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103-570: The center of her veneration was transferred to the Abbey of Sainte-Foy , Conques , where her relics arrived in the ninth century, stolen from Agen by a monk from the Abbey nearby at Conques. A number of legends exist regarding Faith, and she was confused with the three legendary sisters known as Faith, Hope, and Charity . She is recorded in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum under October 6, but

206-590: A colonia , the whole city was re-planned and a new great forum-basilica complex erected, larger than any in Britain. Londinium's basilica, more than 500 feet (150 m) long, was the largest north of the Alps and a similar length to the modern St Paul's Cathedral . Only the later basilica-forum complex at Treverorum was larger, while at Rome only the 525 foot (160 m) Basilica Ulpia exceeded London's in size. It probably had arcaded, rather than trabeate , aisles, and

309-430: A 3rd-century mud-brick house at Aqaba had become a Christian church and was rebuilt as a basilica. Within was a rectangular assembly hall with frescoes and at the east end an ambo , a cathedra , and an altar. Also within the church were a catecumenon (for catechumens ), a baptistery, a diaconicon , and a prothesis : all features typical of later 4th century basilica churches. A Christian structure which included

412-782: A Christian basilica erected by Constantine was taken over by his opponents, the Donatists . After Constantine's failure to resolve the Donatist controversy by coercion between 317 and 321, he allowed the Donatists, who dominated Africa , to retain the basilica and constructed a new one for the Catholic Church . The original titular churches of Rome were those which had been private residences and which were donated to be converted to places of Christian worship. Above an originally 1st century AD villa and its later adjoining warehouse and Mithraeum ,

515-559: A basilica constructed in her honour in southern Gaul . The Basilica Hilariana (built c.  145–155 ) was designed for the use of the cult of Cybele . The largest basilica built outside Rome was that built under the Antonine dynasty on the Byrsa hill in Carthage . The basilica was built together with a forum of enormous size and was contemporary with a great complex of public baths and

618-521: A basilica's architectural plan. A number of monumental Christian basilicas were constructed during the latter reign of Constantine the Great . In the post Nicene period, basilicas became a standard model for Christian spaces for congregational worship throughout the Mediterranean and Europe . From the early 4th century, Christian basilicas, along with their associated catacombs , were used for burial of

721-548: A commercial function integral to their local trade routes and economies. Amphorae discovered at basilicas attest their economic uses and can reveal their position in wider networks of exchange. At Dion near Mount Olympus in Macedonia , now an Archaeological Park , the latter 5th century Cemetery Basilica , a small church, was replete with potsherds from all over the Mediterranean , evidencing extensive economic activity took place there. Likewise at Maroni Petrera on Cyprus,

824-408: A double row of square offices on the northern side, serving as the administrative centre of the colonia , and its size and splendour probably indicate an imperial decision to change the administrative capital of Britannia to Londinium from Camulodunum ( Colchester ), as all provincial capitals were designated coloniae . In 300 Londinium's basilica was destroyed as a result of the rebellion led by

927-531: A fashion that Pliny the Elder wrote that it was among the most beautiful buildings in the world (it was simultaneously renamed the Basilica Paulli ). Thereafter until the 4th century AD, monumental basilicas were routinely constructed at Rome by both private citizens and the emperors. These basilicas were reception halls and grand spaces in which élite persons could impress guests and visitors, and could be attached to

1030-507: A large basilica church had been erected by 350, subsuming the earlier structures beneath it as a crypt. The basilica was the first church of San Clemente al Laterano . Similarly, at Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio , an entire ancient city block – a 2nd-century insula on the Caelian Hill – was buried beneath a 4th-century basilica. The site was already venerated as the martyrium of three early Christian burials beforehand, and part of

1133-507: A large country villa or an urban domus . They were simpler and smaller than were civic basilicas, and can be identified by inscriptions or their position in the archaeological context. Domitian constructed a basilica on the Palatine Hill for his imperial residential complex around 92 AD, and a palatine basilica was typical in imperial palaces throughout the imperial period. Long, rectangular basilicas with internal peristyle became

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1236-659: A new Church of St Euphemia in Constantinople in 680, though Cyril Mango argued the translation never took place. 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. 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

1339-605: A new aqueduct system running for 82 miles (132 km), then the longest in the Roman Empire. The basilica at Leptis Magna , built by the Septimius Severus a century later in about 216 is a notable 3rd century AD example of the traditional type, most notable among the works influenced by the Basilica Ulpia. The basilica at Leptis was built mainly of limestone ashlar , but the apses at either end were only limestone in

