It is impossible to miss the ruins of the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine in the Roman Forum – it is one of the most impressively huge monuments in Rome and at nearly 6,000sqm  is a serious piece of real estate by anyone’s standards.

Like the Arch of Constantine, which stands adjacent to the Colosseum and Palatine Hill, the basilica was started by Emperor Maxentius in 308AD and finished by Emperor Constantine in 312-313AD.

The structure is unmissable if you visit the Forum because it is conveniently situated near the exit – however, from a vantage point on the Palatine Hill, the enormous three-groin vaulted structure dominates the Forum.

The basilica housed a court of justice as well as a market.  It is still possible to appreciate the basilica’s footprint simply by standing in what was the nave, which measures 80m long and 25m wide. All human life is dwarfed.

 

 

 

The structure has also been built in the shape of Roman bath house – a frigidarium – rather than the traditional form of a basilica. The frigidarium was the coldest stage of the bathing process, designed to invigorate and close the pores. It was a rectangular building with recesses for the bathing pools.

 

The basilica is also a tribute to Roman building and engineering methods, with supporting columns made from the Romans’ infamously indestructible concrete tufo – made from volcanic ash – to support the roof that would have spanned the building. It is possible however that the roof would have been self-supporting, with the columns defining the interior space and its many uses. The tufo has been covered with a brick fascia, as is shown in the image below.

For more information about the construction of the basilica, Yale University has a very useful online video lecture as part of its archaeology course on the  Roman Forum and the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine.

The video includes a reconstruction of how the basilica would have looked in Roman times.

 

Images copyright A.Meredith 2018 

 

Want to go to Rome now?

 

Download ROME ALONE and ROME AGAIN free at Kindle Unlimited or for £2.40 each.

Set off to the Eternal City for a weekend of surprises in ROME ALONE, as unhappy housewife Bee and newly-divorced Alzheimer’s expert Dr Neil McCarthy leave from opposite ends of the country for a mini-break full of the unexpected that will change their lives forever as they make their way round the sites. Return to Rome with them three years later in ROME AGAIN and discover the forces at work which they never suspected on their first trip.

Download ROME ALONE

Download ROME AGAIN

Catch up with the story in VERONA ALONE, free at Kindle Unlimited or for just £2.60 each.

In VERONA ALONE, newly divorced former cellist Moira decides to fulfil a girlhood dream of visiting Verona during the summer opera season. There she is taken under the wing of a quirky and generous American who appears to have a secret, which is only discovered when she finds herself all at sea with him. VERONA AGAIN sees three couples fight to save their relations – who will succeed, who will fail and who will lose the love of their life?

Download VERONA ALONE

Download VERONA AGAIN

All books contain adult themes, dark humour and sexual content.

Buon viaggio!