Fig. 6. Basilica of Timgad.Fig.6.—Plan of Basilica adjoining the Forum of the Roman city of Timgad, in North Africa.(From Gsell'sMonuments antiques de l'Algerie, by permission of A. Fontemoing.)
Fig.6.—Plan of Basilica adjoining the Forum of the Roman city of Timgad, in North Africa.
(From Gsell'sMonuments antiques de l'Algerie, by permission of A. Fontemoing.)
When buildings were first expressly erected for Christian worship, in the 3rd or perhaps already in the 2nd centuryA.D.(Leclercq,Manuel, ch. iii. "Les édifices chrétiens avant la paix de l'église"), they probably took the form of an oblong interiorterminated by an apse. After the time of Constantine, when the numbers of the faithful were enormously increased, side aisles were added, and in this way the structure came to assume an appearance similar to that of the civil basilica. A striking confirmation of this view has recently come to light at S. Saba on the Aventine at Rome, where a small and very early church, without aisles, has been discovered beneath the floor of the present basilica.
There are, on the other hand, instances in which private basilicas in palaces and mansions were handed over to the Christians for sacred uses. We know that to have been the case with the basilicas of S. Croce in Gerusalemme and S. Maria Maggiore at Rome, which originated in the halls of the Sessorian and Liberian palaces respectively, granted by Constantine to the Christians. We may adduce also as evidence of the same practice a passage in bk. x. ch. 71 of the theological romance known asThe Recognitions of Clement, probably dating from the early half of the 3rd century, in which we are told that Theophilus of Antioch, on his conversion by St Peter, made over "the basilica of his house" for a church. But however this may have been, with, perhaps, the single exception of S. Croce, the existing Christian basilicas were erected from the ground for their sacred purpose. At Rome the columns, friezes and other materials of the desecrated temples and public buildings furnished abundant materials for their construction. The decadence of art is plainly shown by the absence of rudimentary architectural knowledge in these reconstructions. Not only are columns of various heights and diameters made to do duty in the same colonnade, but even different orders stand side by side (e.g.Ionic, Corinthian and Composite at S. Maria in Trastevere); while pilasters assume a horizontal position and serve as entablatures, as at S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura. There being no such quarry of ready-worked materials at Ravenna, the noble basilicas of that city are free from these defects, and exhibit greater unity of design and harmony of proportions.
Fig. 7. Basilica of Silchester.Fig.7.—Plan of Basilica adjoining the Forum of the Roman city at Silchester, Hants. (FromArchaeologia,vol. liii.)
Fig.7.—Plan of Basilica adjoining the Forum of the Roman city at Silchester, Hants. (FromArchaeologia,vol. liii.)
An early Christian basilica may be thus described in its main features:—A porch supported on pillars (as at S. Clemente) gave admission into an open court oratrium, surrounded by a colonnaded cloister (S. Clemente, Old St Peter's, S. Ambrogio at Milan, Parenzo). In the centre of the court stood a cistern or fountain (cantharus,phiale), for drinking and ablutions. In close contiguity to the atrium, often to the west, was the baptistery, usually octagonal (Parenzo). The church was entered through a long narrow porch (narthex), beyond which penitents, or those under ecclesiastical censure, were forbidden to pass. Three or more lofty doorways, according to the number of the aisles, set in marble cases, gave admission to the church. The doors themselves were of rich wood, elaborately carved with scriptural subjects (S. Sabina on the Aventine), or of bronze similarly adorned and often gilt. Magnificent curtains, frequently embroidered with sacred figures or scenes, closed the entrance, keeping out the heat of summer and the cold of winter.
The interior consisted of a long and wide nave, sometimes as much as 80 ft. across, terminating in a semicircular apse, with one or sometimes (St Paul's, Old St Peter's, St John Lateran) two aisles on each side, separated by colonnades of marble pillars supporting horizontal entablatures (Old St Peter's, S. Maria Maggiore, S. Lorenzo) or arches (St Paul's, S. Agnese, S. Clemente, the two basilicas of S. Apollinare at Ravenna). Above the pillars the clerestory wall rose to a great height, pierced in its upper part by a range of plain round-headed windows. The space between the windows and the colonnade (the later triforium-space) was usually decorated with a series of mosaic pictures in panels. The colonnades sometimes extended quite to the end of the church (the Ravenna basilicas), sometimes ceased some little distance from the end, thus admitting the formation of a transverse aisle or transept (St Paul's, Old St Peter's, St John Lateran). Where this transept occurred it was divided from the nave by a wide arch, the face and soffit of which were richly decorated with mosaics. Over the crown of the arch we often find a bust of Christ or the holy lamb lying upon the altar, and, on either side, the evangelistic symbols, the seven candlesticks and the twenty-four elders. Another arch spanned the semicircular apse, in which the church always terminated. From Carolingian times this was designated thearch of triumph, because a cross was suspended from it.
Fig. 8. S. Apollinare.Fig.8.—S. Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna.
The conch or semi-dome that covered the apse was always covered with mosaic pictures, usually paintings of our Lord, either seated or standing, with St Peter and St Paul, and other apostles and saints, on either hand. The beams of the roof were sometimes concealed by a flat ceiling, richly carved and gilt. The altar, standing in the centre of the chord of the apse on a raised platform reached by flights of steps, was rendered conspicuous by a lofty canopy supported by marble pillars (ciborium,baldacchino), from which depended curtains of the richest materials. Beneath the altar was theconfessio, a subterranean chapel, containing the body of the patron saint, and relics of other holy persons. This was approached by descending flights of steps from the nave or aisles. Theconfessioin some cases reproduced the original place of interment of the patron saint, either in a catacomb-chapel or in an ordinary grave, and thus formed the sacred nucleus round which the church arose. We have good examples of this arrangement at St Peter's and St Paul's at Rome, and S. Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna. It was copied in the original cathedral of Canterbury. The bishop or officiating presbyter advanced from his seat in the centre of the semicircle of the apse to the altar, and celebrated the Eucharist with his face to the congregation below. At the foot of the altar steps a raised platform, occupying the upper portion of the nave, formed a choir for the singers, readers and other inferior clergy. This oblong space was separated from the aisles and from the western portion of the nave by low marble walls or railings (cancelli). From these walls projectedambonesor pulpits with desks, also of marble, ascended by steps.
