adorned with a long court and columns on all sides, and another in turn after this is almost alike in breadth and length and columns but differing only in the roof above." {{Cite book|title=The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus|publisher=Liverpool University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-85323-605-4|editor-last=Whitby|editor-first=Michael|series=Translated Texts for Historians 33|pages=63–64 & notes 24–27|language=en|doi=10.3828/978-0-85323-605-4|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref> The [[Council of Chalcedon]] (8–31 October 451) was held in the basilica, which must have been large enough to accommodate the more than two hundred bishops that attended its third session, together with their translators and servants; around 350 bishops attended the Council in all.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus|publisher=Liverpool University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-85323-605-4|editor-last=Whitby|editor-first=Michael|series=Translated Texts for Historians 33|pages=63–64 & notes 24–27|language=en|doi=10.3828/978-0-85323-605-4|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Papadakis|first=Aristeides|title=Chalcedon, Council of|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0963|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|edition=online|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|access-date=2020-07-09}}</ref> In an [[ekphrasis]] in his eleventh [[sermon]], [[Asterius of Amasea]] described an icon in the church depicting Euphemia's martyrdom.<ref name=":27" /> The church was restored under the patronage of the ''patricia'' and daughter of [[Olybrius]]'','' [[Anicia Juliana]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Haarer|first=Fiona|title=Anicia Juliana|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-271|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=2020-07-09}}</ref> [[Pope Vigilius]] fled there from Constantinople during the [[Three-Chapter Controversy]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Neil|first=Bronwen|title=Vigilius|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-4991|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=2020-07-09}}</ref>  The basilica, which lay outside the walls of Chalcedon, was destroyed by the Persians in the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]] during one of the Sasanian occupations of the city in 615 and 626.<ref>{{Citation|last=Foss|first=Clive F. W.|title=Chalcedon|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0962|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|edition=online|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|access-date=2020-07-09}}</ref> The relics of Euphemia were reportedly [[Translation (relic)|translated]] to a new [[Palace of Antiochos#Church of Saint Euphemia|Church of St Euphemia]] in Constantinople in 680, though [[Cyril Mango]] argued the translation never took place.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bardill|first=Jonathan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YS_AAzcjdK8C&pg=PA57|title=Brickstamps of Constantinople|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-19-925522-1|pages=56–57|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mango|first=Cyril|year=1999|title=The Relics of St. Euphemia and the Synaxarion of Constantinople|journal=Bollettino della Badia Greca di Grottoferrata|volume=53|pages=79–87}}</ref> Subsequently, Asterius's sermon ''On the Martyrdom of St Euphemia'' was advanced as an argument for [[iconodulism]] at the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] in 787.<ref>{{Citation|last=McEachnie|first=Robert|title=Asterius of Amaseia|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-508|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=2020-07-08}}</ref>

In the late 4th century, a large basilica church dedicated to [[Mary, mother of Jesus]] was constructed in [[Ephesus]] in the former south ''stoa'' (a commercial basilica) of the Temple of Hadrian ''Olympios''.<ref name=":162">{{Citation|last=Thonemann|first=Peter|title=Ephesus|date=22 March 2018 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-1664 |work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Van Dam|first=Raymond|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199271566.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199271566-e-017|chapter=Chapter 16: The East (1): Greece and Asia Minor|title=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2008|pages=323–343 |editor-last=Ashbrook Harvey|editor-first=Susan|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199271566.003.0017|isbn=978-0199271566 |editor-last2=Hunter|editor-first2=David G.}}</ref> Ephesus was the centre of the Roman province of [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]], and was the site of the city's famed [[Temple of Artemis]], one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.<ref name=":152">{{Citation|last1=Calder|first1=William Moir|title=Ephesus|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-246|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|last2=Cook|first2=John Manuel |last3=Roueché |first3=Charlotte|last4=Spawforth|first4=Antony|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony}}</ref> It had also been a centre of the [[Roman imperial cult]] in Asia; Ephesus was three times declared {{transliteration|grc|[[neokoros]]}} ({{lit.|temple-warden}}) and had constructed a [[Temple of the Sebastoi]] to the [[Flavian dynasty]].<ref name=":152" /> The Basilica of the Virgin Mary was probably the venue for the 431 [[Council of Ephesus]] and the 449 [[Second Council of Ephesus]], both convened by [[Theodosius II]].<ref name=":162" /> At some point during the Christianisation of the Roman world, Christian crosses were cut into the faces of the colossal statues of [[Augustus]] and [[Livia]] that stood in the basilica-''stoa'' of Ephesus; the crosses were perhaps intended to [[exorcise]] [[demons]] in a process akin to baptism.<ref name=":242"/> In the eastern cemetery of [[Hierapolis]] the 5th century domed octagonal ''martyrium'' of [[Philip the Apostle]] was built alongside a basilica church, while at [[Myra]] the [[St. Nicholas Church, Demre|Basilica of St Nicholas]] was constructed at the tomb of [[Saint Nicholas]].<ref name=":26"/>

