Final answer:
The Exterior, Santa Sabina in Late Antique Europe functioned as a congregational space for Christian worship and provided segregated gathering areas for different groups within the church, reflecting its adaptation from Roman basilica forms to meet Christian liturgical and symbolic needs.
Step-by-step explanation:
The function of the Exterior, Santa Sabina in Late Antique Europe is multifaceted. As a Christian basilica of the fourth or fifth century, it served primarily as: 1) a congregational space for Christians, where the community could come together to worship.
Despite appropriating the Roman basilica form, which was used for a variety of secular functions, Christian basilicas made symbolic modifications such as adding a transept to give the building a cruciform shape, memorializing the Crucifixion. Thus, the main purpose of such a space was religious worship rather than business or legal proceedings.
The Christian basilica, including Santa Sabina, provided designated areas for different groups within the Christian community, specifically 3) a gathering place for men in the nave, priests in the apse, and women in the side aisles. This segregation of space was commonplace in the design of early Christian basilicas.
While these buildings adopted much from their Roman predecessors, they were also heavily adapted to meet the liturgical and symbolic needs of the Christian religion.