The exterior of the basilicas was usually of an extreme plainness. The vast brick walls were unrelieved by ornament, save occasionally by arcading as at S. Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna, and had no compensating grace of outline or beauty of proportion. An exception was made for the entrance front, which was sometimes covered with plates of marble mosaics or painted stucco (Old St Peter's, S. Lorenzo). But in spite of any decorations the external effect of a basilica must always have been heavy and unattractive. S. Apollinare in Classe at Ravenna (fig. 8) affords a typicalexample. The campanile is a later addition. Within, apart from the beautiful mosaic decoration, a fine effect was produced by the arch of triumph and the apse, which terminated the nave and dominated the whole vast space of the interior.
Fig. 9. Old St Peter's, Rome.Fig.9.—Façade of old St Peter's, Rome.
Fig. 10. Ground-Plan of the original St Peter's.Fig.10.—Ground-Plan of the original Basilica of St Peter's at Rome.a, Porch.b, Atrium.c, Cloisters.d, Narthex.e, Nave.f,f, Aisles,g, Bema.h, Altar, protected by a double screen.i, Bishop's throne in centre of the apse.k, Sacristy.l, Tomb of Honorius.m, Church of St Andrew.
Fig.10.—Ground-Plan of the original Basilica of St Peter's at Rome.
a, Porch.b, Atrium.c, Cloisters.d, Narthex.e, Nave.f,f, Aisles,g, Bema.h, Altar, protected by a double screen.i, Bishop's throne in centre of the apse.k, Sacristy.l, Tomb of Honorius.m, Church of St Andrew.
To pass from general description to individual churches, the first place must be given, as the earliest and grandest examples of the type, to the world-famous Roman basilicas; those of St Peter, St Paul and St John Lateran,"omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput."It is true that no one of these exists in its original form, Old St Peter's having been entirely removed in the 16th century to make room for its magnificent successor; and both St Paul's and St John Lateran having been greatly injured by fire, and the last named being so completely modernized as to have lost all interest. Of the two former, however, we possess drawings and plans and minute descriptions, which give an accurate conception of the original buildings. To commence with St Peter's, from the illustrations annexed (figs. 9, 10, 11) it will be seen that the church was entered through a vast colonnadedatrium, 212 ft. by 235 ft., with a fountain in the centre,—the atrium being preceded by a porch mounted by a noble flight of steps. The church was 212 ft. wide by 380 ft. long; the nave, 80 ft. in width, was six steps lower than the side aisles, of which there were two on each side. The four dividing colonnades were each of twenty-two Corinthian columns. Those next the nave supported horizontal entablatures. The inner colonnades bore arches, with a second clerestory. The main clerestory walls were divided into two rows of square panels containing mosaics, and had windows above. The transept projected beyond the body of the church,—a very unusual arrangement. The apse, of remarkably small dimensions, was screened off by a double row of twelve wreathed columns of Parian marble. The pontifical chair was placed in the centre of the curve of the apse, on a platform raised several steps above the presbytery. To the right and left the seats of the cardinals followed the line of the apse. At the centre of the chord stood the high altar beneath a ciborium, resting on four pillars of porphyry. Beneath the altar was the subterranean chapel, the centre of the devotion of so large a portion of the Christian world, believed to contain the remains of St Peter; a vaulted crypt ran round the foundation wall of the apse in which many of the popes were buried. The roof showed its naked beams and rafters.
Fig. 11. Sectional view of the original St Peter's.Fig.11.—Sectional view of the old Basilica of St Peter, before its destruction in the 16th century.
Fig.11.—Sectional view of the old Basilica of St Peter, before its destruction in the 16th century.
Fig. 12. Ground-Plan of St Paul's, Rome.Fig.12.—Ground-Plan of St Paul's, Rome, before its destruction by fire.a, Narthex.b, Nave.c,c, Side aisles.d, Altar.e, Bema.f, Apse.
Fig.12.—Ground-Plan of St Paul's, Rome, before its destruction by fire.
a, Narthex.b, Nave.c,c, Side aisles.d, Altar.e, Bema.f, Apse.
The basilica of St Paul without the walls, dedicated 324A.D., rebuilt 388-423, remained in a sadly neglected state, but substantially unaltered, till the disastrous fire of 1823, which reduced the nave to a calcined ruin. Its plan and dimensions (figs. 12, 13) were almost identical with those of St Peter's.
The only parts of the modernized five-aisled basilica of St John Lateran (of which we have a plan in its original state, Agincourt, pl. lxxiii. No. 22) which retain any interest, are the double-vaulted aisle which runs round the apse, a most unusual arrangement, and the baptistery. The latter is an octagonal building standing some little distance from the basilica to the south. Its roof is supported by a double range of columns, one above the other, encircling the baptismal basin sunk below the floor.
Of the three-aisled basilicas the best example is the Liberian or S. Maria Maggiore dedicated 365, and reconstructed 432A.D.Its internal length to the chord of the apse is 250 ft. by 100 ft. in breadth. The Ionic pillars of grey granite, uniform in style, twenty on each side, form a colonnade of great dignity and beauty, unfortunately broken towards the east by intrusive arches opening into chapels. The clerestory, though modern, is excellent in style and arrangement. Corinthian pilasters divide the windows, beneath which are very remarkable mosaic pictures of subjects from Old Testament history, generally supposed todate from the pontificate of Sixtus III., 432-440. The face of the arch of triumph presents also a series of mosaics illustrative of the infancy of our Lord, of great value in the history of art. The apse is of later date, reconstructed by Paschal I. in 818.
