BARBERIAN SLAVE

INVASIONS LABOUR

GOVERNMENT
CORRUPTION &
POLITICAL TAXES
INSTABILITY

WEAKENING OF CHRISTIANITY
MILITARY FORCES

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 The vast Roman Empire spanning from the main lands of Italy, Greece extending
up to England & France in the north, as well as encircled around the Mediterranean Sea
including parts of Asia Minor & North Africa was subject to dismantling due to lack of
central power.
The vast empire was divided into Western & Eastern empires.
The rich western province centred around Rome and was a target for invaders
which resulted in the destruction of the city.

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 In 324, Constantine's
army defeated the forces of
Licinius, the emperor of the east.
Constantine became emperor of
the entire empire and founded a
new capital city in the eastern
half at Byzantium. The city was
his New Rome and was later
named Constantinople.

These oppositions from

the invaders in the western
province resulted in the migration
of all the artisans, craftsmen,
masons to other developing
countries i.e., the eastern empire.
The eastern empire
flourished around Constantinople.
(presently known as Istanbul)

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Christianity which was born in Judea-a place in eastern province of Rome started spreading
towards the north and west even against the backdrop of great opposition and was
ultimately accepted as the state religion.

The Christian missionaries travelled all over the empire, providing unity for the weakening
empire. After almost four centuries of preaching's held all around the roman province,
Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire in 395 C.E.

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 Early Christian art and architecture is
the art produced by Christians from the
earliest period of Christianity.

Christian art was deliberatively

secretive and ambiguous, using imagery
that was shared socially but had a
special meaning for Christians.

Initially Jesus was represented

indirectly by pictogram symbols.
(Ichthys – meaning fish)

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 The formulation phase of Christianity and its
architecture can be considered from Constantine period.
(300 AD)

In these phases the architecture development

experienced the formulation phase, alterations &
development in plans, profile surroundings ,and there
were also some imitations of classical structures.

The development of Christian architecture in general

proved beneficial in establishing new norms, new
construction features, new materials, different types of
façade treatments & also versatile construction analysis.

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 This is one of the earliest identified
Christian house church.

Located in Syria.

It is a normal domestic house converted for

worship sometime between 233 & 256 AD.

It housed one room which served as the

baptistery.

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 Teaching area

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With little money in hand of the early Christians, it was necessary for them to adopt places
of worship which could be readily constructed.

Many of the roman temples, which were not in use for their original purpose, were utilized
as churches.

A rectangular church usually having a nave

with clerestories, two or four aisles, one or
more vaulted apses, and a timber roof.

Many of these basilicas were erected out of

fragments taken from other earlier buildings
to present a mixture of columns, capitals,
etc..

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1) Propylaeum- the entrance building of a sacred precinct, whether church or
imperial palace.
2) Atrium- in early Christian, Byzantine, and medieval architecture, the forecourt of a
church; as a rule enveloped by four colonnaded porticoes.
3) Narthex- the entrance hall or porch preceding the nave of a church.
4) Nave- the great central space in a church. In longitudinal churches, it extends from
the entrance to the apse (or only to the crossing if the church has one) and is usually
flanked by side aisles.
5) Side Aisle- one of the corridors running parallel to the nave of a church and
separated from it by an arcade or colonnade.

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6) Crossing- the area in a church where the transept and the nave intersect.
7) Transept- in a cruciform church, the whole arm set at right angles to the nave.
Note that the transept appears infrequently in Early Christian churches. Old St.
Peter's is one of the few example of a basilica with a transept from this period. The
transept would not become a standard component of the Christian church until the
Carolingian period.
8) Apse- a recess, sometimes rectangular but usually semi circular, in the wall at the
end of a Roman basilica or Christian church. The apse in the Roman basilica
frequently contained an image of the Emperor and was where the magistrate
dispensed laws. In the Early Christian basilica, the apses contained the "cathedra" or
throne of the bishop and the altar.

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PLANS

• The Early Christians followed the basilican model for their new churches.
• May also have used old Roman halls, baths, dwelling-houses, and even pagan temples as
places of worship

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Openings
• Arcades, doors, and windows were either spanned by a
semi-circular arch
• Which in nave arcades, often rested directly on the
capitals without any entablatures, or were spanned by a
lintel..

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Roofs
• Timber roofs covered the central nave, and only simple forms of construction, such as
king and queen post trusses, were employed.
• The narrower side aisles were occasionally vaulted and the
• Apse was usually domed and lined with beautiful glass mosaics, which formed a fitting
background to the sanctuary .

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Columns

• Differ both in design and size, often taken from

earlier Roman buildings. It was natural that early
Christian builders should use materials and
ornament of the pagan Romans.

• Used Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, or

Composite from ancient Roman buildings,.

• The carved capitals are governed by Roman

pagan precedent and sometimes by that of
Byzantine, and in both the acanthus leaf forms an
important part.

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Ornaments

• The introduction of colour gave richness

and glimmering mystery to interiors.

• The mosaics which was the principal

form of interior ornament, lined the domed
apses generally represented Christ
surrounded by apostles and saints with all
those symbolic emblems. Usually made of
glass

• Fresco painting usually in figure forms

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i. Commonest form of the early church.
ii. Unlike the earlier Roman phase, the interiors were give more importance than exterior.
iii. Rectangular hall, timber-roofed with coffers & richly glided ceiling (hiding the roof
truss) on nave.
iv. Usually with one or two aisles to each side of the central nave separated by rows of
rustic marble columns, sometimes carrying flat entablatures & sometimes, rows of
arches.
v. The width of aisles was half that of the central nave.
vi. Apse at one end facing the principal entrances at the other end.
vii. Bema / Transept – a raised platform where altar was placed & from where the clergy
officiated.
viii. A courtyard (atrium) having a central fountain for ablutions & surrounded by
colonnaded ambulatory.

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ix. A narthex – corresponding to entrance foyer, preceding the nave.
x. The nave & bema received light from clerestory above the aisles & were pierced with
windows.
xi. Above aisles & between clerestory windows, the walls may be faced with marble, or
mosaics made up from small tesserae of coloured glass.
xii. The nave terminates into a ‘triumphal arch’, perhaps having iridescent (brightly
coloured & changing) mosaics.
xiii. The semi-circular walls of the apse ended into a dome, whose interiors had mosaics
depicting narrative scenes from Bible or single figures seen against stylised
landscapes or plain gold grounds.
xiv. The flooring was of grey-white & black marble, inlaid with geometric patterns of
coloured marble.
xv. The columns, capitals & similar features from old Roman buildings were frequently
reused to enhance the liveliness of the interiors.
xvi. In the new churches, arches were more often used to span between columns of a
colonnade instead of flat entablatures.

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i. Present day St. Peters in Vatican City – a rebuilding of a totally different design &
on a substantially enlarged scale.
ii. Built over the historical site of the Circus of Nero under the rule of Emperor
Constantine I in c. 320AD
iii. The original church survived without much change until towards the end of 15th
Century & the nave for another century.
iv. Remains of old foundation are present below the present flooring but details of
atrium are obscure.
v. Dimensions: 110.0m long x 64.0m wide with double aisles on both sides.
vi. The nave was divided from aisles by 22 varied (size & colour), huge & antique
marble columns with equally varied capitals supporting the nave walls on a
horizontal entablature, while similar numbers of shorter columns carrying
arcades divided aisle from aisle.
vii. It was built in the shape of Latin cross, with a gable roof, timbered on inside & at
30.0m high at centre.
viii. An atrium known as Garden of Paradise stood at the entrance with 5 doors.
ix. The nave ended with an arch & the walls had parallel windows each with frescos

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