Basilica Aemilia

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Area of ​​the Basilica Aemilia with a view of the Curia Iulia

The Basilica Aemilia is the only one of the four great basilicas from the time of the Roman Republic that is still visible and is located in the Roman Forum in Rome .

history

The basilica was built in 179 BC. Chr. By the censors Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Marcus Fulvius Nobilior built and was called Basilica Aemilia et Fulvia . After the members of the Aemilians family restored the basilica over and over again in the late republic and early imperial times , it was renamed Basilica Aemilia.

So let 80 to 78 BC Chr. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , descendant of the censor of the same name, put up shields with the images of his ancestors, which can also be seen on a coin with the Basilica Aemilia, which was probably built in 61 BC. Came into circulation. It is unclear whether this occupies a further construction phase.

Imaginative reconstruction drawing of the Basilica Aemilia during the Augustan era , 1905.

Another safe new building phase extended from the 50s to 34 BC. It was started by Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus , although due to contradicting sources the exact time is also unclear here and Aemilius Lepidus one year after Cicero 44 BC. Was still highly praised for his building work on the forum, was proscribed and fled to Asia Minor. His son Paullus Aemilius Lepidus consecrated in 34 BC. BC as a suffect consul the basilica.

The Basilica Aemilia burned down in 14 BC. During a great fire that spread to the Temple of Vesta , the foundations were broken down and was rebuilt. In name only, this was done by Marcus Aemilius Paullus, the funds probably came from Augustus and friends of Aemilius. A dedicatory inscription to Lucius and Gaius Caesar is commonly dated to the year 2 BC. Dated and assigned to the porticus , which suggests its completion in this year.

There was another fire in 238, after which extensive restoration work was necessary. Finally the Basilica Aemilia was 410 during the sack of Rome by Alaric I destroyed. Their remains were later used as building material.

Almost nothing is known of the exact shape of the basilica. The approximately 70 × 30 m interior was divided into three naves. Later another ship was probably added on the north side. The facade facing the forum was placed in front as a presumably two-story porticus. Behind the 16 arches were tabernae, which probably served as business premises.

exploration

The first excavations at the basilica began in 1899 under the direction of Giacomo Boni , the excavation documentation never being published. In the 1930s, the basilica was fully exposed and partially restored under Alfonso Bartoli . The first - albeit sparse - published excavation reports come from a subsequent excavation by Pietro Romanelli from 1946 to 1948. Deep excavations were also carried out, which uncovered two more pillars, although their connection with the literary sources is still difficult.

Over the past 50 years the frieze and the barbarian statues associated with the basilica have been widely discussed; architectural ornament research tried to classify the preserved structural members in a chronology. In the 1970s to 1990s, Heinrich Bauer added new plans and structural elements in order to reconstruct the building from the early imperial era. He also tried to shed light on Republican building history. He published his results in several articles, but died without publishing a final publication. Currently, a new building is being surveyed and all previous materials are being examined as a project of the German Archaeological Institute .

  • Structural remains that belong to an earlier era of the basilica. The fragments of the wall and columns, which show traces of quarrying, are still recognizable. The basic orientation of the original building complex is the same as that of the successor building.

  • Drawing of the remains of the Basilica Aemilia by Giuliano da Sangallo, 1480

  • Illustration of the facade of the Basilica Aemilia on a Roman coin, 61 BC. Chr.

literature

  • Heinrich Bauer: Basilica Aemilia. In: M. Hofter (Ed.): Emperor Augustus and the lost republic. von Zabern, Mainz 1988, ISBN 3-8053-1007-2 , pp. 200-211 (exhibition catalog), Berlin, 1988.
  • Heinrich Bauer: Basilica Fulvia. In: EM Steinby (ed.): Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae I , Rome, 1993, pp. 173-175.
  • Klaus Stefan Freyberger: New Research on the Roman Forum. The Basilica Aemilia - a luxury building for trade and justice in the center of ancient Rome In: Museum landscape Hessen Kassel: Forum Romanum. Time travel through 3000 years of history , by Michael Imhof Verlag, ISBN 3-7319-0002-5 , pp. 188–194 (catalog for the exhibition from April 4 to July 27, 2014 in the Museum Schloss Wilhelmshöhe), Kassel, 2014.
  • Peter Kränzle: Frieze of the Basilica Aemilia. In: Ancient plastic. Lfg. 23, 1994, ISSN  0518-018X , pp. 93-130.
  • Johannes Lipps: The Basilica Aemilia at the Roman Forum. The imperial building and its ornamentation , Palilia 24, ISBN 3-8950-0870-2 , Wiesbaden, 2011.
  • Karlfriedrich Ohr: To the Basilica Aemilia at the Roman Forum - a different approach. In: Ders .: Vitruvii Basilicana et cetera. Karlsruhe 2019, pp. 49–68. ISBN 978-3-7315-0850-2 .

Web links

Commons : Basilica Aemilia  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rainer Albert, The Coins of the Roman Republic, No. 1339 / Cr. 419/3, Sear 374

Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 33.5 "  N , 12 ° 29 ′ 9.7"  E