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The Story of ROME
by Norwood       Young
Illustrated by Nelly Erichse.


London:   /.       I  )eif C      C/ (C.,
4Adine House, 29 and 30 Bedford Street
Covent Garden W.C.                 g 1901




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PREFACE
HE story of Rome covers an area so vast that
it would be pedantic on my part to apologise
for the omissions which will be observed on every
page of this little book.  It is, of necessity, an
abridgment of the work of many authors and many
volumes.
The small space at my disposal has made it
impossible to add to the story of Christianity in
Rome any adequate consideration of Roman churches,
museums and ruins.   I have devoted one chapter,
the second, to a slight sketch of the remains lying
in the neighbourhood of the Colosseum and Forum
Romanum, and I have mentioned the more important
of the recent sensational discoveries, but it is too early
yet to dogmatise as to their exact significance.  Excavation is still being keenly pursued, and new finds
may at any moment negative the opinions already
formed.
Such other topographical references as the book
contains will be found in the last chapter, and in the
Appendix, which has a few practical suggestions as
to hotels, etc., an itinerary for the hurried visitor, a
short list of books, and a very brief statement of the
more interesting objects to be found in some of the
most important churches.
I have borrowed freely from all the authors whose
works are mentioned in the Appendix. I have not
V




Prefa tce
thought it necessary to encumber the text with the
constant citation of authorities, but special recognition
is cue in this place to the following volumes, which
have been my constant guides and have supplied me
with the passages marked by signs of quotation, viz.:Lanciani's Ancient Rome, Pagan and Christian Rome,
and The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome;
Middleton's Remains of Ancient Rome; Christian and
Eccl-siastical Rome, by M. A. R. Tuker and Hope
Malleson; Bury's Gibbon, and his own Later Roman
Emtpire; Hodgkin's Italy and Her Invaders; Mrs
Hamilton's translation of Gregorovius's History of Rome
in the Middle Ages; Milman's Latin Christianity;
Creighton's History of the Papacy during the Reformation; Symonds's Renaissance in Italy; St. Peter in
Rome, by the Rev. A. S. Barnes; Boissier's Archbeological Rambles, translated by D. Havelock  Fisher;
acd Owen's Skeptics of the Italian Renaissance.
have been greatly assisted by the valuable advice
of Mr G. M'N. Rushforth, M.A., of Oriel College,
Oxford; and by my brother, Mr Dalhousie Young,
M.A., late of Balliol College, Oxford.
N. Y.


vi




CONTENTS
CHAPTER   I
PAGK
The Rise of Rome 
CHAPTER II
The Triumphal Procession of Trajan to the
Capitol..                   31
CHAPTER III
Pagan and Christian..                   78
CHAPTER IV
The Barbarians.                            14
CHAPTER V
The Pope.                                 147
CHAPTER VI
The Middle of the Middle  ge...   183
vii




Contents
CHAPTER VII
1'AGR
Roman Revolutions.                       226
CHAPTER VIII
Renaissance Rome                            260
CHAPTER IX
The Catholic Reaction.                     297
CHAPTER X
The Dome of St. Peter's                     3 27
Appendix                                    363
Index..            397


viii




ILLUSTRATIONS


T/e Campo Vaccino,from Piranesi.. Fron
The Wolf in the Palace of Conservators
The Palatine from the Aventine
Columns of the Palace of Domitian
rTe Round Temple in the Piazza Bocca Della
Verita......
The Municipal Arms of Rome
The Arch of Constantine and S. Francesca
Romana.....
The Arch of Titus.
Columns of Temple    of Castor, Temple of
Augustus, and Palatine Hill.
Temple of Saturn, Tabularium and Tower of
Capitol..
Statue of St. Peter in the Basilica
Tribune of S. Lorenzo Fuori


PAGE
tispiece


12
15
23
30
37
53
62
73
86
93


ix




Illustrations
PAGE


Campanile and Fafade of SS. Giovanni e Paolo
Gate of S. Cosimato
On the Walls near the Lateran
Porta San Paolo.
The Ruined Aqueducts in the Campagna
S. Francesca Romana from the Palatin.
Cloisters of the Lateran.
Column of P ocas.
Ambo in S. Lorenzo Fuori.
Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius.
Arms of Benedict XIV. (Lambertini)
A Skyline from the Sette Sal/e
Sa. Maria Maggiore 
T.,e Interior of San Clemente
Candelabrum in S. Paolo Fuori
S. Dominic's Orange Tree, with Campanile of
S. Alessio...
S. Giorgio in Velabro.
Ambo in the Ara Cceli 
7le Steps to the Ara Caeli,from Piranesi
Arms of Martin V. (Colonna)
Tomb of Martin V. in the Lateran Basilica
x


103
I I


124
I35
146
'47
I53
i6i
170
177
182
I 8z
183
191
199
205
2II
220
235
247
259
261




Illustrations


PAGE
Arms of Paul II. (Barbo).                   z 268
Arms o 'Innocent V II. (Cibo).        2 72
Arms of Alexander VI. (Borgia).        278
The l'illa Medici from the Terrace           287
Arms of Leo X. (Medici)...        293
Arms of Sixtus IV. and Julius II. (Della
Rovere)...                            96
The Dome of St. Peter's from the 7aniculan.  297
Arms of Paul III. (Farnese)...   303
Arms of Sixtus V. (Peretti)                  3z6
From the Villa Medici...        327
The Bambino of the Ara Caeli                 337
The Trevi Fountnai..        341
A rms of Urban VIII. (Barberini).        345
S. M. in Cosmedin.                    53
T/e Dome of St. Peter's..         362
PLANS
Rome....     facing page    9
From Colosseum to Capitol..             41
Environs of Ro me...            183
Old-fashioned Rome...,,      339
xi








i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
tL~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_~ ~ ~ ~~~~~ 1 
I            '-.   -  - ---


THE WOLF IN THE PALACE OF CONSERVATORS
The Story of Rome
CHAPTER T
Th e RJse     of tVome
'Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento:
Hae tibi erunt artes, pacisque imponere morem,
Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos.'-Vergil.
THE origin of a town is to be found in its site.
In the period when Rome was first selected for
habitation, long before 753 B.C., the legendary date of
Romulus, a good site lay amongst fertile plains, with a
hill for defence and a river for navigation.  Rome
had all these advantages.    She was nearly in the


A


I




5The Story of Rome
centre of a fine pastoral district, bounded by the
Sabine and Alban hills on one side, and by the sea
on the other.
Her seven hills stood on the banks of the Tiber, far
enough from the coast-line to be safe from the attacks
of pirates, and near enough for easy communication
seawards.  These famous hills were the Quirinal,
Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, Aventine, Capitoline and
Palatine. Of these only the Aventine, Capitoline and
Palatine were near the river. The Aventine, while
precipitous towards the Tiber, was open to attack in
the other directions, and the Capitoline was too small
for settlement.  The Palatine satisfied all requirements.
It was steep on all sides, and yet afforded convenient
access for the herds of the primitive settlers, by the
slope upon which now stands the Arch of Titus. The
walled town, square in shape, and hence called Roma
Quadrata, was entered in the middle of this northeastern face by the Porta Mugonia. And the Palatine
had the further advantage of a central position amongst
the hills, surrounded by the six others without being
cut off from its close touch with the river.
The Romans believed-and these Roman traditions
powerfully affected the history of the capital of the
world-that after the fall of Troy, AEgneas, carrying
with him his father Anchises, his son Ascanius, the
Penates or household gods, and the Palladium, a statue
of Pallas or Minerva which had fallen from heaven,
journeyed to the coast of Latium, where he founded,
about three miles from the mouth of the Tiber, the
town of Lavinium. This spot was afterwards regarded
by the Romans as the sacred repository of their national
religion; it was the custom in the time of the Republic
for dictators, consuls and other officials to sacrifice at
Lavinium when they entered upon office. Ascanius
founded Alba Longa on a ridge of the Alban Moun2




The Rise of Rome


tains, where he and a succession of sixteen Latin kings
reigned for over 400 years. The last of these kings
were the brothers Amulius and Numitor. Amulius,
the usurper, compelled Rhea Silvia, the daughter of
Numitor, to become a Vestal Virgin, hoping thus to
destroy all chance of an heir being born to inherit the
throne of Numitor. This scheme was frustrated by
the god Mars, whose love for the Vestal was followed
by the birth of the twin brothers Romulus and Remus.
By the order of Amulius, Rhea was buried alive according to law, and the twins were placed in their cradle
upon the Tiber, then in flood, and abandoned to their
fate. But the noble river, the ' father ' of the Roman
people, gently deposited the cradle at the foot of the
Palatine, where it was overturned, as the waters receded, on the root of a wild fig-tree. Here a she-wolf
gave her milk to the babes, and a woodpecker brought
them food. Discovered at length by a shepherd, they
were brought up by his wife, and grew to manhood on
the Palatine Hill.
The well-known legend need not be related further.
It shows that in Roman belief the Palatine was inhabited by shepherds before the foundation of a walled
village upon the summit by Romulus. A pastoral
people, settled in the Campagna, was under the influence of a controlling centre somewhere in the Alban
Mountains. Then a walled town was built upon the
Palatine Hill, which, from its position on the Tibel,
became the commercial focus of the trade of the
neighbourhood.
Thus Rome began her career as the emporium and
fortress of the surrounding country. That district,
Latium, lies in the centre of Italy.
The whole history of the rise of Rome is thus
explained. Rome began by conquering Latium, and
thence extended her sway over Italy. Her success
3




the Story of Rome
was certain, because after every fight the victor took
possession of the most convenient spot; and Rome was
therefore always the ultimate home of the dominant
race. Whether the conquerors were originally Latins,
Sabines or Etruscans, they all became Romans.
The Romans themselves attributed much of their
success to the situation of their town. When Rome
had been destroyed by the Gauls in 390 B.c., some
of the houseless Romans advocated an emigration to
the neighbouring town of Veii.  Livy has put in the
mouth of Camillus, the conqueror of Veii, the following reasons for rebuilding their city 1:
' Not without good cause both God and man chose
this place for the building of this City: most healthy
and wholsome hills: a very convenient and commodious
river; to bring in corn and other fruits out of the inland
parts, to receive provision and other victuals from the
sea-coasts: the sea itself near enough for commodities,
and not exposed and open by too much nearness to the
dangers of forrain navies: the very heart and centre of
all Italy, a place as a man would say, " naturally made,
and only for that City to grow and increase in."'
Thus excellently placed with regard to Latium and
Italy, Rome was also in the centre of the Mediterranean
basin. Thus when the Roman Imperium was at its
greatest extension, under Trajan  ( I00 A.D.), and
included the whole of the civilised world, it stretched
equally in all directions from Rome. From the north
of England to Rome is as far as from Rome to Jerusalem; from Gibraltar to Rome the same distance as
from Rome to the furthest Roman possessions beyond
the Danube. The geographical position of Rome, and
the military successes of its citizens, naturally encouraged a political system of centralisation in the
1 All the translations firom Livy in this book are taken from
the Elizabethan work of Philemon Holland.
4




The Rise of Rome


capital; and the practical engineering skill of the
Romans furnished the Empire with the necessary
arteries, the famous Roman roads, all radiating from
the heart, carrying Roman civilisation and life to the
furthest limits of Europe.
A time came, however, when it was apparent that
the centre of gravity had shifted from Rome. The
countries north of the Mediterranean proved more
important than those on its shores. A policy of decentralisation was found to be desirable, and therefore
centres of executive government were created in the
subordinate capitals —Treves (Trier), Milan (afterwards superseded by Ravenna); and in the east Nicomedia, Antioch, Constantinople. These sub-capitals
had the further advantage of being near to the chief
points of danger on the frontiers.  It also became
evident that the peculiar conditions of the site of
Rome, which had made her an excellent centre on
a small scale, did not suffice for the capital of a great
empire.  The summits of the seven hills seem   to
have been the only healthy parts of the city, and they
were insufficient for the accommodation of a large
population; while the Tiber frequently inundated the
lower portions, and was too shallow and small a river
for serving as the commercial highway of the world's
capital. Julius Cesar and Augustus both had serious
thoughts of removing the seat of Empire.  Diocletian
virtually did so when he abandoned Rome for Nicomedia.   In the fourth century Trier, Milan and
Constantinople were the Imperial residences.  During
the last two centuries of the Empire, Rome seldom
received the honour of the Imperial presence.
The rise and fall of Rome may thus be shortly
ascribed to her position, as the true centre of Latium
and Italy, and the false centre of Europe.
The Roman type, with its manly, self-confident
5




The Story of Rome


character, was produced by incessant warfare, both
external and internal. The Temple of Janus, closed in
peace, open in war, was continuously open (except for
a short interval between the first and second Punic
Wars) from Numa to Augustus, a period of 650 years.
While this process of selection and hardening was
steadily raising the conquering type, an equally constant and severe conflict raged inside the city.  The
struggle between patricians and plebeians continued
through the' whole period of growth, up to the foundation of the Empire. Its most famous incident was the
secession of the plebeians to the Mons Sacer, about
three miles from Rome, in B.C. 494. The patricians
sent one of their number, Menenius Agrippa, to remonstrate and induce the plebeians to return. Agrippa, as
Livy relates, ' after that old and harsh kind of eloquence
in those days, spake as men saith to this effect, and
told this tale and parable: " Upon a time (quoth he)
when as in man's body, all the parts thereof agreed
not, as now they do in one, but each member had a
several intent and meaning; yea, and a speech by itself:
and so it befel, that all other parts besides the belly,
thought much and repined that by their carefulness,
labor, and ministery, all was gotten, and yet all little
enough to serve it: and the belly itself lying still in the
midst of them, did nothing else but enjoy the delightsome pleasures brought unto her. Whereupon they
mutinied and conspired altogether in this wise, that
neither the hands should reach and convey food into
the mouth, nor the mouth receive it as it came, nor yet
the teeth grind and chew the same. In this mood
and fit, whiles they were minded to famish the poor
belly, behold the other limbs, yea, and the whole body
besides, pined, wasted, and fell into an extreme consumption. Then was it well seen, that even the very
belly also did no small service, but fed the others'
6




The Rise of Romne


parts, as it received food itself: seeing that by working
and concocting the meat thoroughly, it digesteth and
distributeth by the veins into all parts, that firesh and
perfect blood whereby we live, we like, and have our
full strength."  Comparing herewith, and making his
application, to wit, how like this intestine and inward
sedition of the body, was to the fell stomach of the
commons, which they had taken and born against the
senators, he turned quite the people's hearts.'
The interdependence of all classes, thus early appreciated by the Romans, was the solid foundation
upon which they built their political system. A sober,
religious and manly race, hardened by the ordeal of
external and internal battle, gradually fashioned a
system of government based upon mutual respect and
compromise, in which the rights and the duties of
the individual and of the community were sensibly
adjusted.
Mommsen tells us how it was done:
'The great problem of mankind,' says the German
historian, 'how to live in conscious harmony with
himself, with his neighbour, and with the whole to
which he belongs, admits of as many solutions as there
are provinces in Our Father's Kingdom; and it is in
this, and not in the material sphere, that individuals
and nations display their divergencies of character.'
And then he makes the following comparison between
the Greek and the Roman: ' That Hellenic character,
which sacrificed the whole to its individual elements,
the nation to the single state, and the single state to the
citizen; whose ideal of life was the beautiful and the
good, and, only too often, the pleasure of idleness;
whose political development consisted in intensifying
the original individualism of the several centres, and
subsequently led to the internal dissolution of the
authority of the state; whose view of religion first
7




The Story of Rome


invested the gods with human attributes, and then
denied their existence; which gave full play to the
limbs in the sports of the naked youth, and gave free
scope to thought in all its grandeur and in all its awfulness; and that Roman character which solemnly
bound the son to reverence the father, the citizen to
reverence the ruler, and all to reverence the gods;
which required nothing and honoured nothing but the
useful act, and compelled every citizen to fill up every
moment of his life with unceasing work; which made
it a duty even in the boy to modestly cover the body;
which deemed everyone a bad citizen who wished to be
different from his fellows; which viewed the state as all
in all, and a desire for the state's extension as the only
aspiration not liable to censure.'
In Rome, he says, 'the ultimate foundation of the
law was in all cases the state; liberty was simply
another expression for the right of citizenship in its
widest sense; all property was based upon express or
tacit transference from the community to the individual;
a contract was valid only so far as the community confirmed it. This state which made the highest demands
upon its burgesses, and carried the idea of subordinating
the individual to the interest of the whole further than
any state before or since has done, only did and only
could do so by itself removing the barriers to intercourse, and unshackling liberty quite as much as it
subjected it to restriction.'
Freedom and discipline are the essential factors in
every scheme of government. The secret of prosperity
lies in the creation of an equilibrium between the two.
The higher the civilisation, the closer will be the
approximation to a perfect poise.  Greece became
powerful by the temporary co-operation of the different entities of her population.  Rome conquered the
world by the permanent concentration of all individual
8




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The Rise of Rome


energy in the cause of the state.  But when Greek
liberty became licence, Greece fell; and when Roman
discipline degenerated into tyranny, the Roman empire
came to an end.
The Empire fell, but Rome had a second career
before her.  Enriched by the fallen leaves of the
Empire, the soil pushed up a new growth even more
wonderful than the first.  Once more Rome conquered the world, this time by moral influence  a
force hitherto unrecognised.  Her second child, the
Pope, became greater even than Caesar had been.
Taking the track of the Roman legions, the Papal
Imperium penetrated further, into countries which they
had never trod.  But the Pope failed'to obtain permanent hold of the new territories. Physical Rome
had not prepared them for the reception of moral
Rome. And so at the present day the Papal influence
is greatest where Cesar has been strongest.
To turn now from the abstract to the concrete.
Let us pay our respects to the city.
There are several excellent points from which good
general views may be obtained.  On a first visit to
Rome the stranger would do well to begin his experiences
on the Janiculan Hill, extending them on the Aventine
and Palatine, and concluding with the Capitol. A full
half-day of four hours (or more) should be given to
the expedition.
He should go by way of the Corso, the Piazza del
Popolo, the Castle of St. Angelo and St. Peter's, to
S. Onofrio, where the carriage will halt; doing so
again at Tasso's Oak; and at the open space where
stands the large equestrian statue of Garibaldi. The
view of St. Peter's from the west edge of this plateau
should not be omitted. The most famous panorama of
Rome is a little further on, past the Acqua Paola, in
front of S. Pietro in Montorio.
9




The Story of Rome
There will be a feeling of surprise at the general
aspect of flatness, not one of the seven hills being, at
first, perceptible.  But these historic eminences were
never more than large mounds, and in the course of
two thousand years their elevation has been diminished
by the filling in of the valleys.  The mountains in the
background are finely visible-on the left Monte Mario;
then Monte Soratte; in front the Sabine Hills; on the
right the Alban Mountains (the original home of the
Roman race), with the towns of Frascati and Grotta
Ferrata on their lower slopes, flanked by Monte Cavo.
Glancing over the city, it will be noticed that there
are many domes and square-topped towers (campanili),
but not a single' spire, though some of the campanilisuch as that of S. Crisogono in Trastevere, just below
the spectator, or S. M. Maggiore facing him on the
Esquiline-have a needle point to the square tower.
There is nothing northern or Gothic about this town;
rather has it a touch of eastern, of Byzantine influence.
There is also a general impression of vastness and of
utilitarianism, of broad, barrack-like facades pierced
with long lines of windows-the Palazzo Farnese, for
instance, the Quirinal, and even the Basilica of
S. Paolo Fuori, might be taken for hospitals or
barns.  And this is evidently not an ancient, nor yet
a mediaeval town. The bones of classic Rome may
He hidden somewhere in the streets below, but are not
here visible.  Nor does this bright city carry on its
face the marks of its sad medieval life. In the middle
age only a small part of the present area was inhabited.
That surface was covered with towers, to the number
of a thousand-watch-towers on the walls, bell-towers
used for the defence of the churches, and separate
military fortresses. Only one of them is visible from
here, the Torre delle Milizie, to the left of the twin
globes and campanile of S. M. Maggiore. All that
IO0




The Rise of Rome


fierce and gloomy Rome has disappeared, and we have
before us a town dating from the Renaissance, but
mainly the product of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries.
Rome has her moods.      Sometimes she is as
Zola, standing on this spot, found her, 'fresh and
youthful, with a volatile, almost incorporeal gaiety of
aspect, smiling as at the hope of a new life in the pure
dawn of a lovely day; ' so she will seem on any bright
morning, especially to a stranger,-a smiling, unobtrusive city, half veiled in golden mist. As the day wears
on, the outlines become sharp and hard, with violent
contrasts, patches of light and shade. Later, again, the
dark aspect predominates: the city is thinking of what
she was in the time of Augustus, the dreaded arbiter
of all mankind, and a severe, domineering look comes
over her face, as if by frowning she hoped to regain
the terrifying despotism of her youth now two
thousand years past.
It is for the panorama that we have come here, not
for the identification of individual buildings, many of
those which are conspicuous from this point being of
minor interest, and most of the domes belonging to unimportant churches. Some of the more famous edifices
may be noted. To the extreme left is the dome of
St. Peter's; then the small campanile of S. Spirito in
Sassia; the new buildings in the Prati; the Castle of
St. Angelo; the Palace of Justice, still in scaffolding;
the Pincian Hill covered with trees; the Villa
Medici; the Quirinal Palace and the dome of the
Gesu. Apparently grouped together, though in reality
some distance apart, are the Torre delle Milizie, the
fagade of the Ara Coeli, the twin domes and tower of
S. M. Maggiore, and the tower on the Capitol. Then
we see the giant arches of the Basilica of Constantine,
the tower of S. Francesca Romana, and just above
I 




the Story of Rome


the trees the top of the Colosseum can be discerned;
further to the right are the statues on the summit of
St. John Lateran, and the ruins of the palace of Septimius Severus on the Palatine.  Near at hand the
tower of S. Cecilia; above it the Calian Hill, with
S. Stefano Rotondo and the Villa Mattei; then the
Aventine Hill, with S. Sabina, S. Alessio and the new
Benedictine monastery and Church of S. Anselmo;
~j-:.::-~-::::r:~:...................
THE PALATINE FROM THE AVENTINE
in the distant Campagna good eyes will distinguish the
round tomb of Cecilia Metella; nearer are the pyramidal tomb of Caius Cestius, and the trees of the
Protestant cemetery; then Monte Testaccio, and on
the extreme right S. Paolo Fuori on guard at one end
of Rome, while St. Peter's watches at the other.
The best view of the Palatine is obtained from the
terrace  of  the  Restaurant  Constantino, on  the
Aventine.   The ruins on the Palatine, formerly
always referred to as the ' Palaces of the Caesars,' are
mementoes of the vanity of those emperors who tried to
symbolise their power, and compel the attention of
posterity, by their extravagant building operations.
12




The Rise of Rome


Augustus had been born in the Palatine, and he it was,=
though with his sane moderation, who set the fashion
by erecting the first Imperial Palace. His example
was followed by Tiberius, Caligula, Domitian and
Septimius Severus, who has left in the substructure of
his palace the picturesque remains which we now see.
On the Capitoline Hill, to the left, we are faced by the
Tarpeian Rock, where the sentence of death upon a
condemned criminal was carried out. by pushing him
over the cliff.
The modern entrance to the Palatine is between it
and the Capitol. The topography of the Palatine is
not easily made out on a first acquaintance, and the
guides, though useful as finger-posts, are excessively
loquacious. Having reached the cliff (just inside the
entrance), you should turn to the right, passing the
remains of the original walls of Roma Quadrata, and,
rounding the oldest corner of Rome, ascend the hill
by the second path on the left, which is seen to lead
to the ruins.  Here you will find yourself in the
stadium, the arena for athletic contests; on the right
are stairs, from the top of which, by returning towards
the river and crossing a foot bridge, the terrace of the
palace of Severus is reached. If you walk to the end
of it (left) you will look down upon the Via S.
Gregorio (the ancient Via Triumphalis), in the valley
between the Palatine and Coelian.  Just below, on
the left, are some remains of the Aqua Claudia;
above them the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum; in front, on the Caelian Hill, are the apsidal
end and the campanile of SS. Giovanni e Paolo;
then the statues on the Lateran; S. Gregorio Magno,
on the site of the palace in which Gregory the Great
was born; at the back the Villa Mattei, surrounded
by its fringe of pine, cypress and ilex. There are
good views of the walls of the city, with the gate of
'3




The Story of Rome


S. Sebastiano, the round tomb of Cecilia Metella,
and, nearer, the huge baths of Caracalla. A strange
medley of thought is produced as the eye now distinguishes in the distance, on the right, the clump
of trees marking the Tre Fontane, where St. Paul
was beheaded; the Basilica of S. Paolo Fuori, founded
by Constantine to cover the Apostle's tomb; the
gate of S. Paolo; almost touching it the pyramidal
tomb of an obscure pagan, one Caius Cestius; and
close to it the glorious trees under whose silent branches
lie buried two Englishmen, one 'whose name was writ
in water,' the other, of whom nothing
'Doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea change
Into something rich and strange.'
The solid form of the heathen tomb has helped to
preserve it from the time of Augustus to our own
day. It is the oldest monument in Rome which has
retained anything of its original shape.  In spite of its
age (900o years) it is still a living thing, not, as are
most of the classic remains, mere bones.  St. Paul
must have seen it as he passed on his way to execution.
Scipio and Hannibal, Marius and Sulla, Caesar and
Pompey, were then all dead; but the pyramid has been
examined by Augustus and Horace, Nero and St. Peter,
Trajan and Marcus Aurelius, Constantine and Alaric,
Theodoric and Belisarius, our own King Alfred, and
Charlemagne, Benedict and Gregory, Dominic and
Francis, Godfrey de Bouillon and Frederic Barbarossa, Dante and Petrarch, Giotto and Perugino,
Raphael and Michelangelo, Caesar Borgia and Macchiavelli, Luther and Galileo, Goethe and Napoleon
-and now it looks down upon the graves of Keats and
Shelley.
In returning you should keep to the upper road and
'4




The Rise of Rome
ascend some steps on the right until a flat, open space
is reached.  On the right are the columns of cipolli;o,
which belonged to the Palace.of Domitian. Proceeding in the direction of the Forum (E.), you have on
your left the cryptoporticus in which
Caligula was murdered.  A narrow 
path  up  to  the            i
garden on the leftt 
leads tothe northern
corner of the Pala-   I        l   e 
tine,  overlooking
the   Temple   of fron                      i 'e"
Augustus,    the
newly   discovered
church, and   the                 i
through the garden                  Va ii eieI
and  down    some           I 1 9!     v 
steps, you emerge               iaid       wi
in front of the Villa
F arnese.     By                           i
clambering  down             i   et       s    i,
the  left front a         tpe     t
point can be easily  COLUMNS OF THE PALACE OF DOMT
reached whence the
whole of the Forum  area, the Sacra Via, and even
the Arch-of Constantine, are visible- advantages which
are not to be obtained from any other part of the
Palatine. On the left is the Capitol, with the Tabularium
and tower in the centre.  On its left (W.) summit
stood the chief of Roman temples, that to Capitoline Jove; on the right (E.) apex was the Arx or
I)




The Story of Rome
citadel. In the Middle Ages this hill was almost
bare; it carried a gallows and was known as the
Monte Caprino, the hill of goats, just as the Forum
was the Campo Vaccino or field of cattle.  In the pit
before us we see on the left the Basilica Julia, looking,
as Zola says, like an architect's ground plan; there
also are eight columns of the Temple of Saturn; three
of the Temple of Vespasian; the Arch of Septimius
Severus on the further side; the Column of Phocas
more in the centre; just below, three columns of the
Temple of Castor and Pollux; on the opposite side
the columns of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina,
the round Temple of Romulus, son of Maxentius
(fourth century), and the huge arches of the Basilica
of Constantine, near the church and campanile of S.
Francesca Romana; more to the right is the Arch
of Titus, and beyond that the Colosseum and Arch of
Constantine. A more detailed examination must be
postponed to a later occasion.  What strikes one is the
narrowness of this historic spot where modern civilisation was made; and the Forum itself was only a small
part of this very restricted area.  From the eminence
on which we stand, the despotic emperors looked down
upon the elbowing crowds of their slaves.
By a path to the left we pass through the Palace
of Caligula, and back to our point of entrance.
Turning here to the right we reach the Forum
at a lower level, and then mount the steps on the
left to the entrance (right) of the Tabularium, in
order to ascend the tower of the Capitol. In the
Forum we see again the bones of antiquity, and the
long spinal column of the Sacra Via leading towards
the church and campanile of S. Francesca Romana,
the Arches of Titus and Constantine, and the Colosseum.
Beyond are the church and palace of the Lateran, the
arches of the Claudian Aqueduct and the Alban Moun



The Rise of Rome


tains. We have a good view of the picturesque square
Palatine, with its grass, trees and ruined old walls.
Above it are the Baths of Caracalla, the mediaeval
walls of Rome, the Porta S. Sebastiano, and in the
distance the tomb of Cecilia Metella.  On the right
are the tomb of Cestius, and the Protestant Cemetery,
and the Via Ostia, along which St. Paul marched to
execution, leading to the church of S. Paolo, and the
Tre Fontane in the distance.
Turning now to the left, the domes and tower of S.
M. Maggiore become prominent; nearer, the Torre
delle Milizie; the long line of the Q~uirinal Palace;
below it the garden of the Palazzo Rospigliosi and the
Column of Trajan; and above, the Villa Medici and
Pincian Hill; on the left (west) of the Pincio the
Via Flaminia runs from Ponte Molle (and beyond) to
the Piazza del Popolo; from there we can see a
narrow street, seldom lit by the sun, leading to the
Capitol-it is the Corso; on its way it leaves on the
west (our left) the dome of S. Carlo, the circular roof
of the Mausoleum of Augustus, and the Column of
Marcus Aurelius in the Piazza Colonna. Some day,
perhaps, the Corso may reach the foot of the steps
which lead to the Piazza Campidoglio, just below us,
where stands the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius,
which has been exposed to sun and tempest for I700
years, and the Capitoline and Conservatori Museums,
with their priceless treasures. On the left of the Corso
are the dome of the Gesu, the top of the Pantheonan eyeball without iris-and the Palace of Justice in
course of construction, among the ugly square blocks of
the Prati. Then follow the Castle of St. Angelo, the
Vatican Palace, and St. Peter's.  On the Janiculan
Hill we can see the statue of Garibaldi, the Acqua
Paola, and S. Pietro in Montorio. The Tiber is well
seen, with the Ponte Garibaldi, the Tiber Island, and
B                 17




The Story of Rome
the Ponte Palatino.  In Trastevere are the campanili
of S. Crisogono and Sa. Cecilia. The campanile of
S. M. in Cosmedin can be distinguished below the
Aventine Hill.
We now face the Forum once more. Between the
Colosseum and the Column of Trajan lay the great
Imperial Fora of Julius, Vespasian, Nerva, Augustus
and Trajan, all now destroyed or buried. In the
narrow streets below some slight fragments remaina beautiful little piece from the Forum of Nerva, a
larger section of the Temple of Mars Ultor (avenger),
erected in his forum by Augustus in return for the
assistance given him by the god of war in avenging
the murder of his great-uncle; together with one of
the entrances (Arco dei Pantani), and part of the
outer wall. - The most substantial relic of these fora
is the Column of Trajan, which was originally surrounded by buildings and paved areas, collectively designated the Forum of Trajan. Space was made for
it, and at the same time an outlet created for traffic,
from the Forum Romanum between the Capitoline and
Quirinal hills, by excavating and carrying away a large
amount of soil, and cutting a long slope on to the
Quirinal hill, up to a point as high as the top of the
column. From the Forum Romanum the Roman
passed through the Fora of Casar and Augustus, and
then under the magnificent triumphal Arch of Trajan,
before reaching the open space of the Forum Trajanum.
The Forum of Trajan was surrounded by a triple row
of columns, and contained in the centre an equestrian
statue of Trajan; beyond it was the roofed Basilica
Ulpia, one of the most splendid buildings in Rome.
Part of the site has been excavated, and a number of
broken columns have in modern times been erected on
the excavated area, but unfortunately not in accordance
with their original positions. Beyond the basilica the
18




'The Rise of Rome
column, its lower part concealed by the basilica roof,
stood in a small open court adorned with statues. To
right and left were the two libraries, one for Greek
the other for Latin works.  The series of buildings
was completed on the further side of the column by the
Temple of Trajan.
The Column of Trajan is covered by a spiral band
of reliefs in the best manner, giving a pictorial history
of Trajan's conquest of Dacia. Most of these sculptures could originally be well examined from the galleries which surrounded the lower part of the column.
On the summit was a colossal statue of Trajan, which
Sixtus V. replaced by that of St. Peter.  The general
effect produced by the column half buried in buildings would seem strange in our day. A modern architect would doubtless have placed the column in the
centre of the open space of the Forum, and the equestrian statue where the column stands.
What was thought of this wonderful work of the
Greek architect, Apollodorus, we learn from Ammianus Marcellinus, who records the visit to Rome of
the Emperor Constantius in the middle of the fourth
century, having with him the Persian prince,
Hormisdas.
'As the Emperor,' says the historian, ' reviewed the
vast city and its environs, spreading along the slopes,
in the valleys, and between the summits of the Seven
Hills, he declared that the spectacle which first met
his eyes surpassed everything he had yet beheld. Now
his gaze rested on the Temple of the Tarpeian Jupiter,
now on baths so magnificent as to resemble entire provinces, now on the massive pile of the amphitheatre,
massively compact, of Tivoli stone, the summit of
which seems scarcely accessible to the human eye;
now on the Pantheon, rising like a fairy do.ne, and
its sublime columns, with their gently-inclined stair19




The Story of Rome
cases, adorned with statues of departed emperors; not
to enumerate the Temple of the City, the Forum of
Peace, the Theatre of Pompey, the Odeum, the
Stadium, and all the other architectural wonders of
eternal Rome.    When, however, he came to the
Forum of Trajan, a structure unequalled by any
other of its kind throughout the world, so exquisite,
indeed, that the gods themselves would find it hard
to refuse their admiration, he stood as if in a trance,
surveying with a dazed air the stupendous fabric
which neither words can picture nor mortal ever
again attempt to rear.  Then, realising the futility of
attempting any similar masterpiece, he exclaimed despairingly that the horse which Trajan bestrode in
the midst of the Atrium was all that he would, or
could, imitate. Prince Hormisdas, who stood close
beside him, thereupon rejoined, with admirable adroitness, " In order, most august Emperor, that the horse
you propose to set up may have a stable worthy of
him, at once command one to be erected as magnificent
as this." Being asked what he thought of Rome,
the Emperor replied, that in one respect he was disappointed, namely, to find that its men were not
immortal. After inspecting everything with the profoundest amazement, the Emperor admitted that fame,
which exaggerated all, had not adequately described
the glories of Rome.  Finally, as a contribution to
her splendours, he caused an obelisk to be erected in
the Circus Maximus.'
Rome must indeed at that time have been a city to
excite astonishment.  It contained no single buildings
so large or so solid as the palaces and pyramids of
Egypt and the Euphrates Valley.  But for number,
splendour, and variety of buildings, great and small,
no city that ever has existed deserves to be mentioned
in comparison with Rome. Its magnificence was due
20




The Rise of Rome
partly to the fact that conquest meant booty, and that
great wealth had few outlets except in the direction of
architectural display. But the Roman political system
of centralisation, of State initiative and State domination, naturally tended toward the erection of buildings
for the service and amusement of the public.  From
the central point of the Capitol immense edifices could
be seen on every side; circuses, stadia, theatres and
amphitheatres for amusement; baths for enjoyment;
temples and shrines for religion; basilicas and fora fbr
law, politics and trade; triumphal arches, statues and
mausolea as rewards for public service.  The Forum
Romanum and Imperial Fora covered a space of 25
acres devoted to the public. This was only the core
of the city, which spread with similar splendour in
every direction.  Lanciani has computed that in the
fourth century there existed over 400 temples, 300
shrines, i40 statues of gods, and 4000 other bronze
statues. There were also immense private houses, the
palaces of emperors and villas of rich citizens.  On
the other hand, the people, to the number of over a
million, mostly slaves, were crowded into very narrow
quarters.
Outside the town the suburbs extended as far as
Ostia, Tusculum, Tibur (Tivoli) and Veii.    The
whole of this area, the Campagna, was covered with
houses, villas, parks and gardens.  The largest villas,
such as that of Hadrian at Tivoli, formed the nucleus
of a village population of attendants and slaves.
Temples and shrines were scattered about all over
the Campagna.    All the roads outside the walls,
especially the Via Appia, were lined for miles of their
length by a continuous series of monuments to the
dead.  The great aqueducts, on their way to fill the
baths and fountains of the city, dropped some of their
life-giving fluid in the fields of' the cultivator, or the
2 I




The Story of Rome


ornamental gardens of the wealthy.  Some of them
have been repaired and help to make Rome even now
one of the best watered of cities.  She still possesses
many fountains, which serve to recall the cataracts
of water which formerly were poured into the marble
city.
Little is left of all this magnificence. The Pantheon, used as a church; the Mausoleum of Hadrian,
converted into the Castle of St. Angelo; the Arches
of Constantine, Titus and Septimius Severus; the
Colosseum; remains of the Baths of Caracalla, Titus,
Trajan and Diocletian; the Basilica of Constantine;
the ruined palaces on the Palatine; the Columns of
Trajan and Marcus Aurelius; other smaller columns
supporting pieces of the entablature of temples; the
equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius; the round temple
in the Piazza Bocca della Verita; some arches of
the aqueducts; here and there a piece of the Servian
walls; a gate or two in the Aurelian walls; a few
tombs and columbaria outside the city-these are the
chiefs relics left to us. The Capitol itself has been
swept so completely bare that, until a very recent date,
archaologists disputed whether the great Temple of
Jupiter originally stood on the eastern or the western
summit of the hill.
Of the Middle Age still less remains. All the
churches have been frequently restored. The following
have mediaeval cloisters:-S. Cosimato, the Lateran, S.
Lorenzo Fuori, S. Paolo Fuori and S. Sabina. The
campanili (bell-towers) are the least altered of mediaeval
monuments, few of them being later than the thirteenth
century. There are a number of mosaics of mediaeval
design in the churches, but all have been restored. Of
the towers which in the middle age covered the city,
the Tor de Conti and Torre dell Milizie are almost all
that is left.
22




