Pagan and Christian Rome

CHAPTER VII.

CHRISTIAN CEMETERIES 306

LUDI SAECULARES, INSCRIPTION EDITED BY MOMMSEN 362

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FULL-PAGE PLATES.

PAGE

BATTLE BETWEEN CONSTANTINE AND MAXENTIUS (from a painting by Giulio Romano, Francesco Penni, and Raffaellino del Colle) (Heliotype) Frontispiece

ARCH OF CONSTANTINE 20

THE TRANSLATION OF S. CYRIL'S REMAINS (fresco in S. Clemente, done at the order of Maria Macellaria) 32

THE WESTERN SUMMIT OF THE CAPITOLINE HILL 86

PANEL FROM THE ARCH OF MARCUS AURELIUS (Heliotype) 90

PLAN OF SCHOLA ABOVE THE CATACOMBS OF CALLIXTUS (from Nortet's Les Catacombes Romaines) 118

PLAN OF OLD S. PETER'S, SHOWING ITS RELATION TO THE CIRCUS OF NERO 128

PLAN OF THE GRAVES SURROUNDING THAT OF S. PETER DISCOVERED AT THE TIME OF PAUL V. (from a rare engraving by Benedetto Drei, head master mason to the Pope. The site of the tomb of S. Peter and the Fenestella are indicated by the author) 132

S. PETER'S IN 1588 (from an engraving by Ciampini) 146

THE TWO BASILICAS OF S. PAUL (the original structure of Constantine in black; that of Theodosius and Honorius shaded) 150

MAP SHOWING THE LOCATION OF PHAON'S VILLA 188

SARCOPHAGUS OF HELENA, MOTHER OF CONSTANTINE (Heliotype) 198

ROTUNDA AND OBELISK SOUTH OF OLD S. PETER'S (after Bonanni) 202

CRYPT OF POPE CORNELIUS 218

THE CLOISTERS OF THE LATERAN, AS NOW RESTORED (Heliotype) 238

TOMB OF INNOCENT VIII. (Heliotype) 242

TOMB OF PAUL III. (Heliotype) 246

FIGURE FROM THE TOMB OF CLEMENT XIII. (Heliotype) 250

INTERIOR OF A COLUMBARIUM IN THE VIGNA CODINI 260

DETAIL FROM THE CEILING OF THE HOUSE DISCOVERED IN THE FARNESINA GARDENS 264

WORKS OF ART DISCOVERED IN THE TOMB OF SULPICIUS PLATORINUS (Heliotype) 268

TOMB OF THE BOY Q. SULPICIUS MAXIMUS (Heliotype) 282

THE APPIAN WAY AND THE CAMPAGNA 286

OBJECTS FOUND IN THE GRAVE OF CREPEREIA TRYPHAENA 302

CHRISTIAN MILITARY CEMETERY OF CONCORDIA SAGITTARIA 324

THE IDEAL ROMAN FIGURE OF CHRIST (Heliotype) 348

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.

TABLET OF ACILIUS GLABRIO 4

MAP OF THE VIA SALARIA 7

PORTRAIT BUST OF PHILIP THE YOUNGER 13

INSCRIPTION FOUND NEAR THE PORTA DEL POPOLO, 1877 15

INSCRIPTION IN A TOMB OF THE VIA SEVERIANA AT OSTIA 16

LAMP OF ANNIUS SER..., WITH FIGURE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD 18

PICTURE OF ORPHEUS FOUND IN THE CATACOMBS OF PRISCILLA 23

THE FOUR SEASONS (from the Imperial Palace, Ostia) 24

ANCIENT CANDELABRUM IN THE CHURCH OF SS. NEREO ED ACHILLEO 26

THE TEMPLUM SACRAE URBIS (SS. COSMA E DAMIANO) 28

MOSAIC FROM THE CHURCH OF S. ANDREA 29

THE SHRINE AND ALTAR OF MERCURIUS SOBRIUS 34

KANTHAROS IN THE COURT OF S. CAECILIA 39

SAMPLE OF A DRINKING-CUP 43

A GRANARY OF OSTIA 47

ENTABLATURE OF THE TEMPLE OF CONCORD 53

FAC-SIMILE FROM THE CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM LATINARUM 57

