... the administration of justice was done there. After some time every town and city with some self-respect had a basilica. In Michael Grants book, The Roman Forum, it states that the arches and arcades developed from plain colonnades- rows of columns without round arches inside them-, which played a great part in Greek then Roman architecture. The magnified and improved adaptations from Greek models were rectangular roofed halls serving as meeting places for social and commercial activities, and for the proceedings of law.2 The Basilica had the additional advantage that it could protect people against the heat of Summer. This may have been a reason for the increased popularity of the basilica. At the time of the Romans, the basilicas didn't have a religious function. Later when the Christians started using the basilica as example for their churches, the basilicas got a religious function. The Basilica Aemilia (179 BC) was a stock building and was ...

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