Fig. 13. Section of the Basilica of St Paul, Rome.Fig.13.—Section of the Basilica of St Paul, Rome.
Fig. 14. Basilica of S. Agnese.Fig.14.—Section of Basilica of S. Agnese at Rome.
Of the remaining Roman basilicas that of S. Sabina on the Aventine is of special interest as its interior, dating from aboutA.D.430, has preserved more of the primitive aspect than any other. Its carved wooden doors of early Christian date are of unique value, and in the spandrils of its inner arcades, upborne by splendid antique Corinthian columns, are some good specimens ofopus sectileor mosaic of cut marble. The ancient roof is an open one. The basilicas of S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura and S. Agnese deserve particular notice, as exhibiting galleries corresponding to those of the civil basilicas and to the later triforium, carried above the aisles and returned across the entrance end. It is doubtful, however, whether these galleries are part of the original schemes. The architectural history of S. Lorenzo's is curious. When originally constructed inA.D.432, it consisted of a short nave of six bays, with an internal narthex the whole height of the building. In the 13th century Honorius III. disorientated the church by pulling down the apse and erecting a nave of twelve bays on its site and beyond it, thus converting the original nave into a square-ended choir, the level being much raised, and the magnificent Corinthian columns half buried. As a consequence of the church being thus shifted completely round, the face of the arch of triumph, turned away from the present entrance, but towards the original one, is invested with the usual mosaics (Agincourt, pl. xxviii. Nos. 29, 30, 31). The basilica of S. Agnese, of which we give a section (fig. 14), is a small but interesting building, much like what S. Lorenzo must have been before it was altered.
Fig. 15. Basilica of S. Clemente.Fig.15.—Plan of Basilica of S. Clemente in Rome.1. Porch. 2. Atrium. 3. Nave. 4. Aisle for men. 5. Aisle for women. 6. Chorus cantorum. 7. Altar. 8. Gospel-ambo. 9. Epistle-ambo. 10. Confessio. 11. Bishop's throne.
Fig.15.—Plan of Basilica of S. Clemente in Rome.
1. Porch. 2. Atrium. 3. Nave. 4. Aisle for men. 5. Aisle for women. 6. Chorus cantorum. 7. Altar. 8. Gospel-ambo. 9. Epistle-ambo. 10. Confessio. 11. Bishop's throne.
Though inferior in size, and later in date than most of the basilicas already mentioned, that of S. Clemente is not surpassed in interest by any one of them. This is due to its having retained its original ritual arrangements and church-fittings more perfectly than any other. These fittings have been removed from the earlier church, lying below the existing building, which at some unknown date and for some unrecorded reason was abandoned and filled up with earth, while a new building was erected upon it as a foundation. The most probable account is that the earlier church was so completely overwhelmed in the ruin of the city in 1084, when Robert Guiscard burnt all the public buildings from the Lateran to the Capitol, that it was found simpler and more convenient to build a new edifice at a higher level than to repair the old one. The annexed plan (fig. 15) and view (fig. 16) show the peculiarities of the existing building. The church is preceded by anatrium, the only perfect example remaining in Rome, in the centre of which is thecantharusor fountain for ablutions. The atrium is entered by a portico made up of earlier fragments very carelessly put together. Thechorus cantorum, which occupies about one-third of the nave, is enclosed by a low marble screen, about 3 ft. high, a work of the 9th century, preserved from the old church but newly arranged. The white marble slabs are covered with patterns in low relief, and are decorated with ribbons of glass mosaic of the 13th century. These screen-walls stand quite free of the pillars, leaving a passage between. On the ritual north stands the gospel-ambo, of octagonal form, with a double flight of steps westwards and eastwards. To the west of it stands the great Paschal candlestick, with a spiral shaft, decorated with mosaic. Opposite, to the south, is the epistle-ambo, square in plan, with two marble reading-desks facing east and west, for the reading of the epistle and the gradual respectively. The sanctuary is raised two steps above the choir, from which it is divided by another portion of the same marble screen. The altar stands beneath a loftyciborium, supported by marble columns, with a canopy on smaller shafts above. It retains the rods and rings for the curtains to run on. Behind the altar, in the centre of the curved line of the apse, is a marble episcopal throne, bearing the monogram of Anastasius who was titular cardinal of this church in 1108. The conch of the apse is inlaid with mosaics of quite the end of the 13th century. The subterranean church, disinterred by the zeal of Father Mullooly, the prior of the adjacent Irish Dominican convent, is supported by columns of very rich marble of various kinds. The aisle walls, as well as those of the narthex, are covered with fresco-paintings of various dates from the 7th to the 11th century, in a marvellous state of preservation (SeeSt Clement, Pope and Martyr, and his Basilica in Rome, by Joseph Mullooly, O.P., Rome, 1873.)
Fig. 16. Interior of S. Clemente.Fig.16.—Interior of S. Clemente in Rome.
