Final answer:
Emperor Constantine was the patron of the Aula Palatina in Trier, a grand basilica that served as an audience hall designed to assert imperial power and authority.
Step-by-step explanation:
The patron of the Aula Palatina was Emperor Constantine, who constructed this basilica as part of a palace complex in Trier, which served as his northern capital. The architecture of the Aula Palatina, despite being stripped of its original interior decoration, would have been quite impressive. It was designed as an audience hall to humble any emissary approaching the enthroned emperor in the apse, with the emperor making a dramatic entrance, or adventus, along the central axis of the basilica.
Architecturally, the Aula Palatina is a large, rectangular structure with a flat wooden ceiling over the nave, typical of Roman basilicas. Though now in its simplified form, originally, its grand scale and its function as an audience hall would have amplified the emperor's power and authority. Such basilicas also served as venues for law courts, which highlighted their political significance within the Roman Empire.