Basilica Volubilitana
About
Volubilis raised its civil basilica beside the forum in the Severan era, finishing construction under Emperor Macrinus in the early third century CE. The two-story building measured 42.2 meters long and 22.3 meters wide, giving the city's magistrates a covered hall for legal proceedings and business that no open-air forum could match through Morocco's rainy winters. Its scale ranks it among the finest Roman basilicas built anywhere in Africa. This building postdates the 117 CE snapshot by roughly a century; in Trajan's day, Volubilis conducted its legal business without it.
What happened here
This is the town's indoor hall, and in winter it is where everyone goes. Court sits at one end on a raised platform, screened off with wooden partitions when the case is private. Around it, business goes on regardless — contracts witnessed, cargoes argued over, bankers at their tables, men sheltering from rain with nothing to do. The roof is carried on two storeys of columns, and the upper gallery is a good place to watch a trial without being counted as part of the crowd. Advocates are paid by reputation and perform accordingly; a good one draws an audience the way an actor does. Noise carries badly, which everyone complains about. Building one is the standard way for a rich citizen to be remembered.
Sources
Nearby
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →