276
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s.m. APRIL 8,m
stand by the presence not only of walls of
very considerable extent, but of a basilica
which he describes (9 th S. ii. 429) as " 270 feet
long " with tribunes at each end an edifice
of the same length, in fact, as the basilica of
Constantine, the largest of ancient basilicas 1
Why provide such enormous accommoda-
tion if it was not required ? Why such
princely provision for the administration
of justice if the city did not need it? Why
should a British-Roman town of the second
order possess a basilica rivalling in length
the largest in the capital of the world 1
Perhaps MR. HOPE can explain this. I truly
trust he will do so to the satisfaction not
merely of myself, but of all those who are
similarly interested in Roman Britain.
I now turn to the church (?) ; and, first of all, let me point out that my having suggested in my last letter a variety of small Roman buildings which might have observed the basilican type does not indicate (as ME. HOPE endeavours to show) that I have altered my former conclusion. I still consider that probably "it was simnly the Court of Justice " ; but these other varieties of official edifice seemed to me at least to deserve enumeration as well. Any one of these might have exemplified the basilican type, and Silchester might have possessed some of them. The smallness of the building in question, however, only reminds one of the fact that buildings of the fourth and fifth centuries reflect the deca- dence rather than the infancy of a people. But that there were very small pagan buildings of the basilican type, divided into nave and aisles, even in Rome, is shown by the residence of the Quindecemviri, the remains of which lie beneath S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini.* But they do not appear ever to have possessed- crypts.
Now why was the basilica form adopted by the early Christians instead of the most usual form of rectangular pagan temple 1 For the reason that this form was that best fitted for a large attendance of worshippers. But it is manifest that in a building " 29| feet long and 10 feet wide (in the nave)" the accom- modation was anything but generous ; espe- cially when it is considered that the building rose in the immediate vicinity of the most important meeting-place in the city, in the very heart of Silchester, where one would have expected the merchants' god rather than Christ installed as guardian. But I seem to recollect that Britain had by the middle of
- They represent the " Secretariura Neronis" of
the'Mirabilia.'
the fourth century been drained of money
in which case it would have been reasonable
for the Christians there, if permitted to do so
to > adapt a pagan building rather than ix
build a fresh one ; while it would surely have
been utterly ridiculous of the Christians, i:
they were really numerous and powerfu
enough to fasten upon the heart of the city
not to make use of a larger edifice than thii
pigmy one. Moreover, why did they fail tc
conform to the universal custom of the earlj
Christians, not merely those of Italy, but
those of neighbouring Gaul ?
" Habituellement nos premieres e'glises francaisei possedent sons 1'abside une crypte, dans laquelL etait de"pos($ un corps saint, et qnelquefois le fon< de l'e"glise lui-meme rappelle les dispositions de sei constructions souterraines, bien que la nef conserv< la physionomie de labasiliqueantique." M. Viollet le-i)uc, ' D. R. de 1'Architecture.'
Now the great difference between a Chris tian and a pagan basilica* is the presence o: this crypt, which afforded a sanctuary foi celebrating sacred rites during times o: persecution, as well as a safe sepulchre a other times for the precious relics of { martyr. To such considerations, however MR. ST. JOHN HOPE only remarks, " Did ME BADDELEY realize the smallness of the build ing, I doubt if he would bid me look for t crypt." What has that circumstance to d< with the proofs we require that this was t Christian church ?
As I am no believer in the modesty of th< early Christians, and have had before m< ample evidence of their aggressive nature, ] merely asked for the customary evidences o: their having been present at Silchester al all, namely, for a brick, a lamp, a sepulchra slab, or a vase, bearing upon it, howevei roughly incised, one of their many sacra tokens, or else their favourite monogram They had a way of letting you know when they had been. Has all Silchester, rich as i' has proved in the yields so ably arranger and displayed at Reading Museum, not yet yielded one single such token 1 They cannpi lie at the greater depths, except they be ir the wells ; therefore they must lie "in th< upfDer stratum. Let us still hope for sue! an interesting discovery, and, meanwhile humbly suspend our judgments.
ST. GLAIR BADDELEY.
CAMELIAN RING (8 th S. vii. 429 ; 9 th 8. iii 75, 193). Miss Wilkins's story has nearlj faded from my memory, but I do not believe
- Pagan "temples" also had crypts occasionally.
My friend Giacomo Boni lately laid open the en- trance to that of the temple of Antoninus in the Forum in niy presence.
