The Basilica at Alba Fucens

Alba Fucens was found as a Roman colony in 303 B.C. One of the constituent parts of the city was the forum, an oblong unbuilded place where political meetings and votings were held. At the north end of this place a comitium was built. It is characterized by its circular layout which refers to the old comitium of Rome and Cosa. This comitium was open to the forum and had a colonnade on the left and right sides. When we compare with Rome and Cosa we may assume that the back of this comitium was formed by a curia building. Unfortunately everything is destroyed on this side.

The basilica is situated on the south end of the forum. The basilica itself is preceeded by a portico of 12 columns, the first and last are put in line with the north east and south west ends of the nave. It is not clear whether this portico belongs to the initial phase of the building (late 2nd century B.C) or is the result of an adaptation around the mid first century B.C. The building proper had an external length of 53,30 m and a width of 23,33 m which is the equivalent of 180 x 78 3/4 roman feet. The internal dimensions are 178 1/2 x 76 1/2 feet. These dimensions are the result of using the lower diameter of the columns as module. This diameter was 2 1/4 feet. If we accept this module as the unifying measure of the layout we see how the external dimensions of the basilica can be reduced to 80 x 35 modules. The internal nave had 8 x 4 columns and measured 140 1/4 x 38 1/4 roman feet on axes. The 38 1/4 is the equivalent of 3 intercolumniations of the portico in front of the basilica, showing the close relationship between this portico and the basilica. The width of the aisles was 1,5 intercolumniations or 19 1/8 feet. So the width of the nave was half the width of the basilica.
The spacing of the columns in the long axis is more puzzling. Where the length on axes equals the length of the portico in front of the basilica and in the intercolumniations of the short ends equal the intercolumniations of the portico we could assume that there were 12 columns on the long side as well. But this contradicts the archaeological evidence where only 8 columns are shown on the long axis with on the right and left sides three intercolumniations of 19 1/8 feet, which equals the width of the aisles. This leaves an intercolumniation of 25 1/2 feet for the two entral columns of the north west side, laying more emphasis on the transversal axis of the building.
Against the south east wall of the basilica a food market (macellum) was built. Of this macellum four shops are incorporated in the ground plan of the basilica. Since nothing is known about the elevation of this building it is not clear whether these supposed shops served as substructure for the tribunal or that they were just an intrusion of another building into the basilica. The former is most probable.
Although much remains unsolved about this building there are a lot of interesting elements in this early Italian basilica which find their reflexion in the description of Vitruvius and which are significant for the subsequent evolution of this building type. Chief among these is the fact that the axial width of the nave was designed to be twice that of the aislas and half that of the basilica. Equally striking is the sum of the nave's axial width (38 1/4 feet) and length (140 1/4 feet) which gives a total which equals the planned axial length of the basilica (178 1/2 feet). Finally the use of a broader cenrtal intercolumniation to emphasize the cross-axis of the basilica and to create an imposing approach towards a ceremonial or religious feature on the oppposite side of the building was to prove one of the most influential aspects of later basilica design.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A.Boëthius - J.B.Ward-Perkins, Etruscan and Roman architecture, Harmondsworth, 1970
J.Mertens, Alba Fucens, Bruxelles, 1981
P.Gros, L'architecture Romaine, 1. Les monuments publics, Paris, 1996
C.V.Walthew, A metrological study of the early Roman basilicas, Lewiston-Queenston-Lampeter, 2002