1442-563: A process akin to baptism. 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 Basilica of St Nicholas was constructed at the tomb of Saint Nicholas . At Constantinople the earliest basilica churches, like the 5th century basilica at the Monastery of Stoudios , were mostly equipped with

1545-531: A quintessential element of Roman urbanism , often forming the architectural background to the city forum and used for diverse purposes. Beginning with Cato in the early second century BC, politicians of the Roman Republic competed with one another by building basilicas bearing their names in the Forum Romanum , the centre of ancient Rome . Outside the city, basilicas symbolised the influence of Rome and became

1648-602: A rare example of an Antique statue that has never been underground. 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 50 metres (160 ft). The Lateran Baptistery was the first monumental free-standing baptistery, and in subsequent centuries Christian basilica churches were often endowed with such baptisteries. At Cirta ,

1751-514: A refectory wall. The gilded reliquary at Conques was described in Bernard of Angers's Book of Miracles of Sainte Foi , about 1010. Bernard of Anger's Book of Miracles of Sainte Foy provides an insightful testimony of his reaction towards Sainte Foy as a Medieval cleric and his ambivalent attitude towards reliquaries in general. His change in attitude came when he witnessed an "economically charged [miracle]" in which another cleric, Odalric, claimed he

1854-642: A shrine for the tutela . Like Roman public baths , basilicas were commonly used as venues for the display of honorific statues and other sculptures, complementing the outdoor public spaces and thoroughfares. Beside the Basilica Porcia on the Forum Romanum , the Basilica Aemilia was built in 179 BC, and the Basilica Sempronia in 169 BC. In the Republic two types of basilica were built across Italy in

1957-536: A slightly raised dais . The central aisle – the nave – tended to be wider and taller than the flanking aisles, so that light could penetrate through the clerestory windows. In the late Republican era, basilicas were increasingly monumental; Julius Caesar replaced the Basilica Sempronia with his own Basilica Julia , dedicated in 46 BC, while the Basilica Aemilia was rebuilt around 54 BC in so spectacular

2060-410: A slightly raised platform and an apse at each of the two ends, adorned with a statue perhaps of the emperor, while the entrances were from the long sides. The Roman basilica was a large public building where business or legal matters could be transacted. As early as the time of Augustus , a public basilica for transacting business had been part of any settlement that considered itself a city, used in

2163-554: A small cruciform crypt ( Ancient Greek : κρυπτή , romanized :  kryptḗ , lit.   'hidden'), a space under the church floor beneath the altar. 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. At Thessaloniki, the Roman bath where tradition held Demetrius of Thessaloniki had been martyred

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2266-411: A ubiquitous fixture of Roman coloniae of the late Republic from c.  100 BC . The earliest surviving basilica is the basilica of Pompeii , built 120 BC. Basilicas were the administrative and commercial centres of major Roman settlements: the "quintessential architectural expression of Roman administration". Adjoining it there were normally various offices and rooms housing the curia and

2369-575: Is fashioned of thin plates over a yew wood —has been tentatively identified as an imperial portrait of the Later Roman Empire . Thomas Hoving , former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art , has alternately theorized that the life-size golden face is a portrait or death mask of Charlemagne . Part of her relics were moved to the monastery of Sant Cugat in Catalonia in 1365. However,

2472-421: Is made concrete in temples , shrines and churches , and cult images , including votive offerings at votive sites . Cicero defined religio as cultus deorum , "the cultivation of the gods". The "cultivation" necessary to maintain a specific deity was that god's cultus , "cult", and required "the knowledge of giving the gods their due" (scientia colendorum deorum) . The noun cultus originates from

2575-474: Is necessary for a cult to be enacted, to be practiced. In the Catholic Church , outward religious practice in cultus is the technical term for Roman Catholic devotions or veneration extended to a particular saint , not to the worship of God. Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox Church make a major distinction between latria , the worship that is offered to God alone, and dulia , which

2678-686: Is the Great Basilica in Philippopolis ( Plovdiv , Bulgaria) from the 4th century AD. In the late 4th century the dispute between Nicene and Arian Christianity came to head at Mediolanum ( Milan ), where Ambrose was bishop. At Easter in 386 the Arian party, preferred by the Theodosian dynasty , sought to wrest the use of the basilica from the Nicene partisan Ambrose. According to Augustine of Hippo ,