NEMI AND THE SITE OF THE TEMPLE OF DIANA 60

PORTRAIT BUST OF PERSON CURED AT NEMI 60

THE STERN OF THE SHIP OF THE ISLAND OF THE TIBER 61

FRAGMENT OF A LAMP INSCRIBED WITH THE NAME OF MINERVA 63

VOTIVE HEAD 63

THE CLIFFS UNDER THE CITADEL OF VEII (NOW CALLED PIAZZA D'ARMI) 65

A PELASGIC HIERON, OR PLATFORM OF ALTAR, AT SEGNI 68

ROUND TEMPLE OF HERCULES IN THE FORUM BOARIUM 69

ARA OF AIUS LOCUTIUS ON THE PALATINE 72

PILLAR COMMEMORATING THE LUDI SAECULARES 73

PLAN AND SECTION OF THE ALTAR OF DIS AND PROSERPINA 76

THE FAMILY OF AUGUSTUS (relief from the Ara Pacis, in the Gallery of the Uffizi, Florence) 83

VIEW OF THE PLATFORM OF THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER 88

THE SPHINX OF AMASIS 94

OBELISK OF RAMESES THE GREAT 95

ONE OF THE PROVINCES FROM THE TEMPLE OF NEPTUNE 100

PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF AUGUSTUS 103

REMAINS OF THE TEMPLE OF AUGUSTUS (from a sketch by Ligorio) 103

STATUE OF SEMO SANCUS 105

REMAINS OF THE HOUSE OF PUDENS, DISCOVERED IN 1870 114

PLAN OF POMPEIAN HOUSE 114

REMAINS OF THE HOUSE OF PUDENS: FRONT WALL, PIERCED BY MODERN WINDOWS 115

THE COLONNA SANTA 133

VIEW OF A SECTION OF THE NAVE OF OLD S. PETER'S (SOUTH SIDE) 134

NAVE OF SAN LORENZO FUORI LE MURA 135

THE FOUNTAIN OF SYMMACHUS 136

THE CHAIR OF S. PETER (after photograph from original) 140

BRONZE STATUE OF S. PETER 142

STATUE OF S. HIPPOLYTUS 143

THE BURNING OF S. PAUL'S, JULY 15, 1823 (from an old print) 152

TOMBSTONE OF S. PAUL 157

STATUE OF CONSTANTINE THE GREAT 164

MILITARY FUNERAL EVOLUTIONS (from the base of the column of Antoninus) 170

THE APOTHEOSIS OF AN EMPEROR (from the base of the column of Antoninus) 171

THE CIPPUS OF AGRIPPINA THE ELDER, MADE INTO A MEASURE FOR GRAIN 184

HEAD OF NERO, IN THE CAPITOLINE MUSEUM 186

THE PONTE NOMENTANO 187

PLAN OF THE ALTA SEMITA 191

REMAINS OF GETA'S MAUSOLEUM 196

THE TORRE PIGNATTARA 197

THE MAUSOLEUM OF S. CONSTANTIA 199

PLAN OF THE IMPERIAL MAUSOLEUM 200

PORTRAIT HEADS OF S. PETER AND S. PAUL 212

TOMBSTONE OF CORNELIUS 215

PORTRAIT OF POPE CORNELIUS (from a fresco near his grave) 219

THE ATRIUM OF OLD S. PETER'S 222

STATUE OF S. GREGORY THE GREAT 225

THE ANGEL ON THE MAUSOLEUM OF HADRIAN 228

MODERN FACADE OF THE MONASTERY OF S. GREGORY ON THE CAELIAN 230

INSCRIPTION OF VASSALECTUS 238

CANDELABRUM IN THE CHURCH OF S. PAOLO FUORI LE MURA 239

THE ANTINOUS OF THE BANCA NAZIONALE 241

ANCIENT HOUSE IN THE FARNESINA GARDENS 263

SPECIMEN OF OUTLINE DESIGNS IN THE ANCIENT HOUSE IN THE FARNESINA GARDENS 265

THE JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON 271

PANEL FROM THE BRONZE DOOR OF S. PETER, BY FILARETE 272

TOMB OF HELIUS, THE SHOEMAKER 274

SARCOPHAGUS OF THE LEUKIPPIDES 280

TOMB OF ANNIA REGILLA (FRAGMENT) 291

THE SACRED GROVE AND THE TEMPLE OF CERES; NOW S. URBANO ALLA CAFFARELLA 294

THE BODY OF A GIRL, FOUND IN 1485 298

ENTRANCE TO THE CRYPT OF THE FLAVIANS 316

CUBICULUM OF JANUARIUS 322

SANCTA VIATRIX 334

BASILICA OF NEREUS, ACHILLEUS, AND PETRONILLA 338

THE EXECUTION OF ACILLEUS 339

PETRONILLA AND VENERANDA 341

THE PORTRAIT HEAD OF JESUS IN THE SANCTA SANCTORUM 348

LANDSLIP IN THE CEMETERY OF CYRIACA 351

INSCRIPTION FROM THE TOMBSTONE OF A DENTIST 353

INSCRIPTION FROM THE GRAVE OF ALEXANDER, A DENTIST 353

SURGEON'S INSTRUMENTS (from a relief on a tombstone) 353

THE SYMBOLIC SUPPER 357

* * * * *

The drawings in this volume, with a few exceptions, are by Harold B. Warren, of Boston, who also made the drawings for "Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries."

PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN ROME.

CHAPTER I.. The Transformation of Rome From a Pagan Into a Christian City.[1]

