BASILICA IULIA
on the south side of the forum, between
the vicus Tuscus
and the vicus Iugarius. It was perhaps begun by Aemilius
Paullus on
behalf of Caesar, probably in 54 B.C. (cf. the difficult
passage Cic. ad
Att.
iv. 16. 8, a letter written in that year, and the
commentators, especially
Becker, Top. 301-306;
Jord. i. 2. 394; and contrast
AJA
1913, 25, n. 2),
dedicated in an unfinished state in 46 (Mon.
Anc. iv. 13;
Hier. a.
Abr. 1971), completed by Augustus, burned soon
afterwards, and, when
rebuilt in an enlarged form by Augustus, dedicated again
in 12 A.D. in
the names of Gaius and Lucius Caesar (Mon.
Anc. iv. 13-
16; Cass. Dio
Ivi. 27 ;
1 Suet. Aug. 29). It is not certain, however, that
the building
was entirely finished when dedicated for the second time
(cf. Mon. Anc.
loc. cit.). It was injured by fire under Carinus (Chron. p.
148) and
restored by Diocletian (ib.), and again in 416 A.D. by a
certain Gabinus
Vettius Probianus, prefect of the city, who also adorned it
with statues
(
CIL vi. 1156, 1658, 31883-31887;
NS 1883, 47-48;
Mitt. 1902, 54;
Klio, 1902, 269-270). Notwithstanding its dedication
under the names
of Gaius and Lucius, it appears as the basilica Gai et Luci
only in the
three passages quoted above, and elsewhere as basilica
Iulia, or tecta Iulia
in the poets (
Mart. vi. 38. 6; Stat.
Silv. i. 1. 29). Its site is
definitely
described by ancient authorities (Mon. Anc. loc. cit.;
Fest. 290; Stat.
loc. cit.), and it is represented on the Marble Plan (frgs.
20, 23). From its
roof Caligula threw coins among the people (Suet. Cal.
37;
Joseph. xix.
11.1. 11; cf.
Mitt. 1893, 264; Chron. p. 145;
JRS 1926,
134).
During the early empire the centumviral court held its
sessions in this
basilica (
Mart. vi. 38. 5-6; Plin.
Ep. i. 5;
ii. 14;
v. 9;
vi.
33;
Quint. xii.
5. 6) and a statue of Crispus was set up here as a reward
for his frequent
pleadings before the Emperor Domitian (Schol. Iuv. 4.
81). The basilica
is mentioned in several inscriptions (
CIL vi. 9709, 9711,
9712, 32296), in
Reg. (Reg. VIII), and by Pol. Silv. (545). The amount and
magnificence
of the marble used in this basilica marked it as the special
prey of the
vandals of the middle ages, and a lime kiln was found on
its very pavement
(LD passim;
BC 1891, 229-236). In the seventh or eighth
century, the
outer aisle on the west side was converted into a church
(Archivio Storico
dell' Arte, 1896, 164; Frothingham, Monuments of
Christian Rome
(New York 1908) 83); this has generally been identified
with S. Maria
de Cannapara, mentioned in the catalogues of the twelfth
to fifteenth
centuries, which must, however, have been at a
considerably higher level
(HCh 321). Nor can it be S. Maria in Foro (HCh 335); cf.
HFP 15.
The basilica occupied a space 101 metres long and 49
wide, bounded
on all sides by streets, the Sacra via, the vicus Iugarius,
the vicus Tuscus,
and a street on the south connecting the last two. In the
later restora-
tions the material of construction, but not the form, was
changed (
CR
1901, 136;
Mitt. 1902, 60). The central court, 82 metres
long and 16
wide, was surrounded on all sides by two aisles, 7.50
metres wide, over
which were the galleries of a second story (cf. Plin.
Ep.
vi. 33 ; Suet. Cal.
37). These aisles were formed by the pillars of the facade,
which were
of marble, and by inner rows of similar pillars made of
brick and faced
with marble. The first floor of the basilica was therefore
an open arcade,
divided by the marble balustrades which joined the pillars.
Of these
pillars there were eighteen on each of the longer sides, and
eight, counting
the ends of the spur walls, on the shorter. The entire
outside of the
building was constructed originally of white marble, and on
the outer
faces of its pillars were engaged columns of the Doric
order. The floor
sloped slightly towards the north-east corner, and was
paved with slabs
of marble, coloured in the central court and white in the
aisles. The
central area was covered with a wooden roof (Stat. Silv. i.
I. 29;
Mart.
vi. 38. 6), which rose above the roof of the side aisles and
admitted
light through its side windows, as in the basilica Aemilia.
For the
fragments of the vaulting of the side aisles, see
Mitt. 1901,
13-18.
A continuous flight of three steps leads down from the
floor of the
central court to that of the outer aisle in front, which, being
lower, forms
a sort of portico. From this aisle steps again lead down to
the street,
but as there is a considerable rise in the Sacra via, there are
seven steps
at the east end and only one at the west. On the south side
was a row
of rooms opening on the street, some of which, with
massive tufa walls,
have only been partially excavated. It is possible that there
was a row
of tabernae on this, the sunny side, as in the basilica
Aemilia; there are
traces of stairs ascending to an upper level, i.e. to the roof
of these
tabernae.
The existing remains consist of the foundation, with
fragments of the
marble pavement on which are inscribed upwards of eighty
tabulae
lusoriae (
Mitt. 1896, 227-252);
2the steps with portions of
the marble
casing; and on the vicus lugarius some of the brick pillars
and arches of
the outer aisles belonging to the restoration of Diocletian,
together with
some fragments of the marble pillars of the outside.
Against the second
column from the front, on the west end, a heavy pier was
built, which
formed part of an arch across the vicus Iugarius. Some
architectural
fragments have been found, but the standing column of
travertine and
many of the brick piers are modern (
Jord. i. 2. 385-391;
HC 61-68;
Thed. 150-153, 218-223;
LS ii. 205-206; LR 275-279,
with resume
of excavations since 1496; RA 202-205; DR 408, 419; RE
Suppl. iv.
466-469; ASA 83). See
PILA HORATIA