The Rise of Rome
Such as they are, the mediaval remains, when compared to the classic, have a curiously old-fashioned,-,5,:-::.. -.......-:'4~.!: '~;.21_ -...... '-.'.' - -.:., j..,,...:
/~. 
=..... 


iir i
" ' i I
fl'~': ill
t.' I~' 'e
'7~
''''!:
IYZ.1*l Al~l
$" .PidQy
I i. -Y*.:::~_ucr,,,: r
~Irt
J?irkn:, :~V't-L


THE ROUND TEMPLE IN THE PIAZZA BOCCA DELLA VERITA
aspect. They seem to come from a more barbarous, a
remoter age. Visitors to Rome complain of the difficulty they find in separating works of one period from
those of a later date. Pagan ruins may always be dis23




The Story of Rome


tinguished by their comparatively modern appearance.
The modern world is nearer in spirit to the classic
than to the mediaeval. It is only in Rome, where
classic and mediaeval ruins stand side by side, that
this strange  and  significant fact  can  be  fully
appreciated.
The destruction of pagan Rome has been brought
about by many causes. Among the most potent has
been the action of nature, either as sun, wind, rain, the
growth of plants; or as inundation, frequent and disastrous, and earthquake-less common, but even more
destructive.  The earthquake of I349 settled the fate
of many tottering monuments. When once a building
has begun to decay, the influence of such natural
causes increases in geometrical progression.  Even
the monuments which have only recently been exposed by excavation have already begun to show
the effects of weather.  A  deserted building will
surely fall to pieces in time. The remains which
still exist have been preserved by being buried
under the earth, or by being repaired, or by having
been used for a church or for a fortified tower.  In
their present condition further decay is inevitable,
unless further restoration and protection are continuously given.
But though time alone would have brought all Roman
buildings, exceptionally strong as they were, to a condition of ruin, the co-operation of man was necessary
to entirely clear the surface, as, for instance, the Capitol
has been cleared. On the final adoption of Christianity
all the temples were closed.  Some wanton assaults
were made by zealous Christians on the symbols of the
discarded religion, but their effect was not serious.
The splendour of Rome was practically undiminished
when in 41o Alaric allowed his followers a three days'
sack.  They carried away what portable plunder they
24




The Rise of Rome


could collect, chiefly gold and silver ornaments and
jewels taken from temples and statues, but had no
object in wasting their time with deliberate destruction,
and left the great edifices practically untouched.  In
455 Genseric organised a methodical collection of all
valuables, with which he loaded his ships.   One
vessel, having a cargo composed entirely of statues,
foundered on its way to Carthage.    Genseric, no
doubt, did carry off gilded tiles from roofs, marble
slabs firom walls, and some of the smaller and more
precious marble columns, in addition to gold, silver,
bronze and jewellery; but he only allowed his
men fourteen days, and must have left Rome still
magnificent.
The Gothic wars of the sixth century did far more
damage.   When    Belisarius was defending  Rome
against Vitiges, he repaired the walls with pieces of
marble fiom the pagan buildings; and Vitiges, on his
part, cut the aqueducts, whereby the baths and fountains were ruined.  Rome has suffered many other
sieges, and has firequently been sacked.  A  large part
of the city in the Lateran quarter was deliberately set
on fire and completely demolished by order of Robert
Guiscard, the Norman, in 1084, during the struggle
between Henry IV. and Gregory VII.
But these causes-the action of time, and the sieges
and sacks of war-would not have sufficed to sweep
away all trace of its great public buildings. When
these edifices had become no longer suited to the wants
of the inhabitants, and had begun to fall down and
crumble to pieces, the citizens themselves hastened the
process of destruction by using the shapeless masses
lying about in every direction, for the erection of
new buildings.  That this practice had already become common by the middle of the fifth century
we know from an edict of the Emperor Majorian:25




The Story of Rome;We, the rulers of the State, with a view to restoring the beauty of our venerable city, desire to put an
end to the abuses which have already long excited
our indignation.  It is well known that in several
instances public buildings, in which all the ornament
of the city consisted, have been destroyed with the
criminal permission of the authorities, on the pretext
that the materials were necessary for public works.
The splendid structures of ancient buildings have
been overthrown, and the great has everywhere been
destroyed in order to erect the little.  From  this
has risen the abuse that whoever has built a private
house has, through the favour of the judges appointed
by the city, presumed to appropriate the necessary
materials from public buildings, whereas all such buildings as contribute to the splendour of the city should
have been restored and upheld by the loving reverence
of the citizens.'
Many times in her history have emperors, popes, and
medieval senators issued similar edicts.  The republic
of the Middle Ages decreed that death should be the
punishment; but it was impossible to stop the pillage.
The marble was burnt for conversion into lime,
porphyry columns being used, on account of their hardness, to form  kilns.  Raphael reported to Leo X.
(I 503-13) that nearly every house in Rome was built
with mortar made from this lime. When Rome was
being rebuilt the great artists of the Renaissance not
only picked up such marble as was lying aboutfallen columns, statueless pedestals, broken walls,
cracked pavements —for the decoration of their churches,
but they would even pull down an entire building for
the sake of any specially-desired piece.  Though they
went to classic models for their inspiration, they had no
sentimental reverence for the merely old. When
Michelangelo destroyed the Temple of Vesta in order
26




The Rise of Rome


to beautify St. Peter's, he considered that he was substituting a perfect, or at least complete, work of art for
one which had already lost its original virtues. He
would have derided the notion that St. Peter's was to
suffer that we might have a few more broken columns
in the Basilica Ulpia, or another cartload of bricks on
the Palatine.
In I870 Rome once more began a new career. In
thirty years the population has doubled, rising from a
quarter to half a million.  To accommodate this enormous increase, vast and hideous lodging-houses have
been built where previously had been an old villa or
palace, or a beautiful garden, or a vineyard.  The
streets have been widened, light and air have been
brought into what were the most crowded and unhealthy quarters; the town has been supplied with
excellent water, the drainage has been improved,
and the periodic inundations of the river have
been stopped by an expensive embankment.   Notoriously pestilential for nearly two thousand years, Rome
has now a lower death-rate than any town of similar
size. The municipality may well be proud of its
achievement.
On the other hand, it must be said that the new
brooms have swept without discrimination.  Archxaologists and artists have reason to complain of the careless, almost wanton, manner in which the clearance has
been effected. As a result, one of the most picturesque
towns in the world has become, in some quarters at
least, one of the ugliest.  But though reform has been
too indiscriminate, it is easy to understand the spirit
which has inspired it. After many centuries of oppression, Rome has at last obtained her freedom. In order
to deserve her title of eternal she must continue to live.
This can only be done by clearing away the fallen
leaves and putting forth fresh sprouts.  Such restora27




The Story of Rome
tion pre-supposes destruction. Augustus, who found
Rome brick and left it marble, was one of the first and
greatest of all the destroyers.  To create Imperial
Rome he had to demolish Republican Rome, regardless of antiquarian protests.
The case of the artist against the municipality has
thus been expressed by Mr W. J. Stillmann (The Old
Rome and the New, I897): 'In those days (before
I870) the joyous fraternity of the brush were to be
seen on every road that led into the Campagna at
almost every season of the year. Down the Tiber,
even within the city walls, pictures made to hand met
the eye at every turn of the river; one found Claude
and Turner wherever one went. But now,' he says,
'the vengeful lover of Old Rome sees with a malignant
satisfaction the long rows of untenanted windows of the
huge apartment houses over whose portals, newest in
stucco and whitewash, he reads the last remnant of the
language of the Romans, " Est locanda."... The
transformation of Rome during the last twenty years is
unique in the history of civilisation for barbarism,
extravagance and corruption; never since the world
began was so much money spent to do so much evil.... This pinchbeck Paris is only another illusion
which time will dissipate, and Rome will be again
what it has always been from its Republican days-a
centre of attraction to a spiritual cosmopolitan population, never a centre of trade and business; and the
people who know it are not those who are born in it,
but those who are born to it and its liberties of
thought.'
This quarrel between the archeologist, the artist
and the municipality is well illustrated by what has
happened in the Forum Romanum. Until recent times
this was the Campo Vaccino, or field of cattle.
Accumulations of soil had raised the surface about 5o
28




The Rise of Rome


feet above its classic level.  In the centre was 'the
nameless column with a buried base' (the Column of
Phocas) mentioned by Byron; an avenue of trees
stretched from the Capitol to the Arch of Titus.
Here were always to be found picturesque peasants
with their cattle, and the attendant circle of artists in
ecstasies.
The archaologist has converted this beautiful spot
into a large pit, covered with pieces of stone and
mounds of earth. He excuses himself by informing
us that he has exposed the cradle of modern civilisation, and opened a new chapter in history. While
artist and archeologist are disputing the municipality
brushes them  both aside.  It brings from  the Via
Cavour a line of tram rails, and carries them right
across both Campo Vaccino and Forum Romanum.
The artist flies in horror to the Palatine, while
the archeologist bends his energies to the task of
getting the whole area declared an archaeological
preserve.
One aspect of this quarrel has a peculiar interest for
these pages.  The story of Rome, from   classic to
modern times, is, in the main, a record of a contest
between the city and the great world outside, for the
glory and the power which lie in the prestige of the
ancient capital of Europe. A Gothic king, a German
emperor, an Italian pope, have fed and thriven upon the
Roman name. Foreigners unite in asserting that Rome
does not belong to the people who live in the town, but
to the strangers from distant lands who swoop down
upon the city as conquerors, and as arbiters of its needs.
Rome, they say, belongs to mankind, not to the people
who live there.  This foreign influence has afflicted
Rome ever since she became famous; it has placed
tyrant after tyrant over her; it has made her history a
unique record of revolutionary struggles for independ29




The Sto;y of Rome
ence. And now that Rome at last is free, the echo
of the long conflict is still heard in the growls of foreign
artists, who would deny to the citizens the right to make
their home a pleasant and healthy place in which to
earn their livelihood.


THE MUNICIPAL ARMS OF ROME


30




CHAPTER II


The Triumphal Procession          of Trajan
to the Capitol
l bam forte Via Sacra, sicut meus est mos,
Nescio quid meditans nugarum, ct totus in illis.'-Ilorace.
DURING the first century of the Christian era the
Imperial throne was occupied by the relatives of
Julius Cxsar and by Vespasian and his sons-by the aristocratic Julian Claudians, and by the plebeian Flavians.
Gibbon says: 'It is almost superfluous to enumerate the
unworthy successors of Augustus.  Their unparalleled
vices, and the splendid theatre in which they were
acted, have saved them from oblivion. The dark,
unrelenting Tiberius, the furious Caligula, the feeble
Claudius, the profligate and cruel Nero, the beastly
Vitellius, and the timid, inhuman Domitian, are condemned to everlasting infamy.' Murder or compulsory
suicide was the fate of nearly all the first century
emperors. Then came the golden age of the Antonines.  Nerva adopted the Spaniard Trajan, naming
him as his successor.  Trajan adopted Hadrian, who
adopted Antoninus and his successors, the brothers
Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. By adoption a
succession of able rulers was obtained, men carefully
selected and specially trained by being given a subordinate share in the government, during the reign of
their adoptive father and educator.  Gibbon's pane31




The Story of Rome
gyric on the Antonines begins as follows: ' If a man
were called to fix the period in the history of the world
during which the condition of the human race was most
happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation,
name that which elapsed friom the death of Domitian
to the accession of Commodus. The vast extent of
the Roman Empire was governed by absolute power,
under the guidance of virtue and wisdom. The armies
were restrained by the firm but gentle hand of four
successive emperors, whose characters and authority
commanded involuntary respect.'
The character of a Roman ruler may fairly be
estimated from the length of his reign and the manner
of his death. The average reign of a Roman emperor
was four years, and his death, in the majority of cases,
was brought about by assassination.  The adoptive
emperors, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and
Marcus Aurelius, generally known as ' the Antonines,'
controlled the destinies of the Empire for eighty-two
successive years, and were allowed to die in peace of
the diseases of old age-a signal proof of their beneficent administration.
Of these four emperors Trajan was the most warlike.  By his conquest of Dacia (the land between
the Danube and the Carpathians) he extended the
Empire to its furthest limits; and in 107 A.D. celebrated in Rome a great triumph in honour of the
event.
The triumph was one of the chief of the outdoor
displays of which the Romans became so fond. It
was the precursor of the gorgeous processions of the
Middle Ages, when a German emperor was to be
crowned, a Pope conducted to the Lateran, or a
Senator escorted to the Capitol.  It was the highest
honour the State could bestow. The claims of a
general were carefully examined by the senate before
32




T2he 7iriumphal Procession of Trajan.so precious a privilege was accorded, and then only for
the complete conquest of a public and foreign enemy.
In the Republican period, when Rome was always at
war, and always conquering, there were many more
triumphs than under the Empire.  Trajan was the last
emperor with an aggressive foreign policy, and almost
the last who enjoyed a triumph.  In the 300 years
before him there had been 300 triumphs. After him
60o years elapsed before the triumph of Marcus
Aurelius and Lucius Verus; and IOO years intervened between the triumphs of Diocletian and
Honorius.   After Trajan  the honour was never
fairly earned. All the wars subsequent to his time
were defensive or internecine. The Roman armies
were engaged either in repelling a barbaric invasion
or in subduing a rebellious province or in attacking
each other.
On the night before his triumph the general and his
soldiers slept in the Campus Martius, between the
modern Corso and the Tiber. Next morning the
senate proceeds in a body to greet the hero, who
musters his soldiers and makes them a speech. Then
the procession is formed and is led into the city by the
senators, marching at the head. The Porta Triumphalis, closed at other times, now opens for the entry of
the triumphator.  (The Roman Church adopted this
idea when it closed the Porta Santa in the major basilicas
at all times except during Jubilee year.)  Behind the
senate come the trumpeters.  Then follow the spoils
of war, either in chariots and waggons, or carried by
slaves. They comprise gold and silver coin, cups of
precious metal, jewels, statues, arms, helmets, cuirasses, spears, bridles, captured flags and trophies, and
pictures of the conquered cities.  Then follow the
sacrificial animals, a hundred white oxen with gilded
horns, attended by priests carrying the sacred vessels.
C                 33




The Story of Rome


After them a number of strange animals from the con-.
quered country, perhaps lions, or tigers, elephants,
giraffes, deer.  Behind  these walk the principal
captives in chains-Jugurtha, the victim of Marius;
Vercingetorix, put to death by Julius Csesar; the eastern beauty Zenobia, conquered by Aurelian. Then
come the lictors of the general in red tunics, their
fasces wreathed with laurel, and the citharistwe or
ludiones, dancing and singing, immediately in front of
the chariot, drawn by four white horses, in which stands
the hero. His tunic and toga are of purple embroidered
with gold; in his right hand he carries a branch of
laurel, in his left an ivory sceptre topped by an eagle;
and his head is garlanded with laurel.  Over his
head a slave holds a gold wreath representing leaves
of laurel or oak. That the hero may not become mad
with pride, it is the duty of the slave to whisper in
his ear, 'Respice post te. Hominem   te memento.'
('Look   behind.  Remember that you are but a
man.')  After him   come his soldiers, their spears
adorned with laurel, or carrying palms, and singing
songs of triumph.
After entering the city the procession passes through
the Forum Boarium (between the Capitol and the
river), and then encircles the Palatine, marching
through the Circus Maximus (where now are the gasworks). This immense circus is said by Pliny to
have been capable of accommodating 250,000 persons,
a number which, in the time of the later Empire, is said
to have been increased to the fabulous total of 380,ooo.
Huelsen thinks that 150,ooo would be nearer the
truth. Whatever may have been its exact seating
capacity, it was, as Middleton says, the most magnificent building in the world, covered, inside and
out, with marble, gilding, painting, mosaic, and statues
of white marble and gilt bronze. The only memento
34




77we Triumphal Procession of Trajan
of all this splendour is the obelisk in the Piazza
del Popolo, which stood in the centre of the
circus.
Public shows were so popular among the Romans
that in Republican times the chief officials found it
necessary to secure their positions by lavish expenditure upon these exhibitions, which lasted from sunrise
to sunset, sometimes for weeks together. The enormous outlay required, prevented many able men from
accepting office.
The stadium was used for foot-races and athletic
contests, the circus for chariot and other horse
races, and the amphitheatre for gladiatorial combats.
Remains of a stadium may be seen on the Palatine
between the palaces of Augustus and Severus; the
form of the circus is preserved in the ruins of the
Circus of Maxentius on the Via Appia Antica, near
the tomb of Cecilia Metella; and the great amphitheatre is now the Colosseum.
The course in the circus was seven times round, the
completion of each lap being marked by removing a
marble egg from the spina, the low platform running
down the centre.   Frequent accidents occurred in
turning the end of the spina, but the successful
drivers, men of low social position, earned large
sums.   They  were divided into four permanent
organisations, known by their colours, the red, white,
blue and green.   Of these the blues and greens
were the most successful, and their rivalry came in
time to be the only question of any interest to the
Romans. The despotism of the emperors prevented
the citizens from taking any share in 'the internal
or external affairs of the State.  Their thoughts were
concentrated on the public shows, in which they
still had a predominant voice. There were the usual
features incident to horse races: heavy betting, with
35




The Story of Rome
its backers, bookmakers and welshers, doctoring of
horses, and dishonest drivers. The Emperors Nero
and Commodus took part in the competitions.
As the great pageant passed through the circus,
crowded by sightseers to its utmost limit, it was
watched by a large and aristocratic assemblage on
the Palatine; and it then turned to the left, along
the valley which separates the Palatine from the
Calian, at the end of which, two centuries later, the
Arch of Constantine was erected, after his victory
over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge (Ponte Molle)
in 312. This arch is the most modern and the best
preserved of all the buildings which remain of the Imperial period. Probably it owes its preservation to the
Christianity of its hero. The statue on the Capitoline
Hill, now known to represent Marcus Aurelius, has
survived, owing to the belief entertained throughout
the Middle Ages that it was a portrait of the first
Christian emperor; and the Basilica of Constantine,
which still retains some of its original form, may owe
its continued existence to the name with which it is
associated. The inscription on the arch, on the side
nearest the Colosseum, isIMP. CAES. FL. CONSTANTINO MAXIMO
P.F. AVGVSTO S.P.Q.R.
QVOD. INSTINCTV. DIVINITATIS. MENTIS.
MAGNITVDINE. CVM EXERCITV. SVO.
TAM. DE. TYRANNO. QVAM. DE. OMNI. EIVS.
FACTIONE. VNO TEMPORE. IVSTIS.
REMPVBLICAM. VLTVS. EST. ARMIS.
ARCVM. TRIVMPHANS. INSIGNEM. DICAVIT.
(To Emperor Caesar Flavius Constantinus Maximus,
the Pious, the Fortunate, Augustus, the Senate and
People of Rome have dedicated in triumph this noble
arch, because, by the inspiration of God and the great36




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I..  1 1   I '
";,:.:   l..


i 1.
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lil   I       -. V..... I,..: I. "
-— 7 - -
'4.      -.,.
- -




I




The Triumphal Procession of T'rajan
ness of his mind, he, by means of his legions and just
arms, avenged the Republic, not only on the tyrant,
but also at one time on all his faction.)
The words instinctu divinitatis were probably agreed
upon by the senate in the hope of satisfying both
Pagans and Christians, each religion placing its own
construction on the meaning of the term 'divinitas '
-divinity, God.    Over the reliefs in the interior
are the wordsLIBERATORI. VRBIS.
FVNDATORT. QVIETIS.
The aspirations of the Romans for liberation and
quiet were satisfied for the moment by Constantine.
But the subsequent career of the city is unique in history for its long record of tyranny and revolution.
The general appearance of the arch is so good, and
the reliefs upon it of Constantine's era are so poor,
that its design and proportion have been assumed to
be an imitation of an arch of the time of Trajan.
Seven of the eight fluted Corinthian columns
are of giallo antico (Numidian marble), the eighth,
that nearest the Forum, having been removed to the
Lateran by Clement VIII. and replaced by one of
white marble.   Giallo antico, from  Numidia and
Libya in North Africa, is of a deep yellow colour
with tints of orange and pink.  It was much used in
Rome for columns and the linings of walls. These
columns stand upon pedestals, and they also carry
pedestals upon which are statues of Dacian prisoners.
These figures are of the time of Trajan, with the exception of the one on the left nearest the Palatine;
and all the heads and hands are restorations.
The four rectangular reliefs on each face of the
attic, with one on each flank, and one on each side
of the central vault, are of Trajan's time.  The
39




Thte Story of Rome
two on each flank, with the two under the
central arch, belonged originally to one continuous
series.  It began with the central panel on the left
(towards the Caelian) which represents Trajan crowned
by Victory; the second in the series is on the attic towards the Cxalian, and the third is under the central
arch towards the Palatine-both these exhibit fighting
between the Roman cavalry and the Dacians; the
fourth panel, on the attic towards the Palatine, shows
the Dacian prisoners before Trajan.
The rectangular reliefs on the two faces are in the
following order:-From the Colosseum side, the first
on the left of the spectator represents Trajan greeted
on his triumphal entry into Rome by the goddess
Roma, with the garlanded Temple of Mars in the
background.  The second is an allegorical allusion to
the construction of a road through the Pontine Marshes
in I Io; Trajan stands before a reclining figure with a
wheel, the Roman symbol for a road. The third
shows Trajan distributing food to the children of the
poor, a charity which he inaugurated in 99. The last
panel on the right exhibits a barbarian chief doing
homage to Trajan. Below these rectangular reliefs
are four medallions representing alternately hunting and
sacrificial scenes.  In the first, on the left, Trajan
on horseback follows a boar; in the second he offers a
libation to Apollo; in the next he stands over a dead
lion; and in the fourth he sacrifices to Jupiter.  On
the left, below the medallions and above the lower left
arch, is a long panel of the time of Constantine, which
gives an interesting view of the rostra and the Forum.
In the centre of the rostra is the figure of Constantine,
the upper part destroyed.  At each end of the rostra,
raised on a pedestal, is a seated statue.  On the
rostra, listening to the discourse of the emperor, are
the leading citizens, and below, in the Forum, the
40




i
i
i
I
4
I
k




FROM COLOSSEUM TO CAPITOL


1. Temple of Romulus.
2. Temple of the Sacred City
(now SS. Cosmae Damiano).
3. Arch of Fabius.
4. Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
(now S. Lorenzo in Miranda).
5. Regia.
6. Temple of Vesta.
7. Fountain of Juturna.
8. Shrine of Juturna.
9. Arch of Augustus.
io. Temple and Rostra of Julius Caesar.
xI. Inscription to Lucius Caesar.
12. Shrine of Venus Cloacina.
13. Niger Lapis
14. Plutei.


14A. Inscription to Stilicho.
15. Column of Phocas.
i6. Rostra of Domitian.
17. Republican Rostra.
18. Golden Milestone.
19. Umbilicus Romae.
20. Arch of Severus.
21. Temple of Saturn
22. Arch of Tiberius.
22A.Vicls Tuscus.
23. Temple of Concord.
24. Temple of Vespasian.
25. Porticus Deorum Consentiuni.
26. Clivus Capitolinus.
27. Mamertine Prison.




The Triumphal Procession of Trajan
people. On the left, in the background, are four arches
of the Basilica Julia, then the Arch of Tiberius;
then behind the rostra five columns surmounted by
statues, and on the right the arch of Septimius
Severus.  On the side of the Arch of Constantine,
facing the Via S. Gregorio, the rectangular relief on the
attic to the left of the spectator shows Trajan receiving
a barbarian chief, and the second panel also has Trajan
receiving Dacian captives, with Decebalus their king.
The inscription in the centre of the attic is a repetition
of that on the other face.  The third panel represents
Trajan standing on a platform haranguing his soldiers;
and the last on the right shows Trajan pouring a libation on to a tripod altar, while a boar, a ram and a
bull are led to the sacrifice of the Suovetaurilia. The
medallions continue the series of alternate hunting and
sacrificial scenes. On the left, Trajan standing by his
horse is ready to start for the chase; then he sacrifices before a statue of Hercules; the third panel shows
him on horseback pursuing a bear; and the last, pouring a libation on to an altar before a statue of Diana,
as a thank-offering for success in the hunt.
While the great procession was marching along the
Via Triumphalis there was no arch here to impede the
view of the Meta Sudans and the Colosseum. The
Meta Sudans was a tall, cone-shaped fountain, covered
with marble, the water rising in one stream from the
interior to the top, and falling over the cone so as to
completely cover it. Some remains of the brick wall
are still in situ.
The Colosseum, now the most famous ruin in the
world, was long known as the Flavian Amphitheatre,
Flavius being the family name of the emperors who
were concerned in its erection-Vespasian, who commenced it in A.D. 72, and his sons, Titus, who opened it
in 80, and Domitian who completed it. This was the
41




Tle Story of Rome
first considerable building erected after the time of
Augustus for the use of the public. Some of the
Claudian emperors had a bad name for selfish extravagance. Vespasian was the first emperor not of noble
birth, and was anxious to gain popularity for himself
and his family in spite of their plebeian origin. He made
magnificent restitution to the public for one of Nero's
most daring encroachments. The immense Golden
House of Nero, with its parks and lakes, rested on the
Palatine, the Celian and the Esquiline Hills, covering
up the Sacra Via and the entrance to the Forum.
Vespasian demolished it almost completely, erecting the
Colosseum on the site of the great lake; and his son
Titus dedicated to the public the baths he constructed
over that part of Nero's house which lay upon the
Esquiline. Thus the epithet Flavius came to be an
expression of praise, and was adopted by several emperors. The inscription on the Arch of Constantine
gives the emperor the three most laudatory attributes,
by describing him as Caesar, Augustus, and Flavius.
In its size, its massive solidity, its orderly arrangement and practical utility, its disdain of fine ornament
or elegant decoration, the relentless brutality of its
purpose, the plain, severe character of its founder-in
all these respects the Colosseum is the most typically
Roman of all buildings. In shape it is an ellipse; the
longest diameter from the Forum to the Lateran is
very nearly the length of St. Peter's; the circumference
is one-third of a mile. The exterior is formed of
large blocks of travertine, set without mortar, but
clamped together with bars of iron.  The surface is
now covered with holes made in the Middle Ages in
order to extract the coveted metal. The building has
four storeys.  The three lower storeys were built with
arches, eighty in number, supported by piers faced with
half columns. The fourth storey, added by Gordian
42




The Triumphal Procession of Trajan
III. in the third century, is a solid wall faced with
pilasters. The lowest storey is of the Doric order,
the second is Ionic, the third Corinthian and the fourth
Composite; but the capitals of the columns are roughly
carved-which has been explained by the suggestion
that possibly the whole facade may originally have been
covered with stucco. Each of the arches of the second
and third tiers was adorned with a statue.  The
cornice at the top of the building,. I60 feet from the
ground, had square holes cut in it for the insertion of
wooden masts, the lower ends of which rested upon a
large travertine corbel projecting from the wall, 14 feet
lower down. These masts, with others at regular intervals down the steps on the inside, supported the
awning, which stretched down to, but did not cover
the arena.
The building could hold 50,000 seated spectators,
arranged in tiers corresponding to the external storeys.
Nearest the arena was the podium, a marble platform
with marble thrones for the Vestals, senators and other
religious and lay officials of high rank. Above the
podium was the emperor's throne, between columns
and under a canopy.  There were two Imperial entrances, one from the Celian, the other from the
Esquiline, each leading to a throne.  Above the
podium there were marble steps, every second step
forming a row of numbered seats, for the use of which
a ticket was necessary.  The most careful and explicit
directions were given by special laws as to the classes
who were entitled to these seats.  Above the more
honourable seats rose a wall separating them from those
still further up. The topmost seats were protected by
a roof supported by columns. Here sat the women and
the lower classes. Even the Vestals were removed to
this part during some of the exhibitions. As no ticket
was required for the gallery, it was necessary, in order
43




The Story of Rome
to get a good seat there, to be at the amphitheatre before
sunrise.  On the roof of the gallery were stationed the
sailors, whose business it was to place the awning in
position, and move it to suit the wishes of the spectators.
The air was cooled by fountains scented with saffron
and other perfumes. The show lasted through the
whole day, making it necessary to distribute food
among the people. In the hot mid-day hours sham
combats and other buffooneries relieved the dark tragedy,
for the main business was the spectacle of human beings
slaughtering one another in cold blood 'to make a
Roman holiday.'
The arena was so called because it was covered with
sand, which sucked up the blood and gave the fighters
a firm footing. - Under the sand was a wooden platform
or stage, through which cages containing animals could
be raised from below. The whole of the area under
the building was arranged to accommodate the wild
beasts and their attendants, with the scenery and stage
properties. This spot having originally been a lake
lying between hills, the arena would constantly have
been under water but for the practical skill of the
Romans in scientific underground drainage. The unknown architect deserves credit for the solidity of his
foundations, which have carried his enormous building,
in marshy ground, for so many centuries.
Most of the Roman public buildings, their temples,
basilicas, and baths, were imitations of Greek models.
The amphitheatre was a Roman invention.    Two
wooden theatres were placed back to back and made
to move upon pivots, so that when they were turned
they formed an amphi, or double, theatre. A histrionic
performance having been given in each theatre, it was
then turned round, with its spectators, and in the
central pit so formed, gladiators fought.
From the earliest times the shedding of blood has
44




the Triumphal Procession of 7rajan


been regarded as a meritorious act, pleasing to the gods.
Blood, without which there is no life, was the most
valuable of all possible offerings. Human sacrifices,
when abandoned by the Greeks, were still continued
by the Etruscans, especially at the funeral of an important person. This custom was followed in Rome
from the earliest times. The victims were slaves. As
the Romans increased in wealth and conquests, and
their slaves became numerous, it was considered wasteful and unnecessary to kill all a man's slaves on his
death.  Some were spared for the use of the heir.
These would naturally be taken from the strongest and
most capable.  In order to test the relative value of
the slaves, to furnish a funeral entertainment for the
friends of the deceased, and at the same time to offer
the necessary sacrifices to the gods, the slaves were
made to fight, and thus to select, by the ordeal of
battle, the weakest among them as a blood-offering.
The first recorded combat of this sort was exhibited in
the Forum Boarium by Marcus and Decimus Brutus,
in 264 B.c., at the funeral of their father.  The great
popularity of the entertainment led to the special training of the strongest slaves, and thus to organised displays, at first in the Forum Romanum, afterwards in
the amphitheatre, the circus being too large and long to
give every spectator a good view. The fighters were
originally slaves, prisoners of war and condemned
criminals. Under the Empire, when large expenditure
upon these shows had become necessary in order to
please the populace and obtain political preferment,
many of the poorer or more desperate characters among
the free men were tempted by the high pay offered,
and thus raised this kind of fighting-homicide for its
own sake — to the dignity of a profession.   The
gladiator was, however, always regarded as only just
above the slave in social position.  In Imperial times,
45




The Story of Rome
besides the Emperor Commodus himself, senators,
knights, and even women sometimes fought.
A large mosaic floor, containing portraits of gladiators, has been removed from the Baths of Caracalla to
the Lateran Museum, where it is placed, curiously
enough, in the Christian portion.  There is another
similar floor in the Borghese Villa. These mosaics are
interesting for the costumes they depict, and for the
animal appearance they give to the gladiators. As
Story well says:-' Their brutal and bestial physiognomies, their huge, over-developed muscles and Atlantean
shoulders, their low, flat foreheads and noses are hideous to behold, and give one a more fearful and living
notion of the horror of those bloody games to which
they were trained than any description in words could
convey. They make one believe that of all animals
none can be made so brutal as man.'
The gladiators marched into the amphitheatre in
procession, by the entrances at the Forum and Lateran
ends. Those who were forced into the arena to fight,
not as professional gladiators, but as criminals whose
lives were already forfeited, marched up to the Imperial
tribune and saluted the emperor with the words, ' Ave
Caesar, morituri te salutant! ' (' Hail, Cesar, those about
to die salute thee! '). Similar customs continue at bullfights in Spain, where the torreros enter the ring in
stately procession and salute the president.
When a gladiator was incapacitated by a wound, the
people shouted 'Habet!' and if they wished the wounded
man to be killed by his adversary, they turned up their
thumbs. If, however, as would frequently be the case,
he had fought well, he was spared. The verdict of the
Vestals, who sat near the emperor, often decided the
question; but neither they nor Casar ventured to
resist the definite decisions of the people.
Being built upon the bed of a lake, the amphitheatre
46




Vi/e 7riumphal Procession of 'Irajan


could easily be flooded with water, when nautical combats were exhibited, and the spectators could watch
the gradually-failing struggles of the drowning.
The bestiarius was specially trained to fight against
beasts of all kinds brought from every known country in
the world. Sometimes the arena would be laid out
with trees and mounds, where every species of strange
animal would be let loose, forming a sort of zoological
garden. The animals were introduced in a ravenous
condition and encouraged to fight with each other. At
the great inaugural shows given by Titus there was a
combat of cranes. Criminals who had incurred the
popular resentment in an especial degree, such as the
Christians, were exposed, unarmed and defenceless, to
the wildest beasts, who tore and ate the living flesh,
and crunched the bones before the delighted eyes of the
spectators seated on the marble thrones.
The number of Christian martyrs has been enormously exaggerated by ecclesiastical writers.  Even
of those Christians who were executed, many
were not exposed in the amphitheatre, but beheaded
elsewhere. Those who were so exposed, refused to
fight, whether against each other or against the beasts.
They were done to death by every imaginable cruelty,
all the while defying their tormentors in a spirit of
heroic obstinacy.  It was the object of the Roman
Government to make the Christian publicly admit the
practical impotence of his God to save him from the
clutches of the Pagans. The Christians, on the other
hand, knowing that their life in this world was at an
end, believing most implicitly in a future existence of
glory and happiness, and being for the most part men
of obstinate and determined character who had already
refused to recant their opinions, were inspired by a
spiritual exaltation which no physical pain could subdue.
It is impossible to imagine a spectacle of greater human
47




The Story of Rome


interest.  The victim, torn to pieces by ferocious beasts,
burnt alive, or patiently enduring the long agonies of
crucifixion: the spectators, fascinated by the heartrending tragedy, hardened as they were to the sight of
human suffering, yet scarcely able to repress the
inevitable call for pity and admiration; until at last the
death and triumph of the heroic sufferer gave every
man present a sense of impotence and of defeat.
Human compassion, we may be sure, was felt by
individuals in every part of the audience, perhaps even by
the majority, though overcome by cowardice, stifled by
the tyranny of public opinion.  The Christians were the
real victors at these scenes.  At one time, martyrdom in the Colosseum was a prize for which they
eagerly  competed.  The   public exposure in the
Colosseum, far from being a deterrent, had a large
influence in spreading the new Faith. The imagination
of the whole world was powerfully affected by the
wonderful tales of heroism and baffled cruelty, which
came from every amphitheatre throughout the Roman
Empire.
One of the earliest and best-authenticated martyrs
was St. Ignatius, whom legend has identified with the
child blessed by Christ, and presented to the disciples
as a type of humility. When Bishop of Antioch, St.
Ignatius was brought before Trajan there. He refused
to worship the Pagan gods, and was sent to Rome to be
devoured by lions in the amphitheatre. The large bones
only were left. These were carefully collected; and
they lie now under the high altar of the church of S.
Clemente.
St. Augustine relates that in about the year 390 a
certain Alipius, dragged against his will to the show,
kept his eyes firmly shut for a time, until the shouts of
the people at an exceptionally exciting event overcame
his curiosity.  Once having gazed upon the appalling
48




5The Itriumphal Procession of Trajan


scene he became as fascinated as the rest, and never again
failed to present himself in good time to take his seat.
Christianity has abolished the gladiator.  In this, as
in many other respects, the cultured Pagan was in
sympathy with the religion of Christ. To Cicero,
mere killing for its own sake had no attraction. More
than a hundred years before the Colosseum had been
commenced he said of the fights between men and
beasts exhibited by Pompey in his theatre:'Magnificae nemo negat; sed quae potest esse homini
polito delectatio, quum aut homo imbecillus a valentissima bestia laniatur, aut praeclara bestia venabulo transverberatur.' ('Magnificent are these shows, nobody
denies it, but what delight can it be for a refined mind
to see a feeble man torn by a powerful beast, or a noble
animal pierced with a javelin?')  Marcus Aurelius
issued an unpopular order that the gladiators were to
fight against each other with blunted weapons only; and
on one occasion when, seated on the Imperial throne in
the Colosseum, he turned from the performance to
busy himself with State papers, his attention was brought
back to the death struggle before him by the murmurs
of disapproval which arose from all parts of the amphitheatre. To Cicero, killing was vulgar and ugly; to
Marcus Aurelius it was giving way to the lower
passions; to the Christian it was fratricide.  There is
a substantial difference between these views.  The
cultured Pagan disapproved, but only from consideration of what was seemly in the victor. The Christian's
concern was for the victim.
Constantine, and several of his Christian successors,
endeavoured to get rid of the gladiators, but the
Romans had tasted blood and would not leave their
prey. At last, in 403, an Eastern monk, Telemachus,
who had come to Rome for the express purpose of
protesting against the exhibition, rushed into the arena
D                49




2The Story of Rome


and separated the combatants.  He was set upon by
the officials and spectators, and killed on the spot,
but a general feeling of disapproval was at last aroused,
and the fighting of men with men was stopped, though
only for a time.  Justinian finally, in the sixth century,
put an end to the shedding of human blood, whether by
men or by beasts.
In the tenth century the Colosseum formed part of
the Frangipani fortress.  In I332, when the Papal
Court was at Avignon, a great bull-fight took place
here, in which no less than eighteen young Roman
nobles were killed by the bulls. Then it became the
chief quarry for builders.  In  1675 a chapel was
built within the ruins by Clement X.; and Benedict
XIV., in 1749, erected a plain wooden cross in the
centre, with fourteen painted shrines around it, for the
stations of the ' Via Crucis.'
The famous Latin prophecy runs:'Quamdiu stabit Coliseus, stabit et Roma; quando cadet
Coliseus, cadet et Roma; quando cadet Roma, cadet et mundus.
As Byron has it:'While stands the Colosseum, Rome shall stand,
When falls the Colosseum, Rome shall fall,
And when Rome falls, the world.'
The Dacian captives who walked in front of their
conqueror must have looked up at the great building
with terror in their hearts, for there they were doomed
to fight after the triumphal ceremony.  Trajan celebrated his victory by shows, in which I0,000 men
fought and I i,ooo animals were slaughtered.
Behind the Colosseum Trajan saw the magnificent
Baths of Titus, of which some fragments still remain;
and beyond them the baths he had himself erected,
still to be seen in the gardens of the Sette Salle.  He
50




The Triumphal Procession of Trajan


then turned up towards the Capitol, over the road which
was afterwards covered by the Temple of Venus and
Rome. Below the remains of the temple, and facing
the Colosseum, we can see the arches leading to subterranean chambers, where were stored the scenic
paraphernalia to be used in the shows of the amphitheatre.
In the time of Trajan, the Arch of Titus and the
Colossus of Nero (a gilt bronze statue I20 feet high),
stood near the site now occupied by the church of
S. Francesca Romana.    They were removed     by
Hadrian to make room for the Temple of Venus and
Rome, the arch being placed in its present position,
and the colossus on the large square pedestal near the
Colosseum, of which some remains may still be
identified.
The Temple of Venus and Rome, the largest and
one of the grandest in Rome, was designed by
Hadrian, its peculiarity being the placing of two cellae
(temple-chambers) back to back, one being dedicated
to Venus Felix, the other to Roma Aeterna. Dion
Cassius tells us that Hadrian, who prided himself on
his architectural taste and skill, showed his plan to
Apollodorus, the great artist who created the wonders
of Trajan's Forum; and when Apollodorus pointed
out that the statues of Venus and Rome, seated figures,
were so large that they would not be able to stand up
without striking the roof, Hadrian ordered his immediate
execution.  It is an improbable tale.  Hadrian had
little resemblance to Nero.
Trajan now passed under the triumphal arch erected
by Domitian to commemorate the capture of Jerusalem
by his brother, Titus. As it now stands the arch is
the work of Valadier, who, in 1822, took it entirely to
pieces and rebuilt it. The travertine which he used is
easily distinguished from the pentelic marble remains of
5I




the Story of Rome


the original edifice.  On the inner jambs are two fine
reliefs. One represents Titus crowned by Victory in
his triumphal quadriga, the horses led by Roma. On
the other side the spoils of the Temple of Jerusalem
are being carried-the golden seven-branched candlestick, the golden table for shewbread, and the silver
trumpets.  These sacred and valuable objects were
deposited by Vespasian in the Temple of Peace,
whence they were taken by Genseric to Carthage in
455. When Belisarius defeated the Vandals he recaptured them and sent them to Constantinople. On
the centre of the vault of the arch is a relief of the
apotheosis of Titus borne aloft by an eagle. The
external frieze represents oxen being led to sacrifice.
The capitals of the columns are the earliest existing
examples of the unsatisfactory composite order.
In the Middle Ages this arch was used by the
Frangipani to form part of their great fortress, in
which were also included the Colosseum and the
Septizonium.
Trajan now descended the Sacra Via, the famous
street along which Horace was sauntering, in accordance with his custom, totally absorbed in dreamy
thoughts, when he met the bore whom he has immortalised in the lines quoted at the head of this chapter.
The original Sacra Via was a short lane connecting
the Forum with the Summa Sacra Via, the ridge between
the Forum and the Colosseum.  The name was afterwards applied to the entire length of the road from the
Capitol to the Esquiline Hill. When Trajan marched
up the incline from the Colosseum in order to pass
under the Arch of Titus, he went over the ground
now occupied by the church of S. Francesca Romana.
The pavement of the old street has been discovered
under the floor of the church. After the erection of
the Temple of Venus and Rome by Hadrian, and the
52




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 ii. Th
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i' IJ
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If                I


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THFL- AR~CHOF1. TITVS.




I




The Triumphal Procession of Trajan


removal of the Arch of Titus to its present site, the
Sacra Via was also turned to pass under the arch.
As Trajan now stood on the summit, on the incline
which the primitive shepherds had found so useful as
an approach for their flocks to the settlement on the
Palatine Hill, on his right were private houses and
warehouses for Oriental spices, where now stand the
remains of the basilica commenced by Maxentius and
finished by his conqueror, Constantine.  This great
building had a central nave with two aisles, the eastern
of which, with its three gigantic arches, each 60
feet in span, is all that now remains. The central
existing arch was backed by an apsidal end, where
stood a colossal statue of Constantine and four other
statutes in niches on each side of it. The concrete
roof, decorated with octagonal coffers containing central
rosettes, was painted and gilded.  A  piece of the
springing of the vault which spread over the great
hall remains apparently hanging in the air. This fragment originally rested on a large Corinthian column,
and its stability, now that the support has been removed,
is due to the wonderful strength of the concrete which
connects it with the wall behind.   One of these
enormous fluted marble columns which supported the
vault now stands in front of the Basilica of S. M.
Maggiore, whither it was moved by Paul V. (Borghese) in I613. At the front of the basilica, towards
the Sacra Via, were a number of fine columns of red
porphyry, and a long flight of marble steps leading up
from the road. Porphyry, from its power of resisting
fire, was used in the Middle Ages to form the kiln in
which the softer marbles were reduced to lime.
As Trajan proceeded down the narrow street he
passed on his right the Templum    Sacrae Urbis,
which now forms part of the church of SS. Cosma
e Damiano.    A  passage leads on the left of the
55




the Story of Rome
Basilica of Constantine to the back of the church.
After the great fire in the reign of Commodus, Rome
was considerably rebuilt by Septimius Severus, and a
fresh register of the ownership of property in the new
streets was made. To help the citizens in identifying
their plots, a marble plan of Rome was affixed to the
back wall of this temple. Some fragments were discovered at the foot of the wall in the sixteenth century,
and others in recent times.  They now line the staircase of the Capitoline Museum. The floor of the
Forum Pacis has recently been exposed here, showing
a beautiful pavement of coloured marbles. A large
fragment of concrete, with part of a staircase, has fallen
here from the Basilica of Constantine.
Facing the Sacra Via, and now forming part of the
church of SS. Cosma e Damiano, is the circular
temple erected in the fourth century by Maxentius to
the memory of his son Romulus, who had died at the
age of four. The handsome doorway is flanked by
two red porphyry columns which support a carved
entablature, richly ornamented.  This doorway and the
bronze doors were taken from some building of an
earlier date.
Just opposite the round temple was the Arch of Fabius,
erected to Quintus Fabius Maximus in B.C. 12I,
inferior in size and grandeur to the later arches; some
fragments may still be seen.  It stood at the furthest
end of the Forum.    Cicero gives a picture of the
crowding all along the Sacra Via, and especially at
this point, where he says: 'When I am jostled in a
crowd, as often happens, I do not blame the man who
is at the top of the Sacred Way while I am being
pushed about near the Fabian Arch, but the person
who actually runs against me and pushes me.' It
used to be said of any man who had exaggerated ideas
of his own importance that he lowered his head under
56




The Triumphal Procession of Trajan


the Arch of Fabius on his way to the Forum. Having
passed under this arch, Trajan stood upon the Forum,
but his view of it was greatly impeded by the Regia
and by the temple of the deified Julius in his front;
to his left was the House of the Vestals; above that
the great range of splendid edifices on the Palatine,
most conspicuous being the Palace of Caligula. The
Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, now the church of
S. Lorenzo in Miranda, on the near right, was not
then in existence.  The inscriptionDIVO. ANTONINO. ET
DIVIE. FAUSTINAE. EX.S.C.
shows that it was erected in honour of Antoninus
Pius and his wife Faustina. The chief remains are
the ten fine columns of cipollino (Carystian marble)
with Corinthian capitals of white marble. The frieze of
white marble is decorated with good reliefs of griffins,
candelabra and vases.  In the side walls of the church
may still be seen the grey peperino of the ancient
temple.
Nearer to the Palatine are the foundations, recently
excavated, of the Regia, the public office of the
Pontifex Maximus.   It was built of solid blocks of
marble, instead of the usual marble facing to brick
or stone, and was a very sacred place, in which
religious rites of a solemn character were carried out
by the Pontifices and Vestals.  Here were kept the
sacred spears of Mars, and the public documents and
records of the Fasti.  The recent excavations have
exposed a well in which were found several terracotta vases, about seventy ivory or bone stili (for
writing), and a wooden writing-tablet.
Under the Palatine is the House of the Vestals.
Outside the main entrance are remains of a small shrine,
57




The Story of Rome


which may have contained a statue of Vesta.  Four
columns supported an entablature of which the architrave and frieze are the only original parts now
existing. The practice of placing shrines of domestic
gods at the corners of streets was greatly encouraged
by Augustus; their number in the time of Constantine
reached 424.    The Christians imitated the Pagan
example. In I853 over 3000 small chapels of this
nature were registered in Rome.
The House of the Vestals was one of the most
richly ornamented, best warmed, and most luxurious
in Rome. Part of the Palatine Hill was cut away
and a large area levelled, to make room for it. The
peristyle was like a two-storeyed cloister, the forty-eight
columns of the lower storey consisting of cipollino
marble (white with green streaks), the forty-eight of
the upper storey of red breccia corallina. Between each
of these columns was a statue of a Vestal. The walls
were lined with beautiful marbles. In the centre of
the court the outline remains of a small formal flowergarden. Beyond this was a marble-lined tank, filled
every day with sacred water, brought, as Middleton
suggests, from the fountain of Egeria, for the use of
the Vestals in their lustral rites.  In accordance with
the primitive religious prejudice against the use of
metal for any purpose, the Vestals were not allowed
lead pipes for water, nor might iron tools be used for
building or repairing their house. At religious ceremonies clay vessels of archaic shape were employed,
instead of cups of silver or gold. At the end of the
court nearest the tank is the tablinum or parlour,
which must have been a beautiful room, the pavement
and walls decorated with coloured marbles. On each
side are three rooms, which may have been for the six
Vestals, but Lanciani thinks they would have been
too damp and unhealthy; the bed and bath-rooms
58




-The Triumphal Procession of' Trajan


were on the upper floor.   When the Palatine was
covered with immensely high buildings the House of
the Vestals obtained very little sunshine, and its situation under the hill made elaborate arrangements for
heating and ventilation a necessity.
The recent excavations have disclosed some fine
marble floors, and also a number of gold coins of
the fourth and fifth centuries, which had probably
been brought here for safekeeping.  A  similar find
had previously been made here of silver coins of
Alfred, Edward, Athelstan and other Anglo-Saxon
kings.
Much also has been learnt of the adjoining Temple
of Vesta by the latest excavations.  In the centre of
the solid foundations a four-sided space was found, with
walls faced in brick; and also a large number of
bones of the sacrificial animals-the sheep, ox and
pig-with ashes and pieces of charred juniper, fragments of vases and votive statues of terra-cotta. T'he
temple area was enclosed by a wall of tufa blocks. In
the temple were kept the Palladium, saved from Troy
by ZEneas, other venerated relics and important public
documents, and the Sacred Fire. In primitive times
when the men went out on a hunting expedition,
a fire was kept burning in the camp under the care
of girls, so as to save the trouble of re-lighting,
which could only be done by the laborious friction of
dried sticks. Similar fires guarded by elderly widows
were kept burning in every Greek city.  It was the
duty of the Vestals, as guardians of the symbolical
city-hearth, to keep their fire burning in the Temple of
Vesta. This fire was purposely extinguished on New
Year's Day (March Ist), and re-lighted by the Pontifex Maximus. In modern Rome the candles at the
altar of a church are extinguished and re-lit on New
Year's Day.
59




The Story of Rome


The Vestal was chosen from a large number of
candidates by the Pontifex Maximus.  -She was of
noble birth, with both parents living, and free from
any physical defect.  Entering  upon her training
between the ages of six and ten, she became a Vestal
for thirty years; the first ten years were spent in
learning her duties, the second ten in performing
them, and the third ten in teaching the novices.  If
she allowed the fire to go out she was flogged. If
she broke her vow of chastity she was buried alive
in a subterranean chamber at a spot on the Quirinal
Hill near the Porta Collina; she was given a burning lamp, one loaf of bread and a little milk and
water, so as to prolong the agonies of pain and
remorse.
The first example of the infliction of this punishment is the legendary case of Rhea Silvia, the mother
of Romulus and Remus; and one of the last was the
chief Vestal Cornelia, who was tried and condemned
by Domitian, as Pontifex Maximus, not, as the law
directed, in the Regia, but in his own Alban villa.
Her supposed lover was flogged to death on the
Comitium.
The Vestal had many privileges, and much influence
in secular as well as religious matters. Her evidence
in a court of law nearly always carried the verdict, and
her voice was seldom raised in vain in favour of any
particular candidate for an appointment.  The Chief
Vestal was always consulted in the last resort at a time
of serious national crisis.  The Vestal was rather
closely confined to her house, but was free from the
paternal domination which so largely affected other
households.  When she did go out, it was to be
given the best seat at the circus or amphitheatre;
she was allowed to push through the crowded city
in a wheeled carriage when very few had such a
60




Tihe Triumphal Procession of Trajan


privilege; and if by chance she met a criminal sentenced to death she could pardon him.  The latter
privilege, under the Papal rule, was accorded to all
cardinals at Rome.
The Vestals were, both individually and in their
corporate capacity, endowed with great wealth, either
by their family, the Emperor, or the State. After
their thirty years of official life they were at liberty to
marry and resume the position of an ordinary citizen;
but many of them preferred to retain the comforts and
privileges of the order, and continued their career as
Vestals.
The costume of the Vestal consisted of the stola, a
white gown covering the whole body, with a zona, or
cord, round the waist; over this was the pallium, folded
round the body in a variety of ways, and sometimes
stretching over the head as a hood. On the head she
wore six bands of linen, as a sort of coronet.  In the
Museo Nazionale there is a fine statue of a Chief Vestal
wearing the su/fibulum, a sacrificial vestment forming a
hood, white, with a purple border.
The worship of Vesta was continued for some years
after the adoption of Christianity by Constantine, but
was finally abolished by Gratian in 367.
The Temple of Vesta was in a. fair state of preservation at the end of the fifteenth century, but was
entirely destroyed by Michaelangelo and his successors,
the materials being used, either in blocks or as lime, for
the erection of St. Peter's.
Near the Temple of Vesta was the Temple of
Castor and Pollux, of which three beautiful Corinthian
columns, with their piece of the entablature, remain.
The twin Greek gods were adopted by the Romans
in gratitude for their assistance at the battle of Lake
Regillus, fought against Tarquin and the Latins in
B.C. 496.   The twins brought the news of the
61




The Story of Rome


victory to Rome, and watered their horses at the Fons
Juturna.
The demolition of the church of S. M. Liberatrice
in 9goo has brought to light the original spring between
the Temple of Vesta (the Virgins being the custodians
of water as well as fire), and the Temple of the twin
gods.  The water, which has medicinal qualities, still
flows under a wall of ancient masonry into a rectangular
t",1
CO)LUMNS OF TEMPLE OF CASTOR, TEMPLE OF AUGUSTUS,
AND PALATINE HILL
bath of tufa, covered with slabs of marble.  In the,centre is a marble altar, with reliefs on the four sides
of the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux), Jupiter, Leda and
the Swan, and a goddess, perhaps Vesta. Here also
have been found the following most notable and interesting objects:-The fragments, capable of restoration,
of two life-size marble horses of the best Greek workmanship; a Greek statue in white marble of.Esculapius, the god of health; a statue in white marble of
Apollo; a Greek bust of Jupiter in white marble.
Nearer to the Palatine is the shrine of the nymph
62




The Triumphal Procession of Trajan
Juturna, whom Vergil described as the sister of
Turnus, King of the Rutulians, and who was supposed
to have originated the building of the Temple of Castor
and Pollux. The shrine has two marble columns and
an architrave, with an inscription to Juturna.  Near it
is a well, and an inscription stating that it was erected by
Marcus Barbatius Pollio, possibly the questor of 41 B.C.
mentioned by Cicero. Here also is a marble altar, with
figures of Mars and a goddess, perhaps Venus.
Beyond is the early Christian basilica of S. M.
Antiqua, recently discovered, with atrium, nave, aisles
and apse.  It has frescoes of the sixth, seventh and
eighth centuries.  On the left wall the figure of Christ
has a row of saints on each side. On the right wall
are three female figures each with a child, St Anne
with the Virgin, the Virgin with Jesus, St Elizabeth
with the Baptist. In the apse are figures of Christ,
with the symbols of the four Evangelists, and Pope
Paul I. (757-768). The chapel on the left has a
well-preserved fresco of the Crucifixion, with the
Virgin, Peter, Paul, and Pope Zacharias (741-752).
When the Imperial palaces on the Palatine began to
fall down upon this church Pope Leo IV. (847-855)
abandoned it, erecting instead the church which was
S. M. Nuova, and is now S. Francesca Romana.
Returning now towards the Forum we find near the
columns of the Temple of Castor the bases of the
Arch of Augustus. Opposite are the Temple and
Rostra of Julius Csesar, erected by Augustus to the
memory of his great-uncle and adopted father on the
spot in the Forum where the Dictator's body was
burned by the mob. The exact place was marked by
an altar, of which some remains exist.  Steps led
from the Forum to the Rostra Julia above this altar,
and above the rostra was a further flight of steps to
the temple, which thus stood at a considerable altitude.
63




The Story of Rome
Trajan's chariot now emerged upon the Forum
Romanum.     The hero was greeted with a roar ot
applause from the holiday-decked populace who
crowded every available spot, whether in the Forum
itself or on the steps, windows and roofs of the magnificent temples, palaces and basilicas which looked
down upon the emperor. Nearest to him were the
Rostra and Temple of Julius Cesar; on his right,
the enormous Basilica,Emilia, and beyond it the
Curia or Senate House; on his left, the Temple of
Castor and Pollux and the Basilica Julia; in front, the
Arch of Tiberius, the rostra, and the Temples of Saturn,
Vespasian and Concord, backed by the Tabularium;
on the right apex of the Capitoline Hill, the Temple
of Juno Moneta and the Arx or citadel; on the left,
the final point of his journey, the goal of every triumphator-the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, its golden
roof glittering in the sun.
Before him lay the small open space where the two
main features of civilisation-law and order-were
born. Originally this was a piece of marshy ground
lying in the valley between the Capitoline, Palatine
and Velian eminences, which was frequently converted
into a lake by an overflow of the Tiber.
'Hoc, ubi nunc fora sunt, udae tenuere paludes,
Amne redundatis fossa madebat aquis.
Curtius ille lacus, siccas qui sustinet aras,
Nunc solida est tellus, sed lacus ante fuit.'
Ovid, Fast. vi. 401.
(Here, where now are the fora, fenny marshes
covered a ditch swimming with water from an overflow of the river. That Curtian lake, which supports
dry altars, now is firm, but formerly was a pool.)
According to tradition, the driest part of this area
-afterwards known as the Comitium-was a neutral
64




The Triumphal Procession of Trajan


meeting-place for the Romans from the Palatine and
the Sabines from the Capitol.  But it was only after
rain or inundation that any large part of the Forum area
was actually under water.  The Roman 'lake' would
in modern language be called a small pool. Many
wells have been discovered by the recent excavations,
and it is possible that every collection of water on the
surface was called a lake. The two largest pools were
the Lacus Curtius and the Lacus Servilius. The heads
of the senators killed during the proscription of Sulla
were exposed at the Servilian lake, possibly on the surrounding wall.
The story of the Curtian lake is thus related by
Livy (translation by Philemon Holland):'The same year, by earthquake or other forcible
violence, the common place called Forum, clave and
opened wide, welneer in the mids, and sunk down to
an exceeding depth: neither could that chink or pit be
filled up, by casting in of earth (notwithstanding every
man laboured and brought what he could) before that
they began to enquire, according as they were admonished by the divine Oracles, what it might be, wherein
the most puissance and greatness of the people of Rome
consisted.  (For the wizards prophesied, That if they
would have the state of Rome to remain sure for ever,
they should dedicate and offer it, whatsoever it was,
unto that place.) And when they were in doubt what
this should be, it is reported, that Marcus Curtius, a
right hardy Knight and martial young gentleman, rebuked them therefore, because they doubted whether
the Romans had any earthly thing better than armour
and valor? Herewith, after silence made, he lift up
his eyes and beheld the Temples of the immortal Gods,
scituat neer to the Forum, and the Capitol likewise,
and stretching forth his hands, one while toward Heaven,
another while to the gaping chinks and gulf in the earth,
E                 65




the Story of Rome


toward the infernal spirits beneath, he offered and devoted
himself to assured death. And mounting upon a brave
courser, as richly trapped and set out, as possibly he could
devise, armed as he was at all pieces, he leapt Horse and
man and all into the hole. The people, both men and
women, threw in after him sundry gifts and oblations,
and fruits of the earth in great plenty. The place was
after called Curtius Lacus, of his name, and out of that
Curtius Metius in the old time, who was a souldier under
Titus Tatius. If I could by any means search out the
truth, I would not spare for any pains in that behalf.
But now seeing that by reason of antiquity the certainty
is not fully known, we must go by the common voyce
and report of men. And verily the name of the lake is
more renowned and noble by occasion of this later and
fresher tale, than the other.'
It was in the Forum that took place the festival
organised by Romulus when the despised Romans
seized the Sabine women and carried them off to their
village on the Palatine. The Sabines could not hope
to capture the Roman stronghold, defended by its solid
wall (additional remains of which have recently been
excavated); but a battle took place between the two
tribes in the Forum area. While the issue was still
undecided, the Sabine women, now the wives of the
Romans, stopped the fighting by rushing in between
their brothers and their husbands, and thus brought
about a league of peace and friendship.
The word 'forum' originally meant a place out-ofdoors, hence public, for the transaction of business,
whether commercial, political or judicial. At first a
market-place, the Forum was surrounded by shops. In
449 B.c., Virginia, a young girl, was claimed by Appius
Claudius as the slave of one of his clients. The powerful Decemvir appeared in the Forum, accompanied by
his armed patrician friends and their followers; his
66




The Triumphal Procession of Trajan


lictors dispersed the mob and seized the girl.  Her
father, Virginius, snatched up a knife from an adjoining
butcher's stall and plunged it in his daughter's heart.
This tragedy led to the abolition of the Decemvirate,
and the suicide of Appius Claudius in the Mamertine
prison.
On the Palatine side, where the Basilica Julia was
afterwards erected, were the tabernae veteres, and on
the other side the tabernae novae or argentariae, the offices
of silversmiths and bankers. After the battle of Cannae,
when Hannibal was encamped within three miles of
the city, the plot of land upon which his force rested
was put up for sale by auction in the Forum, to which
Hannibal replied by selling these shops-the richest in
Rome-to the highest bidder. In the later days of
the Republic gladiatorial fights were frequently displayed in the Forum at a funeral, and wooden stands
were erected for spectators.  On one such occasion
Julius Caesar covered a part of the Forum with a silk
awning.
The Basilica zEmilia was about the same in length
as the Basilica Julia, was open, and two-storeyed. It
was through the open courts of this building that the
Praetorians rushed to kill Galba. It was used as an
exchange.  The chambers at the side were offices.
In some of them are considerable remains of pavements in opus sectile, which were restored in I900.
Some panels of white marble were found here beautifully decorated with carvings. The basilica had fine
columns of pavonazetto (Phrygian marble), said to
have been afterwards used for the church of S. Paul
outside-the-walls, which were destroyed in the fire of
1823.
At the southern end of this basilica, near the Temple
of Antoninus and Faustina, a large fragment has been
discovered bearing an inscription in honour of Lucius
67




TFhe Story oJ Rome


Caesar, the adopted son of Augustus, who was cut off
by an early death from the succession.
Proceeding along the Sacra Via, Trajan now passed
near the shrine of Venus Cloacina, to which the
recently-discovered circular basement probably belongs.
The goddess of purification, or drainage, would naturally be placed near the Cloaca Maxima, which has
now been revealed, the sewer to which had previously
been assigned that name proving to be only a tributary
of this much larger work. Close to the real Cloaca
Maxima the excavators have got down to the early
pavement of the Forum.
Near the Basilica JEmilia stood the small temple
or shrine of Janus, closed in time of peace, open
in time of war. It was of white marble and gilt
bronze, and contained a gilded bronze statue of the
double-headed Janus Bifrons.  It is sometimes said
that peace is necessary for the growth of a nation.
Better than peace is conquest. The Romans steadily
extended their power by fighting.  With one brief
interlude between the first and second Carthaginian
wars, the Temple of Janus was constantly open from
Numa to Augustus, a period of nearly 700 years. When
Rome was besieged by the Goths under Vitiges in
537, more than 200 years after the official adoption of
Christianity, some despairing and superstitious men
attempted to open this temple, in the hope that then
the god might assist them. The bronze doors were so
firmly fixed that they could not be moved.
The Curia or Senate House, built by Diocletian,
is now the church of S. Adriano.   The old Curia
was destroyed by fire during the riot at the funeral
of Clodius in 52 B.c.; it was rebuilt and again destroyed. Practically all the facade dates from Diocletian (end of third century). The bronze doors of
the Senate House were removed by Pope Alexander
68




The T'riumphal Procession of 7rajan


VII. to the principal entrance of the Basilica of S.
John Lateran.  Except for a slight lengthening at top
and bottom they are in their original condition.
In front of the Curia was the Comitium, an open
paved area surrounded by a low screen.  This was
the original meeting-place of the patrician comitia
curiata.  It was sacred ground, regarded as distinct
from the Forum. There were many statues upon it:
to the Greeks, Pythagoras and Alcibiades; to Horatius
Codes, who kept the Sublician Bridge against Lars
Porsena and Tarquin; to Attius Navius the Augur,
who cut a whetstone with his razor; to the three
Sibyls or Fates, who gave the church its medieval
name of S. Adriano in Tribus Fatis.    Upon the
Comitium also stood theficus ruminalis, the sacred fig
tree under which Romulus and Remus in their cradle
were deposited by the flooded Tiber; and a bronze
statue of the wolf suckling the twins, which some
authorities think may be the famous statue now in the
palace of the Conservators on the Capitoline Hill.
On the Comitium foreign envoys were received,
criminal trials took place, and criminals were flogged or
executed. Here also was the raised platform from
which the aristocratic assembly could be addressed,
called the rostra, because the bronze beaks (rostra) of
ships captured in war were fastened to their outer front.
The rostra on the Comitium were so placed that the
orator could turn either towards the patricians on the
Comitium, or the rabble in the Forum.  Here Tiberius
and Gaius Gracchus advocated their reforms, and here
Cicero delivered his second and third orations against
Catiline.  It was in front of this rostra that Sulla
exposed the dug-up head of Marius.
At the edge of the Comitium the recent excavations
have exposed the niger lapis, composed of several thick
slabs of the blackest marble shot with streaks of white.
69




The Story of Rome


It marks the site of the legendary tomb of Romulus.
Below it are the bases for the marble lions which stood
on either side of the tombstone. Here also have been
found a tufa cone, whose object and meaning are unknown,
and a four-sided shaft or cippus of tufa, upon which
is an inscription in words of the earliest Latin,
referring to sacrificial rites.  This was evidently a
very sacred spot, as, around the cippus, were found
many small bronze figures, bones of sacrificial
animals, ashes, vases of black clay, and other votive
objects.
The central area of the Forum contained a large
number of statues to eminent men. The pedestals of
some columns, on which were statues of the time of
Constantine, facing the Basilica Julia, have recently
been restored. The Column of the Byzantine Emperor
Phocas, the upper part of which was the only visible
object of the Forum area during the Middle Ages, was
erected by the Exarch Smaragdus to the Eastern tyrant
in 600. The column was taken from some ancient
building, and placed upon a heap of stones, arranged so
as to have the appearance of steps.
The most interesting objects on this central area
are the two low walls of white marble, with sculptured
reliefs, which remain near the spot where they were
found in I872. Their use is uncertain. The reliefs
are of Trajan's time. On the inner sides, as they now
stand, appear, on each wall, the sacrificial animals of
the Suovetauralia (sus, ovis, taurus)-the boar, ram,
and bull-adorned with fillets and wreaths. The relief
towards the Capitol has, on the left, Trajan addressing
the people from the Rostra Julia; behind him are the
Temple of Castor and the Arch of Augustus. On the
right, before the seated figure of Trajan, stands a
woman carrying a child-an allusion to the charity for
poor children inaugurated by Trajan. Behind is the
70




The Triumphal Procession of Trajan


lower storey of the Basilica Julia.  Further, on the
right, is a statue of Marsyas, an aged faun, carrying a
wine skin; and here also is shown the sacred fig tree.
The relief facing the Colosseum represents the burning
of tablets before a figure, much destroyed, seated on the
rostra-an allusion to the remission by Trajan of certain
arrears of taxes due to the treasury. On the left of this
scene Marsyas and the fig tree appear again.  In the
background, on the right, is the Temple of Vespasian;
then the Temple of Saturn; between them an arch,
perhaps the Arch of Tiberius; and on the left the
Basilica Julia.
Close to the Plutei is the large marble block which
originally carried a large marble equestrian statue of
Stilicho, in honour of his victory over the Goths at the
battle of Pollentia in 403.  The remains of an inscription may be traced upon the fragment.
Between the Column of Phocas and the Temple of
Saturn are the recently-discovered rostra, which were
moved here from the Comitium by Julius Casar. It
was on the platform above these vaulted rooms that
Casar refused the crown presented him by Antony;
and here his body was exposed while Antony delivered
the harangue which roused the populace to fury against
the assassins.  Here, also, Cicero delivered his illfated philippics against Antony, soon to be followed
by the exposure of the head and hands of the too
eloquent orator on the scene of his triumph.
The larger, eastern, rostra (hitherto regarded as the
Republican Rostra of Caesar) are shown in sculptured
relief on the Arch of Constantine.   Towards the
Forum the platform had a low marble screen, open in
the centre, where the orator stood.  The erection of
these rostra is now attributed to Domitian.
At the back of these rostra, on the west, was the
milliareum aureum, a column of gilded bronze, on
7i




The Story of Rome
which were marked the distances of the chief towns
from Rome.
On the east, nearly touching the Arch of Severus, are
the remains of a cylindrical structure, the Umbilicus
Romae, or central part of the city.
Between the rostra and the Capitol the early tufa
drains of the Republican period have recently been
exposed. The pavement of the Clivus Capitolinus, the
street mounting the Capitol, is also visible.
The Arch of Septimius Severus was erected in
203, during the reign of Severus, to himself and his
sons, Caracalla and Geta, in honour of their Parthian
victories.  After the murder of Geta     by order
of his brother, in the presence of their mother, Julia
Domna, Caracalla caused the words in the fourth line,
which originally were, 'P. SEPTIMIO. GETAE. NOBILISS.
CAESARI.,' to be erased, and the present words, 'OPTIMIS.
FORTISSIMISQVE. PRINCIPIBVS.,' to be cut in their place.
On the top of the arch there was originally a bronze
chariot, drawn by six horses, in which stood a figure
of Severus, with Caracalla and Geta on foot at the
sides.  The vaults of the three arches are ornamented with rosette decorations. The eight columns,
much restored, have composite capitals.  The material
of the arch is Pentelic marble; that of the columns
Hymettian marble. On the pedestals of the columns
are reliefs of barbarian captives led by Roman soldiers.
The spandrels of the centre arch have figures of winged
victories, and, below them, figures representing the four
seasons. The four large reliefs over the side arches
represent sieges and victories in the Parthian war-the
entry of Severus into Babylon, the siege of Hatra in
Mesopotamia, the passage of the Euphrates, etc. The
spandrels over the lower arches represent the river gods
of the Euphrates, Tigris, and their tributaries.  In the
Middle Ages one tower of a church rested upon the top
72




rhe   Iriumphal Procession of       rrajan
of this arch, which was deeply buried in debris. After
some of the rubbish had been cleared away the side


fl~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~: U': rjj:: '1  -II *f
[~        I:::         Ip~  3: III ~ -~i  ~~::::..~:~~ —~:.I A
-~~: ~


3            *)


N tRC5f N
'j


TEMPLE OF SATURN, TABULARIUM AND TOWER OF CAPITOL
arches were used as workshops. The pavement under
the arch dates from the triumphal entry of the
Emperor Charles V. in the sixteenth century.
Near the Basilica Julia are eight columns, with an
entablature, remains of a restoration by Diocletian,
73




The Story of Rome
of the Temple of Saturn, with part of the inscriptionSENATVS. POPVLVS. QVE. ROMANVS. INCENDIO. CONSVMPTVM. RESTITVIT.
Saturn was one of the earliest of the Roman gods
to whom a temple was erected. The Saturnalia were
the original festivities from which the modern carnival
is derived.  In this temple was the public treasury.
Just south of the Temple of Saturn are the remains
of the Arch of Tiberius, erected in 16 A.D., on the
Vicus Jugarius.
On the western side of the Forum was the Basilica
Julia, commenced by Julius Caesar, completed by
Augustus, and restored by subsequent emperors. The
latest restorations, the brick pillars, and the piece of a
marble column are quite modern, and not in accordance
with the original design. The basilica was Ioo yards
long. It was used as a law court, and was large enough
for the trial of four cases at once.  Pliny pleaded here
in the time of Trajan. A two-storeyed double aisle
surrounded the three sides nearest the Forum, which
were open except for a low marble screen and curtains.
The central area was probably not roofed, but covered
by an awning. It had a fine pavement of coloured
oriental marbles. The aisles were paved with white
marble, some of which is still in situ, and still carries
the marks of gaming-tables. Caligula connected his
palace on the Palatine with the Capitol, by means of
short wooden bridges joining together the palace, the
Temple of Augustus, the Basilica Julia and the Capitol.
When passing over the roof of the aisles of the Basilica
Julia, on his way to the Capitol, he used to throw
money into the Forum for the populace to fight over.
Between the Basilica Julia and the Temple of Castor
and Pollux there was a street leading through the Vela74




CThe Triumphal Procession of Trajan


brum to the Circus Maximus, called the Vicus Tuscus
or Etruscan street. At one time it was called the
Vicus Thurarius from the shops here for thus or perfume. The pavement is visible.
At the back of the Temple of Castor was the Temple
of Augustus, whose substantial remains have become
more prominent since the destruction of the church of
Sta. Maria Liberatrice in 1900.
The modern road between the Forum and the Capitol
covers part of the Clivus Capitolinus which led to the
Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol. Here, with their
backs to the Tabularium, were, on the right the Temple
of Concord, on the left the Temple of Vespasian.
The Temple of Concord was built by Camillus to
commemorate the peace made between patricians and
plebeians by the concession of one consulship to the
plebeians in 367 B.c. This was one of the most
revered of Roman temples. As rebuilt in the reign of
Augustus, it was a splendid edifice. Fragments of
that date, of excellent workmanship, exist in the
corridor of the Tabularium, and in the Capitoline
Museum. The Temple of Concord contained a large
number of statues and pictures, with gems, gold and
silver plate and other objects of art.
Three Corinthian columns, with a small piece of the
entablature, remain of the Temple of Vespasian, erected
by his son Domitian, 94 A.D. On the frieze are sculptured ox skulls and sacrificial instruments. The inscription recorded a restoration by Septimius Severus and
Caracalla.  The letters ESTITVER (restituerunt) alone
remain.
Having arrived so far, the chariot of the triumphator
now halted, while the chief captives were taken to the
Mamertine prison, to be executed or strangled.
Livy says that it was in the reign of Ancus Martius
that the first prison was built 'media urbe imminens
75




rThe Story of Rome
foro' (in the middle of the city overlooking the
Forum). It contains two chambers, the lower of
which, the tullianum, was so called from its having
been originally a cistern or well, tullius being an early
Latin word for 'a spring.' This was the first prison,
partly excavated out of the rock, and partly built of
tufa blocks which form probably the oldest work of
masonry in Rome, with the exception of the primitive
walls. The prisoner was lowered through an opening
in the vault into this horrible hole, dark, fetid and half
full of water. Many famous men have met their death
in this prison. Jugurtha, King of Numidia, after his
defeat by Marius, was shown at his triumph in
o6 B.C., and when the conqueror had arrived at
this point, his captive was stripped and flung into
the tullianum, there to die of cold and starvation.
Here, also, Lentulus, Cethegus and the other participators in the conspiracy of Catiline were strangled by
order of Cicero, who announced their fate to the
populace in the Forum by the word ' Vixerunt' (' They
have lived '). Julius Caesar caused his gallant opponent,
Vercingetorix, the Gaul, to be killed in this prison.
Sejanus, the disgraced favourite of Tiberius, was killed
here with his family and friends, and their bodies were
exposed on the Scalae Gemoniae (Stairs of Sighs),
perhaps the steps which led from the prison to the
Forum. Simon Bar-Gorias, after confinement in this
prison, was executed when Titus celebrated his triumph
for the conquest of Jerusalem. Death was the almost
certain fate of every prisoner in this dungeon.  A
baseless Christian legend has associated the place with
the imprisonment of SS. Peter and Paul. The lower
and upper chamber bore the name of the Mamertine
prison from a local statue of Mars or Mamers.
When his captive was dead, the triumphator continued up the Clivus Capitolinus, passing on his right
76




The Triumphal Procession of Trajan


the shrine of the twelve gods, six male and six female.
The existing Corinthian columns are part of the portico
which was rebuilt in 367 A.D.; they have been much
restored by Canina. The hero then mounted the sacred
stairs to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.
Julius Caesar and Claudius ascended these stairs on
their knees, an example which, until the eighteenth
century, was imitated by pious Catholics when mounting the steps to the church of S. M. in Ara Coeli;
and is still followed at the Scala Santa adjoining the
Lateran.
The Capitoline Temple of Jupiter was the most
splendid, as well as the most important, temple in
Rome. It was begun by Tarquinius Priscus, and
finished by Tarquinius Superbus, but not consecrated
till 509 B.C., after the expulsion of the Tarquins.
This original building escaped destruction when the
Gauls sacked Rome in 390 B.C., but was burned down
in 83 B.C. Sulla rebuilt it, but it was burned again in
69 A.D., only to rise more magnificent than before.
On arriving at this temple; Trajan placed in the lap of
the god Jupiter the laurel branch which he had carried
throughout his triumph; and then he sacrificed the
white oxen in the presence of all the chief political,
military and religious officials. The proceedings closed
with a banquet.


