§ 106. ARCHITECTURAL STYLE. THE BASILICAS. 551
Ignatius,' Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzen, and Augustine know of only one altar in the church. The Greek church has nc more to this day. The introduction of such side altars, which however belong not to tlie altar space, but to the nave ot the church, is connected with the progress of the worship of martyrs and relics.
At the left of the altar was the table oi jyrothesis^ on which the elements for the holy Supper were prepared, and which is still used in the Greek cliurch ; at the I'ight the sacristy^ where the priests robed themselves, and retired for silent prayer. Behind the altar on the circular wall (and under the painting of Christ enthroned, if there was one) stood the hisliop's chair^ overlooking the whole church. On both sides of it, in a semicircle, were the seats of the presbyters. None but the clergy were allowed to receive the holy Supper within the altar rails.'
§ 106. ArcliiteGtural Style. The Basilicas.
Comp. the works on tlie Basilicas by P. Saenelli (Antica Basilicografta. Neapoli, 1686), Oiampini (Rom. 1693), Guttensohn «& Knapp (Monumenta di rel. christ., ossia raccolta delle antiolie chiese di Roma. Rom. 1822 sqq. 3 vols.; also in German, Miinchen, 1843), Bunsen (Die Basiliken des cliristlichen Roms. Miinchen, 1843, a commentary on the preceding). Von Quast (Berl. 1845), and Zesteemann (Die antiken und die christlichen Basiliken. Leipz. 1847).
The history of church building, from the simple basilicas of the fourth century to the perfect Gothic cathedrals of the thirteenth and fourteenth, exiiibits, like the history of the other Christian arts and the sciences, a gradual subjection an<^
' He even expressly (Ep. ad Philad. c. 4) likens the unity of the church iu tie episcopate to the unity of the altar: ""Ev ^vmanT'ijpiot', ws eh iiriaKoiros. " UpobecTis, oblationarium, still used in the Greek church.
* ^KevotpuXaKTiof, StaKoviKov, sacristia, sacrorum custodia, salutatorium, etc.
* @p6ios, cathedra.
* Before Ambrose the emperors were permitted to take their seats within th« dtar-space. But Ambrose, with the appi'oval of Theodosius, abolished this custom, and assigned to the emperors a special place at the head of the congregation, jusJ outside the rails. Sozomen, H. E. vii. 25.
552 THIRD PERIOD. A.D. 311-590.
transformation of previous Jewish and heathen forms hy the Christian principle. The cliurch succeeded to the inheritance of all nations, but could only by degrees purge this inheritance of its sinful adulterations, pervade it with her spirit, and subject it to her aims; for she fulfils her mission through human freedom, not in spite of it, and does not magically transform nations, but legitimately educates them.
The history of Western architecture is the richer. Tlie East contented itself with the Byzantine style, and adhered more strictly to the forms of the round temples, baptisteries, and mausoleums ; while the West, starting from the E,omau basilica, developed various styles.
The style of the earliest Christian churches was not copied from the heathen temples, because, apart I'rom their connection with idolatry, which was itself highly oflensive to the Christian sentiment, tliey were in form and arrangement, as we have already remarked, entirely unsuitable to Christian worshi]^. The primitive Christian architecture followed the basilicas, and hence the churches built in this style were themselves called basilicas. The connection of the Christian and heathen basilicas, which has been hitherto recognized, and has been maintained by celebrated connoisseurs,' has been denied by some modern investigators,^ who have claimed for the Christian an entirely independent origin. And it is perfectly true, as concerns the interior arrangement and symbolical import of the ])uilding, that these can be ascribed to the Christian mind alone. Nor have any forensic or mercantile basilicas, to our knowledge, been transformed into Christian churclies.' But in external architectural form there is without question an affinity, and there appears no reason why the church should not have employed this classic form.
The basilicas,* or royal halls, were public judicial and mer-
' Bunsen, Schnaase, Kugler, Kinkel, Quast, &c.
' Zestcrniann (1847) and Krauser (1851).
' The j)assagc quoted for this view from Ausonius in his address of thanks to ibe empeior Gratian, his pupil, c. 2 : " roruni et basilica olim negotiis plena, nunc votis, votisque pro tua salute susceptis," implies only, according to the connection, that aow all houses and public places are full of good wishes for the emperor.
2Toai ^aaiKiKai. The name comes from that of the highest civil magistrate