2781-532: Is the earliest known written work in the Catalan language , set down during the reign of Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona , between 1054 and 1076 (often dated c. 1070). It was primarily based on a now lost Latin Passio sanctorum Fidis et Caprisii . Saint Faith's life and martyrdom has been recounted in several other verse narratives and martyrologies. A French verse narrative of Saint Faith, La Vie de Sainte Foy ,

2884-538: Is veneration offered to the saints, including the veneration of Mary , whose veneration is often referred to as hyperdulia . 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 East. The building gave its name to

2987-563: The Augustus of the break-away Britannic Empire , Carausius . Remains of the great basilica and its arches were discovered during the construction of Leadenhall Market in the 1880s. At Corinth in the 1st century AD, a new basilica was constructed in on the east side of the forum. It was possibly inside the basilica that Paul the Apostle , according to the Acts of the Apostles ( Acts 18:12–17 )

3090-625: The agora (the Hellenic forum); this design was influenced by the existing tradition of long stoae in Hellenistic Asia . Provinces in the west lacked this tradition, and the basilicas the Romans commissioned there were more typically Italian, with the central nave divided from the side-aisles by an internal colonnade in regular proportions. Beginning with the Forum of Caesar (Latin: forum Iulium ) at

3193-667: The Atrium Regium . Another early example is the basilica at Pompeii (late 2nd century BC). Inspiration may have come from prototypes like Athens 's Stoa Basileios or the hypostyle hall on Delos , but the architectural form is most derived from the audience halls in the royal palaces of the Diadochi kingdoms of the Hellenistic period . These rooms were typically a high nave flanked by colonnades. These basilicas were rectangular, typically with central nave and aisles, usually with

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3296-616: The Basilica Constantiniana on the Lateran Hill. This basilica became Rome's cathedral church, known as St John Lateran , and was more richly decorated and larger than any previous Christian structure. 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. Outside the basilica was the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius ,

3399-563: The Church of Antioch . The Council of 410 stipulated that on Sunday the archdeacon would read the Gospels from the bema . Standing near the bema , the 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

3502-447: The Church of the East developed at typical pattern of basilica churches. 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

3605-657: The Flavian dynasty . 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 . 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

3708-465: The Holy Land and Rome, and at Milan and Constantinople. Around 310, while still a self-proclaimed augustus unrecognised at Rome, Constantine began the construction of the Basilica Constantiniana or Aula Palatina , 'palatine hall', as a reception hall for his imperial seat at Trier ( Augusta Treverorum ), capital of Belgica Prima . On the exterior, Constantine's palatine basilica

3811-588: The Old English word " worship ", but it implies the necessity of active maintenance beyond passive adoration. Cultus was expected to matter to the gods as a demonstration of respect, honor, and reverence; it was an aspect of the contractual nature of Roman religion (see do ut des ). Augustine of Hippo echoes Cicero's formulation when he declares, " religion is nothing other than the cultus of God ." The term "cult" first appeared in English in 1617, derived from

3914-406: The basilica architectural form . Originally, a basilica was an ancient Roman public building, where courts were held, as well as serving other official and public functions. Basilicas are typically rectangular buildings with a central nave flanked by two or more longitudinal aisles , with the roof at two levels, being higher in the centre over the nave to admit a clerestory and lower over

4017-617: The bema and thence to the altar . Some ten Eastern churches in eastern Syria have been investigated by thorough archaeology . A Christian basilica was constructed in the first half of the 5th century at Olympia , where the 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 . Cultural tourism thrived at Olympia and Ancient Greek religion continued to be practised there well into

4120-450: The insula had been decorated in the style favoured by Christian communities frequenting the early Catacombs of Rome . By 350 in Serdica ( Sofia , Bulgaria ), a monumental basilica – the Church of Saint Sophia – was erected, covering earlier structures including a Christian chapel, an oratory, and a cemetery dated to c. 310. Other major basilica from this period, in this part of Europe,

4223-484: The past participle of the verb colo, colere, colui, cultus , "to tend, take care of, cultivate", originally meaning "to dwell in, inhabit" and thus "to tend, cultivate land (ager) ; to practice agriculture", an activity fundamental to Roman identity even when Rome as a political center had become fully urbanized. Cultus is often translated as "cult" without the negative connotations the word may have in English, or with

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4326-637: The patricia and daughter of Olybrius , Anicia Juliana . Pope Vigilius fled there from Constantinople during the Three-Chapter Controversy . 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. The relics of Euphemia were reportedly translated to

