ts was the dome; a characteristic of the architecture of Eastern
Europe, which acquired the name Byzantine, from its having been carried
to great perfection in Byzantium (Constantinople), the capital of the
Eastern Empire.

The church of S. Sophia, which was built, much as it now exists, early
in the sixth century, and was afterwards converted into a mosque, is an
almost perfect example of the Byzantine style. In this building we find
the Roman arch used in a variety of ways, while the dome itself is
formed entirely of this arch used as the crowning work of the edifice.
Eastern churches in this style usually took the form of the Greek cross,
this form being better calculated to support the weight of the cupola.
In Western Europe, however, where the flat squat tower afterwards
developed into the steeple, as we shall see in a later chapter, the
Latin cross was mostly used, and this, with a few notable exceptions, is
the plan of most western churches.

With writers of about fifty years ago, it was a favourite theory that
the Christians converted the old basilicae into churches, and that the
"Halls of Justice" erected by the Romans in this country were also
converted into Christian churches, and some authorities point to the
walls and arches of Brixworth church in confirmation of this theory. The
late Mr. J. W. Brewer, however, stated that unfortunately for this
theory, no single example of a basilica being converted into a church
has been found in this country and he himself held the theory that the
word basilica was used by the Romans to describe any building which was
supported by internal columns, and in that way the name came to be
applied to Christian churches.

As we have seen, the early Christians, after a short time, became
dissatisfied with these buildings adapted from Pagan types, and the
Byzantine form of church arose, the first people who practised this
style of building being the Greeks. The style spread with rapidity all
over the East, the great church of S. Sophia being its largest example
and the smaller, but more perfect, church of S. Mark at Venice giving us
the best idea of this form of church architecture. Largely modelled on
this style, also, are the circular baptisteries of Italy and the round
churches of England, France and Germany, the modern Russian churches and
all the Mohammedan mosques. The Latin churches did not greatly favour
this style and their use of it was confined, with few exceptions,