Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Absis

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

ABSIS or APSIS. The semicircular termination of any rectangular chamber, forming what is commonly termed in English "an alcove." (Plin. Ep. ii. 17. 8.) A form of this kind was commonly employed in courts of justice (basilicae) in order to make a convenient place for the judges' seats; and sometimes in temples to form a recess for the statue of the deity to whom the edifice was consecrated; as in the illustration (Absis/1.1), which shows the absis, as it now remains, of the temple of Rome and Venus, built by the Emperor Hadrian. Compare also the illustration to ADYTUM, where the ground-plan of a similar member is seen.

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  Absis/1.1