4429-411: The 12th century, states that during the persecutions of Christians by the prefect Dacian, Caprasius fled to Mont-Saint-Vincent, near Agen. He witnessed the execution of Faith from atop the hill. Caprasius was condemned to death, and was joined on his way to execution by Alberta, Faith's sister (also identified as Caprasius' mother), and two brothers, named Primus and Felician. All four were beheaded . In

4532-620: The 6th century, share a common origin with the Christian basilicas in the civic basilicas and in the pre-Roman style of hypostyle halls in the Mediterranean Basin, particularly in Egypt, where pre-classical hypostyles continued to be built in the imperial period and were themselves converted into churches in the 6th century. Other influences on the evolution of Christian basilicas may have come from elements of domestic and palatial architecture during

4635-716: The Basilica of Maxentius in the Forum Romanum or more practical like the so-called Basilica of Bahira in Bosra , while the Basilica Constantiniana on the Lateran Hill was of intermediate scale. This basilica, begun in 313, was the first imperial Christian basilica. Imperial basilicas were first constructed for the Christian Eucharist liturgy in the reign of Constantine. Basilica churches were not economically inactive. Like non-Christian or civic basilicas, basilica churches had

4738-623: The Diocletianic Persecution – were housed in a martyrium accompanied by a basilica. The basilica already existed when Egeria passed through Chalcedon in 384, and in 436 Melania the Younger visited the church on her own journey to the Holy Land. From the description of Evagrius Scholasticus the church is identifiable as an aisled basilica attached to the martyrium and preceded by an atrium . The Council of Chalcedon (8–31 October 451)

4841-524: The French culte , meaning " worship " which in turn originated from the Latin word cultus meaning "care, cultivation, worship". The meaning "devotion to a person or thing" is from 1829. Starting about 1920, "cult" acquired an additional six or more positive and negative definitions. In French, for example, sections in newspapers giving the schedule of worship for Catholic services are headed Culte Catholique , while

4944-510: The Great . The early churches of Rome were basilicas with an apsidal tribunal and used the same construction techniques of columns and timber roofing. At the start of the 4th century at Rome there was a change in burial and funerary practice, moving away from earlier preferences for inhumation in cemeteries – popular from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD – to the newer practice of burial in catacombs and inhumation inside Christian basilicas themselves. Conversely, new basilicas often were erected on

5047-594: The Maeander . The Great Basilica in Antioch of Pisidia is a rare securely dated 4th century Christian basilica and was the city's cathedral church. The mosaics of the floor credit Optimus, the bishop, with its dedication. Optimus was a contemporary of Basil of Caesarea and corresponded with him c. 377. Optimus was the city's delegate at the First Council of Constantinople in 381, so the 70 m-long single-apsed basilica near

5150-605: The Mediterranean world at all evenly. Christian basilicas and martyria attributable to the 4th century are rare on the Greek mainland and on the Cyclades , while the Christian basilicas of Egypt, Cyprus , Syria , Transjordan , Hispania , and Gaul are nearly all of later date. The basilica at Ephesus's Magnesian Gate , the episcopal church at Laodicea on the Lycus , and two extramural churches at Sardis have all been considered 4th century constructions, but on weak evidence. Development of pottery chronologies for Late Antiquity had helped resolve questions of dating basilicas of

5253-401: The Temple of Hadrian Olympios . Ephesus was the centre of the Roman province of Asia , and was the site of the city's famed Temple of Artemis , one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It had also been a centre of the Roman imperial cult in Asia; Ephesus was three times declared neokoros ( lit.   ' temple-warden ' ) and had constructed a Temple of the Sebastoi to

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5356-511: The amphorae unearthed by archaeologists in the 5th century basilica church had been imported from North Africa, Egypt, Palestine , and the Aegean basin , as well as from neighbouring Asia Minor . According to Vegetius , writing c. 390, basilicas were convenient for drilling soldiers of the Late Roman army during inclement weather. The 4th century Basilica of Maxentius , begun by Maxentius between 306 and 312 and according to Aurelius Victor 's De Caesaribus completed by Constantine I,

5459-474: The basilica became the most prestigious style of church building, was "normative" for church buildings by the end of the 4th century, and were ubiquitous in western Asia, North Africa, and most of Europe by the close of the 7th century. Christians also continued to hold services in synagogues, houses, and gardens, and continued practising baptism in rivers, ponds, and Roman bathhouses. The development of Christian basilicas began even before Constantine's reign:

