The Basilica of Maxentius Visual Analysis Paper by Ludwig Hochleitner 13th December 2020 THE BASILICA NOVA OF MAXENTIUS AND CONSTANTINE The Basilica Nova was the last civic basilica of Ancient Rome and marked the zenith of the grandiose Roman construction era. It was built in a historical moment of great turbulence with a civil war causing power shifts within the Empire culminating in the victorious self-proclamation of Emperor Constantine, the first Roman Emperor that would convert to Christianity. The intentions behind the Basilica erected by Maxentius during his reign capture a pivotal moment in Ancient Rome and its design embodies an accumulated architectural intelligence that would be mobilised in this form for the very last time. The history of the Basilica symbolises the transition from Pagan religion to Christianity. Much of the Basilica’s dynamic character cannot be read in the static remains of the 21st century Roman Forum, and it is only the scale of the ruins that hints at a by-gone era. This essay elaborates how the formal and functional aspects of the Basilica Nova, when informed by the historical and societal context, encapsulate the significance of the building as a monument in a ‘pivotal’ moment of history, where the design itself incorporates the transition from Pagan to Christian religion in Ancient Rome. the central nave and determine the spatial division.2 The enclosure is accentuated by two apses on the northern and western elevations. These were used for the tribunal and to house a colossal statue of Constantine himself. The monumental scale of the building hints at the expertise of the Roman architects and the coordinated intelligence mobilised to accomplish such a construction. In Ancient Rome Basilicas were public buildings used for the imparting of law as well as a place to do business. They were accessible to the general public.3 The Basilica of Maxentius differed from the usual Basilica typology by being single-storied, compared to the double-storied precedents such as the Basilica Ulpia. This, however, did not diminish its size. Its imposing ceilings provided protection from the weather, providing an incredible interior space, lit by large openings in the aisles and lunettes for the nave.4 The Basilica’s structure was modelled on the great halls of the Baths of Diocletian5 using cross-vaults for the first time in a civic Basilica. The structural intelligence present in the architecture suggests how it was made possible only by the accumulated experience and expertise of ANALYSIS The Basilica Nova is located in the centre of the Roman Forum. It was accessed through the Via Sacra, which is still used in the archeological site today. The building’s oblong footprint measures about 82 by 63 meters and is characterised by a 25m wide central nave and three large barrel-vaulted aisles mirrored on each side.1 Four enormous piers support the large cross-vaults of figure 1 Ruins viewed from Palatine hill, 2020 figure 2 Ruins of central barrel vault with northern apse, 2020 the construction industry. For example, to make the concrete durable the Romans covered it with bricks and then cladded those bricks with stone.6 The cladding consisted of the lavish application of polychromatic marbles resulting in the most incredible enhancement of the interior. To give proportion and unity to the scale of the building, the overall design worked according to a grouping of 3 used for openings, archways and niches.7 The Vitruvian trinomial is clearly legible in its design, and its true meaning, namely the inter-dependence of Utilitas, Firmitas and Venustas really comes to light in its analysis. In order to fully understand the Basilica’s meaning, however, there is the need to infuse the formal aspects with the historical context of its construction. Before 306 the Empire was ruled by a tetrarchy. In 298 Diocletian started a great construction project in the city of Rome, which must have provided the organisational structure that Maxentius employed to erect his Basilica.8 In 306 Maxentius proclaimed himself as conservator Ur- bis Suae and started to build architecture worthy of the eternal city.9 The concept of Euergetism10 was used by Maxentius as an instrument for his propagandist politics.11 Simply put, the building of public architecture like the Basilica would allow him to gain popularity among the Roman citizens. Before he could see it finished, he was defeated by Constantine in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 