77




CHAPTER III


Pagan     and    Christian
'Odium generis humani.'-Tacitus.
'Widerstand gegen die r6mische Staatsomnipotenz.'-C. F.
Arnold.
CHRISTIANITY arose as a reaction against
Rome. It fed upon hostility to Rome. It was
strengthened by persecution because that persecution
came from Rome. It was a protest against the two
forces which governed the world-the Roman religion,
and the Roman Imperium.
The Roman religion was based upon that of Greece.
The earliest Greeks worshipped many gods, but
seriously believed in one only-Destiny. They considered it useless to struggle against theia moira (divine
fate).  Later, as intelligence developed, an effort was
made to explain the causes of events, and to create a
system of thought and rule of action which should
lessen the misfortunes of life. It was seen that human
beings, having some control over their sensations, were
to that extent masters of their own fates.  So the
Epicureans advocated the deliberate, systematic cultivation of pleasure; while the Stoics endeavoured, by
discipline and training, to make themselves impervious
to pain.
The course of Roman thought was similar to that
of Greece. In Republican days the Romans believed
78




Pagan and Christian


that all human actions were controlled by invisible,
mysterious influences ---the gods —to whom   they
erected temples, whose favour they expected to obtain
by sacrifices and offerings.  The constant intervention
of the gods in human affairs, made it a matter of first
importance to ascertain their intentions, a task which
was undertaken by State officials, whose auguries were
supposed to reveal the mood of these omnipotent influences. These gods were the embodiment of Fate. It
mattered little what names or qualities were ascribed
to them. When Rome began to conquer the world,
contact with other nations led to the adoption of foreign
deities. Jupiter and Juno found serious rivals in the
Persian sun-god Mithra, or in the grotesque divinities
of Egypt-Isis, Osiris, Harpocrates, Anubis. The
cult of these gods-the inventions of inferior raceswas harmful to the Romans, who became more and
more superstitious under their influence.  Nearly every
Roman household came to be haunted by soothsayers,
interpreters of dreams and casters of horoscopes.
While the common people were thus infected by the
degraded fashions of the conquered countries, the
educated Romans were absorbing the best part of
foreign thought. The more intelligent began, under
the influence of Greek philosophy, to lose their belief
in Fate, and to cut themselves adrift from popular
superstitions.
Cicero, for example, said: ' The Senate hears, it
may be, that there has been a shower of blood, or that
the statues of the gods have sweated. You do not
think, do you, that Thales or Anaxogoras, or any man
of science at all would have believed such reports?
Blood and sweat can only come from a body of some
kind. It may have been some discolouration caused
by earthy matter that looked like blood; and moisture,
such as we see on plastered walls in the street when
79




The Story of Rome
the sirocco blows, may have suggested sweat. Besides,
these things seem of more importance when people are
alarmed in time of war, while in time of peace they
pass unnoticed. They are believed more readily and
invented with more safety in times of fear and danger.
Mice, we are told, nibbled the shields at Lanuvium
before the Marsic war. As if it mattered whether the
mice, that are always gnawing something night and
day, nibbled shields or sieves. They have been at my
copy of Plato's Republic lately. Am I, therefore, to
alarm myself about politics?' Horace, though afterwards converted to the popular superstitions by his
escape from a falling tree, at an earlier date wrote
thus: 'I have learned that the gods live careless of
mankind, and if Nature does any wonder, it is not the
gods who in anger send it down from their high palace
of heaven.' And Livy, though unwilling to disseminate distrust of the State religion, says: 'Superstition sees the interference of the gods in trifling matters.
When the mind is swayed by religious excitement,
marvellous reports find currency, and are believed
without due consideration. Nay, the very faith of
simple-hearted and religious men increases the number
of these stories.'
The Roman religion was a national religion to a
peculiar and especial degree. It was believed that the
impiety of one man- would suffice to bring down the
anger of the gods upon the entire community. To
propitiate the gods was an even more patriotic action
than to kill an enemy.   The safety of the State
depended upon the sacrifices offered at the shrines.
The merging of the individual in the corporation was
as complete in the Roman religion as in Roman politics.
All the most enlightened rulers, from Augustus to
Diocletian, supported the State religion, with its
elaborate ceremonial, its signs and wonders, for the
80




Pagan and Christian
sake of its influence upon the multitude.  For if the
people lost their faith in the gods, would they not also
lose their confidence in the State?
It was for this reason that a Stoic like Marcus
Aurelius, was so punctilious in the discharge of his
duties as Pontifex Maximus, and that he sanctioned
the execution of Christians. And yet his own belief,
the philosophy of the later and gentler Stoics, was
a half-way house between the Roman gods and
Christ.
The Stoic believed in the existence of God as a
force which was visible in the laws of nature, and
regarded all men as equal in this sense, that they were
all subject to the same inevitable natural forces.  So
far he was nearer to the Christian than to the oldfashioned Pagan.   He had also made an advance
towards Christianity in his appreciation of an influence
in life which was not mere fate, and in his desire to
discover a philosophy which should enable man to face
the sorrows of life with tranquillity. He showed an
active dissatisfaction with life, and realised the need of
training and discipline to meet misfortune. The old
Pagan met death with stolid submission; it was inevitable, and he did not reason about it.  The Stoic
regarded death as part of a scheme of nature; a man
should prepare himself for death by living in familiar
association with nature-with the laws of existence; he
will then be able to face death with equanimity. The
Christian took the next great step.  He definitely
believed in the consolation of a future life by the
resurrection of the body.  This was one of the chief
attractions of the Christian faith. A future existence
of happiness was given as a set-off to sorrow and pain
on earth.
In other respects also the Christian had much to
offer. The Imperial system made the individual a
F                 8i




The Story of Rome
mere unit, sacrificed for the State, represented in the
person of the emperor.   A  large majority of the
population were slaves; all had to worship the emperor
as a god; and the gladiatorial shows still further encouraged a general contempt for the life of an ordinary
citizen. Thus while a man's soul was in the hands of
the emperor, liberty was abolished by slavery, and the
value of life depreciated by the exhibition of mortal
combats. Christianity was essentially hostile to all
this. It gave every man the custody of his own soul,
and declared that all men were equal before God.
Tlks the greater the tyranny, the stronger was the
tendency to look for consolation in the Christian's
heaven.
Moreover, Christianity encouraged sympathy, affection, cheerfulness-a complete reaction from the stern,
cold Roman spirit.   It thus appealed directly to
women, and it favoured them especially by acknowledging their possession of souls on an equality with men.
Women were ready converts, and by their influence
greatly extended the new  religion.  Finally, at a
time when all political life was absorbed in the caprice
of a despotic emperor, the Christian obtained an outlet for political energy, denied to the other citizens,
in the organisation of the secret Christian communities.  He belonged to an independent, democratic
club, which decided upon the questions of the day
without consulting either the national gods or the
emperor.
It was the policy of Rome to permit the free
practice of all religions, without opposition or interference, on one single condition, that respect should be
shown to the Roman deities and the State officials.
Any religion which directly assailed the national gods,
or disturbed men's minds, or caused discontent with
the Government, would be suppressed. But the mere
87




Pagan and Christian


worship of Christ was permitted as freely as that of
any Egyptian, Persian, or other god or gods.  The
Christians, however, not only worshipped Christ, but
despised Jupiter, and declared that their religion would
inevitably triumph over that of the State.  They even
prophesied the fall of the Roman Empire, to be replaced by the temporal kingdom of Christ. They
absented themselves from the public festivals, openly
scorned all Roman institutions, and lived in a mental
atmosphere which was directly hostile to the traditional
spirit and tendencies of Rome.
All this was brought forward against them by the
Jews.  The Roman law guaranteed to the Jews the
free exercise of their religion, and the Romans at first
thought that the Christians were a Jewish sect who
had embraced a new and unimportant doctrine of a
controversial character, concerning the advent of the
Messiah.  The Jews made it their business to enlighten the Government.  They declared that the
Christians were conspiring against the State and the
gods, under cover of the privileges extended to the
Jewish religion.
So it happened that when in A.D. 64 Nero found
himself accused of having set fire to Rome in order to
clear a space for a magnificent palace-which he did in
fact erect after the fire-he easily turned popular indignation against the Christians, his attention being in
all probability directed to them by his Jewish wife,
Poppxa.   Arson, however, has always been a very
difficult offence to prove, and Roman justice rejected
the evidence tendered as insufficient; so the charge was
altered to the far more serious offence of 'odium
generis humani,' a combination of atheism, anarchism
and high treason.  The Christians had no friends.
Hated by the Jews, they were in turn despised by
the Romans as a Jewish sect. Yet their dreadful fate
83




t/he Story of Rome
seems to have aroused some compassion. The famous
passage in Tacitus runs: ' In order to put down the
rumour he' (Nero) ' set up as objects of accusation and
punishment those whom, already hated for their wickedness, the people called Christians.  This name was
derived from one Christus, who was executed in the
reign of Tiberius by Pontius Pilate, the procurator of
Judea; and this accursed superstition, repressed for the
moment, broke out again, not only through Judea, the
source of the mischief, but also in Rome, whither all
things outrageous and shameful flow together and find
many adherents.   Accordingly those were first arrested who confessed, afterwards a vast number upon
their information were convicted, not so much upon
the charge of causing the fire, but rather for their
hatred to the human race.  Their deaths were made
to afford amusement to the crowd.     Some were
wrapped in the skins of wild beasts and torn to pieces
by dogs; others were fastened on crosses, and when
the daylight failed were burned as torches to light up
the night. Nero had lent his own gardens for the
spectacle, and he gave a chariot race, in which he was
seen mounted on his car or mingling with the people
in the dress of a charioteer.  As the result, a feeling
of compassion arose for the sufferers, though guilty and
deserving of condign punishment, yet as being destroyed, not for the common good, but to satiate the
cruelty of one man.'
Nero made use of the circus which had been built
by Caligula in the Vatican (where now stands St.
Peter's), and the private park and gardens belonging to the emperor.  The Colosseum had not then
been commenced, the Circus Maximus had been destroyed by the fire, and the Flaminian Circus had
probably shared the same fate.  Nero prided himself
on his artistic conceptions, and tried to impart to all
84+




Pagan and Christian


his public displays a dramatic element.  He was
the first to represent by actual death the scenes of
legend or mythology. Christians would be made to
represent Ixion fastened to a wheel; Icarus, clad in
gauze wings, lifted up to the awning, and then dropped
to earth, and so killed; Mucius Scoavola having his
hand burned off; Actaeon torn to pieces by dogs;
Orpheus eaten by a bear; and the women appeared as
the Danaides, or as Dirce bound to the horns of a bull.
When these tableaux mourants were over, and darkness
approached, he lit up the circus by using the oiled and
burning bodies of living men, women and children, and
by the light so obtained chariot races took place, in
which the emperor himself joined.  The dauntless
courage of the victims must have spoiled much of the
stage effect, and no doubt greatly annoyed Nero.
Seneca, who was present, has left an allusion to this
great historical scene in a letter to a friend who was
afflicted by a painful illness. ' What are your sufferings,' he says, ' compared with the flame and the rack?
And yet, in the midst of sufferings of that sort, I have
seen men not only not groan, that is little; not only
not complain, that is little; not only not reply, that,
too, is little; but I have seen them smile, and smile
with a good heart.'
The bones of the poor sufferers were reverently
buried by their fellows near the spot of their martyrdom. It is believed, and we may hope it is true, that
the altar of St. Peter's covers their remains.
It was in connection with this persecution that SS.
Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom. According to
tradition, St. Peter's first house in Rome was the house
of Aquila and Priscilla on the Aventine, over which
now stands the modernised church of S. Prisca. He
did not remain there long-perhaps because he was too
near the Jews-but moved to a house on the Via
85




The Story of Rome
Nomentana, whose site is marked by the Ostrian
cemetery, about a quarter of a mile beyond the church
and catacomb of Sta. Agnese Fuori le Mura.  Afterwards he lived in the house of the Roman senator
Pudens,   where  he
converted the senator's   daughters,
Praxedes and Pudentiana, and  baptized
Zs,&\t1 '      'many others.                   The
church of S. Pudenr  ziana, the oldest in
Rome, stands upon
the site formerly occupied by the house
3  ' g!  ofPudens. The mosaics of the tribune,
it Aim  At ii  13; sfl  though completely re[!ijihi~:: t ~;! '.. Apstored and modernt'<%-S1          -             ised, are of interest
as being in form and
design the oldest in
Ronie; and the campanile, one of the
l i Z  I  1  oldest, is remarkable
"IC5 EN   for its open colonSTATUE OF ST PETER IN THE BASILICA nades.
It was from the house of Pudens that Peter went
forth in order to escape the Neronian persecution.  St.
Ambrose tells us that when the apostle had passed outside the gates, and was proceeding along the Appian
Way, he saw Christ coming towards him, to whom
Peter said, ' Domine, quo vadis? "-" Lord, whither
goest Thou?" and Christ said to him, " I go to Rome
to be crucified a second time." And Peter said to
Him, " Lord, wilt Thou be crucified afresh?" And
86




Pagan and Christian


the Lord said to him, " Yea, I shall be crucified
afresh."  And Peter said, "I will turn back and
follow Thee."   And when he had so spoken the
Lord ascended into heaven. And Peter followed
Him with longing eyes and sweet tears, and then,
when he had come to himself, he understood that it
was spoken of his own passion, and that the Lord was
to suffer afresh in his person, for so He does suffer in
all the chosen, by the compassion of His mercy and
the power of His glory. And Peter turned back and
went into the city with joy, glorifying God and telling
the brethren how Christ had met him and had declared
to him how that He was in him about to be crucified
again.'
There is a tradition that both Peter and Paul were
confined in the Mamertine prison, that from thence
they were brought out together for execution, and were
taken outside Rome by the Porta Ostiensis, now the
Porta Paolo, along the Via Ostia, to a spot which is
now marked by the Cappello del Crocifisso (open on
Easter Tuesday). Here, it is said, they were parted,
Paul to meet his death at the Tre Fontane, Peter in
the Vatican. Paul, as a Roman citizen, was by law
exempt from the shame of crucifixion. At a spot
which is commemorated by the church of San Paolo
alle Tre Fontane, his head was cut off; as it fell, it
bounded three times, and the earth responded by pouring forth the three fountains of water which still flow.
The neighbouring church of SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio, founded in 626, and rebuilt in 122, has not been
radically altered since, and is an excellent specimen of
mediaeval architecture.
St. Peter was crucified, head downwards, at the foot
of the obelisk in the centre of the Circus of Caligula
and Nero. The spot where the obelisk stood, before
its removal to its present position in front of St.
87




the Story of Rome
Peter's by Sixtus V., is marked by a stone in the
pavement, on which is an inscription, near the
sacristy.
The final resting-places of the bodies of SS. Peter
and Paul have long been matter for dispute. The
facts cannot now be dogmatically asserted.  But there
is good reason to believe that the bodies of the apostles
were originally buried close to the scenes of their
martyrdom, St. Peter just outside the circus in which
he met his death, St. Paul at the Tre Fontane.
During the persecutions of the third century, the
bodies were taken, for greater safety, to the cemetery
of S. Sebastiano, whence they were ultimately removed to the spots which are now marked by the
altars of their respective basilicas.  There, it is said,
they still remain.  Constantine erected the two basilicas
over the sites which tradition had handed down as containing the bodies. He made use of one wall of the
Circus of Caligula and Nero as part of the southern
nave of the church of St. Peter, which took its size,
shape and direction from this wall of the Pagan edifice.
The modern basilica, like its predecessor, was built
round the tomb of St. Peter.
In 846 the Saracens sacked the basilica and carried
off all its treasures, including even the altar, but it is
believed that the tomb of the apostle had been bricked
up so as to conceal the entrance to the crypt before the
actual arrival of the marauders.
The heads of SS. Peter and Paul are supposed to
rest above the high altar in the Basilica of St. John
Lateran, and are exposed to public view on Easter
Sunday and Monday, the 29th June, 6th July, 9th
November and 27th December.
Another famous relic is the wooden episcopal chair
of St. Peter, kept in a closet in the wall of the tribune
of the basilica. The bronze chair which is visible in
8




Pagan and Christian


the tribune is by Bernini.  The bronze statue of St.
Peter in the basilica, whose foot has been worn by
kissing, is of uncertain date.  It is in the style of the
fifth century.
The likenesses of SS. Peter and Paul have been
preserved for us by paintings, mosaics and medallions
found in the catacombs. The most important of the
earliest portraits is contained in a medallion-perhaps
of the second century-found in the catacomb of St.
Domnitilla. Here St. Paul is thin and bald, with a
long beard in ringlets, while St. Peter has a fuller,
stronger face, with short curly hair and beard.
In the reign of Trajan the Christians had become so
numerous in Bithynia that the governor, Pliny the
Younger, wrote to the emperor for directions as to his
treatment of the sect. He wished especially to know
whether he was to punish 'the name itself, if free from
crimes, or the crimes cohering with the name' of
Christian.
The answer of Trajan was as follows: 'It is not
possible to lay down any fixed rule by which to act in
all cases of this nature.  The Christians are not to be
sought out; but if brought before you, and the crime
is proved, they must be punished; with this restriction,
however, that where the person denies that he is a
Christian, and gives a practical proof of the fact, as, for
example, by showing his reverence for our gods, then
he is to be forgiven on account of his recantation, notwithstanding any suspicion there may be against him
with regard to his past life. Anonymous informations
are not to be received in prosecutions of any sort; they
are the worst of precedents, and not consonant to the
spirit of our time.
It would have been well for the later fame of the
Christians themselves if the Church, in dealing with
heretics, had followed the liberal policy of the great
89




rhe Story of Rome
Pagan.  It was inconsistent, in that it prohibited inquiry into conduct for which it decreed punishment.
But the discouragement of informers was a measure of
wise practical toleration.  Gregory the Great was so
much impressed with the record of Trajan that, 500
years later, he prayed God that even then it might not
be too late to receive the Pagan emperor into the
Christian fold.
The Christians were, however, throughout the age
of the Antonines, in accordance with Trajan's decree,
condemned to death, if properly convicted and obstinately persisting in their refusal to perform the ceremonies of the Pagan religion.
When Marcus Aurelius ascended the throne, some of
the more prominent Christians, recognising the humane
intelligence of the Stoic emperor, ventured to lay before
him categorical explanations of the philosophic basis to
their belief.  They were led by Justin-a former
teacher of the Pagan philosophy-Tatian, Apollinarius,
Melito, Athenogoras and, later, Tertullian, and propounded their creed in ' Apologies,' which were presented to the emperor. The Pagans replied. Their
champions were Fronto, the friend and confidante of
Marcus, Celsus the Epicurean, Lucian the Satirist and
Crescentius.  It was dangerous work for the Christians. They were, as they knew, liable to the punishment of death. An outbreak of popular feeling, a
public calamity, would be fatal to them.
In the year I62 the Tiber overflowed to an extent
never before known. The inundation was followed by
famine, and by a more terrible visitor, who now made
a first appearance-the plague. The Romans were
quite unable to devise any expedient for coping with
this new disease. It carried off the greater part of the
Roman army and of the population of Rome. Some
writers consider that with it began the fall of the
90




Pagan and Christian


Western Empire.    It is certain that the Romans
capable of bearing arms were greatly reduced in
numbers by the losses in the Parthian and Marcomannic wars, by the famine and by the plague. At
such a time it was easy to rouse popular anger against
the Christians.
The people were ready and anxious to believe that
these calamities were due to neglect of the veneration
due to the gods, who thus showed their displeasure at
the neglect to punish the Christians. The cry of
' Christianos ad Leones' was heard on all sides. The
Pagan philosophers set the law in motion. Justin and
his friends were brought before the prefect of the city,
accused of being Christians. The crime was proved;
they were publicly scourged and put to death.
The word 'martyr' has become associated with the
name of Justin in an especial and curious degree. Justin
Martyr seems to have been so called because he was
the first of the philosophers, educated and learned in
Greek writings, who, having become a convert to
Christianity, was executed, not so much because he
was a Christian, but for the polemical zeal with which
he attacked the national faith. This apostasy awoke
among the educated Pagans of the day a desire for information as to the rational basis of the Christian faith,
hitherto regarded as a vulgar superstition, fit only for
the dregs of the population, who had neither wits nor
education. With Marcus Aurelius at the head of
society, every fashionable Roman professed himself a
philosopher. The martyrdom of Justin is especially
interesting, because he was the first to make Christianity
intelligible to the Pagan world, and to arouse the
interest of Pagan philosophers in its tenets.
The severest persecutions occurred in the middle of
the third and the beginning of the fourth centuries.
Decius   (249-5I),    Gallus  (25x -3),  Valerian
91




TChe Story of Rome
(253-60), and Diocletian (284-305) made determined efforts to extirpate the new religion.  Cyprian,
Bishop of Carthage, Sixtus II., Bishop of Rome, and
his deacon, St. Lawrence, suffered at this time.  In
303 an edict was issued ordering all Christian churches
to be destroyed and all Christian writings to be publicly
burned. Christians were declared incapable of holding
any public office, Christian slaves were for ever deprived of any hope of freedom, and while the judges
were authorised to decide any case brought against a
Christian, they were not allowed to listen to their complaints of injuries of any sort which they might have
sustained.  The law could be put in force against
them, but not in their favour.  These severe measures
were continued by Maximin and Galerius.
They failed. Galerius, finding that it was impossible to eradicate the new belief, took the sensible
course of issuing an edict of toleration. This was soon
followed, in 313, by the edict of Milan, promulgated
by Constantine.  It was enacted that all confiscated
property should be restored to the Church, and that
all persons were to be free to follow whatever religion
they pleased, without any limitation whatever. Constantine added that his action was due to his concern
for the peace and happiness of his people, and his
desire to propitiate the Deity, whose seat is in heaven.
He himself was baptized in the Christian faith shortly
before his death. At this time the majority of the
population were still Pagans, and the old religion continued for some time the struggle, but it was slowly
submerged, and at last extinguished completely.
Many of the Pagan customs have found their way
into Christian ritual. Dyer tells us that the tonsure
comes from the worship of Anubis. Commodus was
tonsured in order to carry the Egyptian god in procession. The burning of candles at the altars was
92




TRIBUNE OF S. LORENZO FUORI




I




Pagan and Christian


originally a substitution for human sacrifice; lamps
were lit in ancient Rome before the Compitalian Lares,
as now before the image of the Madonna. The bearing of torches in a funeral procession was a Pagan
custom.  The Pagan priests carried the idols dressed
in gorgeous apparel in processions, as do the Roman
priests to this day. The Pagans placed a basin of holy
water at the entrance to their temples.  The flocks
were sprinkled with it, and blessed by the priest at the
feast of the Palilia, as now at the festival of St.
Anthony.   Ex-voto offerings were nearly as common
in Roman temples as they are now in Christian.  The
foot of the Pontifex Maximus was kissed as is now
that of the Pope.  And the use of incense was a
Pagan custom which the early Christians so strongly
disapproved, that in times of persecution the test of
a man's religion was his willingness or refusal to
throw incense into the censer before the emperor's
image.
There was a great difference between Pagan and
Christian burial. Although the Romans did not believe in the resurrection of the body, they thought that
the shade, spirit, or soul, of the deceased would restlessly haunt the earth, if the body from which it came
was not laid properly to rest.  Hence the great respect
extended to tombs, and the liberty given to burial clubs.
When the body had been cremated, and the ashes
placed in an urn and buried, the place of interment
became religiosus, under the protection of the pontiffs
and the law. The family of the deceased could not
be deprived by sale, mortgage, or any other transfer, of
the possession of the locus religiosus.  It was inalienable property.  Decent burial was so desirable that a
rich man would build a tomb for the interment of himself, his relations, his friends, his freedmen and freedwomen, and all their descendants. The middle and
95




rthe Story of Rome


poorer classes made sure of a resting-place for their
bodies by joining a club, to which regular payments
had to be made. Soldiers would allocate a fixed portion of their pay for regular contributions to a burial
fund, and the various trades had clubs established on
the same principle of periodic subscription towards
burial expenses. All clubs and private meetings were
intolerable to the Government, with this one exception.
The meetings of the Christians would not have been
permitted but for the belief that their association was a
burial club.
Up to the third century B.c. the Romans buried
their dead. Cremation then became the custom, and
lasted till the second century A.D., when burial once
more became the fashion.    During  the cremation
period, sacred enclosures, called ustrina, were specially
prepared for the operation.  A  good specimen still
exists on the Appian Way, a little beyond the fifth
milestone from the Porta S. Sebastiano. When burnt,
the ashes were placed in an urn in a tomb, or in a
columbarium, so called from the pigeon-holes cut in
the walls for the reception of the remains of a large
number of persons.
Of private tombs, the most splendid were the
mausolea of Augustus and Hadrian.
Remains of the mausoleum of Augustus may still be
seen in the wall of the Teatro Umberto in the Via dei
Pontefici.  It was a circular building of white marble,
enclosing a conical mound of earth, planted with
cypresses. On the top of the mound was a bronze
statue of the emperor.  The entrance was flanked by
bronze pillars inscribed with the Res gestae Divi
Augusti, an account prepared by Augustus of the
events of his reign, placed there after his death in accordance with his instructions.  At a later time the
entrance was marked by two obelisks, of which one
96




Pagan and Christian


now stands in front of the Quirinal Palace, and the
other in the Piazza S. M. Maggiore.
Though this great tomb had to wait forty years for
the ashes of its founder, it was not long empty. In B.C.
23, Marcellus, son of the emperor's sister Octavia,
husband of his daughter Julia, nephew and son-in-law
of Augustus, and chosen by him as his heir and successor
in the purple, died of fever at the early age of twenty.
The grief of the emperor was profound.  The theatre
of Marcellus, of which some remains still exist, was
dedicated by Augustus to the memory of his nephew
more surely immortalised by the verses of Vergil, ending with the lines:'Heu, miserande puer! si qua fata aspera rumpas,
Tu Marcellus eris. Manibus date lilia plenis.
Purpureos spargam flores animamque nepotis
His saltem adcumelem donis et fungar inani
Munere.'                 AEneid, vi. 86o et seq.
It is said that Octavia, the mother of Marcellus, fainted
when she heard these verses recited.
In this mausoleum were also deposited the ashes of
Augustus himself; of Marcus Agrippa, his able
lieutenant, and second husband of his daughter Julia;
Octavia his sister, widow of Marcus Antonius; Caius
and Lucius, his nephews; the Empress Livia, his
widow; Drusus and the Emperor Tiberius, sons of
Livia; Drusus, son of Tiberius; Antonia, widow of
the elder Drusus; Germanicus, her son; Agrippina,
widow of Germanicus; her sons Drusus, the Emperor
Nero and the Emperor Caius, better known as
Caligula; the Emperor Claudius; Brittanicus, the son
of Claudius; and, forty years later, the Emperor
Nerva, the only one not related to the family of
Augustus.   Of these   eighteen  illustrious persons,
Marcellus, Agrippa, Octavia, Caius, Lucius and
G                  97




the Story of Rome


trusus all predeceased the emperor, and all died
natural deaths.  Augustus was very unfortunate in
losing so many of his nearest and most important
relations during his lifetime.  Marcellus, Caius and
Lucius, each in turn, was prepared for the honour
of succeeding to the Imperial position, and each died
prematurely.  Of the eleven relatives whose ashes
followed those of Augustus, three were murdered because they were emperors, five were murdered to prevent
them from becoming emperors, and the remaining three
were women-Livia the empress, Agrippina, starved
to death by Tiberius, and Antonia, whose son, daughterin-law and three grandsons were amongst the victims.
The Imperial vaults were ransacked by the Goths
under Alaric, and the mausoleum itself was injured by
the Normans under Robert Guiscard.  It then became
a Colonna fortress.
In I367 the body of Cola di Rienzi, after being
hung by the feet from a balcony near the church of S.
Marcello during two whole days, where boys pelted it
with stones, was dragged along the Corso to the ' Campo
dell' Augusta' and there burnt by the Jews, acting upon
the orders of a Colonna. The mausoleum was used
in the nineteenth century for bull-fights, and is now
converted into a theatre.  The marble pedestal on
which had stood the cinerary urn of Agrippina, wife
of Germanicus, and mother of Caligula, is now in the
court of the Palace of the Conservators in the Capitol.
A hole scooped out in it served in the Middle Ages
as the standard measure for grain.
The mausoleum built by order of the most magnificent of all the Roman patrons of architecture, the
Emperor Hadrian, far surpassed in splendour the effort
of Augustus. The last niche in the Augustan tomb was
occupied by the ashes of Nerva, and Trajan's remains
were placed under the fine column in his own forum.
98




Pagan and Christian


His successor Hadrian determined to erect a monument
which should rival the tomb of Mausolus himself. He
chose a fine site on the further (right) bank of the
Tiber, and prepared for the final effect by constructing
a bridge, the Pons AElius (Ponte St. Angelo), resting
on massive arches, and covered with statues, which
formed a grand approach to the tomb. The mausoleum
had a square basement, over which rose a circular tower
ornamented with columns, between which were placed
statues by the ablest artists of the day.  One of these
statues, the Barberini Faun, now in the gallery at
Munich, has luckily been preserved. The circular
portion of the building was surmounted by a gilded
pyramidal roof. On the summit there stood, according to some authorities, the bronze fir cone now in the
Vatican; according to others, a colossal bronze group
representing Hadrian in a chariot drawn by four horses,
after the plan of the tomb of Mausolus, its Grecian
prototype.  The walls were of immense thickness,
square blocks of peperino, faced both outside and inside
with slabs of white Parian marble.
'Over the magnificent:Elian Bridge,' says Story,
'came the funeral processions which bore the ashes ot
the dead emperors to their last resting-place.  Facing
the bridge was one of the great golden gates which,
swinging open, let through the train into a long, dark,
sloping corridor, arched above, cased in marble at the
sides, and paved in black-and-white mosaic. Over
this gentle rise the train passed in, its torches flaring,
its black-robed praficae chanting the dirge of the dead,
and its wailing trumpets echoing and pealing down the
hollow vaulted tunnel. Next came the mimes declaiming solemn passages from the tragic poets, and followed
by waxen figures representing the ancestors of the
dead emperor, and clad in the robes they had worn in
life. Behind them streamed great standards blazoned
99




The Story of Rome


with the records of the emperor's deeds and triumphs.
Last came the funeral couch of ivory, draped with
Attalic vestments embroidered with gold, over which
a black veil was cast. It was borne on the shoulders
of his nearest relations and friends, and followed by the
crowd of slaves made free by his will, and wearing the
pileum in token of the fact.  Over the bridge they
slowly passed, in at the golden gate, and up the
hollow-sounding corridor, till, after making the complete interior circuit of the walls, they entered the
vast cavernous chamber, where they laid at last the
dead ashes of him who, living, had ruled the world.'
The architectural enterprises of Hadrian gave him
amongst Roman emperors a position similar to that
held by Shah Jehan in India. The greatest builder of
the Moguls, standing at the summit of the power of
the Mogul Empire-as Hadrian did of the Roman
Empire-achieved his greatest triumph in the erection
of a mausoleum, which is still in some respects the
most beautiful building in the world. The Taj Mahal
at Agra holds the position amongst human monuments
which formerly belonged to the mausoleum of Hadrian.
As unfortunate as Augustus, Hadrian buried in the
tomb prepared for himself the ashes of his beloved
adopted son JElius Verus, who, like Marcellus, died at
an early age, when the sceptre of the world was waiting
for him. Then came the founder; and after him the
Emperors Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius
Verus, Commodus, Septimius Severus and Caracalla,
the virtuous and vicious together.
The Roman law forbade burial within the city
walls. The whole circumference of Rome became a
vast Necropolis, decorated, as Lanciani tells us, with
300,000 tombs. Remains of many are still to be seen
on the Via Latina and the Via Appia, where are also
specimens of the Columbaria, a form of building unI00




Pagan and Christian


known beyond Rome. The Columbarium was private,
speculative, or co-operative: erected for a single family
and their househould; or by a speculator who sold the
lots separately to any purchasers; or by an association
of friends or shareholders. Some of them held several
thousand urns.
Believing in the resurrection of the body, the Christians were even more particular than the Romans as
to the interment of their dead.  Poor men, for the
most part, and joined together by a religion which
places all men on an equality, they naturally agreed to
be all buried in the same place, and contributed, each
as his wealth or poverty permitted, to a common fund
for buying and excavating the site.  The land, being
either given by a wealthy Christian, or bought by the
burial club, became a locus religiosus, under the protection of the Government. In Roman-and thence
in English-law all the air above a given spot, and all
the earth beneath it, belongs to the owner of the surface.
When the Christians grew in numbers, the fossores
(diggers) having excavated all the soil immediately
below the surface, and filled all the niches with
corpses, could not extend their operations laterally in
any direction because that would have taken them
under a site belonging to the neighbouring proprietor.
They were obliged to excavate a second layer below
the first, and then a third.  As many as five layers
have been found in one catacomb. Thus, though they
do not extend beyond the third milestone from the
walls of the city, the total length of the galleries excavated is believed to amount to about 6oo00 miles, and
the number of graves to 2,000,000. These are, however, mere estimates, for the greater part of Roma
rotterranea has not yet been explored.  Volcanic deposits of ashes and lava, forming a stone called tufa
granulare, are found under the surface around Rome in
101




T'he Story of Rome


the shape of low hills, or islands, separated from the
next hill of similar hardness by a less solid material.
In this tufa the Christian fossores dug galleries or
passages, 3 to 5 feet wide, and about 8 feet in height;
and in the walls they cut niches, loculi, 8 feet wide, to
the number of four or five, one above the other. The
loculus or grave was sometimes made to contain two or
even three bodies, but generally only one. It was
closed by a marble slab, on which the name of the
deceased, and perhaps a Christian emblem, would be
cut.  More important graves, arcosolia, had an arch
excavated over the tomb.  Still larger areas, cubicula,
were family vaults or chapels, surrounded by loculi and
arcosolia, and used as places of worship.
The Christians carried out the usual Eastern rites of
the unction of the body with aromatic oils or balsams.
Tertullian says that more of these perfumes were imported from the East for the Christians than for burning before the idols of the Gentiles. The bodies were,
as a rule, for hygienic reasons, enclosed in a layer of
cement or plaster.
Originally the Christians called these excavated
areas cemeteries or sleeping-places.  The  earliest
known use of the word catacomb is in a Christian
calendar of the third or fourth century, where the
Feast of St. Sebastian is marked to be kept on the
22nd January in Catacumbas.    The church of S.
Sebastiano ad Catacumbas, about two miles outside the
Porta S. Sebastiano, is said to have temporarily received the bodies of SS. Peter and Paul for safe interment. This tradition gave to the church and cemetery
a great sanctity, and made it a favourite goal for
pilgrims in the Middle Ages, when the entrances to the
other catacombs had been blocked up and lost, and
their very existence forgotten.  It is only, indeed, in
the most recent times, since De Rossi's discoveries in
102




CAMPANILE AND FACADE DF SS. GIOVANNI E PAOLO




0
I




Pagan and Christian


the catacomb of S. Calixtus, that the attention of
travellers has been diverted from  S. Sebastiano.  The
' ccemeterium ad catacumbas,' as it was called, was
regarded as the one and only Christian cemetery.
From this origin all similar excavations for burial, even
those in the East by Jews and others, made long before
the era of Christ, and which the Christians imitated,
have obtained the name of catacomb; and thus a word
which originally referred to a certain locality outside
the wall of Rome is now used to denote a method of
burial.
The Christians were not molested in their use of the
catacombs until the persecutions of Decius, Gallus and
Valerian. An edict of Valerian, in 257, forbade all
Christian assemblies, and all visits to the 'places called
cemeteries.'  The leader of the Christians, described
in the inscription afterwards prepared by Damasus, as
rector, and now known as Pope Sixtus II., was discovered by the Roman officials in the act of conducting a religious service in the catacomb of Pretextatus,
and was beheaded there and then. From this time
the Christians began to conceal the entrances to the
catacombs, making communications to them from the
interior of a sand-pit or a quarry.  A staircase of that
date. may be seen in the catacombs of S. Calixtus,
having an abrupt termination, the stone beneath the
lowest step being entirely cut away to a depth of
several feet. At this point the Christians used a ladder,
handed to them by an assistant from below, for the
further descent.  But in spite of all their precautions
their meetings were known to the authorities by the
revelations of professional spies, who obtained admission
by assuming the Christian character.  'You know the
days of our meetings,' Tertullian complained, addressing
the Roman judges; ' you have your eye upon us even
in our most secret meetings, so you often come to sur105