At [[Constantinople]] the earliest basilica churches, like the 5th century basilica at the [[Monastery of Stoudios]], were mostly equipped with a small cruciform crypt ({{Langx|grc|κρυπτή|translit=kryptḗ|lit=hidden}}), a space under the church floor beneath the altar.<ref name=":32">{{Citation|last=Johnson|first=Mark J.|title=Crypt|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-1298|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}}</ref> Typically, these crypts were accessed from the apse's interior, though not always, as at the 6th century Church of St John at the [[Hebdomon]], where access was from outside the apse.<ref name=":32" /> At Thessaloniki, the [[Roman bath]] where tradition held [[Demetrius of Thessaloniki]] had been martyred was subsumed beneath the 5th century basilica of [[Hagios Demetrios]], forming a crypt.<ref name=":32" />

The largest and oldest basilica churches in Egypt were at [[Pbow]], a [[coenobitic]] monastery established by [[Pachomius the Great]] in 330.<ref name=":8">{{Citation|last1=Trilling|first1=James|title=Pbow|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-4170|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=Kazhdan|first2=Alexander P.}}</ref> The 4th century basilica was replaced by a large 5th century building (36 × 72 m) with five aisles and internal colonnades of pink granite columns and paved with limestone.<ref name=":8" /> This monastery was the administrative centre of the Pachomian order where the monks would gather twice annually and whose library may have produced many surviving [[manuscript]]s of biblical, Gnostic, and other texts in Greek and [[Coptic language|Coptic]].<ref name=":8" /> In [[North Africa]], late antique basilicas were often built on a doubled plan.<ref name=":9">{{Citation|last1=Loerke|first1=William|title=North Africa, Monuments of|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-3856|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=Kiefer|first2=Katherine M.}}</ref> In the 5th century, basilicas with two apses, multiple aisles, and doubled churches were common, including examples respectively at [[Archaeological site of Sbeitla|Sufetula]], [[Tipasa]], and [[Djémila]].<ref name=":9" /> Generally, North African basilica churches' [[altar]]s were in the nave and the main building medium was ''[[opus africanum]]'' of local stone, and ''[[spolia]]'' was infrequently used.<ref name=":9" />

The Church of the East's [[Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon]] was convened by the [[Sasanian Emperor]] [[Yazdegerd I]] at his capital at [[Ctesiphon]]; according to ''[[Synodicon Orientale]]'', the emperor ordered that the former churches in the [[Sasanian Empire]] to be restored and rebuilt, that such clerics and [[Asceticism|ascetics]] as had been imprisoned were to be released, and their [[Nestorianism|Nestorian Christian]] communities allowed to circulate freely and practice openly.<ref name=":28">{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Joel |year=2012 |chapter=Chapter 31: From Nisibis to Xi'an: The Church of the East in Late Antique Eurasia |chapter-url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195336931.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195336931-e-31 |editor-last=Johnson |editor-first=Scott Fitzgerald |title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=994–1052 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195336931.013.0031}}</ref>

