Roman Basilicas
About 100 AD, Trajan added a new forum with a new basilica, the Basilica Ulpia (in the background you can see the Column of Trajan; the Markets of Trajan are off to the right).
In the late empire, about 310 AD, the Emperor Maxentius built a new basilica at the other end of the Roman Forum, which was finished by Constantine. This is called the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine. This was one of the first basilicas to have its doors on the short side instead of the long side, even though it was not a church.
When Christians began to build churches in the 200s AD, they built them like basilicas. After Constantine converted to Christianity, many Christian churches, like Chartres Cathedral or the Duomo in Florence, were built using variations on the basilica form.
To find out more about Roman basilicas, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
City : A Story of Roman Planning and Construction, by David Macaulay (1983). For kids - brilliant! The basilica is an early one.
Roman Architecture, by Frank Sear (1983). The standard college textbook.
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The Architecture of the Roman Empire: An Introductory Study, by William MacDonald (1982). Actually not so introductory, but it's got great illustrations that really make the building techniques clear.
Early Christian Churches
Main Roman Architecture page
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