The Story of Rome


prise and overwhelm us.' Perhaps the most terrible of
all the stories of Christian martyrdom is that of a large
number of them who were seen entering one of the
catacombs by the watchful Pagan officials. Both entrance and exit were immediately blocked up with stone
and sand, making all escape impossible. Nearly a
hundred years later, when Christianity had for fifty
years been the State religion, Pope Damasus, an enthusiastic searcher, found the place.  The skeletons
of an entire congregation of men, women and children
were discovered. Damasus would not have them disturbed, but opened a large window in the wall, from
which the dreadful spectacle might be viewed.
After the adoption of Christianity as the State religion, burying in and about the basilicas began to
supersede the use of the catacombs. Very few inscriptions have been found later than the year 400, and
from 410, the year of the sack of Rome by Alaric,
the catacombs were definitely abandoned as places of
sepulture. The fourth century, which saw the gradual
disuse of the catacombs for burial, also witnessed their
cult. Utility gave way to adoration, worship, pilgrimage. The crypts, stairs, entrances, air-shafts, were all
enlarged, and an air of triumph was given to the subterranean areas.  Pope Damasus prosecuted a vigorous
search for the bodies of martyrs, and, in characters
invented specially for the purpose, caused inscriptions
to be cut over the most interesting graves.
In his day the catacombs were daily visited by large
numbers of strangers, and also by the Romans themselves, many of whom found there inscriptions bearing
the names of their own relatives or friends. The
pilgrims were in the habit of leaving messages to the
dead, prayers, or mere records of their names, cut in the
walls. The explorer, De Rossi, was directed in his
search for the Papal crypt in the catacomb of Calix106




Pagan and Christian


tus by one of these graffiti, which ran, ' Sancte Suste,
in mente habeas,' referring to the martyred Pope
Sixtus II.
The catacombs were ransacked by the Goths under
Vitiges in 537, and again by the Lombards in 755.
Pope Paul I. in 757 began to remove the bodies to
the various churches within the city; and his example
was followed by Paschal I. on a larger scale in 817,
and continued by Sergius II. (844) and Leo IV.
(847.) All bodies found in the catacombs were
now regarded as those of martyrs, and much devastation was done by relic-hunters, who carried away
whatever they could lay hands on. After the middle
of the ninth century, the catacombs, entirely neglected,
fell to ruin, and their entrances became blocked up
and obscured.  Except for the small and insignificant
sotteranea of S. Sebastiano ad Catacumbas, their
position was lost, their very existence forgotten.
On the 31st May 1578 some workmen who were
digging in a vineyard on the Via Salaria, about two
miles beyond the walls, accidentally came upon a
gallery of graves, with Christian frescoes, sarcophagi
and inscriptions.  The discovery excited the greatest
interest and astonishment.  It was thought that a new
city had been found.  Strange to say, when the first
excitement was over, the workmen were allowed to
rob and destroy these crypts, so that all trace of them
has now disappeared. Attention had, however, been
directed to the subterranean burying - places, and it
became common for strangers to Rome to be taken
into the openings leading to the catacombs. Antony
Munday published in London, 1599, the first book on
the subject.  'Without Rome,' he says, 'there is a
huge great vault, which they call St. Priscilla's Grote;
and within this vault there is a great many of several
places, turning one this way, another that way, as in
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<he Story of Rome


one street there may be divers streets and lanes turning
every way; so that when they go into this vault, they
tie the end of a line at the going in, and so go on by
the line, else they might chance to lose themselves,
and so miss of their coming out again.'  This fate
nearly overtook Antonio Bosio, the pioneer of catacomb exploration, on the occasion of his first visit,
with some fiiends, on the Ioth December I593.
They went too far, lost their way, and their lights
burned out. 'I began to fear,' says Bosio, 'that I
should defile by my vile corpse the sepulchres of the
martyrs.' It happens even now, sometimes, especially when a great number go in together and are thus
beyond the control of the guide, that one or two of
the party, straying from the rest, lose their way, and
wander helplessly further and further from the entrance. Two Americans spent the night in the damp
and darkness, in the summer of I9oo, before they
were rescued by a searching party.
From the time of Bosio the catacombs have been
diligently scoured by visitors, who soon degenerated
into mere pilferers.  'The catacombs,' says Lanciani,
' owe their sad fate to the riches which they contained.
If the work of exploration has been carried on actively
in the last three centuries, it is on account of the rich
harvest which searching parties were sure to reap
whenever they chanced to come across a catacomb, or
part of a catacomb, yet unexplored.' Sometimes an
effort would be made to remove the frescoes, to their
almost certain destruction.  Even the archaeologists,
Aringhi, Boldetti, Marangoni, Bottari joined in this
spoliation. They carried away inscriptions, or other
objects of interest and value, and placed them in distant museums, indifferent to the importance of the
environment in which they were found. It was not
until the latter part of the nineteenth century that
Io8




Pagan and Christian


De Rossi, by his standard work, Roma Sotteranea,
opened the era of scientific research in the catacombs.
A large number of miscellaneous objects have been
found either in the graves, or as marks of identification
or decoration outside, such as cameos, rings, bronze
statuettes, glass bowls or phials, amphorae, lamps
marked with Christian symbols, coins, medals. Some
bodies have been discovered with a nail or a hatchet
firmly fixed in the skull, and others with instruments
of torture lying in the grave.  It was the custom to
bury, with a martyr, his blood-stained clothing, or a
sponge or glass phial containing his blood. Many of
these phials have traces of what may possibly be dried
blood, and some, when discovered after a lapse of more
than I500 years, still contained a liquid of reddish
tint. Chemical analysis has not conclusively established
that the fluid was blood. The colour may be due to
wine or other staining matter.
The inscriptions on Pagan tombs frequently contain
descriptive epitaphs, which sometimes extend to the
length of a biography. Much information on Roman
customs has been obtained from this source. Many of
these inscriptions bear pathetic messages, others imprecations. Lanciani quotes the following. A widow
writes: 'To the adorable, blessed soul of L. Sempronius Firmus. We knew, we loved each other
from childhood: married, an impious hand separated
us at once. Oh, infernal gods, do be kind and merciful to him, and let him appear to me in the silent
hours of the night.' In another, a freedman thus
writes of a companion: ' Erected to the memory of
Memmius Clarus by his co-servant, Memmius Urbanus.
I knew that there never was the shade of a disagreement between thee and me; never a cloud passed over
our common happiness. I swear to the gods of heaven
and hell, that we worked faithfully and lovingly
lo9




Tihe Stoty of Rome
together, that we were set free from servitude on the
same day and in the same house: nothing would ever
have separated us except this fatal hour.' These are
some of the curses: 'Anyone who injures my tomb,
or steals its ornaments, may he see the death of all his
relatives.' And, 'Whoever steals the nails from this
structure, may he thrust them into his own eyes.'
This, ' Lawyers and the evil-eyed keep away from my
tomb,' is characteristic of the Roman dislike of the
crowd of pushing lawyers who filled the Forum, and
their belief, still prevalent in Italy and other superstitious countries, in the evil eye.
The greater security of subterranean burial is shown
by the fact that none of the catacomb inscriptions
exhibit any fear of possible desecration or spoliation.
There is less grief and more hope in the Christian
epitaphs. Thus: 'Prima, mayest thou live in the
glory of God and in the peace of our Lord.'.
'Domitian, single of soul, sleeps in peace.'
'Antonia, sweet soul in peace, may God refresh.'
The word 'vale,' so common in Pagan epitaphs,
changes to ' in pace,' and ' vivas in deo.'
The walls of the catacombs, especially in the larger
chapels, the cubicula, were covered with emblems,
symbols or pictures. The Constantinian monogram, A,
frequently occurs, made of the Greek chi and ro, from
the name of Christ. It was believed that this mark
appeared in the sky to Constantine, and caused his
conversion; and its use denotes reference to the
triumph of the Church. Some of the most common
symbolical marks are the anchor, which means hope,
firmness, patience.  The fish, denoting the Person
of Christ under the sacrament of the eucharist, is
generally found in eucharistic scenes, and with it
the dolphin as a saviour of the shipwrecked.  A
bird means the soul, or, in general, Christians; if
II0




Pagan and Christian


in a garden or on a tree, it symbolises the joys of
paradise; if pecking bread, it refers to the soul of
Christians fed by the eucharist; if holding a branch
of palm, triumphant; a branch of olive, the soul in
peace; if drinking from or perched on a cup, or pecking at a grape, refreshment.  The peacock is the
particular soul of
the deceased person, and is a sign
of immortality.
The dove represents  the  Holy
Spirit; the sheep
the flock of Christ.
The   nimbus   or
glory  round  the
head of Christ and
the saints was in
use  among    the
Pagans as the symbol of power, and
hence of divinity,
and   was  copied
from them by the         GATE OF S. COSIMATO
Christians. It encircles the head of Herod in the mosaics of S. Maria
Maggiore. The crown means victory and recompense:
it appears on the heads of virgins and martyrs.
The biblical subjects illustrated in the catacombs
have in nearly every case a symbolical meaning. The
common picture of Jonah and the whale refers to the
Resurrection.  Susanna and the elders depicts the
Church in the world, or the new value set upon
chastity by the Christians. Daniel among the lions
refers to the sufferings and final deliverance of the
Christians. Moses striking the rock depicts salvation
III




YThe Story of Rome
through baptism. The Good Shepherd is, of course,
Christ. The meaning of these symbols and pictures
was a secret carefully kept among themselves by the
Christians. Many miracles also were representedthe raising of Lazarus, the multiplying of the fishes,
etc. Never in the catacombs do we find any reference
to the Passion, Flagellation, Crucifixion, subjects
which the great artists of the Middle Ages treated so
very frequently.  The thoughts of the early Church
were directed to the Resurrection; in later times to
penitence, sorrow and self-sacrifice. Thus the Christian conquered Paganism by the hope of heaven, and
was made subservient to the Church by the fear of
hell.
The reverence, the watchful care, the expenditure in
money and labour, which both Pagan and Christian
gave to their dead, was due to the vague hope of the
one, the firm belief of the other, in a future life.
' Death,' says the Pagan Propertius, ' is not the end;
the wan shade escapes from the dying embers.' The
Christian, St. Jerome, is more confident. He says,
'In Christianis mors non est mors, sed dormitio, sed
somnus.' Some of the most advanced Pagans tried to
believe in the immortality of the soul, as of a shadow;
but the Christian had no doubt of the resurrection of
the body.
Lucan speaks as follows of the soul, or shade, of
Pompey:-4' His spirit could not rest in the glowing
embers, nor scanty ashes contain that mighty shade.
He sprang forth from the fires, and leaving the body
beneath, which they had but half devoured, and the
lowly pyre, he rose to the sphere of heaven. Where
the dark air is joined to the poles that bear the stars,
the space that lies between the earth and the journey*ings of the moon-there dwell those spirits almost
divine, whose burning virtue kept them pure in life,
112




Pagan and Christian


prepared them for the lowest shores of ether, and
brought them  to the everlasting spheres.  Not by
fragrant spices on the pyre, nor by much gold, can man
come hither! When he had filled his soul with the
true light, gazing with awe upon the planets and the
stars of the firmament, he looked upon the night in
which our days are spent, and laughed at the insult done
to his body.'
The Christian's hope in the resurrection of both soul
and body was based, not upon a personal greatness
which even death failed to extinguish, but upon the
Love and Mercy of God. It is thus expressed by
Prudentius:-' Soon the time will come when heat shall
revive these bones, when blood shall gush anew in
these veins, when life shall resume this abode which it
has left. These bodies, long inert, which lay in the
dust of tombs, shall spring upward once again to join
their former souls.....  Earth, receive and keep in
thy maternal breast this mortal spoil which we confide
to thee; it was the dwelling of a soul created by the
Author of all things; 'twas here a spirit lived,
quickened by the wisdom of Christ.  Cover this body
which we place within thy breast. One day He who
created it and fashioned it with His hands will ask
thee for His work again.'


H


113




CHAPTER IV


The Barbarians
Gothorum laus est civilitas custodita.'-Cassiodorus.
HE noble but pathetic figure of Marcus Aurelius
closes the Golden Age. He devoted himself heart
and soul to the welfare of the State. A philosopher and
thinker, he cheerfully engaged in the uncongenial life
of military adventure on the far frontiers of the Empire,
and celebrated two triumphs for his victories, with
characteristic generosity sharing the first with his
brother Lucius Verus, the second with his son Commodus. Unhappily for Rome, Marcus Aurelius was
blind-perhaps deliberately, weakly  blind-to the
worthlessness of this son. He abandoned the principle
of adoption which had given Rome the glorious age of
the Antonines; and, submitting himself to the influence
of his wife Faustina, allowed the destinies of the
Empire to be controlled by Commodus, whose incompetence was already apparent. With Commodus began
the fall of Rome. From his time the emperor was
the nominee of the soldiers, who sold their votes to the
most liberal or the most capable general. They demanded bribes, good pay and booty, and did not
hesitate to murder an emperor who failed to satisfy
their desires. Between Marcus Aurelius and Diocletian
there were twenty-six emperors, whose average reign
was less than four years; of whom twenty-three came
114




Ihe Barbarians


to violent ends, and probably two others would have
been murdered if they had not died within a year of
their elevation.  One of them, Septimius Severus,
reigned for eighteen years, and was not murdered, a
remarkable achievement in the third century.  His
arch in the Forum, and palace on the Palatine, still
exist to remind us of his good fortune.
Some of the short-lived emperors of the third century are remembered.   Caracalla, son of Septimius
Severus, has left a name for mad cruelty; by his
orders, and under his personal direction, his brother
Geta was killed in the presence of their mother, the
beautiful Julia Domna.  Elagabalus, among  many
competitors, may perhaps be awarded the palm for
shamelessness. Alexander Severus, living in such an
age and in such a position, astonishes us by his virtues.
Maximin, a Thracian peasant, owed his elevation to
his gigantic physical proportions.  He was 8 feet
high, a brutal savage, totally ignorant of the arts and
the sentiments of a civilised human being. Gibbon
relates that 'A conspiracy against his life was either
discovered or imagined, and Magnus, a consular
senator, was named as the principal author of it.
Without a witness, without a trial, and without an opportunity of defence, Magnus, with 4ooo of his supposed
accomplices, were put to death.'  Philip, an Arab by
birth, ' and consequently,' says Gibbon, ' in the earlier
part of his life, a robber by profession,' has been
claimed as the first Christian emperor.  Decius,
Claudius and Aurelian manfully opposed the inroad
of the Goths.    Decius was defeated and killed.
Claudius obtained the name of Gothicus for his
victories.  Aurelian also  defeated  the  barbarians,
and, as a protection against them, built the walls
which, greatly restored, are still standing round the
city.
I 5




The Story of Rome


The birth of Diocletian was lower than that of any
of his predecessors, for his parents were slaves. He
was the first to see that the Empire had become too
large to be controlled from one centre, and divided
it into four parts, with capitals at Nicomedia (in
Bithynia), Sirmium (near Belgrade), Treves (Trier)
and Milan.
Kome was neglected.  In the twentieth year of his
reign, Diocletian paid his first visit to Rome, there to
celebrate his triumph. He left it in two months.
He curtailed the numbers and the privileges of the
Praetorian Guard, and by his persistent absence from
Rome deprived the Senate of all connection with the
Imperial court, and of all power. This anti-Roman
policy of Diocletian was followed by his successors.
Except for the short visits of Constantine in 312,
Constantius in 357, Theodosius in 389, and Honorius
for his triumph in 404, Rome was abandoned by the
emperors and their court.
The division inaugurated by Diocletian broke down
owing to the jealousies of the four partners. When
he abdicated, a period of civil war began, as many as
six emperors at one time taking the field.  The
survivor was Constantine.
Marching upon Rome, he defeated one of his rivals,
Maxentius, at a place called Saxa Rubra, about nine
miles from Rome. Maxentius tried to escape back
into the city over the Milvian Bridge (Ponte Molle),
but amidst a crowd of fugitives he was pushed into the
river, and drowned. In the Hall of Constantine, in
the Vatican, there is a fine fresco designed by Raphael,
painted by Giulio Romano, commemorating the
event.
In 324, thirty-seven years after the division of the
Empire by Diocletian, Constantine re-united it under
his own sway.   He deserved the title of 'Great'
16




T'he Barbarians


more than most of those to whom it has been applied,
for two acts which have enormously influenced the
whole subsequent history of Europe. He built Constantinople; and he adopted Christianity.
The site of Byzantium, much superior to the
Nicomedia of Diocletian, was marked by nature for a
great city. On the confines of Europe and Asia, it was
admirably placed for defence both against the Persians
and against the barbarians on the Danube. Constantine,
born near the Danube, had spent his youth in the courts
and armies of the East, and naturally preferred an
Eastern capital for his residence. Policy led him to
build Constantinople, inclination and policy induced him
to live there.  The desertion of Rome, begun by
Diocletian, thus became the fixed policy of the Roman
emperors; and the two great Roman powers of the
third century, the Praetorian Guards and the Senate,
lost all their influence.
The other great act of Constantine, the adoption
of Christianity, had unexpected results. By cutting
down the temporal power of Rome he had cleared
the soil for a fresh spiritual growth, which he then
further encouraged by his own direct personal approval
and support.  The resultant division of civil and
ecclesiastical affairs, and the ultimate triumph of pope
over emperor, no man could have foretold.
The fall of the Western Empire has been ascribed
to causes most numerous and most diverse.   The
ultimate factor was the inability of Rome to keep
in subjection the dependent provinces, or to withstand
the direct attacks of the barbarians. But how was it
that in the fifth century Rome failed to do what had
been so easy in the first?
One of the chief causes of weakness was the gradual
depopulation of Italy. Augustus passed laws to encourage the reproduction of the human species. They
117




rThe Story of Rome
were ineffectual, and the population went on slowly but
surely decreasing, when the plague suddenly appeared
and carried off immense numbers of the citizens in the
reign of Marcus Aurelius.  The next-the thirdcentury was one of almost continuous civil war, which
caused a further enormous waste of Italian life. And
then the building of Constantinople drained the country
of nobles, mechanics and soldiers for the new capital.
The institution of slavery worked in the same direction.
Every landed proprietor was liable to be called into
the ranks of the army. A poor man's land was
uncared for in his absence, while a rich man could
afford to engage slaves to till the soil.  Thus the land
fell into the hands of large proprietors, the number
of slaves was increased, and the normal growth cf the
population discouraged.  The marriage rate fell, and
infanticide became common.
The place of the disappearing Italians was taken by
barbarians, who entered the armies in large numbers,
and received direct encouragement to settle in the
country as agriculturists.  They acquired some of the
civilised habits of the Romans, but were alien in
sympathy from the Roman spirit.
'The significance of these semi-barbarians,' says
Bury, 'is that they smoothed the way for the invader
who dismembered the Empire; not being attached by
hereditary tradition to Roman ideas and the Roman
name, but having within them the Teutonic spirit of
individual freedom, directly opposed to the Roman
spirit of tyrannical universal law, they were not
prejudiced sufficiently strongly in favour of the Roman
Empire to preserve it, although they admired and
partook of its superior civilisation.'
Christianity also, by its democratic assertion of the
equality of all human beings before God, by its conviction that Christ died for all men, and by its doctrine
118




The Barbarians


of a divine law superior to all temporal law, was
essentially anti-Roman. The tender spirit of Christianity revolutionised the Roman world. 'When a
certain woman,' says Pater, 'gathered for interment
the insulted remains of Nero, the Pagan world surmised
that she must be a Christian: only a Christian would
have been likely to conceive so chivalrous a devotion
towards wretchedness.' 'WVe refuse to be witnesses
even of a homicide commanded by the laws,' pleads
a Christian apologist; 'we take no part in your cruel
sports, nor in the spectacles of the amphitheatre, and
we hold that to witness a murder is the same thing
as to commit one.' 'If I had been there with my
Franks,' exclaimed the rude barbarian Chlodowig, on
hearing the story of Jesus Christ, 'I would have
avenged His injuries.'
It is this aspect of the Christian faith, its humanity,
which ultimately dissolved the Roman world. Even
Marcus Aurelius assisted the reaction against all
Roman institutions, by the gloomy melancholy of his
philosophy.  'Take from    thyself grief,' said the
Christian, ' for it is the sister of doubt and ill-temper.'
Cheerfulness, sympathy, freedom, hopefulness, generous
appreciation of the rights and the merits of the individual, these were the forces with which the Christian
entirely destroyed and extirpated the Pagan religion.
It was the opposition of such ideas to all Roman
thought and tradition which gave them their strength.
To recapitulate shortly, the fall of the Western
Empire was due to the material effect of depopulation,
and the moral influence of barbarian Christianity. Depopulation arose from  many causes:-I. Insufficient
reproduction, due to the prevalence of slavery and the
growing desire for the luxuries of town life.. 2. Loss
of life by war, pestilence, and infanticide, emigration to Constantinople.  3. Poverty, produced by exI 9




ithe Story of Rome


travagant expenditure on the Imperial Court; by the
waste of town life; by the growth of an idle proletariat
in the towns, fed and amused at the public expense; by
war, plague and famine. While the Roman and Italian
race was fast disappearing, its place was gradually taken
by barbarians, who, as foreigners, had no patriotic desire
to support Rome, and, as Christians, were opposed to
the cold tyranny and suppression of sympathy for the
individual, which characterised the Roman centralised
State system.  These were the causes which made
the conquest of Rome, and dissolution of the
Roman Empire, so easy a feat for Alaric and his
successors.
From the beginning of the fifth century the barbarians came down upon Rome in a constant stream of
immigrants.  The great V61kerwanderung from NorthEast and North had begun. The new arrivals came
not only, or chiefly, as conquerors, but as settlers;
though they were ready enough to join the standard
of any great soldier who might be undertaking marauding expeditions on a large scale. Alaric the Visigoth
entered Italy at the head of an army of mixed barbarians in 402; in 45I came Attila the Hun; in
455 Genseric the Vandal; in 472 Ricimer; in 476
Odoacer; in 493 Theodoric the Ostrogoth; and in
568 Alboin the Lombard.
The three chief characters in the drama of the fall
of Rome are the Emperor Honorius, his Vandal
general, Stilicho, and his Visigoth opponent, Alaric.
Honorius, son of the Emperor Theodosius, was
eleven years of age when he succeeded his father in 395.
When he had arrived at the age of manhood, he distinguished himself above all the great men who had
worn the purple before him, by the practical interest he
took in the rearing of poultry. He devoted himself to
breeding fowls. To his finest and most beloved bird
120




The Barbarians
he proudly gave the name of Roma. When, in 410,
the chamberlain excitedly announced to his master the
news that Rome had perished, the emperor, deeply
grieved, was unwilling to credit the loss he had sustained; ' For,' said he, 'it is only an hour since she
was feeding out of my hand.'  On learning that it
was only the capital of the world that had fallen, he
severely reprimanded the attendant for having incautiously given him an unpleasant shock.  He quite
thought, at first, that he had lost his beautiful fowl.
Stilicho was a tall, handsome, fair-haired soldier, the
son of a Vandal chief. His abilities raised him to the
highest position in the army; he obtained the favour of
the Emperor Theodosius, who gave him his niece
and adopted daughter Serena for a wife; and his
daughter Maria was married to her cousin, the Emperor Honorius.
The Visigoth Alaric (All-Ruler) was born on
a small island at the mouth of the Danube. At one
time he led a band of Gothic auxiliaries in the army
of Theodosius. A Christian of the Arian sect, well
acquainted with the Roman court and army, he was
very far from being a savage.
Alaric began his march upon Rome in the year 402,
but he had scarcely crossed the Alps and descended
into Italy, when he was met and defeated by Stilicho at
the battle of Pollentia, near Turin.  For this victory
Honorius celebrated a great triumph at Rome, which
he visited specially for that purpose, and Stilicho was
permitted to ride in the same chariot with the emperor.
Milan was now recognised as too much exposed and
too little capable of defence for the seat of the Imperial
court, which Honorius removed to Ravenna on the
Adriatic, a few miles south of the mouth of the river
Po.   Surrounded by a swamp, the natural defensive
strength of Ravenna was increased by elaborate fortifi121




The Story of Rome
cations. From this time until the middle of the eighth
century Ravenna was regarded as the capital of Italy.
In 408 Alaric marched into Italy again, and demanded a sum of money. The Senate assembled at
Rome to debate the question of war or peace, and,
under the influence of Stilicho, agreed to pay 4000
pounds of gold   (~i6o,ooo   sterling).  Stilicho's
policy of conciliation towards the barbarians was
most distasteful to the proud, but powerless, Romans.
He incurred further odium from such of them as still
favoured the Pagan religion by his order that the Sibylline books, the oracles of Rome, should be burned.
When he stripped the gold plates from the doors of the
great temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, it was whispered in
Rome that on the inner side of the plates was found the
words, Misero regi servantur (Reserved for a miserable
king).  His wife Serena, seeing a precious necklace
on the neck of the goddess Rhea, the mother of the
gods, took it off and wore it. The sacrilegious act
was witnessed by an old woman, the last of the Vestal
Virgins, whose loud curses long haunted the dreams of
the despoiler.
The Vandal was unpopular at Rome; and Honorius,
at Ravenna, was beyond the reach of his influence, and
readily listened to the stories told him of Stilicho's
designs upon the Imperial dignity. He had become
too powerful. He was accused of a plot to murder
the emperor, and by his order was executed. There
is no doubt that Stilicho was in secret correspondence
with Alaric; but his career, his character, and the
course of subsequent events, combine to clear his name
of the charge of treason.  His aim was, if possible, to
make a friend of the formidable barbarian.
The fall of Stilicho was followed by an event which
explains the kind of influence that ruined the great
patriotic general, and exhibits the Romans of the fifth
I22




The Barbarians


century in their true colours.  To the Romans, Stilicho
was represented as a barbarian in league with his compatriots for the destruction of the Empire.  Thirty
thousand barbarian auxiliaries were enrolled under the
Roman banner. The same feeling which demanded
the execution of the Vandal general was now turned
against the foreign auxiliaries.  But the degenerate,
bounty-fed Romans of the fifth century could not
summon up courage to attack the terrible barbarians.
They still, however, felt themselves capable of some
glorious deeds.  They could kill women, and also
children. While the husbands were away on the
frontiers defending the Empire, the descendants of
Camillus, Scipio and Caesar fell gleefully upon the
women and children left behind in the different towns of
Italy, killing all whom they could discover. This was the
death-blow to Rome. The outraged barbarians called
upon Alaric to lead them against the contemptible,
perfidious, base nation. Honorius having refused his
moderate demands, and the 4ooo pounds of gold voted
by the Senate not having been paid, Alaric marched
without opposition through Italy and surrounded the
walls of Rome with his troops.
No hostile army had approached the Imperial City
for more than six hundred years.  It was a very
different Rome which defied Hannibal.   Then a
resolute, united and manly people, suffering fearful
defeats at the hands of one of the greatest military
leaders known to history, finally triumphed by dint
of sheer pluck and patriotism.  The Rome before
Alaric was a scene of architectural splendour, of
enormous wealth and luxury, of idleness and selfindulgence.  Ammianus Marcellius tells us that the
Roman nobles, 'whose poor and invincible ancestors
were not distinguished from the meanest of the
soldiers by the delicacy of their food or the splendour
123




T'he Story of Rome
of their apparel, now reckoned their importance according to the loftiness of their chariots and the weighty


ON THE WALLS NEAR THE LATERAN '
magnificence of their dress. Should a fly presume
to settle on the silken folds of their gilded umbrellas,
should a sunbeam penetrate through some unguarded
and imperceptible chink, they deplore their intolerable
124




Thle Barbarians


hardships, and lament in affected language that they
were not born in the land of Cimmerian darkness. In
the exercise of domestic jurisdiction, the nobles of
Rome express an exquisite sensibility for any personal
injury, and a contemptuous indifference for the rest of
the human race. When they have called for warm
water, if a slave has been tardy in his obedience, he is
instantly chastised with three hundred lashes; but
should the same slave commit a wilful murder, the
master will mildly observe that if he repeats the offence
he shall not escape punishment. At the public baths
they maintain a haughty demeanour which perhaps
might have been excused in the great Marcellus after
the conquest of Syracuse. Their vices, which degrade
the moral character, are mixed with a puerile superstition that disgraces the understanding. There are
many who do not presume to bathe, or to dive, or to
appear in public, till they have diligently consulted,
according to the rules of astrology, the situation of
Mercury and the aspect of the moon. It is singular
enough,' adds Marcellinus, 'that this vain credulity
may often be discovered among the profane sceptics
who impiously doubt or deny the existence of a celestial
power.'
Many of these nobles had incomes which would be
considered very large even in our own day. An annual
revenue equivalent to o50,ooo in our money was not
unusual among senators, while the richer men had
incomes amounting to ~200,000.    Some of them
possessed large estates, even whole cities, in distant
parts. The expense of a popular festival given by a
public official would sometimes amount to ~Xoo,ooo.
While the nobles were in a contemptible condition
of moral debility, 'the vile and wretched populace,'
says Gibbon, 'must in a few generations have been
totally extinguished, if it had not been continually
I25




Vrie Story of Rome
recruited by the manumission of slaves and the influx
of strangers. As early as the time of Hadrian the
capital had attracted the vices of the universe and the
manners of the most opposite nations. The intemperance
of' the Gauls, the cunning and levity of the Greeks,
the savage obstinacy of the Egyptians and Jews,
the servile temper of the Asiatics, and the dissolute,
effeminate prostitution of the Syrians, were mingled in
the various multitude which, under the proud and false
denomination of Romans, presumed to despise their
fellow-subjects, and even their sovereigns, who dwelt
beyond the precincts of the Eternal City.'
Yet so great was the prestige of Rome, the awe and
reverence she aroused in all mankind, that Alaric
seemed almost afraid to touch the prize which lay in
his hands. When marching upon Rome he had been
warned by a holy monk to abstain from his sacrilegious
design, but excused himself by saying that he was
obeying an impulse which he could not resist, a voice
constantly urging him on with the words 'Penetrabis
ad Urbem.'
Rome made little resistance.  She sent ambassadors
to Alaric with the message that the Roman people
were prepared to make a peace on moderate terms, but
were yet more prepared for war, and that if Alaric
refused them fair terms he must prepare to meet an
innumerable people who, with arms in their hands, and
from long practice in their use, had no reason to dread
the result of battle. Alaric replied simply, ' The
thicker the grass the easier is it mowed.' Famine and
pestilence compelled the Romans to beg for mercy.
Alaric demanded all the gold, all the silver, all the
movable property in the city, and all the slaves of
barbarian origin.  'What then do you propose to
leave to us?' asked one of the ambassadors. 'Your
lives,' said Alaric.  At length he agreed to accept
I26




5the Barbarians


the ransom of 5ooo pounds weight of gold, 30,000
pounds of silver, 4ooo silken tunics, 3000 purple cloths,
and 3000 pounds of pepper. The gold and silver
would be equivalent to about ~300,000, little more
than the annual income of a rich senator.
The moderation of the barbarians, their unwillingness
to hurt the renowned capital of the world, is remarkable.
When Brennus and his Gauls captured the city in 390
B.C. they took all they could get and then set the town
on fire. But 8oo years of Roman glory lay between
Brennus and Alaric, and this sufficed to stay the hand
of the barbarian. The ransom was paid, though much
of the gold and silver still remaining on the statues of
the gods had to be stripped off for the purpose.
Alaric now proposed to constitute himself the champion of the Western Empire, a suggestion which met
with favour from the same Senate that had hounded
Stilicho to death for advocating such a policy. By
placing Alaric in the position formerly held by Stilicho,
they would but be exchanging one capable barbarian
leader for another, taking a Visigoth for a Vandal, and
the safety of Rome would be assured. But the feeble
obstinacy of Honorius would not permit him to consent.
He swore that he would never under any circumstances
make peace with Alaric, but would wage perpetual war
against him. All the high officers of state, safe in
their impenetrable retreat at Ravenna, swore to the
same effect, and while doing so touched the sacred
head of the emperor himself.   An oath by the
emperor's head was the only one which the Romans
of that time affected to reverence. Alaric, after some
hesitation, marched once more upon Rome, at the
same time begging Honorius to save the city from sack
and destruction, by agreeing to his very moderate
demands. But the oath stood in the way. ' A mere
oath by the Almighty,' replied Jovius, the emperor's
I27




The Story of Rome
chief adviser, 'would have mattered comparatively
little, as -we might safely have trusted to the divine
good nature to overlook the apparent impiety.  But an
oath by the emperor's person was a very different
matter, and so awful an imprecation as that must never
be disregarded.'  The Romans had not taken this
terrible oath, and were so disgusted with the folly of
Honorius, that they readily agreed to the suggestion of
Alaric that the poultry-fancier at Ravenna should be
dethroned, and a more capable man put in his place.
Rome renounced her allegiance to Honorius and raised
the prefect of the city, Attalus, already officially the
second man in Rome after the emperor, to th'e throne
of the Caesars. Attalus at once bestowed upon Alaric
the command which he desired. But Attalus proved
himself an arrogant and incompetent ruler, and within
a year Alaric found it necessary to strip him of the
diadem and purple, and to send those insignia of royalty,
as a sign of peace and friendship, to Honorius. Negotiations were again commenced between the barbarian
and the emperor; but Honorius was as obstinate as
ever. Then, in 4Io, the infuriated Visigoth marched
with all his army upon the doomed city. There was,
of course, no resistance.
Alaric had promised his followers the rewards of
sack and pillage, but he ordered that none of the
churches were to be touched, and commanded the right
of asylum in the Apostolic basilicas of St. Peter and
St. Paul to be respected. These orders were obeyed.
But the Pagan temples, the public buildings, and all
private houses were stripped of everything valuable and
movable, while the luckless inhabitants were compelled
to satisfy the wishes of their barbarian conquerors in
every possible way.  Alaric did not allow his men
more than three days of pillage and enjoyment. Then
he withdrew his army, carrying with him many waggon128




The Barbarians
loads of gold, silver, jewels, spices, silks, furniture and
other precious movables.  Little other damage was
done.  The house of Sallust, near the Salarian Gate,
by which the barbarians entered, is the only building
they are known to have destroyed.
It is curious to observe the effect upon contemporary
thought, of the pillage of Rome in 4Io.  Two years
previously Alaric had been bought off. The difference
between paying a definite ransom extorted by force,
and being obliged to allow the enemy to gather the
spoil in his own way-between collecting the money
for him, and leaving him to collect for himself-was
felt to an exceptional degree in the Roman world.
In the one case Rome was party to a definite negotiation; in the other her wishes were not consulted, even
as a matter of form.  In its material aspect the spoliation of 4Io differed from the robbery of 408 only in
the amount carried away. ' But in the one case the
prestige of the great city was destroyed, in the other
honour was saved. To Rome this was the difference
between life and death.  In no city, or country, have
the sentiments of glory and renown reached the extraordinary power which they held in Rome.   Alaric
himself was for a long time kept back by the mere
name of Rome. The utter feebleness of Rome, her
entire inability to oppose any serious attack, were well
known.   Her immense splendour and wealth were
equally notorious.  The stupendous magnificence of
Rome was probably the one fact at that time known
in every corner of the civilised world. After the
death of Stilicho, what was it that stopped Alaric?
He was restrained by fear-fear of the goddess Roma.
So when the news spread throughout Europe, Asia
and Africa, that Rome had been forcibly and violently
despoiled, a shudder of trembling horror passed through
mankind. It was a calamity to the human race. The
1               129




The Story of Rome


great world- fetich had been insulted and trampled
upon.   All law, all order, even civilisation itself
were —so it was believed-for ever destroyed by a
wild brood of wandering savages. When the brazen
hand of Alaric, by forcible violence and pillage, had
destroyed the prestige of Rome, and given the world
a dishonoured head, it was felt that society had received
a shock from which there would be no recovery.
These fears were, to a large extent, justified by the
subsequent course of history.  After Alaric came the
chaos of the Dark Age. But the goddess Roma was
to rise again and rule once more, in the name of the
Saint and Apostle, Peter.
The imprecations of an outraged world were soon
followed by the death of the sacrilegious violator.
Before the end of the year Alaric was dead, probably
of fever, near Reggio, in the south of Italy.  To provide his body a resting-place safe from the avengers of
Rome, the Gothic soldiers compelled their captives to
turn the river Busento from its course, and, having
deposited in its bed the remains of their hero, ordered
them to restore the waters to their former channel over
the grave.  Then-so says Jordanes-they were all
put to death, to prevent the exact site of the grave from
ever being discovered.
After the death of Alaric Rome had a brief period
of recovery.  Honorius, in 417, brought his courtiers
and his hens to the Palatine Hill.  But the savage
wanderers from the north continued to pour into Italy.
The most terrible of them all, Attila the Hun, was
marching upon Rome at the head of a band of ferocious
murderers and robbers in 452, when the trembling
Senate sent three ambassadors to meet him and beg for
mercy, of whom one was the Bishop of Rome, Leo I.
The superstitious fear of Rome had already come upon
Attila. He had been warned that if he followed the
13o