The fullest lists of early Christian basilicas outside Rome are given in Kraus'sRealencyklopädie der christlichen Alterthümer, Freiburg i. B., 1882, art. "Basilica," and more recently in Leclercq'sManuel d'archéologie chrétienne, Paris 1907, vol. i. App. i., "Essai de Classement des Principaux Monuments." Only a few characteristic specimens in different regions can here be noticed. In Italy, apart from Rome, the most remarkable basilican churches are the two dedicated to S. Apollinare at Ravenna. They are of smaller dimensions than those of Rome, but the design and proportions are better. The cathedral of this city, a noble basilica with double aisles, erected by Archbishop Ursus,A.D.400 (Agincourt, pl. xxiii. No. 21), was unfortunately destroyed on the erection of the present tasteless building. Of the two basilicas of S. Apollinare, the earlier, S. Apollinare Nuovo, originally an Arian church erected by Theodoric, 493-525, measuring 315 ft. in length by 115 ft. in breadth, has a nave 51 ft. wide, separated from the single aisles by colonnades of twenty-two pillars, supporting arches, a small prismatic block bearing a sculptured cross intervening with very happy effect between the capital and the arch. Below the windows a continuous band of saintly figures, male on one side and female on the other, advancing in stately procession towards Our Lord and the Virgin Mother respectively, affords one of the most beautiful examples of mosaic ornamentation to be foundin any church (fig. 17). The design of the somewhat later and smaller church of S. Apollinare in Classe,A.D.538-549, measuring 216 ft. by 104 ft., is so similar that they must have proceeded from the same architect (Agincourt, pl lxxiii. No. 35).
Fig. 17. Arches of S Apollinare Nuovo.Fig.17.—Arches of S Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna.
Fig.17.—Arches of S Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna.
The cathedral on the island of Torcello near Venice, originally built in the 7th century, but largely repaired c.A.D.1000, deserves special attention from the fact that it preserves, in a more perfect state than can be seen elsewhere, the arrangements of the seats in the apse (fig. 18). The bishop's throne occupies the centre of the arc, approached by a steep flight of steps. Six rows of stone benches for the presbyters, rising one above another like the seats in a theatre, follow the curve on either side—the whole being singularly plain and almost rude. The altar stands on a platform; the sanctuary is divided from the nave by a screen of six pillars. The walls of the apse are inlaid with plates of marble. The church is 125 ft. by 75 ft. The narrow aisles are only 7 ft. in width.
Fig. 18. Apse of Basilica, Torcello.Fig.18.—Apse of Basilica, Torcello, with Bishop's throne and seats for the clergy. (From a drawing by Lady Palgrave.)
Fig.18.—Apse of Basilica, Torcello, with Bishop's throne and seats for the clergy. (From a drawing by Lady Palgrave.)
Another very remarkable basilica, less known than it deserves to be, is that of Parenzo in Istria,c.A.D.542. Few basilicas have sustained so little alteration. From the annexed ground-plan (fig. 19) it will be seen that it retains itsatriumand a baptistery, square without, octagonal within, to the west of it. Nine pillars divide each aisle from the nave, some of them borrowed from earlier buildings. The capitals are Byzantine. The choir occupies the three easternmost bays. The apse, as at Torcello, retains the bishop's throne and the bench for the presbyters apparently unaltered. The mosaics are singularly gorgeous, and the apse walls, as at Torcello, are inlaid with rich marble and mother-of-pearl. The dimensions are small—121 ft. by 32 ft. (SeeKunstdenkmale des österreichischen Kaiserreichs, by Dr G. Heider and others.)
Fig. 19. Ground-Plan of Cathedral of Parenzo.Fig.19.—Ground-Plan of Cathedral of Parenzo, Istria.a, Cloistered atrium. +, Narthex.b, Nave.c,c, Aisles.d, Chorus cantorum.e, Altar.f, Bishop's throne.g, Baptistery.h, Belfry.i, Chapel of St Andrew.
Fig.19.—Ground-Plan of Cathedral of Parenzo, Istria.
a, Cloistered atrium. +, Narthex.b, Nave.c,c, Aisles.d, Chorus cantorum.e, Altar.f, Bishop's throne.g, Baptistery.h, Belfry.i, Chapel of St Andrew.
In the Eastern church, though the erection of St Sophia at Constantinople introduced a new type which almost entirely superseded the old one, the basilican form, or as it was then termeddromical, from its shape being that of a race-course (dromos), was originally as much the rule as in the West. The earliest church of which we have any clear account, that of Paulinus at Tyre,A.D.313-322, described by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl.x. 4 § 37), was evidently basilican, with galleries over the aisles, and had an atrium in front. That erected by Constantine at Jerusalem, on the side of the Holy Sepulchre, 333, followed the same plan (Euseb.,Vit. Const.iii. c. 29), as did the original churches of St Sophia and of the Apostles at Constantinople. Both these buildings have entirely passed away, but we have an excellent example of an oriental basilica of the same date still standing in the church of the Nativity at Bethlehem, rebuilt by Justinian in the 6th century (fig. 20). Here we find an oblong atrium, a vestibule or narthex, double aisles with Corinthian columns, and a transept, each end of which terminates in an apse, in addition to that in the usual position. Beneath the centre of the transept is the subterranean church of the Nativity (Vogué,Les Églises de la Terre Sainte, p. 46).
Constantinople preserved till recently a basilican church of the 5th century, that of St John Studios, 463, now a ruin. It had a nave and side aisles divided by columns supporting a horizontal entablature, with another order supporting arches forming a gallery above. There was the usual apsidal termination. The chief difference between the Eastern and Roman basilicas is in the galleries. This feature is very rare in the West, and only occurs in some few examples, the antiquity of which is questioned at Rome but never at Ravenna. It is, on the other hand, a characteristic feature of Eastern churches, the galleries being intended for women, for whom privacy was more studied than in the West (Salzenberg,Altchrist. Baudenkmale von Constantinople).
Fig. 20. Plan of church of the Nativity, Bethlehem.Fig.20.—Plan of church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. 1, Narthex; 2, nave; 3, 3, aisles.
Fig.20.—Plan of church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. 1, Narthex; 2, nave; 3, 3, aisles.