THE TRANSFORMATION OF ROME FROM A PAGAN INTO A CHRISTIAN CITY.

The early adoption of Christianity not confined to the poorer classes.--Instances of Roman nobles who were Christians.--The family of the Acilii Glabriones.--Manius Acilius the consul.--Put to death because of his religion.--Description of his tomb, recently discovered.--Other Christian patricians.--How was it possible for men in public office to serve both Christ and Caesar?--The usual liberality of the emperors towards the new religion.--Nevertheless an open profession of faith hazardous and frequently avoided.--Marriages between Christians and pagans.--Apostasy resulting from these.--Curious discovery illustrating the attitude of Seneca's family towards Christianity.--Christians in the army.--The gradual nature of the transformation of Rome.--The significance of the inscription on the Arch of Constantine.--The readiness of the early Church to adopt pagan customs and even myths.--The curious mixture of pagan and Christian conceptions which grew out of this.--Churches became repositories for classical works of art, for which new interpretations were invented.--The desire of the early Christians to make their churches as beautiful as possible.--The substitution of Christian shrines for the old pagan altars at street corners.--Examples of both.--The bathing accommodations of the pagan temples adopted by the Church.--Also the custom of providing public standards of weights and measures.--These set up in the basilicas.--How their significance became perverted in the Dark Ages.--The adoption of funerary banquets and their degeneration.--The public store-houses of the emperors and those of the popes.--Pagan rose-festivals and their conversion into a Christian institution.

It has been contended, and many still believe, that in ancient Rome the doctrines of Christ found no proselytes, except among the lower and poorer classes of citizens. That is certainly a noble picture which represents the new faith as searching among the haunts of poverty and slavery, seeking to inspire faith, hope, and charity in their occupants; to transform them from things into human beings; to make them believe in the happiness of a future life; to alleviate their present sufferings; to redeem their children from shame and servitude; to proclaim them equal to their masters. But the gospel found its way also to the mansions of the masters, nay, even to the palace of the Caesars. The discoveries lately made on this subject are startling, and constitute a new chapter in the history of imperial Rome. We have been used to consider early Christian history and primitive Christian art as matters of secondary importance, and hardly worthy the attention of the classical student. Thus, none of the four or five hundred volumes on the topography of ancient Rome speaks of the basilicas raised by Constantine; of the church of S. Maria Antiqua, built side by side with the Temple of Vesta, the two worships dwelling together as it were, for nearly a century; of the Christian burial-grounds; of the imperial mausoleum near S. Peter's; of the porticoes, several miles in length, which led from the centre of the city to the churches of S. Peter, S. Paul, and S. Lorenzo; of the palace of the Caesars transformed into the residence of the Popes. Why should these constructions of monumental and historical character be expelled from the list of classical buildings? and why should we overlook the fact that many great names in the annals of the empire are those of members of the Church, especially when the knowledge of their conversion enables us to explain events that had been, up to the latest discoveries, shrouded in mystery?

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