Vrhe Barbarians


example of Alaric, he also would die within the year.
Leo was the recognised and venerated chief of the
Christian religion; and the stern eloquence of the holy
man, added to the fears of the savage, saved Rome
from the fate of Carthage.  Nothing less than total
destruction would have satisfied the wild brood who
followed the 'Scourge of God.'    Attila saw  the
Apostles Peter and Paul threatening him with drawn
swords. The incident has been represented by Raphael
in a beautiful fresco in the Stanza d'Eliodoro in the
Vatican; and also in a relief by Algardi at the altar
of St. Leo, in the left aisle of the tribune of St.
Peter's.
Three years later, in 455, Leo again stood between
a barbarian conqueror and Rome.   As Genseric at
the head of his Vandals was about to enter defenceless
Rome, he was met by a procession of priests. Their
leader, Leo, succeeded in obtaining a promise that the
lives of the inhabitants should be spared, and the buildings saved from fire.  Plunder was Genseric's object,
not destruction. He took, as Alaric had done, whatever was valuable and portable.  For fourteen days his
men were busy, systematically collecting the treasures
of the city.  Their attention was especially turned
towards the Imperial Palaces on the Palatine, and
the great Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, from
the roof of which they carried off the gilded bronze
tiles. The sacred vessels which Titus had brought
from Jerusalem, the gold candlestick with seven
branches, and the gold table, were part of the
Vandal's spoil. He also carried away with him to
his capital at Carthage a large number of Romans,
as slaves.
The old-fashioned error of ascribing the destruction
of Roman edifices to the wanton violence of Goths
and Vandals, has taken a permanent form in the word
'3'




Tlie Story of Rome


' Vandalism.' The amount of booty carried away on
shipboard after a careful and methodical collection,
extending over fourteen days, was doubtless much
greater than Alaric's self-indulgent soldiers, working
without system, were able to gather in three days. The
promise of Genseric to Leo, that there should be no
murder nor conflagration, was dictated by motives of
avarice, a desire to concentrate the energies of his
followers in gathering as much wealth as it was
possible to carry away.  If Vandalism meant mere
robbery, it would certainly apply to Genseric the
Vandal much more than to Alaric the Goth. But
probably the events which followed Genseric's
pillage have had a large share in creating the
word. Rome never recovered the Vandal invasion.
She lost at once most of her wealth and many of
her inhabitants.  Twenty years later, by the fall of
the Western Empire, she lost for ever the name of
'Caput Mundi.'
After the departure of Genseric, Rome became the
prize for which barbarian adventurers contended.  In
472 Ricimer, a Sueve, besieged, captured and sacked
Rome. He died suddenly in the same year. In
476 Odoacer, a barbarian of uncertain origin, at length
put an end to the Western Empire. The last Roman
emperor, a boy of fourteen, christened Romulus, took,
on his elevation to the purple, the customary title of
Augustus.   After a reign of ten months he was
deposed by Odoacer. Historians have adopted for
the harmless lad the nickname of Augustulus, given him
by his contemporaries.  The last of the Roman
emperors is known by the pathetic title of Romulus
Augustulus.
Odoacer ruled Italy as king for seventeen years.
His capital was Ravenna, whence he administered his
kingdom with justice and benevolence. Rome con132




Trhe Barbarians


tinued to  be governed by a prefect.    In  483
Theodoric, invited by the Eastern emperor to expel
the usurper, entered Italy at the head of his army
of Ostrogoths.  Odoacer, after being several times
defeated in battle, shut himself in the impregnable
Ravenna. By combining a sea-blockade with a landinvestment Theodoric cut off all supplies, and Odoacer,
after enduring the siege for three years, was obliged to
capitulate from famine. Although in the terms of the
surrender it was expressly stated that the life of the
King of Italy would be spared, Theodoric invited his
captive to a banquet, and there slew him with his own
hand, the sword entering the defenceless victim's body
at the neck, and cutting right down as far as the thigh.
' He had no bones in his body,' shouted the Goth in
berserc frenzy.
The treacherous murderer proved a strong and able
ruler. He continued the traditions of the Empire,
and employed officials from the Imperial service. He
gave Rome her former system of government, renewed
her political position, and restored much of her material
greatness.  He repaired the aqueducts, the walls, and
many public buildings. His bricks have been found
in the Stadium of Domitian on the Palatine, and elsewhere, bearing the stamp, ' Bono Romae' ('For the
good of Rome'), or ' Domino Nostro Theodorico Felix
Roma' (' Happy Rome to our Lord Theodoric '). He
gave great shows of games and races in the Circus
Maximus. It was his aim to form a Teutonic-Roman
nation, in which the vigour of the one should be
supplemented by the culture of the other; to fuse together Barbarian strength and Roman civilisation. But
the Goths and Vandals-Alaric, Genseric, Theodoric
-were all Arians, while the Romans and Italians were
Athanasians, a difference of opinion upon the now
vital question of religion, which would alone have
133




rThe Story of Rome
sufficed to keep the two races apart.  And before
any commencement towards fusion had been made
by  intermarriage,  the  armies  of  the  Eastern
Emperor Justinian had driven the Teutons out of
Italy.
When, in 526, Theodoric-deservedly the Greatdied, his daughter, Amalasuntha, acted as Regent during
the minority of her son Athalaric. Amalasuntha, a
learned woman, was unpopular with the Goths, who
disliked her endeavours to spread a knowledge of
Roman literature, and to introduce Roman civilisation.
They were men of the sword. Their easy triumph
over the leisurely philosophers and luxurious artcollectors of Rome, had strengthened their natural
contempt for learning and culture.  They despised the
pedantry of Greek and Roman professors, and had
little respect for a woman as controller of the fortunes
of the State. When, by the death of Athalaric, the
male line of descent from Theodoric came to an end,
their hostility to Amalasuntha could no longer be
restrained.  She was murdered; and Vitiges, no
scholar, but a rough soldier, was raised up on their
shields, according to national custom, and hailed as
their king.  While Vitiges was being uproariously
carried round the Gothic camp in triumph, Belisarius,
the Macedonian general sent to Italy by Justinian, had
captured Naples, and was marching upon Rome.
Vitiges, instead of hastening to take possession of
Rome, hurried to Ravenna, where he married Matasuntha, daughter of Amalasunthq, and grand-daughter
of Theodoric. He thereby greatly strengthened his
position as head of the Gothic nation, but during his
absence Belisarius, marching by the Latin Way, entered
Rome through the Porta Asinaria, of which the remains
may still be seen near the Porta San Giovanni. Belisarius at once proceeded to put the city in a condition
I34




PORTAMSAN t
PA'OL-O f 
*,  I'




40




The Barbarians
of defence.  Large supplies of provisions were stored
in the public horrea or warehouses, the walls were
restored or rebuilt, and the small garrison distributed
round the defences. His own residence he fixed in
the palace on the Pincian Hill, a good position for
observing the operations of the enemy, and for quick
communication inside the lines. Vitiges was not long
in appearing before Rome at the head of a Gothic
army of I 50,00ooo men.
Then began the most memorable of all the many
sieges which Rome has had to endure.
The walls which Belisarius had to defend were built
originally by Aurelian in 252, and repaired by Honorius
in 406, on both occasions as a defence against barbarian
invasion. The sieges and assaults of Alaric, Genseric
and Ricimer had done considerable damage, which had
been increased by neglect, not properly or permanently
repaired by Theodoric. Belisarius had no time to
collect the best materials, but made use of whatever
was at hand. Odd bricks, bits of marble or of columns
-all were hastily pushed into the cracks, or piled up to
make a defensive parapet of some sort. One portion
of the circuit at the N.E. corner of the Pincian Hill,
now known as the Muro Torto, Belisarius had given
orders to repair, when he was informed that it was
under the special protection of St. Peter, and that
the Goths would not touch it. It was accordingly
left in the overhanging condition in which it still
remains. The walls have been constantly repaired
since the days of Belisarius, the most important
alterations being carried out in I75o by order of
Benedict XIV.
The total circuit of the walls, including a section on
the right bank of the river, was a little over I 2 miles.
To defend this great length Belisarius had only 5000
regular soldiers, barbarians or Greeks, veterans who
'37




The Story of Rome
had fought under him in Persia and Africa; but there
were also 30,000 male civilians in Rome who showed
zeal in repairing breaches, helped to give the defences
a tenanted appearance, and sometimes, when inspired
by the example of Belisarius and his gallant band,
assisted in the actual fighting.
The Goths prepared for a regular siege. They
formed seven entrenched camps round the city, destroying many of the buildings in the Campagna for the
purpose.  Great discontent was aroused among the
commons of Rome when the cutting of the aqueducts
by the enemy deprived them of their baths, and stopped
the water mills for grinding corn. Their two great
privileges, free baths and free corn, were taken from
them.  Belisarius succeeded in using the current of the
river for grinding corn, placing mills in the stream,
where they continued to be a feature of the river scene
until quite recent times. The Romans had no quarrel
with the Goths, and were indignant with Belisarius for
having brought upon them the miseries of a siege, to
satisfy the vanity of a distant Eastern potentate. Vitiges
took advantage of the Roman depression to demand a
capitulation. He said: 'The Romans lived in all
comfort and freedom under the rule of the good king
Theodoric. Now, through your undesired interposition, they are suffering the extremes of misfortune, and
their king, the king both of Goths and Italians, is
obliged to encamp outside the walls and practise cruel
acts of war against the people whom he loves. We
call upon you, therefore, to evacuate the city of Rome.'
Belisarius, paying no attention to the murmurs of the
Romans, replied: 'When we took Rome we laid
hands on no alien possession, but only undid that act of
violence by which you seized upon a city to which you
had no claim. While Belisarius lives he will never
quit his hold of this city.'
138




Tihe Barbarians


Vitiges gave orders for a general assault.  He prepared wooden towers higher than the walls, from the
top of which his men could leap into the town; they
moved on wheels and were dragged forward by oxen.
Another great machine was the battering-ram with iron
head, the long beam wielded by 50 men, in a wooden
tower, on wheels.  Fascines and sandbags for filling
the ditches, with heavy ladders for scaling the walls,
were carried by the soldiers.  On his side Belisarius
was furnished with the artillery of the time. The
balistae and onagri were forms of catapult which threw
arrows of great thickness, or enormous stones; and each
gate was provided on its outer side with a large beam
or lupus with holes in it, through which pikes could be
made to fall upon an assailant.
Belisarius stationed himself on the tower of the
Salarian Gate. As the heavy war engines were slowly
approaching, he directed the defenders to aim at the
cattle, which were soon killed, and all the preparations
of the enemy thus made useless. Though their engines
of war could not advance, the Goths themselves rushed
to the assault, carrying fascines and scaling ladders,
but met with a stern resistance, and finally fell back
defeated.
Against the mausoleum of Hadrian the Gothic
attack began with more success. The Goths were able
to approach close to the great building by taking shelter
in a covered colonnade which led from it to the Basilica
of St. Peter, and also in the houses and narrow streets
of what is now the Borgo. With a sudden rush they
got under the walls, where the catapults could not
touch them, while the arrows discharged by the Roman
archers were not sufficiently solid to pierce the large
oblong shields of the enemy.. The Goths had firmly
placed their ladders, and were swarming up them, when
the defenders bethought them of the use which could
'39




rthe Story of Rome
be made of the statues as projectiles. There was no
time to choose copies of Praxitiles, and spare the
originals. All were torn down and hurled upon the
enemy. The Barberini Faun at Munich and the
Dancing Faun at Florence, found long afterwards in
the ditch below, were among the missiles which helped
to put an end to the Gothic kingdom in Italy. The
barbarians drew out of range of the avalanche of marble
to find themselves now exposed to the arrows and
stones of balistae and onagri, and were compelled to
abandon the assault.
A  long blockade then ensued.  The Campagna,
flooded with the water which had poured into it from
the cut aqueducts, became a hot-bed of malaria and
pestilence. There was famine in Rome. The Goths,
hearing of reinforcements approaching from Justinian,
opened negotiations.  Vitiges proposed to give the
Romans the island of Sicily in exchange for Rome.
Belisarius showed his sense of the magnanimous offer
by offering Vitiges, in exchange for Sicily, the larger
island of Britain-as little under the control of
Justinian as Sicily was in the power of the Goths.
In the end a truce for three months was agreed upon,
during which Belisarius, without molestation, revictualled
and reinforced the town. One final effort was made to
enter the city by the Aqua Virgo, which had a mouth
opening into the palace on the Pincian Hill, where
Belisarius was living. Belisarius had caused all the
aqueducts to be walled up, but there would have been
little difficulty in breaking down the partitions if the
scheme had not been discovered. Then at last, after a
siege of more than a year, Vitiges broke up his camps,
and marched northwards with an army reduced by war
and disease to a mere fraction of its former strength.
A stubborn war of two years followed before the
Ostrogothic king was forced by the pressure of famine
140




The Barbarians
to capitulate at Ravenna to the ever-victorious Belisarius.
The defeated Goths offered, with the concurrence of
Vitiges, to make Belisarius Emperor of the West, a
proposal which he had the sense to reject. But the
jealousy of Justinian was aroused, and the great soldier
was recalled to Constantinople.  Vitiges also was
brought to the Eastern capital, where he died in 542.
The Goths chose Totila for their king.     All
authorities are unanimous in their praise of the young
prince. The new chief infused enthusiasm and energy
into the drooping spirits of the barbarians. He succeeded in regaining many of the lost Gothic possessions
in Italy, and then in 546 besieged and captured Rome.
While his soldiers were engaged in plunder, Totila
himself advanced to the Basilica of St. Peter's, there to
give thanks for his success. Then the young barbarian
collected his stalwart, fair-haired Teutons in the deserted
Forum, and delivered a speech not unworthy of the site
or the occasion.
'At the beginning of the war,' he said, '200oo,00
valiant Goths, rich in money, in arms, in horses, and
with numbers of prudent veterans to guide their counsels,
lost empire, life, liberty to a little band of 7000
Greeks. Now, from more than 20,00ooo of the same
enemies, a scanty remnant of the nation, poor, despised,
utterly devoid of experience, had wrested the great
prize of the war.  Why this difference?  Because
formerly the  Goths, putting  justice  last in their
thoughts, committed against the subject Romans, and
against one another, all sorts of unholy deeds, but now
they have been striving to act righteously towards all
men. In this resolution, even at the risk of wearying
them, he besought them to continue. For if they
changed, assuredly God's favour towards them would
change too, since it is not this race or that nation, as
such, on whose side God fights, but He assists all men
141




T'he Story of Rome


everywhere who honour the precepts of eternal righteousness.'
It was in a very different tone that Totila addressed
the trembling Senators of Rome. He reminded them
that Theodoric had left in their hands all the great
offices of the State, in return for which they had
brought Greeks to attack their benefactors. 'What
harm did the Goths ever do you? What good have
you ever received from the Emperor Justinian? Has
he not taken away from you almost all the great appointments? Has he not insulted and oppressed you?
Harassed and impoverished as you are by the war, has
he not compelled you to pay to the Greeks the full
taxes which could be levied in a time of profoundest
peace?'
Totila's forces were too small for division: he
could not leave a garrison in Rome, and at the same
time undertake a campaign in Italy for the recovery of
the lost Gothic provinces. Yet, if he left Rome unguarded, Belisarius, whose services had again been
requisitioned by Justinian, would enter. He determined to entirely destroy the town, to raze it to the
ground, to make it a pasturage for cattle.  Some
destruction had already been done to the walls when
he received a letter of expostulation from Belisarius,
which caused him to change his mind. He stopped
the demolition, withdrew his army, and compelled all
the inhabitants to leave Rome with him. Procopius
expressly states that Totila 'permitted not a single
human being to remain in Rome, but left her absolutely
desolate.' There is no more dramatic incident in her
history.  She was almost as magnificent as ever.
Some temples and walls had been damaged, and many
statues taken away. But the town was still covered
with immense marble buildings. Not a single human
eye was left to admire its splendour, not a foot'trod
142




'rhe Barbarians


the pavements, no sound came from the deserted streets.
The grass began to grow in the Forum Romanum
itself.
The desertion of Rome by Totila was a grave
strategic blunder. Not having sufficient forces to defend
the city, and also to carry on a hostile campaign, he
should either have remained in Rome, or, hardening his
heart, should have carried out his original intention
and destroyed it utterly.  Shortly after his departure
Belisarius entered.  Totila instantly returned, but
Belisarius had once more repaired the walls; and
Totila, having no chance of success with his small
army, where the great host of Vitiges had failed,
declined a useless assault and retired to Tibur
(Tivoli).
What he could not do the jealousy of Justinian
achieved.  Belisarius was again recalled, never to
return to Italy.  He continued to serve his master
with zeal, ability and success in other parts of the
Empire, and died in 565.  The story that his eyes
were put out and he was obliged to beg in the streets,
first mentioned by an unreliable writer of the twelfth
century, is at variance with older authorities, and most
improbable.
With Belisarius no longer to oppose him, Totila
again advanced against Rome. Neither as a fortress,
nor as a city, was Rome intrinsically worth the efforts
so constantly made for her capture.  But the old
feeling that to be master of Rome was to be master
of the world still survived. The sentimental value of
Rome was brought home to Totila by the answer he
received from a Frankish king, whose daughter he had
asked in marriage. He was bluntly told that the man
who, having once obtained possession of Rome, abandoned and could not regain the town, would never be
King of Italy.
143




The Story of Rome
The condition of the city may be judged from the
fact that the Imperial garrison were proof against
famine, owing to the large crops of corn they were
able to gather inside the walls. The city was, however, given up by treachery. Totila now determined
to re-occupy and restore it. The damaged public
buildings were repaired, the Senatorial families encouraged to return, and a new population collected. In
the Circus Maximus the Teuton gave a great display
of chariot races and other Roman games, at which he
himself presided. The marble seats sparsely sprinkled
with the forms of Italians and Goths, riders and officials
unskilled in their work, a handsome young barbarian
presiding-what would the old Romans have thought
of the exhibition?
But Totila had now to meet an opponent more
formidable even that Belisarius. Justinian sent to
Italy his chief adviser, Narses, an aged eunuch.
Though not an experienced soldier, Narses was an
abler man than Belisarius; his loyalty was never suspected, and he was given ample supplies, both in men
and money-advantages which had always been denied
to Belisarius. His success was rapid. Marching upon
Rome with a large force, he was opposed by Totila
with an army inferior both in numbers and equipment.
The Goths were utterly defeated, and Totila himself
slain.
Seldom has there appeared on the page of history a
nobler figure than that of the magnanimous, moderate
and just Goth, a worthy successor of Theodoric. His
ability and courage were equal to his virtue. Lifted
on the shields of his countrymen while still only in his
early manhood, at a time when his race was apparently
crushed for ever, he succeeded in restoring his shattered
kingdom, and maintained his position for eleven years
against the ability of Belisarius and the weight of Jus144




Tihe Barbarians


tinian.  'The virtues of Totila,' says Gibbon, 'are
equally laudable whether they proceeded from true
policy, religious principle or the instinct of humanity.
He often harangued his troops; and it was his constant
theme that national vice and ruin are inseparably connected; that victory is the fruit of moral as well as
military virtue; and that the prince, and even the
people, are responsible for the crimes they neglect to
punish.'
The remnant of the Goths still fought on under a
new king, Teias. The last battle took place on the
lower slopes of Vesuvius, within sight of Naples.
Against overwhelming numbers the Goths fought
heroically for two whole days; but Teias, his shield
transfixed with twelve javelins, was killed while in the
act of changing it for a fresh one; and the shattered
fragments of the great Ostrogothic tribe, which had
ruled in Italy for sixty years, were glad to be allowed
to find their way back over the Alps.
' If we mention the name of Goth in Italy,' says
Muratori, 'some of the people shudder, chiefly the
half-educated, as if we spoke of inhuman barbarians,
destitute of laws and taste. These are the judgments
of ignorance. Theodoric and Totila, both kings of
the Gothic nation, were certainly not free from faults,
but each possessed the love of justice, moderation,
wisdom in the choice of his subordinates, abstemiousness, sincerity in his treaties, and other notable virtues
to such a degree as to render him a model in the art
of good government. It is sufficient to read the letters
of Cassiodorus and the history of Procopius, himself
an enemy of the Goths. Moreover, these rulers did
not in anywise change the magistrates, the laws or the
customs of the Romans, and the legends of their bad
taste are but childish folly. The Romans longed for
a change of masters. They changed them indeed, but
K                145




the Story of Rome
they paid for the fulfilment of their desires by the incalculable losses inseparable from a long and tedious
war; and, what is worse, the change involved the utter
ruin of Italy in a few years, and plunged the country
into an abyss of misery.'.-. ____T;-i ----T —; ---
4
La
-i
="'lilr'erik']~"3~..
I'
~:il,


THE RUINED AQUEDUCTS IN THE CAMPAGNA


146




8. FRANCESCA ROMANA FROM THE PALATINE


CHAPTER V
The Pope
'Tu es Petrus, et super hanc Petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam,
et portae Inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam. Et tibi dabo
claves regni ccelorum.'-Matthew xvi. i8, 19.
'Sacrosancta Lateranensis ecclesia omnium urbis et orbis
Ecclesiarum Mater et Caput.'
THE        patronage  of Constantine   produced   great
changes in the Christian     Church.    Torture,
death, confiscation of property had only increased the
simple, unaffected piety, the stubborn, heroic defiance
of the Christian.     But when    Christianity suddenly
became the fashion, when the advice of the
Christian priests, barely escaped from the wild
beasts of the amphitheatre, was sought in the highest
families, and the Christian laity consulted by converts
147




The Story oJ Rome


on every side, the meekness of the Christian changed
to pride and ostentation. With power came arrogance
and luxury. Jerome, writing from his monastery on
the Aventine, denounced the worldliness of the clergy.
He described a deacon driving up to a rich man's palace
in a fashionable carriage with fiery horses.  'His
silken garments breathe of perfumed waters; his hair
is curled by the barber with the highest skill; and,
with jewelled fingers foppishly raising his dress, he
skips into the palace, his dainty feet clad, by the
skill of the shoemaker, in shoes of the softest and
glossiest morocco leather. Anyone seeing this man
would take him rather for a bridegroom than a
clergyman.'
The higher positions in the Church had already, for
some time, been eagerly sought. In 2 I9, when Calixtus I. was Bishop of Rome, Hippolytus acted the part
which, in later times, became so familiar, and may, in
the language of anachronism, be termed the first antipope.  In 355 the Emperor Constantius deposed
Bishop Liberius, and set up Felix in his place.
There were serious riots, in which many persons
were killed; and finally Felix was driven out. On
the death of Liberius, in 366, his party assembled
in the Basilica Julia and there elected Ursicinus;
while the adherents of Felix proclaimed Damasus.
The two candidates collected their supporters for
martial conflict, in which Damasus finally conquered,
after much bloodshed. Ammianus Marcellinus makes
the following comment: —' No wonder that, for
so magnificent a prize as the bishopric of Rome,
men should contest with the utmost eagerness and
obstinacy; to be enriched by the donations of the
principal ladies of the city; to ride, splendidly attired,
in a stately chariot; to sit at sumptuous meals,
surpassing those of princes.' In the middle of the
I48




The Pope


fourth century the bishopric of Rome was already the
most coveted position in the city. When Damasus
tried to convert Praetextatus, the city prefect, he replied that he would turn Christian at once if by so
doing he were to obtain the office of Bishop of
Rome.
The altered, un-Christian manners of the priests produced strong protests from earnest men, who turned in
disgust to monastic life. Chastity, seclusion, renunciation of the world, were hailed as the only pure, essential
virtues of the Christian faith. Women as well as men
were drawn towards this movement. A rich lady,
Marcella, with her sister Paula, established on the
Aventine Hill a home for other women of her own
class and position, where they devoted themselves to
prayer and reading pious works. Jerome came to live
with them, and assisted in the formation of a society
whose aim was penance, solitude and charity. Such
examples of piety and self-sacrifice gained for the
monks an odour of peculiar sanctity, and lessened the
influence of the worldly priests.  Then began the
rivalry between monk and priest which was destined
to distract the Church throughout the whole of her
history. In 385 Siricius, Bishop of Rome, acknowledged the growing influence of the monks by his
decree against the marriage of the clergy. He failed
in the effort to enforce celibacy; but an important
result of his action was the separation of clergy and
laity. The priests were regarded as standing upon a
high and exclusive plane of morality, and thus attained
a position of dignity and superiority which greatly
conduced to the power of the Church.
While the Church was being strengthened in Rome,
the Roman Bishop was gradually but surely marching
to the primacy of the whole Christian world.  His
advantages were many. He claimed direct Apostolic
I49




The Story of Rome
succession through St. Peter-a claim which his possible
rivals at Jerusalem, Caesarea, Antioch, Alexandria,
Constantinople, were unable to oppose.  That fact
alone might have sufficed to ensure the supremacy of
Rome. But the characteristic Roman spirit of order
and unity, of subordination of the individual to the
State, would, even without the visit of St. Peter to
Rome, have enabled the Roman Bishop to triumph.
While the dialectical, ingenious Eastern mind was
tearing the Church to pieces with sophistry, symbolical
interpretations and heretical theories, the practical
Romans were strictly orthodox, and tolerated no fantastic propositions, no deviations from the original
simple faith. The same qualities that enabled Rome
to conquer the political world, the same scheme of
government that brought all Europe under her temporal dominion, were now directed to spiritual matters
-the dominant question of the time-and achieved
there an equal triumph. The Bishop of Rome became the Pope of Christendom, partly from the prestige of Rome, partly from the visit of St. Peter, partly
from the absence of the emperor, partly from the fall
of the Western Empire, partly from the, destruction of
the Arian Ostrogothic kingdom by Justinian, but more
than all because Rome had long been the home of unflinching discipline and practical common sense. These
qualities were the characteristic merit of the Rome of
Scipio, Caesar and Trajan.  It was by them  that
Gregory VII. and Innocent III. afterwards ruled
Europe. They remain to this day the sheet-anchor
of the Roman Church. The doctrine of papal infallibility, for instance, has an unmistakable Roman
origin.
In the middle of the fourth century appeared three
of the four fathers of the Church-Jerome, the upholder
of her monastic system; Ambrose, of her sacerdotal
150




The Pope
authority; Augustine, of her theology.  After them
came the pattern monk Benedict, and the monk, pope,
and fourth of the fathers of the Church, Gregory the
Great.
Benedict was born about 480, and died in 543, the
most probable date for the birth of his biographer,
Gregory. When still quite a lad Benedict left Rome,
shocked at its wickedness, and made his way to Subiaco,
where he lived in a cave for three years. He had a
friend, Romanus by name, in a neighbouring monastery.
Romanus secreted part of each monastic meal, and let
it down to the cave in a basket at the end of a rope.
After a time Romanus died, and the young recluse
would have perished of hunger but for a miraculous
apparition, which warned a priest living far away that
a holy man was dying of hunger in a cave at Subiaco.
Directed by an invisible influence, the priest easily
found the exact spot, and thus saved the life of the
saint, who had so completely subdued the sensations
of the body that he would have died without discovering that he was in need of food. Many other miracles
are related of Benedict. He was tempted by the
devil, as St. Anthony had been, in the form of physical
desire. After a long struggle, at last he conquered
by jumping naked into a dense mass of nettles and
thorns, by which the rebellious body was bruised,
stung, and cut all over. When, seven hundred years
later, the great reformer of the monastic system,
St. Francis the Friar, visited the spot, the thorns were
immediately changed into the most beautiful bushes
covered with roses. Guided by angels and accompanied by ravens, Benedict wandered to the mountain
of Castrum Casinum in Campania, where he found
paganism and a temple of Apollo still existing. He
destroyed the heathen altar, and then, in spite of the
persistent opposition of the devil, who tried to interI5I




the Story of Rome
fere with the work by squatting upon the stones,
he built upon its site the world-famed monastery of
Monte Cassino, the head of the monastic system in
the Middle Ages.    His rule was the basis for all
subsequent monastic discipline.
The Benedictine system enjoined three virtues as
essential-solitude, humility and obedience; and three
occupations-the worship of God, reading and manual
labour. The work in the fields was not for the tilling
of the soil to the benefit of mankind, but for suppressing
by fatigue the natural inclinations of the body. Not
only was chastity absolutely vital, but all communication
between the sexes was sinful, and strictly forbidden.
The main principle was the abandonment of the fellowman and the concentration of all thought upon self.
Solitude produces upon the human organism a condition of exaggerated self-consciousness and nervousness.  Human contact is a necessary tonic to the mind,
to prevent the growth of wandering, morbid fancies.
The solitary man, unconsciously yearning for the
stimulating breath of another's life, begins to clothe
the inanimate sights and sounds about him with human
characters.  Solitude then ceases to be solitary, but is
peopled with apparitions of a supernatural character.
Visions and miracles were of daily occurrence among
the monks, and were readily accepted at a time when
all the world was uneducated and barbarous. The
influence of monasticism upon human belief can hardly
be overrated.  If faith was the keynote of the Middle
Ages, its chief source was the silent seclusion of the
monk's cell.
The example of Benedict spread with wonderful
rapidity over the whole of Europe.   The fall of
Rome, the calamitous wars which devastated Italy,
the destruction of civilisation by barbarians, all combined to produce a feeling, of terror in mankind. It
152




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CLOISTERS
0F- THE 
LAT ERAN


-7; 1




I




The Pope


was confidently believed that, with the overthrow of
all order and culture, the world was coming to an
end.  In this state of anxiety and gloom many of the
more earnest spirits took refuge in self-mortification and
seclusion. Monasteries rose like mushrooms wherever
the Christian religion penetrated; and the older foundations accepted the Benedictine rule.
Gregory was the first monk to be raised to the
Papal throne. He was born about 540, of a noble
Roman family, in the palace of his father Gordianus
on the Caelian Hill. In 573 the future Pope was
filling the honourable and important post of prefect of
the city, driving about the streets in a four-horsed
chariot, dressed in a purple robe of silk embellished
with fine jewels. Suddenly Rome heard that the
wealthy prefect had given all his property to the poor,
with the exception of the palace on the Celian, which
he had turned into a monastery; and that he had
abandoned the splendour of his civic position for the
seclusion, harsh food, and rough sackcloth, of a monk.
The project of converting England first occurred
to him in consequence of an incident which is thus
related by the Venerable Bede (translation by T.
Stapleton, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth):'On a certaine day when manie merchants came
to Rome, and brought into the market place dyvers
wares to be sold, and manie also came thither to buy,
emongest them Gregory him selfe came to cheapen, and
vew the market. Where when emongest other things
he had espyed young men set to be sold being of white
skinne and comly countenance, with decent order,
and colour of their heare, beholding them awhile, he
demanded at last, out of what region or land they
were brought? And it was answered that they came
out of the yle of Britannie, where the inhabitants were
all of that beautie. Then asked he whether the people
'55




Tihe Story of Rome
of that ylande were Christian men, or yet lyved in the
paynims errors? And answer was made, that they
were al paynims.   Then this good man heavielie
sighing from the botome of his harte, Alas, quoth he,
it is a pittiful case, that the author of darkness should
possesse such bryght and beautifull people, and that
men of so fayre a face, should inwardly beare so fowle
a soule.
'Then enquired he farder an other thing, what
was the name of that nation or people? And when
answer was geven, that they were called Angli,
Angles, or English. Truely not without cause, quoth
he, be they called Angles, for they have an Angel's
face (Angelicam). And it is but meete that such men
were partakers, and inheretors with the Angels in
heaven. But what is, quoth he, the name of the province, whence they came? The merchants answered,
that the people of that province were called Deyres
(of Yorkshire). Marry, quoth he, they may justly
be named Deyres, For they shal be taken From the
ire of God (De ira), and called to the mercie of
Jesus Christ. But what is, quoth he, the kinge's
name of that province? When it was answered that
his name was Alle, S. Gregory, alluding to the name,
sayd: Alleluja must be sounge in that Prince's
Dominions to the prayse of Almighty God his creator.'
Gregory determined to convert the Angli, and had
started on the mission single-handed, when he was
recalled by Pope Benedict I. On his accession to
the Papacy he entrusted the deferred enterprise to
Augustine, who met with complete success.
Gregory's pontificate is memorable for other missionary triumphs over Arianism in Spain, in Gaul, and among
the Lombard invaders who were overrunning Italy.
Gregory brought the greater part of Western Europe
under the sway of the orthodox religion of Rome, and
I56




The Pope


was thus practically the founder of the Papal dominion.
He also made radical changes in the Church ritual,
collecting a number of Ambrosian (mis-called Gregorian) chants, and adding in many other ways to the
dignity and attraction of the Church celebrations.
He lived in a dark and calamitous age. The light
of civilisation had gone out with the fall of the Roman
Imperium, and the Ostrogoths, who tried to re-light it,
had been driven away to make room for the taxcollector from Constantinople.  Rome was suffering
from an inundation of the Tiber, with its consequences,
famine and plague. One of Gregory's first acts was
to organise a great penitential procession of the entire
population of the city. Clergy, monks, nuns, children,
women, and men, were mobilised in different quarters of
the city, whence they concentrated at the Basilica of
Sta. Maria Maggiore. Singing a mournful chant, the
procession, headed by Gregory, marched through the
ruined town, men dropping dead as they walked, till it
reached the splendid IElian bridge of Hadrian, leading
to the magnificent tomb. As Gregory was looking
up at the mausoleum, he saw above it the figure of the
Archangel Michael sheathing his sword, while celestial
voices chanted the antiphony, 'Regina cceli, laetare,
quia quem meruisti portare resurrexit, sicut dixit,
Alleluja.' Gregory responded with 'Ora pro nobis
Deum, Alleluja.' Thereupon the plague lessened and
soon came to an end  Hence the name St. Angelo,
applied to the mausoleum. The present figure of the
Archangel on the summit, the sixth, was placed there
in I740. A picture of the Madonna is said to have been
carried at the head of the procession. That honour is
claimed on behalf of two Madonnas, one in the church
of Ara Caeli, the other in Sta. Maria Maggiore.
Gregory's first sermon in St. Peter's shows the
depression of the time. ' Our Lord forewarns us,' he
I 57




rhe Story of Rome
said, 'that nation shall prevail against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom, and that earthquakes,
famine and pestilence, horrors and signs from heaven
are in store for us. We have already been visited by
some of these disasters, and of others remain in dread.
For that nation rises against nation and subdues the
land by fear, our own experience, more forcibly than
even Gospel history, might have taught us. We have
heard from other quarters that countless cities are
destroyed by earthquakes, while we ourselves suffer
incessantly from pestilence. True, we do not yet
perceive signs in the sun, moon or stars, but changes
in the atmosphere lead us to suppose that such signs are
near at hand. Fiery swords, reddened with the blood
of mankind, which soon after flowed in streams, were
seen in the heavens before Italy became a prey to the
Lombards. Every day the earth is visited by fresh
calamities. You see how few remain of the ancient
population; each day sees us chastened by fresh afflictions, and unforeseen blows strike us to the ground.
The world grows old and hoary, and through a sea of
troubles hastens to approaching death.'
And again: 'What is there in the world to gladden
us? All around is mourning; all around is sighing.
Cities are destroyed; fortresses levelled to the ground;
farms laid waste; the earth reduced to a desert. No
husbandman is left in the fields, scarcely a dweller
remains in the towns, and still the small remnant of
mankind is daily stricken. We see some led into
captivity, some maimed, others put to death. We are
forced to recognise the position to which Rome, once
the mistress of the world, is reduced. Where are those
who once delighted in the glory of Rome? In them is
fulfilled the saying of the prophet against Nineveh that
was destroyed: "Where is the dwelling of the lion
and the feeding-place of the lion's whelps?"  Were
I58




The Pope


not your generals and princes the lions, who, bloodthirsty and greedy of gain, overran the whole earth in
search of plunder? Behold, therefore! now is the city
deserted; now is she destroyed and weighed down
with groaning. None any longer hasten to her to seek
their fortune in this world. No mighty men: no
oppressor.  Of such as acquired booty by violence,
not one remains behind. Wherefore we ask, "1 Where
is the dwelling of the lion and the food of the young
lion? " It has befallen Rome even as the prophet said
of Judea: "1 Her baldness spreads like that of the
eagle." The baldness of man is confined to the head,
but that of the eagle extends over the whole body,
since when the eagle grows old his plumes and feathers
fall from him. And like the eagle bereft of its plumage, is the baldness of the city deprived of its inhabitants.'
There was little exaggeration in this picture.  The
dreaded Lombards, whose leader, Alboin, habitually
used the skull of a dead enemy for his drinking-cup,
were laying waste the whole of Italy. The Imperial
representative at Ravenna was powerless to arrest their
depredations. Gregory alone had any influence upon
them. When they appeared before Rome-no longer
a great prize-he succeeded in buying them off; and
even converted them from Arianism to the orthodox
belief.
Gregory was the first Pope who was in ecclesiastical
matters undisputed head of Western Europe, in temporal
matters a rival of the Eastern emperor, and in muni-:ipal matters the practical lord of Rome.
Though the greatest of all Popes, and one of the
chief characters in all history, Gregory had the faults
of his age and position. The Emperor Maurice had
called him fatuus, a fool, and had opposed the pretensions of the Western Church. A revolution placed
159




Tle Story of Rome
Phocas, an infamous monster, on the Imperial throne
at Constantinople. Phocas caused the five children of
Maurice to be murdered, one after the other, before the
eyes of their parent, who then shared their fate.
Gregory received the news with exultation, and wrote
to Phocas: 'I delight to think, with a grateful heart,
what praise is due to Almighty God for removing the
yoke of our sadness, and bringing us to days of liberty
under the pious rule of your Imperial kindness.' The
action of Gregory on this occasion, so repugnant to
ordinary human feelings, so opposed to the religion of
Christ, is an example of the crushing effect upon the
conscience which concern for the welfare of the Church
may produce. The priest overcame the man. The
wicked tyrant Phocas was praised for a diabolical murder,
because by it an inconvenient opponent was removed.
Unfortunately, in the subsequent history of the Church,
the example of Gregory was frequently followed.
May we not even say that the decadence of the influence
of the Roman Church has been largely due to the
readiness of the clergy to make use of men and methods
shocking to the conscience of mankind, in the hope
that the power of the Church might thereby be
strengthened?
The Church and Convent of S. Gregorio on the
Celian Hill are of peculiar interest to Englishmen,
for here it was that Gregory and Augustine planned
the conversion of England. Gregory is usually represented in pictures with the Holy Ghost in the form of
a dove, hovering over his head, or sitting on his
shoulder.
The great Pontiff died in 604. Four years later a
fine Corinthian pillar, taken from some ancient building,
was erected in the Forum to commemorate the worst
of all the emperors, Phocas, the favourite of Gregory,
the greatest of all the Popes.  The degraded condition
I6o