5562-430: The basilicas' tribunals, as Vitruvius recommended. Examples of such dedicatory inscriptions are known from basilicas at Lucus Feroniae and Veleia in Italy and at Cuicul in Africa Proconsolaris , and inscriptions of all kinds were visible in and around basilicas. At Ephesus the basilica- stoa had two storeys and three aisles and extended the length of the civic agora 's north side, complete with colossal statues of

5665-407: The city walls must have been constructed around that time. 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 . At Chalcedon , opposite Constantinople on the Bosporus, the relics of Euphemia – a supposed Christian martyr of

5768-415: The construction of Cato the Elder's basilica, the term came to be applied to any large covered hall, whether it was used for domestic purposes, was a commercial space, a military structure, or religious building. The plays of Plautus suggest that basilica buildings may have existed prior to Cato's building. The plays were composed between 210 and 184 BC and refer to a building that might be identified with

5871-402: The courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Capitoline Hill , part of the Capitoline Museums . Opposite the northern apse on the southern wall, another monumental entrance was added and elaborated with a portico of porphyry columns. One of the remaining marble interior columns was removed in 1613 by Pope Paul V and set up as an honorific column outside Santa Maria Maggiore . In

5974-422: The date of her death is not given. A Passio , now lost, once existed, and appears in summarized form in the ninth-century martyrology of Florus of Lyon . Her legends portray her as a patron who could turn against those who only gave small donations to her church at Conques . It is believed that Saint Faith, a young girl from Agen , was martyred at the end of third or beginning of the fourth century, in which she

6077-503: The dead. By extension, the name was later applied to Christian churches that adopted the same basic plan. It continues to be used in an architectural sense to describe rectangular buildings with a central nave and aisles , and usually a raised platform at the end opposite the door. In Europe and the Americas, the basilica remained the most common architectural style for churches of all Christian denominations, though this building plan has become less dominant in buildings constructed since

6180-431: The dispute resulted in Ambrose organising an 'orthodox' sit-in at the basilica and arranged the miraculous invention and translation of martyrs , whose hidden remains had been revealed in a vision . During the sit-in, Augustine credits Ambrose with the introduction from the "eastern regions" of antiphonal chanting, to give heart to the orthodox congregation, though in fact music was likely part of Christian ritual since

6283-512: The early 4th century Eusebius used the word basilica ( Ancient Greek : βασιλική , romanized :  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. Churches were nonetheless basilican in form, with an apse or tribunal at the end of a nave with two or more aisles typical. A narthex (sometimes with an exonarthex) or vestibule could be added to

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6386-400: The emperor Augustus and his imperial family. The remains of a large subterranean Neopythagorean basilica dating from the 1st century AD were found near the Porta Maggiore in Rome in 1917, and is known as the Porta Maggiore Basilica . After its destruction in 60 AD, Londinium ( London ) was endowed with its first forum and basilica under the Flavian dynasty . The basilica delimited

6489-424: The end of the Roman Republic, the centre of Rome was embellished with a series of imperial fora typified by a large open space surrounded by a peristyle, honorific statues of the imperial family ( gens ), and a basilica, often accompanied by other facilities like a temple , market halls and public libraries . In the imperial period, statues of the emperors with inscribed dedications were often installed near

6592-455: The end. An old theory by Ejnar Dyggve that these were the architectural intermediary between the Christian martyrium and the classical heröon is no longer credited. The magnificence of early Christian basilicas reflected the patronage of the emperor and recalled his imperial palaces and reflected the royal associations of the basilica with the Hellenistic Kingdoms and even earlier monarchies like that of Pharaonic Egypt . Similarly,

6695-417: The entrance, together with an atrium , and the interior might have transepts , a pastophorion , and galleries , but the basic scheme with clerestory windows and a wooden truss roof remained the most typical church type until the 6th century. The nave would be kept clear for liturgical processions by the clergy, with the laity in the galleries and aisles to either side. The function of Christian churches

6798-405: The fifth century, Dulcitius, bishop of Agen , ordered the construction of a basilica dedicated to her, later restored in the 8th century and enlarged in the 15th. It was demolished in 1892 due to an urban planning effort at Agen. The center of her cult was not the basilica but the abbatial church of Saint Foy at Conques. In 866, her remains had been transferred to Conques , which was along

6901-441: The kind that "the inhabitants of the place call Sainte Foy's jokes, which is the way peasants understand such things." One such joke was the following story: a local castellan holds onto a ring that his dying wife had promised to the saint. The castellan, whose name is Austrin, uses the ring, however, to wed his second wife. Saint Faith causes the finger of the second wife to swell up in unbearable pain. Austrin and his new wife visit

