Basilica

Basilica.jpg
Basilica interior.jpg
Basilica on left, forum right.jpg

Dublin Core

Title

Basilica

Description

Location: Paestum
Date: second half of the second century BC
Details: In 273, the Romans established a Latin colony at Paestum. (The city was originally called Poseidonia by its Greek inhabitants.)

As in other Latin colonies, the settlers grafted Roman-style civic structures on top of the older city, in the process transforming the original Greek layout of the town.

The basilica, like similar structures in Rome, was a place where city officials performed many of their duties. This was a place where legal proceedings took place and business was transacted; it also may have housed public archives. (Note that on Paestum site maps, the basilica is labeled as the "curia," perhaps to avoid confusion with the southernmost temple popularly known as "the Basilica.")

Creator

Gabriel Baker

Rights

Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License

Citation

Gabriel Baker, “Basilica,” Archaeology, Artifacts, & Landscapes, accessed March 29, 2024, https://gabrieldavidbaker.com/digital-exhibit/items/show/11.

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