Basilica

   A type of Roman building that was used for the first great Christian churches built by Constantine I (q.v.). Previous Roman basilicas were used for a variety of public purposes, e.g., law courts, audience halls, and covered markets. The simplest basilicas were halls without adjacent aisles. More complex ones had a vestibule (called a narthex [q.v.]) leading to a central nave, with narrower side aisles, above which could be galleries. The nave could terminate in a rectangular or semicircular apse. The basic design, which is flexible and open to a variety of permutations of its individual components (e.g., the Domed Basilica [q.v.]), proved suitable for the development of the Christian liturgy. In a larger sense, the Christian basilica illustrates the interplay of continuity and transformation that in Constantine's reign began to reshape the Roman Empire into what is today referred to as Byzantium (q.v.).