Location of the Basilica (Ins VII) .. View of Cardo III looking south, with the outer walls of the Basilica Noniana on the right of the photograph and the College of the Augustali on the left. Plan of the Basilica .. ..........................Plan of the Basilica Noniana Key: A. Main entrance Description The Basilica Noniana was re-discovered in 1739 when one of the tunnels being mined randomly by Rocque Joaquín de Alcubierre broke into the building. An inscription found in the building records that the Basilica had just been rebuilt following the earthquake of 62AD thanks to the generosity of proconsul Marcus Nonius Balbus, Herculaneum's principal benefactor. .. Facing onto the Decumaus Maximus, the Basilica lies at the corner of Insula VII, directly across Cardo III from the College of the Augustali. Although mostly buried, it was extensively explored by tunnels during the Bourbon period and more recently (in 1960) the eastern side of the building was partially excavated. Unfortunately we have no photographs of the interior of the basilica, but this link displays a photograph from one of the tunnels. The building consists of a large rectangular hall divided into three sections by rows of columns in the traditional layout as described by Vitruvius in his Ten Books on Architecture (Book V, chapter I - 'The Forum and Basilica'). .. .. At either end of the Basilica were recesses with frescoes of mythological characters, among them Theseus and the Minotaur (above right) and The Finding of Telephus (above) showing a naked Hercules, the legendary founder of the town, recognising his baby son. In additional to the frescoes, both bronze and marble statuary was found. At the entrance to the Basilica stood two equestrian statues, one depicting the town's major benefactor, the afore-mentioned Marcus Nonius Balbus, whilst the other was of his son. Inside the Basilica were further statues of the proconsul and his family (wife, father, mother and two daughters) as well as statues and busts of the emperors. .. Some of the frescoes covering the walls of the Basilica were removed to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, but unfortunately many have been lost. ..

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