7004-463: The last civic basilica built in Rome. Inside the basilica the central nave was accessed by five doors opening from an entrance hall on the eastern side and terminated in an apse at the western end. Another, shallower apse with niches for statues was added to the centre of the north wall in a second campaign of building, while the western apse housed a colossal acrolithic statue of the emperor Constantine enthroned. Fragments of this statue are now in

7107-470: The late 20th century. The Catholic Church has come to use the term to refer to its especially historic churches, without reference to the architectural form . The Latin word basilica derives from Ancient Greek : βασιλικὴ στοά , romanized :  basilikḗ stoá , lit.   'royal stoa '. The first known basilica—the Basilica Porcia in the Roman Forum —was constructed in 184 BC by Marcus Porcius Cato (the Elder) . After

7210-416: The mainly illiterate Late Antique society. On the exterior, basilica church complexes included cemeteries, baptisteries, and 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 were patrons of basilicas in important Christian sites in

7313-423: The mid-2nd to early 1st centuries BC: either they were nearly square as at Fanum Fortunae , designed by Vitruvius , and Cosa , with a 3:4 width-length ratio; or else they were more rectangular, as Pompeii's basilica, whose ratio is 3:7. The basilica at Ephesus is typical of the basilicas in the Roman East, which usually have a very elongated footprint and a ratio between 1:5 and 1:9, with open porticoes facing

7416-423: The more chaotic environment of the temple precinct, with the temple's façade as backdrop. In basilicas constructed for Christian uses, the interior was often decorated with frescoes , but these buildings' wooden roof often decayed and failed to preserve the fragile frescoes within. Thus was lost an important part of the early history of Christian art , which would have sought to communicate early Christian ideas to

7519-676: The name and association resounded with the Christian claims of the royalty of Christ – according to the Acts of the Apostles the earliest Christians had gathered at the royal Stoa of Solomon in Jerusalem to assert Jesus's royal heritage. For early Christians, the Bible supplied evidence that the First Temple and Solomon's palace were both hypostyle halls and somewhat resembled basilicas. Hypostyle synagogues, often built with apses in Palestine by

7622-712: The nave and the main building medium was opus africanum of local stone, and spolia was infrequently used. 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 ascetics as had been imprisoned were to be released, and their Nestorian Christian communities allowed to circulate freely and practice openly. In eastern Syria ,

7725-512: The northern edge of the forum with typical nave, aisles, and a tribunal, but with an atypical semi-basement at the western side. Unlike in Gaul , basilica-forum complexes in Roman Britain did not usually include a temple; instead a shrine was usually inside the basilica itself. At Londinium however, there was probably no temple at all attached to the original basilica, but instead a contemporary temple

7828-408: The outer sections and built largely of rubble masonry faced with brick, with a number of decorative panels in opus reticulatum . The basilica stood in a new forum and was accompanied by a programme of Severan works at Leptis including thermae , a new harbour, and a public fountain. At Volubilis , principal city of Mauretania Tingitana , a basilica modelled on Leptis Magna's was completed during

7931-468: The period. Three examples of a basilica discoperta or " hypaethral basilica" with no roof above the nave are inferred to have existed. The 6th century Anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza described a "basilica built with a quadriporticus , with the middle atrium uncovered" at Hebron , while at Pécs and near Salona two ruined 5th buildings of debated interpretation might have been either roofless basilica churches or simply courtyards with an exedra at

8034-704: The pilgrimage route to Compostela . Her cult, centered at the Abbatiale Sainte-Foy de Conques, spread along the pilgrim routes on the Way of St. James —and beyond, for her cult became popular in England , Italy , and South America . In c. 1105, a priory dedicated to Saint Faith was erected in Horsham , a village in Norfolk , by Robert and Sybil Fitzwalter, in which murals of Saint Faith have survived, discovered in 1969 hidden behind

8137-406: The pre-Constantinian period of Christianity, including the reception hall or aula (Ancient Greek: αὐλή , romanized:  aulḗ , lit.   'courtyard') and the atria and triclinia of élite Roman dwellings. The versatility of the basilica form and its variability in size and ornament recommended itself to the early Christian Church : basilicas could be grandiose as