0
%q
M
0
0
0




I




The Pope


of Rome is revealed by the event. The ability to construct true columns no longer remained. The difference
between the age of the Antonines and of Gregory is
fittingly represented by the columns of Trajan and
Marcus Aurelius, and that of Phocas.
In the middle of the seventh century the Eastern
emperor, Constans II., made his power unpleasantly
felt at Rome.  He instructed the Exarch to demand
from Pope Martin I. an assent to the Imperial edict
relating to the dual nature of Christ, the human and
the divine. Martin refused. He was seized by Imperial soldiers in the Lateran Basilica, carried off a
prisoner to Constantinople, and sent into exile in the
Crimea, where he died. Constans then himself visited
Rome-the first emperor to do so since the fall of the
Western Empire.   He was met by the over-awed,
submissive Pope Vitalian and his clergy, and the chief
civic officials, at the sixth milestone outside Rome on
the Appian Way.     Thence he was conducted in
solemn procession to the city, which he entered by
the Porta S. Sebastiano, taking up his residence in the
palace on the Palatine. He then visited Sta. Maria
Maggiore; on Sunday, accompanied by his Byzantine
followers, went in solemn state to St. Peter's, where
he received Communion at the hands of the Pope; and
on the following Sunday, after visiting the Lateran
Church, he gave a State banquet in the Lateran Palace.
Having honoured Rome, the Church and the Empire
by these ceremonial acts, Constans now turned his eyes
upon the remains of classic buildings in the city, and
caused search to be made for portable plunder. The
roof of the Pantheon was covered with costly tiles of
gilded bronze. Although the building had been consecrated and was used as a church, he stripped off a
large part of the roof and had it put on board his
ships. Many bronze statues still remained standing in
i63




the Story of Rome


public places. All these were carried away except
the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which was
believed to represent Constantine.  It stood in the
Lateran field, on the site of the house of Verus,
grandfather of the Stoic emperor, to whom, as a boy,
the observant Hadrian had given the nickname of
Verissimus.
In the next century the Iconoclast dispute broke
out. The Eastern Emperor Leo in 726 issued an
edict ordering the destruction of all images and pictures in all churches. It met with the most determined
opposition, especially from women. The Empress
Helena, mother of Constantine, had been the first to
introduce image worship; and the Iconoclasts in the
East were finally suppressed by two women-the
Empress Irene (who put out the eyes of her own son
on account of his hostility to image-worship)-and the
Empress Theodora, who finally succeeded in suppressing the Iconoclasts of the East, thus firmly establishing
the worship of images as an essential part of Church
devotion.
In the West the Iconoclast quarrel was made an
excuse for throwing off all allegiance to the Eastern
emperor. The Exarch who attempted to carry out
the Imperial edict was killed in a riot; and Pope
Gregory II. stopped the payment of tribute from Italy
to the emperor. In 730 a Council at Rome, presided
over by the Pope, pronounced the anathema against
the destroyers of images. The Pope defied the emperor.  He was not, however, in a position to defend
Italy from the Lombards, who were masters of nearly
the whole country. Led by their king, Astolf, the
Lombards appeared before Rome, where they ransacked the catacombs for the bones of saints, and
carried them off. The Pope Stephen took the momentous step of appealing for protection to the Frank
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T1he Pope


King Pepin, who responded to the call, defeated
Astolf, and gave a large part of the Lombard kingdom
to the Pope. Thus was laid the foundation of the
temporal power of the Papacy. In return for his great
services Pepin was made Patrician of Rome. The
same story was repeated a few years later when the
Frank Pepin had been succeeded by Charlemagne, the
Lombard Astolf by Desiderius, and the Pope Stephen
by Adrian. Desiderius began a march upon Rome,
Adrian called upon Charlemagne for succour, the
Frank promised his help, and the Lombard retreated.
Then Charlemagne marched upon Rome. His entry
into the town in 774 took the form of a triumphal
procession. He was met at the foot of Monte Mario,
on his way to St. Peter's, by an immense crowd, who
hailed him as Defensor Ecclesiae. The crosses and
banners of the Roman basilicas were sent to meet him,
a significant fact, as such an honour had hitherto been
accorded only to the Imperial Exarch. Arrived at
St. Peter's, Charlemagne climbed the steps on his
knees, kissing each step as he advanced, until he
reached the Pope at the top. Then Pontiff and
Patrician entered the church together, where Charles
and his Franks prostrated themselves before the grave
of the Apostle. Mass was heard on subsequent days
at the Basilicas of St. John the Lateran, Sta. Maria
Maggiore, and St. Paul. Charlemagne now styled
himself 'Patricius Romanorum et Defensor Ecclesie.'
While at Rome he wore the long tunic and chlamys,
and the Roman shoes, of the Patricius.
The ultimate coronation of Charles as Roman emperor might not have occurred but for the turbulence of
the Roman nobles, and the inability of the Pope to
make his authority respected in the city. Leo III.,
while heading a religious procession in Rome, was
attacked by his aristocratic enemies in the city, and
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barely escaped with his life. Charlemagne, on hearing
of the tumult, determined to visit Rome, and there, as
Patricius, or over-lord of Rome, deliver judgment
between the Pope and his enemies. Charles summoned
the three orders of Rome-clergy, nobility and people
-to send representatives to meet him in Parliament.
As Patricius, he presided over their deliberations, and
in the end sentenced the factious nobles to banishment.
Having assured himself of the consent of the Romans,
and also of his Franks, he determined to assume the
Imperial title. On Christmas Day 800, wearing the
robes of the Patricius, he prostrated himself, in the
presence of Pope, clergy, and a large assemblage of
Roman citizens, before the high altar of St. Peter's;
then, as he rose from his knees, the Pope placed upon
the Frank's head a crown, while the church resounded
with acclamations. The words used by the officials
who led the cheers are said to have been the same
which greeted the election of a Caesar, viz.: 'Carolo
piissimo Augusto, a Deo coronato, magno, pacifico
Imperatori, Vita et Victoria '-' To Charles the most
pious Augustus, crowned by God, the great, peacegiving Emperor, Life and Victory.'
Having already received the silver crown of Germany at Aix-la-Chapelle, and the iron crown of
Lombardy at Milan, Charlemagne now accepted the
golden crown of Rome at the hands of the Pope;
who, immediately the ceremonial act had been performed, prostrated himself before the emperor in the
character of a subject. The real donors of the honour
were the three Roman orders-clerus, ordo, populusthe clergy, nobility and people of Rome.    The
Franks nominated the candidate; the Romans elected
him; the Pope crowned him. The Franks regarded
the election as a triumph for their nation; the Romans
thought it marked a renewed assertion of the supremacy
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The Pope
of Rome, and looked upon themselves as the only
source of the Imperial dignity; the Pope, for whom the
sword of the Frank was a necessary protection from
Lombard and Roman, justly felt that he also had
gained a great step in being recognised as the only
official who had the power of actually conferring, and
therefore withholding, the crown.  Not one of the
participants in the ceremony had any notion of the
immense power which was destined to flow from it to
the Papacy.
Voltaire characteristically asserted that the Holy
Roman Empire was so called because it was neither
holy, nor Roman, nor an empire. But of course it
was all three-Holy, as the official representation of
the Christian religion; Roman, as emanating from
Rome, its only possible birthplace; and an Empire, as
having for its chief the most powerful monarch of the
time. Its three heads were the Pope, Rome, and the
Emperor.
' The appellation of great,' says Gibbon, 'has been
often bestowed and sometimes deserved, but Charlemagne is the only prince in whose favour the title has
been indissolubly blended with the name.'
Charlemagne put an end to the anarchy and bloodshed of four hundred years of barbarian migrations; he
united the greater part of Western Europe under the
political domination of one central authority; he freed
the Western Church from Byzantine influence; he
raised the city of Rome and the Roman Pontiff to a
position of unquestioned ecclesiastical supremacy in the
West; and, by confirming the donation of Pepin, he
started the Pope upon a career of territorial aggrandisement.
Rome became once more a great city.     While
Aachen was the political capital of the Empire, Rome,
as its spiritual head, was marked out, in the words of
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The Story of Rome


Gregorovius, as 'a sacred metropolis, a temple of eternal
peace in the midst of struggling humanity, a universal
asylum of culture, of law and of reconciliation.' It
was in this light that Rome was regarded by all the
nations of Western Europe, from Christmas Day 800.
Already there was flowing towards the Holy City that
stream of pilgrims which has gone on increasing to the
present day. In the Middle Ages many of them were
criminals who had been saved from the penalties prescribed by the civil law, through the intervention of
the ecclesiastical authority. The bishop undertook
that the culprit would expiate his crime by walking to
Rome, going through a cleansing course of devotion in
the Holy City, and offering with his prayers such other
payment as was within his means. Thus a soul was
saved; the expense and danger of the long journey
were a sufficient punishment; the discipline of the
Church was strengthened and her finances improved.
Such was the theory. The practice was totally different.
The episcopal passport entitled its owners to alms and
shelter on the journey, a privilege which was grossly
abused by the class of miscreants to whom it was extended.  All the roads to Rome —all roads —were infested by robbers and murderers, ostensibly travelling to
the sacred city for the cure of their souls, while, in
fact, their spiritual ill-health was merely an excuse for
a life of vagabondage and adventure.
Anglo-Saxons, only recently converted by Gregory
the Great, were among the earliest and most devout
of pilgrims.  In 689 the Saxon king, Ceadwald,
arrived in Rome, where he died.  He was followed
by Conrad of Mercia, and Offa, who cut off and consecrated their long hair at the tomb of St. Peter. Ina,
King of Wessex, came to Rome about the year 717, and
endowed there the Schola Anglorum, a hostel for the
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The Pope


men. He made every house in Wessex pay a penny
a year towards this schola, which was the largest and
best known in Rome. In 794 came Offa, King of
Mercia, to atone for the murder of Ethelbert by penance and money payments for the Saxon school. The
whole of the district lying between the Castle of St.
Angelo and St. Peter's was under the control of the
Anglo-Saxon colony, and obtained the name of
Burgus Saxonum, whence the word Borgo. In 847
occurred the great fire in the Borgo, when the portico
of St. Peter's, and the Saxon buildings, were destroyed.
Pope Leo IV. succeeded in stopping the further
spread of the flames by conjuring them with the sign
of the Cross, from the balcony of the basilica. Raphael
has depicted the scene in the fresco of the Sala dell
Incendio in the Vatican, but the Pope he has portrayed
is another Leo-his employer, Leo X.  Ethelwolf, the
Anglo-Saxon king, also appears, with the inscription,
'Astulphus Rex sub Leone IV. Pont. Britanniam
Beato Petro vectigalem fecit' ('Astulphus, King, under
Pope Leo IV., made Britain tributary to St. Peter'). A
few years after this disastrous conflagration,in 854, Ethelwolf came to Rome with his son Alfred, then six years
of age. He was crowned by Leo IV., and the young
Alfred obtained the Papal blessing. Ethelwolf restored
the Anglo-Saxon hostel which had been burnt down.
The Ospedale di Santo Spirito and the church of S.
Spirito in Sassia (Saxony), in the Borgo, now standing near or on the site of the original hostel, remain as
mementoes of Anglo-Saxon piety. But Ethelwolf did
much more. He endowed the Holy See with a yearly
~grant of 300 mancuses (half-crowns), two-thirds for
the lamps at St. Peter's and St. Paul's, and one-third
for the Pope himself. This yearly payment, Peter's
Pence, though originally a voluntary gift, came afterwards to be regarded as a regular tribute due from a
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The Story of Rome
subject to his sovereign, and was so paid by several of
the Plantagenet kings. In the House of the Vestals,


AMBO IN S. LORENZO FUORI


close to the Forum, a large hoard of these silver pence
was found in 1883, coins of Alfred, Edward I., Athelstan and other English kings.
170




'The Pope


Another famous pilgrim from our island was Canute,
who witnessed the crowning of the Emperor Conrad
II. at Rome by John XIX. in Io027. Macbeth, King
of Scotland, made the journey in Io5o, revealing the
state of his conscience by his sudden piety and lavish
alms.
Every pilgrim who returned to his home in safety
brought back some sacred object.  Instead of the
modern 'souvenir,' the pilgrim of the Middle Ages
obtained by similar means-robbery or purchase —a
piece of a human tooth or bone, a bit of decayed
wood or a scrap of rusty iron.  Every object which
could be in any way connected with a Christian
martyr or a holy person was to be found in Rome.
Almost the only commerce of the city consisted in the
sale of' relics.' The more pretentious objects, such
as the actual head of an apostle or body of a saint, were
jealously guarded by the Pope, and not parted with
except for very substantial returns in money or service.
All the bodies in the catacombs were assumed to be
the remains of martyrs.  If a church or convent in
distant lands had been so fortunate as to obtain the
Papal sanction for the removal of a body, or of part
of one, the bones were carried out of the city with
great ceremony, escorted for some distance beyond the
gates by a long procession of monks, clergy and
people, carrying lighted candles and singing solemn
chants.
It was in the time of Paschal I. (817-824) that
the body of St. Cecilia was found in the catacombs of
Calixtus, the place of its rest having been revealed to
the Pope in a vision by the holy martyr herself.
Paschal rebuilt the church of St. Cecilia in 821 (now
much modernised), and moved the body of the saint
hither. In the sixteenth century the tomb was opened
and the body found lying on its side, in the curious
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The Story of Rome


position which has been exactly reproduced by Maderno
in his statue now in the church.
In 846 the most precious of all Roman relics underwent a great danger. A Saracen fleet landed its
passengers at New Ostia, whence they marched upon
defenceless Rome. They sacked the basilicas of St.
Peter and St. Paul, and carried away all the valuable
ornaments, even those of the high altars. But it is
believed that the tombs of the Apostles escaped injury.
In 849 the Saracens were defeated in a naval battle
off Ostia.  The event is depicted on the walls of
the Sala dell Incendio in the Vatican, by a fresco of
Giovanni da Udine, from the designs of Raphael.
The Saracen invasion had drawn attention to the
defenceless condition of the Vatican quarter. Leo IV.
built walls around it, whence it became known as the
Civitas Leonina. When, in 852, the fortifications were
completed, Leo dedicated them with great ceremony.
The clergy, headed by seven cardinals, walked barefoot, with ashes on their heads, slowly round the walls,
sprinkling them with holy water and singing solemn
chants. These walls were afterwards destroyed to
make way for other constructions, but the first fortification of the ecclesiastical city was an important event,
occurring as it did very early in the history of the
territorial Papacy. The Vatican walls on many occasions saved the mediaeval Papacy from its two great
enemies-the emperor, and the city of Rome.
The condition of the Roman mind at this time may
be judged from the story of Pope Formosus. His
election in 891 was violently opposed by a strong
faction, from whom he had to take refuge in the Castle
of St. Angelo.  Arnulf, the Carlovingian, attacked
and captured Rome, released the Pope, and was
crowned emperor by the grateful Pontiff. But Arnulf
did not venture to remain in Rome. Formosus died
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'The Pope
soon after the departure of his protector, and his opponents succeeded in electing their representative to the
vacant chair as Stephen VII.
Thereupon the body of Formosus was disinterred,
dressed in the pontifical robes, and placed in a semierect attitude on a throne in the Papal council chamber.
Cardinals, bishops and the other chief ecclesiastical
dignitaries were summoned to attend a solemn trial of
the corpse. There were counsel on both sides who
conducted the case with all the usual solemnities.
The Papal advocate put a whole series of questions to
the ghastly mummy before him. 'Why hast thou,' he
thundered, 'who wert only Bishop of Porto, in thy
ambition usurped the apostolic seat?' All eyes were
turned upon the grinning skull. A long pause ensued.
Time was given. But no answer came. This failure to
reply was held as a proof of guilt, and, in default of all
defence, judgment was legally delivered against the
prisoner. The Papal vestments were taken from the
body, three bony fingers of the right hand were cut off,
and the corpse thrown into the Tiber. No subsequent
Pontiff has taken the name of Formosus, though
Paul II. (I464) wished to do so in order to emphasise the dignity and splendour of his appearance;
but he was dissuaded by superstitious fears.
Rome and the Papacy now fell under the sway of
two dissolute women-Theodora and her daughter
Marozia. Theodora, a Roman lady of good family,
and loose morals, was the wife of Theophylactus, the
senator. She assumed the title of Senatrix. In 898
the son of Theodora became Pope at the age of
eighteen. In 904 one of Marozia's lovers was Pope,
as Sergius III.  In 915 it was the turn of Theodora's
paramour, John X. He fell under the displeasure of
Marozia, who had him executed, Theodora probably
being then dead. Then, in 93 I, Marozia raised to the
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The Story qf Rome


Papal throne her son by Sergius III., who became
Pope as John XI.
These Popes of the name of John, the creations
of women of bad character, have been, no doubt,
the origin of the legend of the female Pope Joan.
The story, as told by Martin Polonus, in the thirteenth century, is that a woman, calling herself John
Anglus, adopted male clothing in order to be admitted
into a monastery, where she could enjoy the society of
her lover, a Benedictine monk. She then went with
him to Athens, and there learned Greek. On the
death of her lover she did not abandon her disguise,
but came to Rome and was appointed Professor of
Greek. From this post she was, on account of her
learning, raised to the Papacy.  Her secret was at last
discovered by her giving birth to a child, while being
carried in procession to the Lateran. An angel had
appeared to her in the night and offered her the alternatives of eternal torture in the flames of hell, or this
public disgrace, and she had chosen the latter.
The strangest part of this story is that it was universally credited till the sixteenth century, and found
learned support even as late as the eighteenth. The
undoubting acceptance of such fables in the Middle
Ages makes us hesitate to credit the existence of any
historical basis in any of the mediaeval legends.
Marozia had been married to one Alberic, an adventurer of uncertain origin.  On his death or disappearance (the chronicles of the period are scanty and
obscure), she bettered her position by marrying Guido,
Margrave of Tuscany. But her ambition was rising.
Guido died suddenly and conveniently, just when
Marozia had decided to make herself Queen of Italy
by marrying his half-brother Hugo. The wedding
ceremony was performed, in semi-privacy, in the
Castle of St. Angelo, by the bride's son, John XI.
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The Pope


Marozia had now risen from prostitute to Senatrix,
Patricia, and Queen. One honour had not been reached.
She determined to be Empress, through the coronation
of her husband by her son. The scheme would have
been carried out but for an unfortunate contretemps in the
castle. Marozia had a son Alberic, named after his
father, whose prospects had been gravely affected by
his mother's third marriage. One day young Alberic
was told by his mother to hold a dish of water while
the king washed his hands  Alberic spilled some of
the water over his step-father, received a box on the
ears for his clumsiness, and thereupon rushed furiously
out of the castle and called the Romans to arms.
Marozia had so little confidence in her husband that
she had refused to permit him to bring his troops into
the castle. Consequently no defence was possible, and
the candidate for the Imperial sceptre was obliged to
let himself down at night by means of a rope, and
thus ingloriously make his escape to Lombardy.
Alberic was soon in possession of the castle. He
imprisoned his mother in its dungeon, and kept his
brother the Pope in confinement within the Lateran.
Neither of the prisoners ever regained their freedom.
The revolution of 932 was the most successful of
the I5o similar outbreaks which historians have recorded in the history of medieval Rome. The fall of
Marozia saved Rome from the tyrant and the nobility;
the flight of Hugo rid her of the claims of the Empire;
and the temporal power of the Church was safely immured
in the Lateran, where the Pope was kept alive to carry
out strictly ecclesiastical functions. Alberic was given
the title of Princeps atque omnium Romanorum Senator.
For twenty-two years he governed Rome with justice
and moderation. On his death in 954 he was succeeded, as Princeps and Senator, by his son Octavian,
who in the following year, on the death of Agapitus
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The Story of Rome


II., became Pope as John XII. The combination in
one man of the temporal and spiritual headships of
Rome was the origin of the custom which makes it
incumbent upon a newly-elected Pope to change his
name. The son of Alberic was Princeps as Octavian,
and Pope as John XII. But the Princeps proved
incapable of protecting the Pope from his enemies,
Berengar, King of Italy, and his son Adalbert. As
Pope he was obliged to ask the German king, Otto I.,
for assistance, and in return to crown him emperor.
From that time the German kings claimed the Imperial
crown as their right.
But the compact between Pope and German emperor was hostile to Roman independence. The
Romans never became reconciled to the temporal power
of the Pope. The Pope was constantly being driven
out of the city, only to be brought back by the sword
of the emperor. Scarcely had Otto I. left Rome
when Peter, the City Prefect, seized the Pope and
thrust him into St. Angelo. Otto was obliged to
revisit the city to rescue the Pope and restore the
Papal authority. The rebellious Prefect was hanged
by his hair from the equestrian statue of Marcus
Aurelius; then he was placed upon an ass with his
face towards the tail, which he had to grasp in his
hand, and marched through Rome in that ignominious
posture; he was flogged, and finally sent in exile
beyond the Alps.
But the Romans were not to be denied. In 985,
when the German king, Otto III., was young, and not
yet crowned emperor, they once more threw off Papal
and Imperial control, and placed John Crescentius at
the head of their Republic, in the office of Patricius.
Crescentius restored the constitution of Alberic, but he
had neither the ability nor the favourable conditions of
his predecessor, and was never more than the leader
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The Pope


of the dominant faction. In 996, on the death of John
XV., Otto III. nominated a cleric of his own race, a
German, to the Papal chair as Gregory V. It was
a popular step everywhere except at Rome, as it was


0                         1 "' 


EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF MARCUS AURELIUS
felt throughout Europe that the Papacy would never
be raised from its degraded condition by an Italian
Pope. The Pope was now for the first time recognised
as the head of a cosmopolitan spiritual world. From
this time up to the Reformation a reasonable number
of non-Italians were elected, and the power of the
Papacy was felt in every part of the civilised world.
N1               177




the Story of Rome
The return to the old custom of confining the Papal
chair to Italians, coincided with the decadence of its
power. We must not, however, assume that a foreign
Pope would now be a success. He would bring to
the Roman Church an increased allegiance from his
own country; but the modern sensitive spirit of international jealousy would make his position precarious,
perhaps untenable.
In 996 Otto III. came to Rome, where he was
crowned by his nominee; and the Republic of Crescentius melted away in the presence of the emperor.
But as soon as Otto had returned to Germany, Crescentius headed a revolt against the German Pope, who
was driven out of the city, and an anti-pope, John XVI.,
placed on the vacant throne.  Otto III., like Otto I.,
had to return to Rome to reinstate his Pope by force.
He was severer on the anti-pope than Otto I. had
been with Peter the Prefect. The nose, tongue and
ears of John XVI. were cut off, and his eyes put out;
in this mutilated condition he was fastened upon an ass,
his head to the animal's tail, and paraded through the
streets. Great cruelty was always shown to a captured anti-pope, but the supply of candidates for the
position remaiied in excess of the demand.
For some time Crescentius held the Castle of St.
Angelo against the emperor, but he had to surrender
at last, and was executed.  Otto did not long survive.
In Ioo002 he died at the early age of twenty-three.
The story is that he was poisoned by Stephania, widow
of Crescentius, who became his mistress with the fixed
intention of avenging her husband.  Stephania also
contrived to have poison administered to the second
German Pope, also a nominee of Otto-Silvester II.who died in 1003 in the church of S. Croce in Gerusalemme while he was celebrating mass. It was a time
of the wildest superstition.  The end of the world
I78




The Pope


was confidently anticipated in the year Iooo, documents usually beginning with the words, 'appropinqnante termino mundi.' Silvester was both intelligent
and learned, qualities which at that age were regarded
as derivable only from the devil. He was spoken of
with bated breath as a necromancer.  Men crossed
themselves when they mentioned his name, being convinced that he had entered into a compact with the
evil one. It was said that he had in his possession a
magical brazen head, which had foretold his death in
Jerusalem, represented in Rome by the church in
which he actually died. And it seems to be the fact
that he used steam-power for blowing the church
organ. 'Ipse Gerbertus' (Silvester II.) 'fecit arte
mechanica horologium et organa hydraulica, ubi mirum
in modum, per aquae calefactae violentiam, implet
ventus emergens concavitatem barbati et per multos
foratiles tractus aereae fistulae modulatos clamores
emittunt.'  (Milman.)
With the death of Otto III. the Papacy reverted
for a time to the nobility. It was held as a chattel-a
sort of advowson-by the Counts of Tusculum, descendants of Marozia and Alberic, and a younger
branch of the family of Crescentius. A second John
Crescertius ruled Rome as Senator and Patricius, while
a relative of his was Prefect of the city. There was
no strong burgher class in Rome. The noble families
controlled the Papacy and the city by means of their
nominee, in the office of Patricius. Since Pepin had
accepted the title of Patricius in the eighth century, and
Charlemagne had honoured the name and office, the
Patriciate had been regarded as an ex-oficio appanage
of the Empire. When the emperor was in Rome he
governed the city as Patricius. During his absence
the Patricius had nearly all the Imperial powers.
Except for a short period in o014, when Henry II.
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rThe Story of Rome
came to Rome for his coronation, the city and the
Papacy were entirely in the hands of the Tusculan branch
of the Crescentius stem. On the death of Benedict
VIII., in I024, his brother Romanus, Senator and Prefect-not even a priest-was raised without opposition
to the Papal seat. When, on his death in 1033, the
Tusculan influence raised a small boy, aged ten, to the
chair of St. Peter, it seemed that a hereditary Papal
dynasty had been founded. Election had become a
matter of form, as it had been to the family of
Augustus.
But Benedict IX., the new Pope, proved himself the
Nero of the Tusculan Papacy. Absolute power appears
to paralyse the brain if applied at an early age before
the normal growth has been completed. Benedict IX.
was undoubtedly the worst of all the Popes. 'He
ruled,' says Milman, 'like a captain of banditti rather
than a prelate. Adulteries, homicides perpetrated by
his own hand, passed unnoticed, unrevenged; for the
Patricius of the city, Gregory, was his brother.'
Victor III., a contemporary and successor in the
Papacy, says: 'Cujus quidem  post adeptum sacerdotium vita quam turpis, quam foeda, quam execranda
extiterit, horresco referre.' At last the Romans became so ashamed of their pastor that they drove him
out of the city and elected a substitute, Silvester III.
But the Tusculan nobles were too strong, and reinstated their relation.  Benedict seems, however, to
have tired of his position. He had been eleven years
Pope and was now of age. He fell in love with his
cousin, daughter of one Gerard de Saxo, presumably,
from his name, the master of a rock or fortress. The
father refused to give up his daughter to the Pope
so long as he was Pope.    Benedict IX., without
more ado, put up the Papacy to auction, and accepted the bid of a relative of his own, who took
T80




The Pope
the name of Gregory VI.     Unhappily Gerard de
Saxo-a strange father for those days-listened to
the protests of the young lady, who absolutely declined
to become the wife of the youthful roue, whether as
reigning or as abdicated Pope.  Finding entreaties useless, and threats absurd-in face of a rock,-Benedict
decided to resume the dropped Papacy. With the aid
of his brother, the Prefect, he seized the Lateran; the
Didius Julianus of the Papacy, Gregory VI., was
officiating in Santa Maria Maggiore; and Silvester III.,
the Roman nominee, had possession of St. Peter's and
the Vatican. There were three Popes in Rome, who
spent much of their time in launching bulls of excommunication against each other. The scandal was so
great that the German king, Henry III., came to
Rome to put an end to it. He dismissed all three
Popes, placed a German bishop on the throne as
Clement II., and was by him crowned emperor in
1046.
Benedict IX. and Nero both succeeded in achieving
the apparently impossible. They shocked their contemporaries.  Nero's conduct produced the violent reaction personified in the figure of the austere Vespasian
soon to be followed by the glories of Trajan, Hadrian
and the Antonines. Benedict IX. was not less successful.  After the exploits of Theodora, Marozia
and their papal nominees, the sense of shame seemed
dead. The boy Pope managed to arouse it. Horror
at his doings led to the revolution in the Church which
culminated in the Mediaeval Papacy of Gregory VII.
and Innocent III., when the whole of Europe admitted the supremacy of the Pope. Nero, by ending
the hereditary empire, made possible the cosmopolitan
primacy of Rome.   Benedict IX., by exposing the
folly of a hereditary papacy, opened the chair of
St. Peter to all nations, thus giving to the Papacy
I8I




The Story of Rome
a breadth of influence which it could not otherwise
have attained.  Such were the great results which
flowed from the insanity which, sooner or later, is sure
to attack the youthful recipient of a power which he
has not earned.


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A SKYLINE FROM THE SETTE bALL~.


CHAPTER VI
The eMiddle of the SMiddle efge
Propter quod opus fuit homini duplici directivo, secundum
duplicem finem: scilicet summo Pontifice, qui secundum revelata
humanum genus perduceret ad vitam aeternam: et Imperatore,
qui secundum philosophica documenta genus humanum ad temporalem felicitatem dirigeret.-Dante, 'De Monarchia' xv.
Ma Vaticano, e l'altre parti elette
Di Roma, che son state cimitero
Alla milizie che Pietro segnette,
Tosto libere fien dell' adult6ro.
Dante, ' Paradiso' ix. 1 39-42,
A   LL   historical events are as the links of a chain,
leaning on the past, making possible the future.
Every age is an age of transition.    There is no clear
line of demarcation separating the classic, mediaeval
and modern periods; they merge into each other imperceptibly.  It is, however, desirable to attempt some
definition of terms which are in constant use and have
special interest in connection with the ever-green city
of Rome.
The Middle Age is the age which lies in the middle,
between the classic and the modern.        The classic
world was on its death-bed in the fourth century, and
183




the Story of Rome


did not survive the fifth.  The three blows which
finally killed it were, the adoption of Christianity by
Constantine, the desertion of Rome for Constantinople,
and the fall of the Roman Imperium.
The advent of the modern epoch is usually placed in
the time of the Renaissance. With the story of Rome
for our guide, we can see that there are reasons in favour
of a much later date.
The Christian's hope of a future life of happiness was
one of the chief influences which drew men away from
the pagan belief and led to the triumph of Christianity.
But when the Church, stepping into the position vacated
by the fallen Empire, had become the Government, it
added, as every government must do, the fear of punishment to the hope of reward. It was not in a position
to inflict execution, imprisonment, confiscation of property, or any other terrestrial discipline; nor cQuld it
offer any State office or other monetary prize.  Its
sphere of influence was not in this world, but in the
next. As a means of enforcing discipline, it added
hell to heaven. As time went on, fear was found to
be a stronger influence than hope. Applying pressure
at the weakest point, men were gradually taught to
regard heaven not so much as a place of enjoyment
per se, but chiefly as a refuge from hell. Princes and
peasants, crusaders, monks, friars, flagellants, all became
animated by one supreme desire-to escape the eternal
tortures of a future life.  The Pope governed the
mediaeval world by the simple expedients of excommunication, anathema and interdict. The deep,
dark valley which lies between the classic and modern
mountain ranges, is the valley of the shadow of
hell.
Mankind has but lately begun to emerge from that
dismal pit. It was not till I859 that the Origin of
Species was published; not till I870 that the holder of
I 84




The eMiddle of the OMiddle Age
the keys of heaven-and, therefore, hell-lost much of
his practical power. The career of the mediaeval bogey
was not stopped by the Renaissance. No age can be
regarded as modern which retains its belief in the eternal
fires of an existence after death.
Politically, the Middle Age is marked by the despotism of princes and the exclusive privileges of the
aristocracy.  Only by revolution has it been possible
to overcome these tyrannical factors. The American
revolution of 1776, the French of 1789, and the
European of 1848, have produced the modern system
of government by an elected parliament, presided over
by either a hereditary or an elected head. In the time
of the Renaissance there was little sign of that confidence in human nature to which parliamentary government owes its origin and its success. Other features of
the Middle Age are its isolation, individualism, and want
of unity. It has been called the age of Faith. It were
truer to speak of it as the age of Fear. Human beings
lived in constant dread of two bad and dangerous
phenomena-Satan and Mankind. The more timorous
spirits fled from these malignant evils to the innermost
recesses of a cloister, or a castle.  From the safety
of these retreats they would occasionally emerge, to
curse the devil, or to slay their fellow-men.  Superstition < and hatred: ruled the world. Every town was
surrounded by a belt of thick walls, every considerable
house was a fortress.  The great arteries of life and
breath, the Roman roads, were neglected and unserviceable.  Communication between town and town,
castle and castle, one man and another, was slow and
uncertain. Thus a strong feeling of individualism was
produced. The owner of a fortress was, except for
his feudal obligations, in the position of an independent
monarch. The political unity of the Roman Empire
having been dissolved, Europe was divided into petty
185




The Story of Rome
principalities, semi-independent baronies and free towns.
These conditions were gradually modified by the inventions of gunpowder and printing. But it was not until
-long after the Renaissance-the steam engine, the
telegraph, and the daily Press, began to bring human
beings once more into association with each other that,
for the first time since the fall of the Roman Imperium,
men learned to re-acquire the sentiment of worldcitizenship.
All the influences we have named as ushering in the
modern period took effect between 1776 and I871.
Till then the world, not having begun to be modern,
and having since the fifth century ceased to be classic,
was still mediaeval or middle.
The Middle Age, then, may be reasonably regarded
as the period which lies between Roman Paganism and
modern Darwinism, between the Roman Commonwealth and Parliamentary Government, between Roman
roads and iron rails, between the Roman Imperium
and the cosmopolitanism of a European Press. It
began with the fall of Rome: it ended only when
Roman ideals were restored. It lasted from the fifth
to the nineteenth century.
The central portion of that period-the quintessence of middleness-was marked by the rise, the
supremacy, and the fall of the Mediaeval Papacy.
Gregory VII. was the first Mediaeval Pope, Innocent
III. the most powerful, Boniface VIII. the last.
Beginning at Canossa and ending at Anagni, the
Mediaeval Papacy, when at the summit of its glory,
produced the two characteristic types, the acme of
mediaevalism-Richard Coeur de Lion and St.
Dominic. The slayer of infidels, and the extirpator
of heretics, represent the two forces of the age, the
sword and the crucifix, both consecrated to the service
of the Church; and helped, each in his own sphere
i86




The 6Mriddle of the SMiddle Age
of operations, to raise the topmost Mediaeval Pope,
Innocent III., to what Gregorious has called ' a giddy
and untenable height.'
This typically mediaeval portion of the Middle Age
begins with the appearance at Rome in i046 of the
Emperor Henry III., by whom the papal scandals of
two centuries were brought to a termination, and an
Imperial nominee placed upon the chair of St. Peter,
thus producing the long conflict between Emperor and
Pope, which proved disastrous to both.  In 1268 the
mediaeval Empire came to an end with the death of
Conradin on the block; in 1309 the mediaeval Papacy
left Rome, where alone it could live, to wither away
at Avignon; and Rome, deserted by her Pope, fell
into neglect and decay. Between I046 and I309 the
Holy Roman Emperor, the Holy Roman Pope, and
Holy Rome-the three main features in medieval history
-had fallen, never again to see their former greatness.
The two and a half centuries which lie between the
middle of the eleventh and the beginning of the fourteenth, may thus be regarded as forming the Middle of
the Middle Age.
Henry III., having suppressed the three rivals
calling themselves Benedict IX., Gregory VI., and
Silvester III., was crowned in I046 by his German
nominee, Clement II.
The four German Popes nominated in succession by
Henry III. were sincere and devout men, eager, with
the assistance of the deeply-religious emperor, to
reform the Church. But they all died within ten
years, three of them, it was said, of poison. After
them came a series of short-lived popes, who were
directed in all important matters by the master spirit of
the age-the monk Hildebrand. He himself became
Pope as Gregory VII. in 1073.
Hildebrand, born at Saona, in Tuscany, came to
187




The Story of Rome
Rome as a boy to enter the monastery of S. Maria on
the Aventine, whence he proceeded to the Benedictine
monastery of Cluny in Burgundy. In his time a monk
was either shamelessly dissolute or extravagantly
ascetic.  Hildebrand and Damiani, the two great
monks of the age, rose to fame by their bodily selfmortifications.  But the future Pope was too practical,
and able, to sink into a mere self-flagellator. While
Damiani was content to subjugate the world within
himself, Hildebrand intended to subdue the world
without. The Church was in a corrupt and degraded
condition, suffering especially from simony, the marriage
of priests, and lay investiture.  Every office in the
Church, including the Papacy itself, was for sale to the
highest bidder.  The clergy had earned an evil reputation in the matter of sexual morality.    And the
connection between Church and State subjected the
hierarchy to the obligations imposed by the feudal
system, and gave too great a prominence to the secular
aspect of the prelates. The bishops acted as feudal
lords.  They led troops into battle, took part in the
field sports usual among the nobility, indulged in luxury
and worldly display. It was the natural endeavour of
every prominent Churchman to obtain a hereditary
claim in his family for ecclesiastical preferment. The
sovereign had the right of investiture; by a symbolical
act, such as the presentation of ring and pastoral staff, he
invested a cleric with the temporal benefits arising from
his spiritual office. The idea of illimitable Caesarian
power, derived by the emperor through Charlemagne,
was prevalent. The Pope and the Church were under
the complete control of the emperor.
Hildebrand resolutely set himself to reform the
Church and to free it from  Imperial control.  He
attacked simony and the marriage of priests. He produced the 'War of Investitures' by his repudiation of
i88




