n 386, is supposed
to be a true copy, so far as structure is concerned, of the grand
basilica destroyed by fire in 1823. It has a nave 280 feet long by 78
wide, and the whole building is 400 feet in length by 200 wide. A noble
arch spans the intersection of the transepts, and lofty columns with
richly carved capitals divide the nave from the aisles and the latter,
of which there are five, from each other, but the roof is only a flat
wooden one, the external walls are wanting in dignity and solidity,
whilst the height, 100 feet only, is quite out of proportion with the
otherwise noble dimensions.

Another very fine early basilican church in Rome is that of S. Maria
Maggiore, occupying the site of a 5th century building, some of the
marble columns of which with Ionic capitals have been incorporated in
the later structure. The Churches of S. Agnese and S. Lorenzo are also
of basilican plan, and have both the somewhat rare feature of galleries
over the aisles. The former is but little altered since its erection,
whilst the latter has gone through a long series of vicissitudes. It was
founded in the 4th century and greatly added to in the 5th by Sixtus
III, who joined a second church on to it, so that it had an apse at each
end. Both these apses, with the walls between the earlier and the later
buildings, were pulled down in the 13th century by order of Pope
Honorius III, who had the earlier church converted into a choir and the
later into a nave, with very satisfactory results.

Even more interesting than S. Lorenzo is S. Clemente, Rome, that
consists of two buildings of widely separated dates one above another,
the lower, which now serves as a crypt, supposed to have been built at
the beginning of the 6th century, the upper not until 1108. Both are of
the same general plan as the other basilican churches described, with
certain differences in minor details, including in the more modern
portion a low marble screen dividing the choir and altar from the nave.

[Illustration: Church of S. Clemente]

To many of these early churches fine cloisters, that is to say, arcaded
colonnades encircling the outer walls, were added, those that once
enclosed the ancient basilica of S. Paola fuori le Mura being among the
finest still preserved, that may be said to have anticipated the
beautiful ambulatories of later monastic and collegiate buildings.

In other cities of the Roman empire are many noteworthy early basilican
churches, incl