Of the theatres, those at Aspendos in Asia Nlinor. and ()range in France. are the }writ pre sorted: of the amphitheatres. those of lleme (the Colosseum). Verona. Capoue .1dt:4. Nimes. and Thysdrus: of the basilicas, those of Maxentius in /1411114% Of l'0111144•ii. 1111d of l'reves.
NVith the decline of I' an power and the transfer of the capital to Byzantium, the focus of net wits in municipal architecture was shifted and Constantinople. or New Rome, beeame the of an ((XI raoriliimry work of reeonst met ion miller Constantine, Theodosius, and (later) dus. tinian. Flora. for.laces, triumphal arehrts. colon nades. basilieas. leiths• and churches gave splen dor to the new ell y. though less perfect in detail than the best Roman works. Meanwhile, until the final overthrow of the (older capital. public buildings, porticoes, and basilicas were still be ing erected in Route, and the majestic ruins of the ifasilica of Ma:wants and Constantine attest the importance of these expiring efforts of Roman alt. After the fifth century there was nothing but lethargy in municipal architecture until the later Middle Ages.
SMonott: AGEs. The growth of municipal archi tecture in the Ages was very gradual anS depended Jargely upon the character of city gov ernment. lin the monastic and feudal cities there were no works of municipal architecture of any h»portance. Conditions were more favorable to the erection of municipal buildings in the free communes and episcopal cities, which possessed complete or partial autonomy.
The most important municipal buildings were the hotel-de-ville in France, the Rathaus in Ger many, and the palaz.:o pubblico or communale in Italy. The cities of Northern and Central Italy, of Northern France and the Netherlands, of Northern Germany (especially the Ilauseatie League), were most conspicuous for such build ings during the Romanesque and Gothic periods. The plan of the communal palaces varied accord ing to whether the local .constitution provided for meetings of a large body of citizens or only of a select few inside the building. The Doge's Palace in Venice had balls for the Gran Consiglio and others for the Council of Ten and the smaller council. At the more democratic Padua, the im mense hall, 111111 its wagon roof—the largest in Europe—provided for larger meetings. At Udine and Piacenza are the best examples of a whole lower story open in vaulted arcades for the popu lar meetings, with halls on the second floor for the smaller eommittees. These palaces in Lom bardy were usually termed brolefli (Como, Ber gamo, Cremona, Monza, etc.). The main meeting room on the seeond floor was nearly always pro vided with a balcony or ringhiera, from which announcements were made to the people.
The cities of Tuscany and Umbria. later in achieving independence (except Pisa), erected, however. even more magnificent public palaces than their northern neighbors. The Palazzo Voe OM, and Bargello in Florence, the Palazzi Pub blici at Siena and Perugia. built during the nothie period ( 1250-13511). are the largest in 'Italy and especially remarkable for magnificent towers. Hardly a city in Italy, even one enjoy ing, but a 'modicum of administrative autonomy, but had a piddle palace of some sort, and in some cities there were two palaces, the episcopal and the civil.
Sueh communal palaces were mueh rarer in feudal France: they are almost wholly wanting in the southern and central provinees. But the powerful cities of fhe Netherlands. Lille, Louvain( Meehlin. Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Ypres, Arras. and 1.ige, built as magnificent publie palaces as their Tuscan compeers. That of Brussels, with its great emdral towers, is a fine example in the developed ifothie style. Cermany is particularly rich in such buildings. not on 11c large a scale, certainly. lout interesting from their very num ber. Municipal belfries (q.v.) or campanili were prominent ill many cities of both Northern Eu rope and The communal organization in the cities was usually based upon the association of the labor and trade guilds. 11 was the oflieers of these guilds who. coming together for mutual benefit. originated in most cases the city administration and constitution. Many of these guilds had separate buildings for their meetings and they usually repeated on a smaller scale the archi tectural features of the communal palaces. The Loggia (lei Mere:Intl at Bologna, those at Ancona and Perugia, the or San 1\lichele at y101111:0, arc a few among many. The lawyers' guild sometimes built sumptuously, Is in the Palazzo dci consulti at Cremona. In the case of some of the very powerful Flemish guilds. such as the cloth guild, their buildings equaled or surpassed the average town-hall; this was the case at Ypres. In some cases the governing body had a separate palace from that where the popular meetings were held. Thus at Pistoia there was a Palazzo del Comune and also a Palazzo del Podestfi. Other associations besides the guilds erected common halls: the religious fraternities, such as that which built the Bigallo in Fld(renee, or the vari ous beautiful buildings in Venice. like the Os podale degli Imnicenti in Florence. the llospital at Milan, and the Misericordia at Arezzo, are distinctly public' monuments.
The most important of the minor works of municipal architecture were the bridges (q.v.), fountains (q.v.), and gates. The first. two classes have been treated under their separate heads, so that it will be necessary to describe only the city gates. During the Middle Ages the fortification of cities by heavy walls was a universal custom and the gates were fully as important as the triumphal arches and gateways of Roman cities. The great gate at Liibeek and several gates at Florence show- the German and Italian styles. They were usually dedicated to a saint and con tained a shrine and frescoes or carved images in the central opening; guardrooms on the sides and above contributed to making, the gate a monu mental structure. The rood or pointed single archway was often flanked by two towers, as in the Porta della Vacea at Genoa.
In so far as the general arrangement of the larger cities is concerned, the Cathedral Square was the main centre of the city. the market-place and a place of resort ; but. wherever there was also a strong municipal civic organiza tion there was also a second square dominated by one or more city buildings and kept free for public assemblies. Seldom do we find a single square used for both (-lasses of buildings.