Other basilican churches in the East which deserve notice are those of the monastery of St Catherine on Mt. Sinai built by Justinian, that of Dana between Antioch and Bir of the same date, St Philip at Athens, Bosra in Arabia, Xanthus in Lycia, and the very noble church of St Demetrius at Thessalonica. Views and descriptions of most of these may be found in Texier and Pullan'sByzantine Architecture, Couchaud'sChoix d'églises byzantines, and the works of the count de Vogué. In the Roman province of North Africa there are abundant remains of early Christian churches, and S. Gsell,Les Monuments antiques de l'Algérie, has noticed more than 130 examples. Basilicas of strictly early Christian date are not now to be met with in France, Spain or Germany, but the interesting though very plain "Basse Œuvre" at Beauvais may date from Carolingian times, while Germany can show at Michelstadt in the Odenwald an unaltered basilica of the time of Charles the Great. The fine-columned basilica of St Mauritius, near Hildesheim, dates from the 11th century, and the basilican form has been revived in the noble modern basilica at Munich.
Fig. 21. Early Christian Basilica at Silchester.Fig.21.—Plan of early Christian Basilica of about the 4th century at Silchester, Hants.(FromArchaeologia, liii.)
Fig.21.—Plan of early Christian Basilica of about the 4th century at Silchester, Hants.
(FromArchaeologia, liii.)
England can show more early Christian survivals than France or Germany. In the course of the excavation of the Roman city of Silchester, there was brought to light in 1892 the remains of a small early Christian basilica dating from the 4th century of which fig. 21 gives the plan (Archaeologia, vol. liii.). It will benoted that the apse is flanked by two chambers, of the nature of sacristies, cut off from the rest of the church, and known in ecclesiastical terminology asprothesisanddiaconicon. These features, rare in Italy, are almost universal in the churches of North Africa and Syria. Another existing English basilica of early date is that of Brixworth in Northamptonshire, probably erected by Saxulphus, abbot of Peterborough,c.A.D.680. It consisted of a nave divided from its aisles by quadrangular piers supporting arches turned in Roman brick, with clerestory windows above, and a short chancel terminating in an apse, outside which, as at St Peter's at Rome, ran a circumscribing crypt entered by steps from the chancel. At the west end was a square porch, the walls of which were carried up later in the form of a tower.
Fig. 22. Ground-Plan of the original Cathedral at Canterbury.Fig.22.—Ground-Plan of the original Cathedral at Canterbury, as restored by Willis.A, High altar. B, Altar of our Lord. C, C, Steps to crypt. D, Crypt. E, F, Chorus cantorum. G, Our Lady's altar. H, Bishop's throne. K, South porch with altar. L, North porch containing school. M, Archbishop Odo's tomb.
Fig.22.—Ground-Plan of the original Cathedral at Canterbury, as restored by Willis.
A, High altar. B, Altar of our Lord. C, C, Steps to crypt. D, Crypt. E, F, Chorus cantorum. G, Our Lady's altar. H, Bishop's throne. K, South porch with altar. L, North porch containing school. M, Archbishop Odo's tomb.
The first church built in England under Roman influence was the original Saxon cathedral of Canterbury. From the annexed ground-plan (fig. 22), as conjecturally restored from Eadmer's description, we see that it was an aisled basilica, with an apse at either end, containing altars standing on raised platforms approached by steps. Beneath the eastern platform was a crypt, orconfessio, containing relics, "fabricated in the likeness of the confessionary of St Peter at Rome" (Eadmer). The western apse, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, contained the bishop's throne. From this and other indications Willis thinks that this was the original altar end, the eastern apse being a subsequent addition of Archbishop Odo,c.950, the church having been thus turned from west to east, as at the already-described basilica of S. Lorenzo at Rome. The choir, as at S. Clemente's, occupied the eastern part of the nave, and like it was probably enclosed by breast-high partitions. There were attached porches to the north and south of the nave. The main entrance of the church was through that to the south. At thissuthdure, according to Eadmer, "all disputes from the whole kingdom, which could not legally be referred to the king's court, or to the hundreds and counties, received judgment." The northern porch contained a school for the younger clergy.
Authorities.—Vitruvius,De Architectura, v. 1, vi. 3, 9; Huelsen,The Roman Forum(1906); Mau,Pompeii: its Life and Art; C. Lange,Haus und Halle; Canina,Edifizii di Roma Antica; Ciampini,Vetera Monimenta; Seroux d'Agincourt,L'Histoire de l'art par les monumens; Bunsen and Plattner,Beschreibung der Stadt Rom; Gutensohn and Knapp,Basiliken des christlichen Roms; Zestermann,Die antiken u. die christlichen Basiliken; Hübsch,Die altchristlichen Kirchen; Messmer,Über den Ursprung, &c., der Basilica; Letarouilly,Edifices de Rome moderne; Von Quast,Altchristliche Bauwerke von Ravenna; Texier and Pullan,Byzantine Architecture; Vogué,Eglises de la Terre Sainte; Syrie Centrale, Architecture, &c.; Couchaud,Choix d'églises byzantines; Dehio und von Bezold,Die kirchliche Baukunst des Abendlandes; Holtzinger,Die altchristliche Architectur in systematischer Darstellung; Kraus,Geschichte der christlichen Kunst; Leclercq,Manuel d'archéologie chrétienne(Paris, 1907).
(E. V.; G. B. B.)
BASILICA,a code of law, drawn up in the Greek language, with a view to putting an end to the uncertainty which prevailed throughout the East Roman empire in the 9th century as to the authorized sources of law. This uncertainty had been brought about by the conflicting opinions of the jurists of the 6th century as to the proper interpretation to be given to the legislation of the emperor Justinian, from which had resulted a system of teaching which had deprived that legislation of all authority, and the imperial judges at last were at a loss to know by what rules of law they were to regulate their decisions. An endeavour had been made by the emperor Leo the Isaurian to remedy this evil, but his attempted reform of the law had been rather calculated to increase its uncertainty; and it was reserved for Basil the Macedonian to show himself worthy of the throne, which he had usurped, by purifying the administration of justice and once more reducing the law into an intelligible code. There has been considerable controversy as to the part which the emperor Basil took in framing the new code. There is, however, no doubt that he abrogated in a formal manner the ancient laws, which had fallen into desuetude, and the more probable opinion would seem to be, that he caused a revision to be made of the ancient laws which were to continue in force, and divided them into forty books, and that this code of laws was subsequently enlarged and distributed into sixty books by his son Leo the Philosopher. A further revision of this code is stated to have been made by Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the son and successor of Leo, but this statement rests only on the authority of Theodorus Balsamon, a very learned canonist of the 12th century, who, in his preface to theNomocanonof Patriarch Photius, cites passages from the Basilica which differ from the text of the code as revised by the emperor Leo. The weight of authority, however, is against any further revision of the code having been made after the formal revision which it underwent in the reign of the emperor Leo, who appointed a commission of jurists under the presidency of Sympathius, the captain of the body-guard, to revise the work of his father, to which he makes allusion in the first of hisNovellae. This latter conclusion is the more probable from the circumstance, that the text of the code, as revised by the emperor Leo, agrees with the citations from the Basilica which occur in the works of Michael Psellus and Michael Attaliates, both of them high dignitaries of the court of Constantinople, who lived a century before Balsamon, and who are silent as to any second revision of the code having taken place in the reign of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, as well as with other citations from the Basilica, which are found in the writings of Mathaeus Blastares and of Constantine Harmenopulus, both of whom wrote shortly after Balsamon, and the latter of whom was far too learned a jurist and too accurate a lawyer to cite any but the official text of the code.
Authors are not agreed as to the origin of the term Basilica, by which the code of the emperor Leo is now distinguished. The code itself appears to have been originally entitledThe Revision of the Ancient Laws(ἡ ἀνακάθαρσις τῶν παλαιῶν νόμων); next there came into use the titleἡ ἑξηκοντάβιβλος, derived from the division of the work into sixty books; and finally, before the conclusion of the 10th century, the code came to be designatedὁ βασιλικός, orτὰ βασιλικά, being elliptical forms ofὁ βασιλικὸς νόμοςandτὰ βασιλικά νόμιμα, namely the Imperial Law or the Imperial Constitutions. This explanation of the term "Basilica" is more probable than the derivation of it from the name of the father of the emperor Leo, inasmuch as the Byzantine jurists of the 11th and 12th centuries ignored altogether the part which the emperor Basil had taken in initiating the legal reforms, which were completed by his son; besides the name of the father of the emperor Leo was writtenβασίλειος, from which substantive, according to the genius ofthe ancient Greek language, the adjectiveβασιλικόςcould not well be derived.
No perfect MS. has been preserved of the text of the Basilica, and the existence of any portion of the code seems to have been ignored by the jurists of western Europe, until the important bearing of it upon the study of the Roman law was brought to their attention by Viglius Zuichemus, in his preface to his edition of the GreekParaphrase of Theophilus, published in 1533. A century, however, elapsed before an edition of the sixty books of the Basilica, as far as the MSS. then known to exist supplied materials, was published in seven volumes, by Charles Annibal Fabrot, under the patronage of Louis XIII. of France, who assigned an annual stipend of two thousand livres to the editor during its publication, and placed at his disposal the royal printing-press. This edition, although it was a great undertaking and a work of considerable merit, was a very imperfect representation of the original code. A newly-restored and far more complete text of the sixty books of the Basilica was published at Leipzig in six volumes (1833-1870), edited by K. W. E. Heimbach and G. E. Heimbach. It may seem strange that so important a body of law as the Basilica should not have come down to us in its integrity, but a letter has been preserved, which was addressed by Mark the patriarch of Alexandria to Theodoras Balsamon, from which it appears that copies of the Basilica were in the 12th century very scarce, as the patriarch was unable to procure a copy of the work. The great bulk of the code was an obstacle to the multiplication of copies of it, whilst the necessity for them was in a great degree superseded by the publication from time to time of synopses and encheiridia of its contents, composed by the most eminent jurists, of which a very full account will be found in theHistoire au droit byzantin, by the advocate Mortreuil, published in Paris in 1846.
BASILICATA,a territorial division of Italy, now known as the province of Potenza, which formed a part of the ancient Lucania (q.v.). It is bounded N. by the province of Foggia, N E. by those of Bari and Lecce, E. by the Gulf of Taranto (for a distance of 24 m.), S. by the province of Cosenza, and W. by the Mediterranean (for a distance of 10 m. only), and by the provinces of Salerno and Avellino. It has an area of 3845 sq. m. The province is as a whole mountainous, the highest point being the Monte Pollino (7325 ft.) on the boundary of the province of Cosenza, while the Monte Vulture, at the N.W. extremity, is an extinct volcano (4365 ft.). It is traversed by five rivers, the Bradano, Basento, Cavone or Salandrella, Agri and Sinni. The longest, the Bradano, is 104 m. in length; all run S.E. or E. into the Gulf of Taranto. The province is traversed from W. to E. by the railway from Naples to Taranto and Brindisi, which passes through Potenza and reaches at Metaponto the line along the E. coast from Taranto to Reggio di Calabria. A branch line runs N. from Potenza via Melfi to Rocchetta S. Antonio, a junction for Foggia, Gioia del Colle and Avellino (the second of these lines runs through the province of Potenza as far as Palazzo S. Gervasio), while a branch S. from the Naples and Taranto line at Sicignano terminates at Lagonegro, on the W. edge of the province. Communications are rendered difficult by the mountainous character of the interior. The mountains are still to some extent clothed with forests; in places the soil is fertile, especially along the Gulf of Taranto, though here malaria is the cause of inefficient cultivation. Olive-oil is the most important product. The total population of the province was 490,705 in 1901. The chief towns are Potenza (pop. 1901, 16,186), Avigliana (18,313), Matera (17,237), Melfi (14,649), Rionero in Vulture (11,809), Lauria (10,099).
