The Shape of the Question

This is a book about the traditional plans of ancient synagogues and churches. Some of these plans are so like each other, that they may well have been laid out according to some kind of rule. But the precise nature of this rule has remained a secret. Even an experienced archaeologist like Professor Cyril Mango has asked the following question:

Early Byzantine basilicas can be noble buildings, as any visitor to, say, S. Apollinare in Classe will attest. When seen in quantity, however, they produce an impression of monotony, of a readymade uniformity. One cannot help wondering why this particular type of building should have maintained itself so long, in so many widely-scattered provinces, and, basically, with so little variation. ¹