after which the Senate dedicated the building to Constantine.12 Constantine made significant alterations to the design moving the tribunal to a new northern apse to house his colossus in the more important longitudinal apse. He also created a southern entrance resulting overall in a significant alteration of the emphasis of the design.13 In the 4th century the Basilica Nova became the judicial seat of the prefecture in charge of the administrative functions of the city14, and it is probably the place where Constantine imparted the law that would end the persecution of Christians. Interestingly, although Maxentius was not Christian, it was probably his tolerance edict that facilitated the spread of Christianity in Roman society under Constantine.15 SIGNIFICANCE The contrast between the severity of the exterior and the awe-invoking interior16 is emblematic for a shift that occurred in public architecture in gen- figure 3 Constantine’s colossal head (Capitoline Museum) figure 4 Interior reconstruction drawing eral. This shift consisted of an enhancement of interior spaces creating a dialectic between the exterior and interior. The unusual typology of the Basilica of Maxentius was determined by the importance placed on the interior in the sense that a second level could not be included in the design due to the application of vaulted ceilings. The “Reign of Maxentius (306-312) saw the zenith of the art of construction on the grand scale in service of the Empire”17 and the simpler form of buttressing the cross-vaults in the Basilica clearly implies how the Romans were constantly18 adapting and refining their arch systems. The amalgamation of typical Roman architecture into a new synthesis of structure is emblematic.19 Built in a time period when Rome was being neglected, with Constantine building a great Basilica in Trier (310), the Basilica Nova in Rome acted as a kind of retribution on behalf of Maxentius. Constantine would not erect any great public buildings after the Basilica Nova and not make use of the refined dome and vault structures.20 This is what makes the Basilica an apotheosis of grand Roman Architecture. The comparison to the contemporary Basilica in Trier yields a radical difference in the understanding of architecture, with the Basilica in Rome as an innovative project without direct precedents relying on the possibilities of Roman concrete construction and the Basilica in Trier as a clearly identifiable typological context relying on the tried and tested, traditional wood roof system.21 This makes Constantine’s alteration to the Basilica’s layout all the more relevant. When taking over the project he immediately put the scalpers to work to perform damnatio memoriae remodelling the colossus of Maxentius, and didn’t his alteration of the emphasis with a secondary axis for the tribunal inscribe the cross monogram into the design, the same symbol inscribed on the shields of his troops massed at the banks of the Tiber when he defeated Maxentius ad saxa rubra.22 figure 5 Diagram of inscribed cross layout Thus, the Basilica Nova’s design itself embodies the transitional period from Paganism to Christianity, and as the last great civic Basilica of Antiquity, it marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. On a final note, the implication of this analysis makes one wonder what contemporary architecture in our times can be discovered as being emblematic for shifts occurring in society and how the hindsight of this paper might very well be a kind of foresight too. 1222 words ENDNOTES 1 G. T. Rivoira, “Maxentius”/“Constantine” in Roman Architecture and its principles of construction under the Empire (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1925): p. 212 2 Ibid. 3 Anthony Minoprio, “A Restoration of the Basilica of Constantine, Rome”, Papers of the British School at Rome, Vol. 12 (1932): p. 1 4 G. T. Rivoira, Ibid. p. 214 5 Ibid. p. 212 6 David Watkins, The Roman Forum (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2009): p.48 7 Anthony Minoprio, Ibid. p. 19 8 Carlo Giavarini, La Basilica di Massenzio: Il monumento, i materiali, le strutture, la stabilità (Roma: “L’Erma di Bretschneider, 2005): p. 21 9 David Watkins, Ibid. p. 46 10 Euergetism, in Greco-Roman antiquity, the phenomenon of elite benefaction to towns and communities through voluntary gifts, such as public buildings or endowments for various forms of festival or distribution. The phenomenon is regarded by many historians as