BASILIDES,one of the most conspicuous exponents of Gnosticism, was living at Alexandria probably as early as the first decades of the 2nd century. It is true that Eusebius, in hisChronicle, dates his first appearance fromA.D.133, but according to Eusebius,Hist. Eccl.iv. 7 §§ 6-8, Agrippa Castor, who lived under Hadrian (117-138), already wrote a polemic against him, so that his activity may perhaps be set back to a date earlier than 138. Basilides wrote an exegetical work in twenty-four books on "his" gospel, but which this was is not known. In addition to this there are certain writings by his son IsidorusΠερὶ προσφυοῦς ψυχῆς;Ἐξηγητικάon the prophet Parchor (Παρχώρ);Ἠθικά. The surviving fragments of these works are collected and commented on in Hilgenfeld'sKetzergeschichte, 207-218. The most important fragment published by Hilgenfeld (p. 207), part of the 13th book of theExegetica, in theActa Archelai et Manetisc. 55, only became known in its complete form later, and was published by L. Traube in theSitzungsbericht der Münchener Akad., phil. histor. Kl. (1903), pp. 533-549. Irenaeus (Adv. Haer.i. 24 §§ 3-7) gives a sketch of Basilides' school of thought, perhaps derived from Justin'sSyntagma. Closely related to this is the account in theSyntagmaof Hippolytus, which is preserved in Epiphanius,Haer.24, Philaster,Haer.32, and Pseudo-Tertullian,Haer.4. These are completed and confirmed by a number of scattered notices in theStromateisof Clemens Alexandrinus. An essentially different account, with a pronounced monistic tendency, is presented by the so-calledPhilosophumenaof Hippolytus (vii. 20-27; x. 14). Whether this last account, or that given by Irenaeus and in theSyntagmaof Hippolytus, represents the original system of Basilides, has been the subject of a long controversy. (See Hilgenfeld p. 205, note 337.) The most recent opinion tends to decide against thePhilosophumena; for, in its composition, Hippolytus appears to have used as his principal source the compendium of a Gnostic author who has introduced into most of the systems treated by him, in addition to the employment of older sources, his own opinions or those of his sect. ThePhilosophumena, therefore, cannot be taken into account in describing the teaching of Basilides (see also H. Stachelin, "Die gnostischen Quellen Hippolyts" inTexte und Untersuchungen, vi. 3; and the articleGnosticism). A comparison of the surviving fragments of Basilides, moreover, with the outline of his system in Irenaeus-Hippolytus (Syntagma) shows that the account given by the Fathers of the Church is also in the highest degree untrustworthy. The principal and most characteristic points are not noticed by them. If we assume, as we must needs do, that the opinions which Basilides promulgates as the teaching of the "barbari" (Acta Archelaic. 55) were in fact his own, the fragments prove him to have been a decided dualist, and his teaching an interesting further development of oriental (Iranian) dualism. Entirely consistent with this is the information given by theActa Archelaithat Basilides, before he came to Alexandria, had appeared publicly among the Persians (fuit praedicator apud Persas); and the allusion to his having appealed to prophets with oriental names, Barkabbas and Barkoph (Agrippa in EusebiusHist. Eccl.iv. 7 § 7). So too his son Isidorus explained the prophecies of a certain Parchor ( = Barkoph) and appealed to the prophecies of Cham[1](Clemens Alexandrinus,Stromat.vi. 6 § 53). Thus Basilides assumed the existence of two principles, not derivable from each other: Light and Darkness. These had existed for a long time side by side, without knowing anything of each other, but when they perceived each other, the Light had only looked and then turned away; but the Darkness, seized with desire for the Light, had made itself master, not indeed of the Light itself, but only of its reflection (species,color). Thus they had been in a position to form this world:unde nec perfectum bonum est in hoc mundo, et quod est, valde est exiguum. This speculation is clearly a development of that which the Iranian cosmology has to tell about the battles between Ahura-Mazda and Angro-Mainyu (Ormuzd and Ahriman). The Iranian optimism has been replaced here by a strong pessimism. This material world is no longer, as in Zoroastrianism, essentially a creation of the good God, but the powers of evil have created it with the aid of some stolen portions of light. This is practically the transference of Iranian dualism to the more Greek antithesis of soul and body, spirit and matter (cf. Irenaeus i. 24 § 5:animae autem eorum solam esse salutem, corpus enim natura corruptibile existit). The fundamental dualism of Basilides is confirmed also by one or two other passages. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Basilides saw the proof ofnaturam sine radice et sine loco rebus supervenientem(Acta Archelai). According to Clemens,Strom.iv. 12 § 83, &c., Basilides taught that even those who have not sinned in act, even Jesus himself, possess a sinful nature. It is possibly also in connexion with the dualism of his fundamentalviews that he taught the transmigration of souls (Origen inEp. ad Rom. lib. v.; Opp. de la Rue iv. 549; cf. Clemens,Excerpta ex Theodoto, § 28). Isidorus set up celibacy, though in a modified form, as the ideal of the perfect (Clemens,Strom. iii. 1 § 1, &c.) Clemens accuses Basilides of a deification of the Devil (θειάζειν τὸν διάβολον), and regards as his two dogmas that of the Devil and that of the transmigration of souls (Strom. iv. 12 § 85: cf. v. 11 § 75). It is remarkable too that Isidorus held the existence of two souls in man, a good and a bad (Clemens,Strom. ii. 20 113); with which may be compared the teaching of Mani about the two souls, which it is impossible to follow F, Ch. Baur in excluding,[2]and also the teaching of thePistis Sophia(translated by C. Schmidt, p. 182, &c.). According to Clemens (Strom. ii. 20 § 112), the followers of Basilides spoke ofπνεύματά τινα προσηρτημένα τῇ λογικῇ φυχῇ κατά τινα τάραχον καὶ σύγχυσιν ἀρχικήν: that is to say, here also is assumed an original confusion and intermingling. Epiphanius too tells us that the teaching of Basilides had its beginning in the question as to the origin of evil (Haer. xxiv. 6).
