Basilica Julia

It served as the headquarters for the centumviri, a judicial court that primarily dealt with matters of inheritance. The basilica was destroyed by fire in 283 AD but was rebuilt and embellished throughout the late Imperial era. The three-story marble structure remained a prominent landmark in the Forum through much of Late Antiquity. By the Middle Ages, however, it had been stripped of its materials, and part of the structure was converted into a Christian church. Today, excavations reveal the foundations and corner walls of the original Augustan basilica, as well as pillars, plinths, and columns from its reconstruction under Diocletian. The first iteration of the Basilica Julia was begun around 54 BC by Julius Caesar, though it was left to his heir Augustus to complete the construction and name it in honor of his adoptive father. The basilica was built over the remains of two important Republican structures: the Basilica Sempronia, which was demolished by Caesar to make way for the new basilica, and pre-dating both, the house of Scipio Africanus, Rome's legendary general. The Basilica Sempronia was built in 169 BC by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and required the demolition of the house of Africanus and a number of shops to make room.