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Basilica of Junius Bassus

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Basilica of Junius Bassus
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Panel with Hylas and the nymphs and the Egyptian-themed decoration known as Alexandrine vellum
Basilica of Junius Bassus is located in Rome
Basilica of Junius Bassus
Basilica of Junius Bassus
Shown within Augustan Rome
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41°53′52″N 12°30′01″E / 41.897703°N 12.500139°E / 41.897703; 12.500139
TypeBasilica

The Basilica of Junius Bassus (Latin: basilica Iunii Bassi) was an ancient Roman civic basilica on the Esquiline Hill in Rome, on a site now occupied by the Pontifical Oriental Institute near the Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore. It is best known for its surviving opus sectile mosaics that are preserved in the Capitoline Museums and the Museo Nazionale Romano.

History

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According to an inscription, the basilica was built on the estate of Junius Bassus in 331 at the start of his consulship.[1][a] After serving as years as praetorian prefect for over a decade, his promotion to consul warrented his new status as a public benefactor, allowing him to construct a public basilica on his estate. The new public space signalled the new consul's willingness to engage with the public while displaying his aristocratic virtues.[2]

It consisted of a simple apsidal hall with high clerestory windows, entered through a narthex with rounded ends and marble ornamentation throughout the interior.[3] While none of the original structure survived after urban development on the site in 1930, a drawing by Renaissance artist Giuliano da Sangallo provides a glimpse into the interior decoration.[4]

The marble ornamentation that survives, done in the technique known as opus sectile, depicts scenes of lions attacking calves, the abduction of Hylas, and a portrait of Junius Bassus on a chariot.[5] This portrait, depicting Junius Bassus wearing his consular robes, presents the basilica's patron as a generous supporter of public entertainment. This, paired with the lion mosaics, reminded viewers of Junius Bassus's civic virtues and concern for the public welfare.[6]

Reuse

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In the fifth century, a Romanized Gothic member of the city's elite named Valila acquired the property, possibly through a marriage alliance with the Bassus gens. After donating the basilica to the bishop, the structure was dedicated to Saint Andrew and proceeded to serve as a Christian place of worship.[7] The inscription dedication to Junius Bassus remained, reflecting Valila's desire to transfer the honor of his predecessor to his own patronage of the Christian church and preserve the memory of Junius Bassus. The mosaics, with their pagan iconography, were also curiously preserved in syncretism with the new Christian imagery in the church. Art historian Gregor Kalas hypothesizes that the Christians reinterpreted the sexually violent imagery found in the panel depicting the abduction of Hylas as an allegory for the transformation of Rome from pagan to Christian in late Antiquity.[8] A homily written during the time of Pope Gregory I (r. 590–640) describes the church in relation to the former ancient Roman basilica, reflecting a lasting memory of the site's pagan past.[9][b]

After being slowly dismantled over the centuries, the structure was ultimately destroyed in the construction of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in 1930. Prior to that, the opus sectile mosaics were removed from the site and placed on display in the staircase of the Palazzo dei Conservatiri in 1903.[10]

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Notes

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  1. ↑ Latin: Iunius Bassus v(ir) c(larissimus) consul ordinarius propria impensa a solo fecit et dedicavit feliciter.
  2. ↑ The homily reads in Latin: "Habita in basilica s. Andreae post Praesepe", which Armellini believes refers to the Basilica of Junius Bassius.

References

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  1. ↑ "CIL VI.1737". EDCS – Epigraphy Database Clauss / Slaby. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
  2. ↑ Kalas, Gregor (Oct 2013). "Architecture and élite identity in late antique Rome: appropriating the past at Sant'Andrea Catabarbara". Papers of the British School at Rome. 81: 283–284. doi:10.1017/S0068246213000111. JSTOR 42706324. S2CID 194098563.
  3. ↑ Coarelli, Filippo (2007). Rome and environs: an archaeological guide. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-520-07960-1. JSTOR 10.1525/j.ctt5vk043.
  4. ↑ "Barb.lat.4424". DigiVatLib. Vatican Library. f. 33v.
  5. ↑ Richardson, Lawrence (1992). "Basilica Iunii Bassi". A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-8018-4300-6.
  6. ↑ Kalas, Gregor (Oct 2013). "Architecture and élite identity in late antique Rome: appropriating the past at Sant'Andrea Catabarbara". Papers of the British School at Rome. 81: 287–288. doi:10.1017/S0068246213000111. JSTOR 42706324. S2CID 194098563.
  7. ↑ Kalas, Gregor (Oct 2013). "Architecture and élite identity in late antique Rome: appropriating the past at Sant'Andrea Catabarbara". Papers of the British School at Rome. 81: 292. doi:10.1017/S0068246213000111. JSTOR 42706324. S2CID 194098563.
  8. ↑ Kalas, Gregor (Oct 2013). "Architecture and élite identity in late antique Rome: appropriating the past at Sant'Andrea Catabarbara". Papers of the British School at Rome. 81: 298–299. doi:10.1017/S0068246213000111. JSTOR 42706324. S2CID 194098563.
  9. ↑ Armellini, Mariano (1891). "S. Andrea Catabarbara Patricia". Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX. p. 815.
  10. ↑ Nash, Ernest (1961). "Basilica Iunii Bassi". Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Vol. 1. London: A. Zwemmer Ltd. p. 190-195.

Further reading

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  • Becatti, Giovanni (1969). "La basilica di Giunio Basso sull'Esquilino". Edificio con opus sectile fuori Porta Marina. Scavi di Ostia (in Italian). Vol. 6. Rome: Istituto poligrafico dello Stato. p. 181-215.
  • Cagiano de Azevedo, Michelangelo (1967–1968). "La datazione delle tarise della basilica di Giunio Basso". Rendiconti della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia (in Italian): 151-170.
  • Cima, Maddalena; Rubolino, Maria Pia (2000). "Giunius Basso: la 'basilica scomparsa. Il restauro delle tarise dei Musei Capitolini". Bollettino dei Museo Communali di Roma (in Italian). 14: 69-86.
  • De Rossi, Giovanni Battista (1871). "La basilica profana di Giunio Basso sull'Esquilino dedicato poi a S. Andrea Catabarbara Patricia". Bullettino di Archeologia Cristina (in Italian). 2: 5-64.
  • Guidobaldi, Federico (1995). "Domus: Iunius Bassus". In Steinby, Eva Margareta (ed.). Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae (in Italian). Vol. 2. Rome: Edizioni Quasar. ISBN 8871400739.
  • Hagan, Stephanie A. (2018). Marble and Munificence: Reassessing the Basilica of Junius Bassis at Rome (Ph.D. thesis). University of Pennsylvania.
  • Luigi, G. (1932). "La Basilica di Giunio Basso sull'Esquilino". Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana (in Italian). 9: 221-255.
  • Martindale, John R., ed. (1992). "Fl. Valila qui et Theodovius". The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume III, AD 527–641. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 1147. ISBN 0-521-20160-8.
  • Marucchi, Orazio (1893). "I lavori ad intarsio della Basilica di Giunio Basso sull'Esquilino". Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale in Roma (in Italian). 21: 89-104.
  • Sapelli, Marina (2000). "La Basilica di Giunio Basso". In Ensoli, Serena; La Rocca, Eugenio (eds.). Aurea Roma: dalla città pagana alla città christiana (in Italian). Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider. p. 136-139.
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  • Capitoline Museums: Inv. MC 1222 and Inv. MC 1226
  • iDAi objects / Arachne
  • Pleiades
  • Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Basilica di Giunio Basso (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons
Preceded by
Basilica Julia		 Landmarks of Rome
Basilica of Junius Bassus		 Succeeded by
Basilica of Maxentius
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