8240-697: The prototype of the triumphal arch at the east end of later Constantinian basilicas. Known as the Megiddo church , it was built at Kefar 'Othnay in Palestine , possibly c. 230, for or by the Roman army stationed at Legio (later Lajjun ). Its dedicatory inscriptions include the names of women who contributed to the building and were its major patrons, as well as men's names. A number of buildings previously believed to have been Constantinian or 4th century have been reassessed as dating to later periods, and certain examples of 4th century basilicas are not distributed throughout

8343-560: The reliquary can be seen in the Abbey at Conques, in France. Important churches were also dedicated to her at Conches-en-Ouche in Normandy and at Sélestat , in Alsace (see St. Faith's Church, Sélestat ). Cult (religion) Cult is the care ( Latin : cultus ) owed to deities and temples, shrines, or churches. Cult is embodied in ritual and ceremony . Its presence or former presence

8446-514: The saint's shrine, and on the third night, "when the sorrowful woman happened to blow her nose, the ring flew off without hurting her fingers, just as if it had been hurled from the strongest siege engine , and gave a sharp crack on the pavement at a great distance." She was also known to restore the eyes and eyesight of those who lost them while being faithful to her, often retracting their eyesight when they became arrogant. The Cançó de Santa Fe , celebrating Saint Faith in 593 octosyllabic lines,

8549-414: The same way as the covered market houses of late medieval northern Europe, where the meeting room, for lack of urban space, was set above the arcades, however. Although their form was variable, basilicas often contained interior colonnades that divided the space, giving aisles or arcaded spaces on one or both sides, with an apse at one end (or less often at each end), where the magistrates sat, often on

8652-587: The section giving the schedule of Protestant services is headed culte réformé . In the specific context of the Greek hero cult , Carla Antonaccio wrote: The term cult identifies a pattern of ritual behavior in connection with specific objects, within a framework of spatial and temporal coordinates. Rituals would include (but not necessarily be limited to) prayer, sacrifice, votive offerings, competitions, processions and construction of monuments. Some degree of recurrence in place and repetition over time of ritual action

8755-505: The short reign of Macrinus . The aisled-hall plan of the basilica was adopted by a number of religious cults in late antiquity . At Sardis , a monumental basilica housed the city's synagogue , serving the local Jewish diaspora . New religions like Christianity required space for congregational worship, and the basilica was adapted by the early Church for worship. Because they were able to hold large number of people, basilicas were adopted for Christian liturgical use after Constantine

8858-508: The side-aisles. An apse at one end, or less frequently at both ends or on the side, usually contained the raised tribunal occupied by the Roman magistrates . The basilica was centrally located in every Roman town, usually adjacent to the forum and often opposite a temple in imperial-era forums. Basilicas were also built in private residences and imperial palaces and were known as "palace basilicas". In late antiquity , church buildings were typically constructed either as martyria , or with

8961-560: The site of existing early Christian cemeteries and martyria , related to the belief in Bodily Resurrection , and the cult of the sacred dead became monumentalised in basilica form. Traditional civic basilicas and bouleuteria declined in use with the weakening of the curial class (Latin: curiales ) in the 4th and 5th centuries, while their structures were well suited to the requirements of congregational liturgies. The conversion of these types of buildings into Christian basilicas

9064-553: The time of the Pauline epistles . 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. At Philippi , the market adjoining the 1st-century forum was demolished and replaced with a Christian basilica. Civic basilicas throughout Asia Minor became Christian places of worship; examples are known at Ephesus, Aspendos , and at Magnesia on

9167-425: Was also of symbolic significance, asserting the dominance of Christianity and supplanting the old political function of public space and the city-centre with an emphatic Christian social statement. Traditional monumental civic amenities like gymnasia , palaestrae , and thermae were also falling into disuse, and became favoured sites for the construction of new churches, including basilicas. Under Constantine,

9270-484: Was an innovation. Earlier basilicas had mostly had wooden roofs, but this basilica dispensed with timber trusses and used instead cross-vaults made from Roman bricks and concrete to create one of the ancient world's largest covered spaces: 80 m long, 25 m wide, and 35 m high. The vertices of the cross-vaults, the largest Roman examples, were 35 m. The vault was supported on marble monolithic columns 14.5 m tall. The foundations are as much as 8 m deep. The vault

9373-402: Was beaten by Sainte Foy. Thus, Bernard of Angers believed that Sainte Foy punishes non-believers, and, despite previously attacking the statue, he justified his newfound devotion by stating that the idol was a "vehicle to the saint and not the saint herself." It has since been repeatedly adapted and enriched, into the nineteenth century. The head itself, made of a different gold from the body—which