In eastern [[Syria (region)|Syria]], the [[Church of the East]] developed at typical pattern of basilica churches.<ref name=":28" /> Separate entrances for men and women were installed in the southern or northern wall; within, the east end of the nave was reserved for men, while women and children were stood behind. In the nave was a ''bema'', from which [[Scripture]] could be read, and which were inspired by the equivalent in synagogues and regularised by the [[Church of Antioch]].<ref name=":28" /> The Council of 410 stipulated that on [[Sunday]] the [[archdeacon]] would read the [[Gospel]]s from the ''bema''.<ref name=":28" /> Standing near the ''bema'', the [[Laity|lay folk]] could chant responses to the reading and if positioned near the ''šqāqonā'' ("a walled floor-level pathway connecting the ''bema'' to the altar area") could try to kiss or touch the [[Gospel Book]] as it was processed from the [[deacons]]' room to the ''bema'' and thence to the [[altar]].<ref name=":28" /> Some ten Eastern churches in eastern Syria have been investigated by thorough [[archaeology]].<ref name=":28" />

A Christian basilica was constructed in the first half of the 5th century at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]], where the [[Statue of Zeus at Olympia|statue of Zeus]] by [[Phidias]] had been noted as one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]] ever since the 2nd century BC list compiled by [[Antipater of Sidon]].<ref name=":11" /><ref>{{Citation|last=Brodersen|first=Kai|title=Seven Wonders of the ancient world|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-581|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> Cultural tourism thrived at Olympia and [[Ancient Greek religion]] continued to be practised there well into the 4th century.<ref name=":11">{{Citation|last1=Morgan|first1=Catherine A.|title=Olympia|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-449|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 |last2=Hornblower |first2=Simon |last3=Spawforth |first3=Antony |editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony}}</ref> At [[Nicopolis]] in [[Epirus]], founded by [[Augustus]] to commemorate his victory at the [[Battle of Actium]] at the end of the [[Last war of the Roman Republic]], four early Christian basilicas were built during Late Antiquity whose remains survive to the present.<ref name=":14" /> In the 4th or 5th century, Nicopolis was surrounded by a new city wall.<ref name=":14">{{Citation |last1=Purcell |first1=Nicholas |title=Nicopolis |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-439 |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|last2=Murray|first2=William M.|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony}}</ref>

In [[Bulgaria]] there are major basilicas from that time like [[Elenska Basilica]] and the [[Red Church (Bulgaria)|Red Church]].

<gallery class="center" widths="250px" heights="180px">
File:Santa Sabina (Rome) - Esterno.jpg|[[Santa Sabina]], Rome, 422–432.
File:Rom, Basilika Santa Sabina, Innenansicht.jpg|Interior of Santa Sabina, with ''[[spolia]]'' [[Corinthian columns]] from the [[Temple of Juno Regina (Aventine)|Temple of Juno ''Regina'']].
File:Theodore Studite (Menologion of Basil II).jpg|Basilica church of the [[Monastery of Stoudios]], Constantinple, 5th century, as depicted in the [[Menologion of Basil II]], c. 1000.
File:Antioch of Pisidia 2870.jpg|Apse of the ruined ''Great Basilica'', Antioch in Pisidia. The floor dates to late 4th century, and the walls to the 5th or 6th century. The building has a semi-circular interior and a polygonal exterior.
File:Elenska-bazilika-orto.jpg|Bird's eye view of the [[Elenska Basilica]] complex, [[Pirdop]], Bulgaria.
File:RedChurchAerial2.jpg|The [[Red Church (Bulgaria)|Red Church]], [[Perushtitsa]], Bulgaria.

</gallery>

{{Wide image|The interior of the St. John Stoudios (Imrahor) Monastery.jpg|800px|Ruins of the Stoudios Monastery, with [[verd antique]] colonnade and [[Cosmatesque]] floor ''in situ''}}