critical to understanding how city-states figure 7 South elevation functioned in the Hellenistic Greek east and throughout the wider Mediterranean world in the Roman republican and imperial eras. (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017) 11 Carlo Giavarini, Ibid. p. 11 12 Anthony Minoprio, Ibid. p. 1 13 Ibid. p. 10 14 David Watkins, Ibid. p. 46 15 Bernhard Kriegsbaum, “Die Religionspolitik des Kaisers Maxentius”, Archivum Historiae Pontificiae, Vol. 30 (1992): pp. 50 16 Anthony Minoprio, Ibid. p. 19 17 G. T. Rivoira, Ibid. p. 211 18 Ibid. p. 214 figure 6 Axonometric detail of barrel vault and pier 19 Carlo Giavarini, Ibid. p. 12 20 G. T. Rivoira, Ibid. p. 220 21 Carlo Giavarini, Ibid. p. 12 22 G. T. Rivoira, Ibid. p. 220 IMAGE BIBLIOGRAPHY figure 1: Photograph taken by Ludwig Hochleitner figure 2: Photograph taken by Ludwig Hochleitner figure 3: Taken from David Watkins Ibid. figure 4: Taken from David Watkins Ibid. figure 5: Diagram drawn by Ludwig Hochleitner figure 6: Axonometric by Auguste Choisy figure 7: Taken from Anthony Minoprio, Ibid. figure 7: Taken from Anthony Minoprio, Ibid. figure 8 South-North section Annotated Bibliography David Watkins, The Roman Forum (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2009): page range, https://archive.org/details/romanforum00watk/mode/2up I used this book to get an overall impression of the Basilica and how it fitted into its context, it is also a fairly recent book, which makes it a good counterpart to G.T. Rivoira’s book that was written about one century prior. Both text are very short and boths synthetically describe the most important aspects of the Basilica. G. T. Rivoira, “Maxentius”/“Constantine” in Roman Architecture and its principles of construction under the Empire (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1925): pp. 211-230, https://archive.org/details/romanarchitectur0000rivo/page/n11/mode/2up G. T. Rivoira comprehensive study of Roman Architecture is 20th century book that covers the most important aspects of the Basilica. It similar to David Watkins book the Roman Forum and it was interesting to compare the two. Anthony Minoprio, “A Restoration of the Basilica of Constantine, Rome”, Papers of the British School at Rome, Vol. 12 (1932): pp.1-25, https:// www.jstor.org/stable/40310435 This text was the first comprensive reconstruction of the Basilica done in the early 20th century. It points formal aspects and goes into how the Basilica was constructed. It borrows information from G. T. Roivoira book that was published only 7 years before. The architectural drawing produced in this book are exceptional and really show what the Basilica looked liked. Giavarini points out in his 2005 book that it Minoprio’s research was the only comprehensive reconstruction of the building to date. The drawings really helped me to visualize the architecture. Carlo Giavarini, La Basilica di Massenzio: Il monumento, i materiali, le strutture, la stabilità (Roma: “L’Erma di Bretschneider, 2005): pp. 9-60, https:// books.google.es/books?id=w2vNMgwrTlIC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ViewAPI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false This book largely covers the technical aspects of the construction of the Basilica. It uses previously researched data from Minoprio, but brings it to a more advanced level due to the computer technology of the early 2000s and due to an inter-disciplinary research to understand how it was built. It has a brief chapter about the design of the Basilica, which offered synthetical conclusions about the intentions and the historical background. Bernhard Kriegsbaum, “Die Religionspolitik des Kaisers Maxentius”, Archivum Historiae Pontificiae, Vol. 30 (1992): pp.7-54, https://www.jstor.org/ stable/23564572 This text is published in a journal of Pontifical Gregorian University and Bernard Kriegsbaum is a German theologian. One of the things I found relevant to my essay in this text is how Kriegsbaum elaborated Maxentius position towards the Christian religion. He proves that the hypothesis that Maxentius was Christian is very unlikely and a mistaken interpretation of the evidence, but at the same time he describes how Maxentius issued an edict of tolerance towards Christianity consisting of a minority in Rome at the same. I think this information is highly valuable to understand the transition to Constantine in terms of politics during the time period in which the Basilica of Maxentius was built.