Now, of this sharply-defined dualism there is scarcely a trace in the system described by the Fathers of the Church. It is therefore only with caution that we can use them to supplement our knowledge of the true Basilides. The doctrine described by them that from the supreme God (theinnatus pater) had emanated 365 heavens with their spirits, answers originally to the astronomical conception of the heavens with their 365 daily aspects (Irenaeus i. 24. 7;Trecentorum autem sexaginta quinque caelorum locales positiones distribuunt similiter ut mathematici). When, therefore, the supreme God is called by the nameΑβρασαξorΑβραξας, which contains the numerical value 365, it is worthy of remark that the name of the Persian god Mithras (Μείθρας) also was known in antiquity to contain this numerical value (Jerome inAmos3; Opp. Vallarsi VI. i. 257). Speculations about the Perso-Hellenistic Mithras appear to have been transferred to the Gnostic Abraxas. Further, if thePater innatusbe surrounded by a series of (from five to seven) Hypostases (according to Irenaeus i. 24. 3;Νοῦς, Λόγος, Φρόνησις, Σοφία, Δύναμις; according to Clemens,Strom. iv. 25 § 164,ΔικαιοσύνηandἘιρήνηmay perhaps be added), we are reminded of theAmeshas-spentaswhich surround Ahura-Mazda. Finally, in the system of Basilides, the (seven ?) powers from whom this world originates are accepted as the lowest emanations of the supreme God. This conception which is repeated in nearly every Gnostic system, of (seven) world-creating angels, is a specifically oriental speculation. The seven powers which create and rule the world are without doubt the seven planetary deities of the later Babylonian religion. If, in the Gnostic systems, these become daemonic or semi-daemonic forces, this points to the fact that a stronger monotheistic religion (the Iranian) had gained the upper hand over the Babylonian, and had degraded its gods to daemons. The syncretism of the Babylonian and the Persian religion was also the nursing-ground of Gnosticism. When, then, Basilides identified the highest angel of the seven, the creator of the worlds, with the God of the Jews, this is a development of the idea which did not occur until late, possibly first in the specifically Christian circles of the Gnostics. We may note in this connexion that the system of Basilides ascribes the many battles and quarrels in the world to the privileged position given to his people by the God of the Jews.[3]
It is at this point that the idea of salvation is introduced into the system. The confusion in the world has meanwhile risen to such a pitch that the supreme God sends hisNous, who is also called Christ, into the world (Irenaeus i. 24. 4). According to Clemens, the Saviour is termedπνεῦμα διακονούμενον(Strom. ii. 8 § 36) orδιάκονος(Excerpta ex Theodoto, § 16). It is impossible certainly to determine how Basilides conceived the relation of this Saviour to Jesus of Nazareth. Basilides himself (Strom. iv. 12 § 83) knows of an earthly Jesus and denies the principle of his sinlessness (see above). According to the account given by Irenaeus, the Saviour is said to have appeared only as a phantasm; according to theExcerpta ex Theodoto, 17, the Diakonos descended upon Jesus at His baptism in the form of a dove, for which reason the followers of Basilides celebrated the day of the baptism of Jesus, the day of theἐπιφανεία. as a high festival (Clemens,Strom. i. 21 § 18). The various attempts at combination probably point to the fact that the purely mythical figure of a god-saviour (Heros) was connected first by Basilides with Jesus of Nazareth. As to what the conception of Basilides was of the completion of the process of redemption, the available sources tell us next to nothing. According to an allusion in Clemens,Strom. ii. 8 § 36, with the mission of the Saviour begins the great separation of the sexes, the fulfilment and the restoration of all things. This agrees with the beginning of the speculation of Basilides. Salvation consists in this, that that which was combined for evil is once more separated.
Among the later followers of Basilides, actual magic played a determining part. They hand down the names of the rulers of the several heavens as a weighty secret. This was a result of the belief, that whoever knew the names of these rulers would after death pass through all the heavens to the supreme God. In accordance with this, Christ also, in the opinion of these followers of Basilides, was in the possession of a mystic name (Caulacau =קַו לָקַוJes. xxviii. 10) by the power of which he had descended through all the heavens to earth, and had then again ascended to the Father. Redemption, accordingly, could be conceived as simply the revelation of mystic names. In this connexion the name Abraxas and the Abraxas gems must be remembered. Whether Basilides himself had already given this magic tendency to Gnosticism cannot be decided.
Basilides, then, represents that form of Gnosticism that is closest to Persian dualism in its final form. His doctrine is most closely related to that of Satornil (Saturninus). From most of the other Gnostic sects, with the exception perhaps of the Jewish-Christian Gnosticism, he is distinguished by the fact that with him the figure of the fallen female god (Sophia Achamoth), and, in general, the idea of a fall within the godhead is entirely wanting. So far as we can see, on the other hand, Basilides appears actually to represent a further development of Iranian dualism, which later produced the religious system of Mani.
Accounts of the teaching of Basilides are to be found in all the more complete works on Gnosticism (see bibliography to the articleGnosticism). The original sources are best reproduced in Hilgenfeld,Ketzergeschichte des Urchristentums(1884), pp. 195-230. See also Krüger, article "Basilides," in Herzog-Hauck,Realencyklopadie, ed. 3.
(W. Bo.)