9476-533: Was constructed nearby. Later, in 79 AD, an inscription commemorated the completion of the 385 by 120 foot (117 m × 37 m) basilica at Verulamium ( St Albans ) under the governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola ; by contrast the first basilica at Londinium was only 148 by 75 feet (45 m × 23 m). The smallest known basilica in Britain was built by the Silures at Caerwent and measured 180 by 100 feet (55 m × 30 m). When Londinium became

9579-464: 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. In an ekphrasis in his eleventh sermon , Asterius of Amasea described an icon in the church depicting Euphemia's martyrdom. The church was restored under the patronage of

9682-620: Was investigated and found innocent by the Suffect Consul Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus , the brother of Seneca the Younger , after charges were brought against him by members of the local Jewish diaspora . Modern tradition instead associates the incident with an open-air inscribed bema in the forum itself. The emperor Trajan constructed his own imperial forum in Rome accompanied by his Basilica Ulpia dedicated in 112. Trajan's Forum (Latin: forum Traiani )

9785-718: Was plain and utilitarian, but inside was very grandly decorated. In the reign of Constantine I, a basilica was constructed for the Pope in the former barracks of the Equites singulares Augusti , the cavalry arm of the Praetorian Guard . (Constantine had disbanded the Praetorian guard after his defeat of their emperor Maxentius and replaced them with another bodyguard, the Scholae Palatinae .) In 313 Constantine began construction of

9888-672: Was separated from the Temple of Trajan , the Ulpian Library , and his famous Column depicting the Dacian Wars by the Basilica. It was an especially grand example whose particular symmetrical arrangement with an apse at both ends was repeated in the provinces as a characteristic form. To improve the quality of the Roman concrete used in the Basilica Ulpia, volcanic scoria from the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius were imported which, though heavier,

9991-503: 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. 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

10094-624: Was stronger than the pumice available closer to Rome. The Bailica Ulpia is probably an early example of tie bars to restrain the lateral thrust of the barrel vault resting on a colonnade; both tie-bars and scoria were used in contemporary work at the Baths of Trajan and later the Hadrianic domed vault of the Pantheon . In early 123, the augusta and widow of the emperor Trajan, Pompeia Plotina died. Hadrian , successor to Trajan, deified her and had

10197-414: Was subsumed beneath the 5th century basilica of Hagios Demetrios , forming a crypt. The largest and oldest basilica churches in Egypt were at Pbow , a coenobitic monastery established by Pachomius the Great in 330. 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. This monastery

10300-519: Was supported by brick latticework ribs (Latin: bipedalis ) forming lattice ribbing, an early form of rib vault , and distributing the load evenly across the vault's span. Similar brick ribs were employed at the Baths of Maxentius on the Palatine Hill , where they supported walls on top of the vault. Also known as the Basilica Constantiniana , 'Basilica of Constantine' or Basilica Nova , 'New Basilica', it chanced to be

10403-633: Was the administrative centre of the Pachomian order where the monks would gather twice annually and whose library may have produced many surviving manuscripts of biblical, Gnostic, and other texts in Greek and Coptic . In North Africa , late antique basilicas were often built on a doubled plan. In the 5th century, basilicas with two apses, multiple aisles, and doubled churches were common, including examples respectively at Sufetula , Tipasa , and Djémila . Generally, North African basilica churches' altars were in

10506-545: Was tortured naked over a brazier . The first extant reference to the martyrdom of Faith exists in the late sixth-century manuscript copy of the martyrology of Jerome , who died in 420, in which her feast day is listed as 6 October. Faith's martyrdom was later recounted in the Passio in the mid-ninth-century. Her popular hagiography , Liber miraculorum sancte Fidis , attributed to the churchman Bernard of Angers (composed between ca 1013 and after 1020), calls miracles associated with Faith joca — Latin for "tricks" or "jokes",

10609-755: Was written by Simon of Walsingham, a monk at the Bury St Edmunds Abbey based on Latin sources. During the 12th century, Faith's cult (i.e., devotion and religious practices associated with her) was fused with that of Caprasius of Agen (Caprais) and Alberta of Agen , both associated with Agen. Caprasius' cult in turn was also fused with that of Primus and Felician , who are called Caprasius' brothers. Simon of Walsingham's 12th-century verse narrative of Saint Faith's life, La Vie de Sainte Foy , Dacian, Caprais, and Primus and Felician figure heavily. One legend, retold in La Vie de Sainte Foy by Simon of Walsingham in

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