TRIBUNE (med.

See also:

• LAT

Lat. tribune, from classical Lat. tribunal)  , in architecture, the term given to the semicircular apse of the Roman basilica, with a raised platform, where the presiding magistrate sat; subsequently applied generally to any raised structure from which speeches were delivered and to the private box of the emperor at the Circus Maximus . In Christian basilicas the term is retained for the semicircular recess behind the choir, as at S . Clemente in Rome, S . Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna, S . Zeno at Verona, S . Miniato near Florence, and other churches . The term is also loosely applied to various other raised spaces in secular as well as ecclesiastical buildings, in the latter sometimes in the place of " pulpit," as in that of the refectory of St Martin des Champs at Paris . It is also given to the celebrated octagon room of the Uffizi at Florence, and sometimes to a gallery or triforium .