*The JMiddle of the      7Iiddle Age
the Imperial claim to confer Church appointments. He
boldly asserted the supremacy of Pope over emperor
as of soul over body, of Christ over Caesar, of God over
man. When he began this work the Church stood lower
in ability, character and power than it has ever stood, and
was dependent for its very existence upon the protection
of German kings.   Before his death the Church was
reformed and a German king was on his knees, begging for mercy. A hundred years after him a Pope
(Innocent III.) was the acknowledged dispenser of
kingdoms, whether in this world or the next. Hildebrand has been well described as the Julius, with
Innocent III. as the Augustus, of the Papal Empire.
For it was with all the creative genius of Julius Caesar
that he produced what Gregorovius has called 'one of
the most violent revolutions known to history.'
When Henry III. died in 1056, his son Henry IV.
was only six years of age. During the boy's minority
a Lateran council, presided over by Pope Nicholas II.,
but controlled by the influence of Hildebrand, passed a
decree concerning Papal elections, which was the
starting-point for all subsequent reforms. It began:' We decree and appoint that, on the death of the
present Pontiff of the universal Roman Church, the
cardinals shall, in the first place, proceed to a new
election, regard being had to the honour and reverence
due to our dearly-loved son, Henry, who is now
styled King, and who, it is hoped, will hereafter, by
the gift of God, become Emperor.' The decree made
three things necessary for the election of a Pope. First,
the selection of the cardinals; second, the assent of the
three ancient elective orders (clergy, nobility and
people of Rome-clerus, ordo, populus); and third,
the confirmation of the emperor.
The Romans and the Imperialists perceived that in
practice their assent would be ignored; that when the
i89




The Story of Rome


cardinals had given their decision no protests would be
of any avail. The Romans sent to the young Henry
the green mantle, ring and diadem which were the
symbols of the Patriciate, and asked him, as Patricius
of Rome, to elect a Pope. In their revolt against the
policy of Hildebrand they were joined by the German
Imperialist party, by those of the clergy who had
obtained their preferment by simony, and by others
who were married.   Hildebrand, on his side, was
supported by those Italians who wished to free the
election of the Pope from German or other foreign
influence; by those who saw that reform of the
clergy was necessary if the Church was to retain her
influence; and by the best soldiers in Europe-the
Normans.
Hildebrand, now Gregory VII., deposed many of
the married or simonist clergy; and he forbade the
acceptance by a priest of any ecclesiastical office at the
hands of a layman, under the penalties of deposition
and excommunication. This was an attack upon the
feudal system itself, and upon the sovereign who stood
at its head, for all Churchmen who were princes or
nobles were absolved from their fealty. A revolt in
Rome was organised by the Imperialists under the
leadership of a wild Roman noble named Cencius. At
midnight of Christmas Eve, 1075, Gregory was celebrating the Holy Eucharist in the Basilica of S. Maria
Maggiore.   This beautiful church, the first to be
dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was originally called
S. Maria ad Nives from the story connected with its
erection. In the fourth century the Bishop Liberius,
in a midnight vision, was ordered by the Virgin to build
a church in her honour on the space which, though the
month was August, would on the morrow be found covered
with snow.   The miracle took place as the Blessed
Virgin had announced, and the basilica was at once set
190




The eMiddle of the FMiddle Age
in hand, and now stands upon the exact area marked
by the August snowfall. There are some fine mosaics
in this church; those above the cornice of the nave
date from the fifth century, and those in the apse of
the tribune from the thirteenth. But these mosaics,
and the entire basilica, have been so frequently and so
thoroughly  restored  in
later times, that it would;
hardly now be recognised
by the participators in the
drama of 8oo years ago.                 i
It was a gloomy night,
the rain fell heavily, and              e
the church contained but     ^         g 
few worshippers. Sud-.
denly the holy ceremonies:
were interrupted by the j', -
violent entry of armed    -
men, led by Cencius, who    ': —
seized the Pope, wounded  Th
him by a cut on the head,          '~ i~1 -stripped him of his vest-: 
ments, and dragged him
by the hair out of the         SA. MARIA MAGGIORE
church to one of the
fortified towers of Cencius. Here he was threatened
with death, and a cession of papal treasure was
demanded.   Gregory bore himself with dignity, refused all concession, and was rescued by the populace next day. Though still bruised and bleeding, he
returned to the basilica, and finished the celebration
which had been so outrageously interrupted. His fortitude and composure were a fine example for St. Thomas
'a Becket when attacked and murdered in the cathedral
of Canterbury, and for Pope Boniface VIII. when
assaulted by Sciarra Colonna and the bullies of Philip
191




The Story of Rome


le Bel at Anagni in 1303. This triumph of spirit over
body added greatly to the force of the moral weapons
wielded by the Pope in his contest with the emperor.
When Henry IV. had attained manhood he definitely
refused to abandon simony or lay investiture. Gregory
summoned him to Rome, there to answer for his conduct.
Henry's reply was to assemble synods at Worms and
Piacenza, which pronounced the deposition of Gregory.
He wrote a letter to Gregory beginning with the words:
' Henry, not by usurpation, but by God's holy ordination, king, to Hildebrand, no longer Pope, but false
monk,' and commanding him to descend from the
papal chair.  Gregory's answer was a sentence of
deposition and anathema against Henry which terrified
the world. At a great council held in the Lateran,
in the presence of Iio prelates, and of the Empress
Agnes, the mother of Henry, he rose and announced
the sentence of the Church as follows:' Blessed Peter, prince of the Apostles, incline, we
beseech thee, to us thine ear; and hear me, thy servant,
whom from infancy thou hast nourished, and whom, to
this day, thou hast preserved from the hands of the evil
ones, who have hated, and still hate me, for my fidelity
to thee. Thou art my witness, with our Lady, the
Mother of God, with thy brother, the blessed Paul,
and with all saints, that thy holy Roman Church called
me, against my own will, to its governance; that I
have not thought it robbery to ascend thy seat; and
that I would rather have finished my life in wandering,
than have seized that seat, in a worldly spirit, for the
glory of this earth. Through thy favour, and not
through aught that I have done, I believe it to have
pleased, and still to please thee, that the Christian
people, specially committed to thee, should obey me in
thy stead; through thy favour I have received from God
the power of binding and of loosing in heaven and in
192




T7he  Middle of the 6qfiddle Age
earth.  Relying on this, for the honour and defence of
thy Church, in the name of the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost, and by thy power and authority, I
forbid to King Henry, son of Henry the emperor,
who, through an unexampled pride, has rebelled against
thy holy Church, the government of the whole realm
of Germany and Italy.  I absolve all Christians from
the oaths which they have taken, or may take to him;
and I decree that no one shall obey him as king; for
it is fitting that he, who has endeavoured to diminish
the honour of thy Church, should himself lose that
honour which he seems to have. And because he has
scorned the obedience of a Christian, refusing to return
to the Lord whom he had driven from him by his
communion with the excommunicated-by spurning,
as thou knowest, the admonitions given by me for his
own safety's sake-and by severing himself from thy
Church in the attempt to divide it-I, in thy stead,
bind him with the bond of anathema; thus acting in
confidence on thee, that the nations may know and
acknowledge that thou art Peter-that upon thy rock
the Son of the living God hath built His Church, and
that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'
Henry IV. was no ordinary prince. He was the
most powerful monarch in Europe, and entitled to be
crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. No such
sentence had ever been pronounced against a great king;
nor had any subsequent repetition the tremendous effect
of this the first and most successful of all the sentences
passed by popes upon kings. It was not merely excommunication, exclusion from the privileges of the
Church, though that in itself was a very serious matter
at a time when priestly assistance was considered to be
absolutely essential for escape from a future life of
endless torture. But anathema was also a curse: and
it was commonly believed that the launching of such a
N                193




The Story of Rome


sentence might even have effect upon the body of the
culprit, producing sudden death, without time for the
repentance, penance and absolution which alone could
stave off the agonies of hell.  If the anathema was not
removed the outcast was incapable of holding any office
in the service of the State; was cut off from ordinary
intercourse with Christians; had no position in ecclesiastical courts, and could not, therefore, hold Church property or make a will; could not give evidence in secular
courts because he was considered incapable of binding
himself by oath; no priest would marry him, baptise
his child, or give him the last sacraments or burial in
consecrated ground. All who communicated with or
assisted him in any way were ipso facto under the same
terrible sentence. In short, excommunication alone, and
anathema still more so, were regarded as placing a man
outside the pale of society, ensuring both to him and to
all who associated with him a future life of everlasting
torture.
The effect of this thunderbolt must have surpassed
the expectations of Gregory himself. A meeting of
German princes and prelates ordered Henry to announce
his submission to the Pope, to dismiss his army, and
live as a private citizen, with no show of royalty, and
not to presume to enter a church.  If at the end of a
year the ban had not been removed, they would consider
that he had lost all right to their allegiance, and
would proceed to elect a new king. Henry was unable
to withstand this sentence. With the queen, his son,
and a few followers, he started on his journey across the
Alps to make his submission to Gregory. The winter
was exceptionally severe, the Rhine being frozen over
from the middle of November to the following April.
The ascent and descent of Mont Cenis were perilous
adventures. After great toil and hardship Henry at
length reached the plains of Italy. He learned that
194




IThe efMiddle of the OMiddle Age
Gregory was in the castle of Canossa, a fortress belonging to the Pope's great ally, the Countess Matilda, and
he at once proceeded thither.
The fortress of Canossa stood on a spur of the
Apennines about twenty miles S.E. of Parma. Though
small it was strong, and surrounded by a triple wall.
Milman has thus described the memorable scene which
was there enacted.  'On a dreary winter morning,
with the ground deep in snow, the king, the heir of a
long line of emperors, was permitted to enter within
the two outer of the three walls which girded the castle
of Canossa.  He had laid aside every mark of royalty
or of distinguished station; he was clad only in the thin
white linen dress of the penitent, and there, fasting, he
awaited in humble patience the pleasure of the Pope.
But the gates did not unclose. A second day he stood,
cold, hungry and mocked by vain hope. And yet a
third day dragged on from morning to evening over the
unsheltered head of the discrowned king.  Every heart
was moved except that of the representative of Jesus
Christ.'
At last, on the fourth day, the intercessions of the
Countess Matilda and of the Abbot of Cluny obtained
for Henry an interview with the Pope, who finally
was prevailed upon to give Henry absolution, on condition that he agreed to retain or forfeit his crown at
the will of the Pope, to lay aside all royal insignia, and
to abandon all royal functions till Gregory had given
him permission to resume them.
Henry was in a difficult position, but it was a
mistake to submit to these humiliating terms.  The
German Empire in its contest with the Papacy never
recovered from  the degradation of Canossa.  The
recollection of that scene survived in the words of
Bismarck during his quarrel with Leo XIII.
'Come what may,' said the great Chancellor, ' Nach
195




The Story of Rome


Canossa gehen wir nicht.'   While Henry's loyal
Lombard subjects were enraged with him for having
humbled them all by his abasement, the hostile
party among the German princes were encouraged in
their opposition. They elected Rudolph of Swabia as
king. The Pope accepted Rudolph, and ventured to
prophesy, on the authority of divine revelation, that
Henry would be dead within a year. But before the
year was out Rudolph was dead, while Henry still
lived. In that superstitious age the failure of so solemn
a prophecy was a serious matter, and it proved to be
the turning-point in the Pope's career.
Henry succeeded in gathering a considerable army,
with which, in io08i, he crossedthe Alps and marched
upon Rome. For three successive years he camped
before Rome, being driven away each summer by
malaria and pestilence.  The  Romans, well paid
by the Countess Matilda, at first were loyal to
Gregory, but his unpopularity, the discomforts of
the siege, and Henry's counter - bribes, at length
turned the scale, and in 1084 the German king
obtained possession of the greater part of the city.
Gregory took refuge in the castle of St. Angelo, and
Henry was crowned emperor by the anti-pope of his
own creation, who called himself Clement III.
Gregory was threatened with a scene of humiliation
which would have effaced the recollection of Canossa,
though it would not have been easy, while life was in
the grim old man, to make him beg for pardon. He
was spared the ordeal by the opportune arrival of his
Norman ally, Robert Guiscard, at the head of a large
army which Henry could not oppose. While Henry
retreated northwards, Gregory VII. was escorted in
triumph to the Lateran.
As punishment for its defection from the Papal
cause, Rome was given up to the savage horde, under
196




The   VMiddle of the JMiddle Age
Guiscard, for a three days' sack. On the third day
the Romans turned upon their tormentors and killed
many of them. Guiscard thereupon ordered the city
to be set on fire. The conflagration which ensued is
one of the chief events in the monumental history of
the city. The Field of Mars was swept nearly bare.
The region between the Lateran and the Colosseum
was utterly destroyed.  The Calian and Aventine
Hills have never since returned to their former populous
condition. All the previous sacks and sieges combined
were as nothing compared to the destruction produced
by the Norman champions of the Pope.
When the Normans retired, Gregory, whose life was
now in danger at Rome, availed himself of their protection to escape from the vengeance of his flock. Just
a year after the sack of Rome he died-25th May io85
-at Salerno. His last words were: 'I have loved
righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore I die in
exile.'
From the time of Gregory VII. the Papacy was
regarded, throughout Christendom, as a moral power
with which every evil-doer, whether king or peasant,
had to reckon. Thenceforth it was recognised that
among the Papal prerogatives was the right to excommunicate even an emperor.     The Pope was
accepted as the holder of the conscience of Europe.
Gregory VII. was not a great temporal prince.
Rudolph of Swabia, the Countess Matilda, and Robert
Guiscard had to fight the Pope's battles.  But he
made the Mediaeval Papacy the source whence the
Christian principles of justice and righteousness were
spread over Europe. Without it the world would
have been much longer in emerging from the Dark
Age.
But the policy of this really great Pope had another,
most vital, result. It separated society into two sharply
197




The Story of Rome
defined, antipathetic classes-the lay and the clerical;
hence inevitably resulted the despotism of the Church.
'II faut le dire,' says Guizot, 'le vice radical des
relations de l'Eglise avec les peuples, c'est la separation
des gouvernants et des gouvernes, la non-influence des
gouvernes sur leur gouvernement, l'independance du
clerge chretien 'a rl'gard des fiddles.' The independence of the clergy was merely another phrase for the
tyranny of the Church. That, in the eyes of Hildebrand, was its recommendation. The Mediaeval Papacy
carried the doctrine of the supremacy of the soul over
the body to its logical conclusion. And the Roman
Curia to this day continues to assert the Hildebrandian
claims.
Though Gregory VII. triumphed over Henry IV.
when he was young and self-indulgent, his later enterprises against the German king were disastrous; and
his claims were treated with contempt by a prince as
able and as determined as himself, William the Conqueror. The Norman Duke had been greatly assisted
in his invasion of England by the sanction his enterprise
had received from the consecrated banner given him by
Pope Alexander II. But though he made use of
Rome, he intended to be sole master of the souls, as of
the bodies, of his subjects. When Gregory called
upon him to pay Peter's Pence and swear fealty to
the Apostolic See, William calmly replied: 'Your
legate has admonished me in your name to do fealty to
you and to your successors, and to take better order
as to the money which my predecessors have been
accustomed to send to the Roman Church; the one I
have admitted, the other I have not admitted. I
refused to do fealty, nor will I do it, because neither
have I promised it, nor do I find that my predecessors
have performed it for years.' He continued the payment of Peter's Pence, but expressly stated that it was
198




I 01
~~', ~
T H:i E  ~
INTEjiO/
OF
SAN~~~~~~~I 




I - -                   I     I                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           -J.




The eMiddle of the aMiddle Age
not tribute but alms. Gregory wisely refrained from
embarking on a struggle with a monarch who was as
masterful as himself.
The difficulties of Henry IV. did not end with the
death of Gregory.   His eldest and much-loved son
Conrad revolted, and his wife, the Empress Adelaide,
took the son's part.  But the death of the young
prince, and the wise concessions of Henry, enabled
him to enforce upon his rebellious vassals a truce of
four years. Then his second son, Henry, who had
been named his successor and crowned, on his making
a solemn oath that he would ever be loyal to his father,
perjured himself by raising the standard of rebellion.
The young Henry was a master of hypocrisy. Before
a great assembly of nobles and prelates he prayed, with
flowing tears, for the conversion of his father, still
excommunicate, and declared that he had no wish for
his deposition, but merely for his reconciliation with
the Holy See, for his penitence and absolution. The
emperor obtained an interview with his son: 'Do not
thou,' said he, ' sully thy honour and thy name. No
law of God obliges a son to be the instrument of
divine vengeance against his father.' The son wept,
begged forgiveness, promised allegiance, and finally proposed that each should dismiss his retinue, and that
they should proceed together to Mentz, there to celebrate the holy season of Christmas.  The emperor
consented, and as they journeyed up the bank of the
Rhine together, he freely gave vent to expressions of
affection, and even to caresses, all of which the son
carefully requited, repeating solemn oaths that his father
should suffer no harm at his hands, and pledging his
own head for his safety. Next day, when they had
entered the castle of Bockelheim together, the son did
not shrink from ordering his father to be seized and
put in prison, where he was starved, threatened with
201




rhe Story of Rome


execution, and forced to abdicate.  Like David flying
from Absalom, he may well have exclaimed, ' Lord,
how are they increased that trouble me. Many are
they that rise against me.'  In a few months the
emperor was dead, of a broken heart. Even his body
was denied burial in consecrated ground, until the remonstrances of his people, with whom he had always
been a favourite, prevailed, after five years of dispute.
The chronicler Otbert, in concluding his story, says:
' Here you have all about the exploits, the charities,
the fortune and the death of the Emperor Henry, a
tale which as I without tears was not able to write, so
you without tears will not be able to read.'  His
memory is still dear to the German nation.    He
retrieved his early mistakes, and manfully withstood
the claim of the Papacy to regard the German crown
as a Papal possession, and the German people as vassals
of Rome.
Henry V. continued the war of investitures, with
varying fortune. He came to Rome in i i i i demanding the Imperial crown, which the Pope, Paschal II.,
refused to give. Henry seized the Pope in St. Peter's,
carried him away prisoner, and forced him to perform
the coronation ceremony.  The quarrel ended in a
Concordat, ratified at Worms by the Papal legate, and
accepted by the German people in 1122. It was a
compromise.   The emperor secured control of his
own bishops, who were to be vassals of the crown and
subject to the feudal obligations. He abandoned the
Imperial claim to control the election of a Pope, and
the appointment of non-German bishops. Thus ended
the war of investitures, which had raged throughout
Germany and Italy for fifty years.
While it was still unfinished the Crusades had begun.
The capture of Jerusalem by the Turks in 1065 came
at an opportune time for the Church. The scandals
202




the OMiddle of the 8Viddle Age
and schisms of the tenth and eleventh centuries had
begun to lessen the homage of Europe, when the Moslem danger gave the Pope a last opportunity of reuniting Christendom in one cause under his banner.
From the time of Constantine the Holy Land had
been a favourite goal for devout pilgims.  St. Jerome
was one of the first, towards the end of the fourth century, to organise an expedition to Palestine, and to
collect alms for the founding of convents and for the
relief of the poor Christians at Jerusalem. Justinian
caused some splendid buildings to be erected there, and
his example was followed by Gregory the Great, and
by Charlemagne. But when the Turks became masters of the country, the pilgrims, among them one
Peter, a hermit, were subjected to robbery and violence.  Peter complained of his treatment to Pope
Urban II., who urged him to relate his story throughout Christendom, and preach a crusade. Dressed in a
long coarse garment, tied round the waist with a piece
of rope, with head and feet bare, a crucifix in his hand,
and seated upon a mule, the eloquence of Peter, with
its tears, groans and beatings of the breast, aroused
Christendom to a condition of frenzy. Urban summoned a council at Clermont Ferrand, in Auvergne,
where, amid a scene of great enthusiasm, a general
crusade for the capture of the Holy Land was voted
by acclamation.
The Crusades show us Europe still subject to the
spell of Rome. After seven hundred years of freedom
from the tyrannical control of Cxesar, men still felt the
centralising influence of Rome. Politically, Europe
was divided into very small pieces.  Roman discipline
and unity had given way to a freedom, an independence, that closely approximated to anarchy.  Some
sort of order was enforced by the Feudal System. But
Rome alone could bring Europe to a sense of common
203




The Story of Rome


interests. Under the banner, not of Christ, nor of the
Pope, but of Rome, hostile princes were prepared to
sheathe their fratricidal swords in order to draw them
together against an anti-Roman, and therefore universal,
enemy.
The Crusaders were also greatly influenced by the
striking success which had attended the invasion of
England by William the Norman. The Norman arms
had been blessed by the Pope. The defeat and death
of Harold were regarded as a heaven-sent judgment for
falsehood and wrong.   The intervention of God in
human disputes was firmly credited, hence the popularity
of the trial of accused persons by the ordeals of fire
and battle.  It was not doubted that God would
defend the right. The expedition of Duke William
was, in fact, the first Crusade.  It was the first war of
conquest sanctioned by religion. Might and right, the
sword and the crozier, were for the first time joined
together in holy alliance.  It was believed that no
power could withstand that combination.
Another strong incentive towards the Crusades was
the new spirit of chivalry.  Ever since the fall of the
Roman Empire, treachery and falsehood had been
steadily on the increase, until, in the ninth and tenth
centuries, they had ceased to excite comment, and were
always expected.  The chivalry of the Feudal System,
with its insistence upon the recognition of honourable
obligations, was a reaction against the moral anarchy
of the dark ages. Upon this basis of feudal honour
the splendid ideals of chivalry were raised.
The first virtue essential to chivalry was fidelity to
engagements, whether as vassal to a lord or lover to
his lady.  Breach of faith, especially of an express
promise, was a disgrace that no valour could redeem.
False, perjured, disloyal, recreant were the worst of
all disgraceful epithets. Amongst many other benefits
204




The MViddle of the SMiddle Age


derived from this raising of the
standard of truth, was its alleviation
of the horrors of war. In the AngloFrench wars of Edward III. it was
no longer necessary to kill, or even to
guard, a noble prisoner.  He was
set free on giving his word of honour
that he would return with a stipulated
ransom.
Other necessary features of chivalry
were courtesy, disdain of money, selfdenial, protection of the weak (especially women), courage in battle, and a
readiness at any moment to take up a
just cause.
The Crusades were the means of
imparting a religious character to
chivalry. Every knight, on receiving
his rank, pledged himself to fight for
the Church, the ceremonies on his
investiture being almost wholly of a
religious character.  Hence  grew
those remarkable associations - the
Knights Templars and Knights Hospitallers. The Templars had their
origin in the association of nine
French knights for the protection of
the Christian pilgrims who, on their
way from Jerusalem to cleanse themselves from sin by washing in the
Jordan, were exposed to Moslem
attacks. When the order was established in I 127 it adopted the monastic
vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.  The seal shows two knights
on one horse, a symbol of brotherly


N E. R ICH_ rq4
CANDELABRUM IN S. PAOLO FUORI
205




The Story of Rome
love; the banner, Beaus6ant, was white on one side
and black on the other, to indicate their loyalty to
Christians and hostility to infidels.  The Hospitallers
were a similar order, originating in a hostel for sick and
destitute pilgrims.  Both orders, but especially the
Templars, whose aims were more military than charitable, were highly attractive to the three great passions
of the age-chivalric pride, monastic devotion and
zeal against infidels.
The fortunes of the Papacy rose and fell with the
flow  and ebb of the crusading fervour.   Whereas
hitherto the only perfect life had been that of the
monk, the same sublime position could now be attained
by those who fought for the tomb of Christ.  It had
long been recognised that every pilgrim to the Holy
Land acquired a holy, a sanctified character.  It was
now believed that to fight for the Cross was to make
sure of heaven; and, for men of bad character, that it
was their only chance of escaping hell. And the
Church gave many other rewards to the Christian
warrior.  A peasant was forgiven the fealty he owed
to his lord, a prisoner set free, a debtor released from
his obligations, by taking up the Cross. The Crusader
was dispensed from all temporal, civil and social obligations. The Pope thus obtained an excuse for
releasing vassals, prisoners and debtors from their
entanglements -for interfering in the civil affairs of
every nation.   Refractory or hostile princes were
ordered to take up the Cross, on pain of excommunication.  The Emperor Frederic II. was excommunicated five times-for not taking the Cross, for not
starting for the Holy Land, for starting, while there,
and for returning.  During the absence of the knights
on an expedition from which many never returned, a
Papal representative administered their territory.  The
Crusades were a splendid source of income to the.206




The M/Iddle of the aMiddle Age
Church. Dispensation from the obligation of taking
the Cross was bought by a money payment. Papal
collectors were sent into every country to transmit the
immense sums so raised. They were given to the
Pope to be disbursed by him on behalf of the Crusading armies; and he refused to publish any account of
his receipts.
The Crusades had other very important results.
Vassals were released fionom their obligations, and the
absence of the feudal lords caused a merging of small
fiefs into large ones.  Thus the Feudal System was
shaken, and the power of the sovereign increased.
The travelling which they occasioned, the intercourse
between men of different nations, enlarged the intellectual horizon of the age.  Navigation was improved,
ships of large size being required for transport, and a
new era in commerce was inaugurated.  Moreover, the
Crusading armies did succeed in keeping the Turks out
of Europe till 1453.  If the capture of Constantinople
had been anticipated by 350 years, the period of barbarian excursions would have been greatly extended.
It was fiom France, the land of chivalry, that the
movement derived its first and chief impetus. Urban
II., who launched the enterprise on French soil, at
Clermont Ferrand, was himself a. Frenchman; and so
readily did his compatriots respond to his appeal that
the Saracens gave to all their opponents, of whatever
nationality, the common name of Franks.    Of the
three greatest Crusaders, the first, Godfrey de Bouillon,
and the last, St. Louis, were Frenchmen; between
them stood the Anglo-French hero, Richard Plantaganet, Cceur de Lion, the Achilles of the Middle
Age.    Godfrey, a skilful and brave knight, had all
the piety, devotion and humility of the earlier and
purer enthusiasts.  When he had conquered Palestine,
and was named King of Jerusalem ( 10 o99), he refused to
207




The Story of Rome


accept a crown of gold where his Saviour had worn one
of thorns, and took the humbler title of Defender of the
Holy Sepulchre.  St. Louis IX., King of France, was
more of a saint and less of a soldier.  On his first
crusade he was taken prisoner.  His second (1270)
ended in his death, of the plague, at Tunis.  Equally
distant from the triumphant success of Godfrey, and
the hopeless failure of St. Louis, was the doubtful
conflict between Cceur de Lion and Saladin (i 191),
which closed with a three years' truce.  These three
figures epitomise the history of the Crusades.  First
we have a united spirit of devotion which overcomes
all obstacles; then a period of jealousy, rivalry and
ambition, of marvellous physical exploits, performed
for personal glory rather than permanent military success; in the third stage a useless and pitiful selfsacrifice is all that can be attained.
Contemporary with Coeur de Lion (died 1199) was
Pope Innocent III. (11I97-1216), under whom the
Papacy reached its highest point.  ' It belongs to the
Apostolic See,' he said, ' to pass judgment on the election of the emperor.' He was able to enforce his
views, and had little difficulty in reducing such minor
princes as the Kings of England and France to complete
submission. When Philip Augustus deserted his wife,
the Pope put the whole of France under the Interdict.
The French people could not endure the cessation of all
Church functions, and the King had to take back his
wife. John of England refused to receive Stephen
Langton, the Pope's nominee, as Archbishop of Canterbury.  Excommunication, deposition, and interdict
over the whole of England, were blows which the
unpopular John, who had estranged the barons and
oppressed the people, could not withstand. He was
brought lower than any other English king. He did
homage to the Pope by placing his crown in the hands
208




iThe aMiddle of the SMiddle Age
of the Papal representative in St. Paul's Cathedral;
then he formally resigned his kingdom to the Pope, and
agreed to make him an annual payment of one thousand
marks, not as alms, but as tribute from vassal to his
lord.  Langton, however, proved to be one of the best
Archbishops England ever had. He headed the list
of witnesses to the Great Charter, wrung from John in
spite of the opposition of the Holy See.  The Pope,
on hearing the news, annulled the charter and excommunicated Langton.   But the English clergy sided
with Langton and the barons, and the Pope's curse
had no effect.
Innocent III. was recognised as over-lord to all the
sovereigns of Europe, and he determined to make Italy
a Papal domain. He obtained from the Emperor Otto
IV. an undisputed title to the Papal States, and was the
first Pope who was admittedly an Italian prince. He
was the founder of the states of the Church.  It is
no accident that with his death began the fall of the
Papacy. Hitherto the Pope, in his contest with the temporal power for ecclesiastical privileges, for the Papal
dignity, for the importance of the Church, had been
able to rely upon the religious enthusiasm of Europe.
But the ceaseless struggle for material, worldly benefits,
which received its greatest impetus under Innocent
III., was regarded as selfish aggrandisement, and
alienated the sympathy of the Christian world.
It was during the Pontificate of Innocent III. that
the rank growth of heresy reared its unwelcome head.
It produced a monastic revolution under the two great
mendicants, Dominic and Francis.
The earlier monks-St. Benedict, St. Dunstan, St.
Peter Damiani, St. Bernard-devoted themselves with
relentless severity to the suppression of physical desire,
sensation, even volition.  The further from man the
nearer would they be to God. The highest form of
0                209




rhe Story of Rome
perfection consisted in the monastic life of seclusion, in
the renunciation of all terrestrial pleasures.  St. Bernard, for example, contrived to attain so lofty an
abstraction from earthly things that he lost nearly all
physical sense; food had no taste, his eyes saw nothing.
He ate congealed blood thinking it was butter, and
drank oil for water, and never noticed whether his cell
had one window or two, or where the window was
situated. At the Cistercian monastery of Citeaux, in
Burgundy, he passed his early years, and there he
gained such fame as an ascetic that he was able to
found a new monastery at Clairvaulx, in Champagne.
This spot was selected because it was so dreary and
barren a solitude that at first his followers could obtain
no nourishment, save that which might be derived from
beech leaves. There he was visited by Pope Innocent
II., for whose delectation he was able to procure one
small fish. The Pope showed little desire to make a
lengthened stay at Clairvaulx.
But the fact that St. Bernard had acquired such fame
by his austerities shows that they had become exceptional. The older monasteries gradually lost their ascetic
character. All, in time, became rich and luxurious. It
was easier to found a new monastery than to renew an
old one, for the monastic spirit was always breaking
out afresh, with new institutions, in which poverty and
penance were the first requisites. Thus there was a
constant strife between the more zealous, devoted
spirits on the one hand, and the older monasteries,
with their wealthy and luxurious clerics, on the other.
The Church admitted, in theory, the necessity for
monastic poverty and renunciation; while, in practice,
every prelate was ostentatious in self-indulgence.  St.
Dominic thus rebuked the luxury of the Papal legates
who were sent to confer with him as to the suppression
of the Languedoc heretics: 'It is not,' said he, 'by
210




The eMiddle of the eMiddle Age
the display of power and pomp, cavalcades of retainers
and richly houseled palfreys, or by gorgeous apparel,
that the heretics win proselytes; it is by zealous preaching,  by   apostolic
humility, by auster-           "    I;
ity, by seeming, it..
is true, but yet seeming holiness.  Zeal
must be met by zeal,
humility by humility,
false sanctity by real;...
sanctity,  preaching; 
falsehood by preach-...       -    ^MI; < X
ing truth.  Sow the    d~l..''
good seed as the
heretics sow the bad..        ':
Cast off those sump-  ii] ',  
tuous  robes,  send    1!,,Sx 
away those richlycaparisoned palfreys;
go barefoot, without::
purse and scrip, like       ";i                 %
the Apostles; out-:             f
labour, out-fast, out-       i...
discipline these false,           '/
teachers.'
These   principles    -.       - -_:-~/.
ultimately found, ',,
expression  in  the   s. DOMINIC'S ORANGE TREE, WITH
Dominican    Order       CAMPANILE OF S. ALESSIO
known as the Friar
Preachers.  All members of religious orders were
fratres, brothers, friars; but the mendicants obtained
a special use of the term ' friar,' to distinguish them
from  monks.   The latter were friar monks, while
the mendicants were friars without being monks.
211




T'he Story of Rome
The distinction is vital.   The friars owed   their
success to their abandonment of the selfish isolation
whereby the monks strove to save their own souls.
The friars made it their one aim to save the souls
of others. Instead of shutting themselves up in cells,
they went forth into all parts of the world. They
carried the reality of the Christian faith into every
household, whether of palace or cottage. They identified themselves with the wants and aims of their fellowcreatures, and thus entirely revolutionised the ideals of
Christendom.
The Dominicans, though taking the vows of
poverty, were chiefly famous for preaching against
heretics. The Franciscans, without ceasing to preach,
laid great stress on the prime duties of poverty and
humility. St. Francis of Assisi thus laid down the
essential virtues of the order he founded:-' The perfection of gladness,' said the gentlest of all the saints,
' consists not in working miracles, in curing the sick,
expelling devils or raising the dead; nor in learning
and knowledge of all things; nor in eloquence to convert the world, but in bearing all ills and injuries and
injustice and despiteful treatment with patience and
humility.'   The   Franciscans obtained  from  their
humility the name of the Friar Minors. They interpreted their vow of poverty in a literal sense.  The
Franciscan's only possession in the world was his frock
and cord.   He had no other clothing, no hat nor
shoes; no wallet, staff nor book, nor any money at all.
He travelled on foot, preaching humility and penitence,
relying upon charity for food and lodging.  Scarcely
differing in principle, the Dominicans and Franciscans
gradually acquired the special character of their respective founders. The gloomy severity of the Dominicans,
symbolised as Black Friars, contrasted with that cheerfulness which the Grey Friars regarded as the sign of
212




the eMiddle of the Vffiddle Age
a clean heart.   To the Dominicans, as the great
preachers against heresy, was entrusted the Inquisition
and punishment of heretics; their preaching was intellectual, strictly orthodox and  denunciatory.  The
Franciscans were milder and more genial; their
preaching was more popular, appealing less to the
reason, more to sentiment and the affections, and was
specially attractive to women. The black Dominican
was always pointing to hell, the grey Franciscan to
heaven.  Neither fraternity adhered for long to their
ideals. They soon learned to vie with each other in
the collection of wealth, the Franciscans especially
distinguishing themselves by their eagerness to attend
the bedsides of the dying, for the cruel extortions of
testamentary. gifts.  The hospitality accorded to the
friars was abused in a manner incompatible with their
vow of chastity. The Franciscans were themselves
the leaders of a great heresy; and the Dominicans
made the Inquisition the worst tribunal of cruelty and
injustice that the civilised world has seen.
The wandering, idle life of the friars attracted loafers
and vagabonds in such numbers, and the character of
these organisations suffered so severely, that soon after
their foundation, in 1274, Gregory X. was obliged to
restrict them.  Only four orders of friars were sanctioned:  Dominicans    (Black  Friars), Franciscans
(Grey   Friars), Carmelites   (White   Friars) and
Augustinians (Austin Friars). These four orders of
friars form, with the Order of Benedictine Monks
(Black), the five great religious orders of the Western
hurch.  To these are affiliated many minor orders
and religious congregations.
Twelve years after the death of St. Dominic,
Gregory IX. (i233) established the Inquisition, entrusting its administration to the fraternity whose
founder had been so stern and zealous a foe to heresy.
213




The Story of Rome


The Inquisitors pardoned many of those who were
brought before them; and, doubtless, there were tenderhearted men amongst them who honestly believed
that it was better to inflict a temporary torture
upon the body in this world, than to consign it to
eternal torment in the next.  But they elaborated
a system of jurisprudence which clouded the human
perception of justice, so that men of the most honest
and kindly nature were led to believe a prisoner to be
guilty before any real evidence had been produced
against him. In some countries the judicial system
is still based upon Inquisitorial methods. Where this
is so the sense of justice is dead, whether in the minds
of the judges or the hearts of the people.
The trial of a heretic was a duel between the
judge and the prisoner, the object being to extort a
confession, for if there was no confession it would be
necessary to burn the accused at the stake, and thus
the advantage which might be derived from his submission  and  conversion  would  be lost.  If the
prisoner refused to confess, evidence was collected
against him. Any statement which seemed to implicate him, no matter what its source, would suffice.
Vague rumours were enough.     The testimony of
small children, or of persons of bad character, though
unacceptable in any other court, clerical or lay, was all
that the Inquisition required.  In one case a child of
ten years was allowed to give evidence against his
father, his mother, and sixty-six other persons whom
he named as having been present a year previously, when
a certain sermon had been delivered. The unusual
knowledge and remarkable memory thus exhibited by
a mere child, were regarded as specially damning for
the accused. The prisoner might produce evidence
on his own side,-not to deny heresy, for no evidence
could prove a negative,-but to show personal hostility
2I4




the eMiddle of the eMiddle Age
on the part of the witnesses against him.  This concession was made useless to him by the rule that he
was not to be told their names, lest they should be
prevented from speaking the truth by fear of the
prisoner's vengeance.  If the prisoner failed to guess
the names of these witnesses, their integrity was
proved, for every man must know who are his enemies.
If, in the other alternative, he did guess their names,
hen his knowledge that there were possible accusers
was regarded as strengthening the accusation.  In any
event, the evidence itself was not revealed to him,
because that might give him a clue to the names of the
witnesses who had adduced it, and thus enable him to
prevent, by terrorisation, the truth from being stated.
The names of the witnesses and the nature of their
evidence being both concealed from him, the only
defence permitted was the proof of personal bias on the
part of unknown persons-a manifest impossibility.
The trial was, in fact, a farce. Whenever so desired,
the accused was convicted.   So notorious was this
that a plain-spoken Franciscan declared that the Holy
Apostles themselves, SS. Peter and Paul, would inevitably have been convicted of heresy by the officials of
the Holy Office.
It was not until the trial and conviction were over
that the Inquisitors began to take an interest in the
case.  The object of all the proceedings was to extort
a confession.  If, after conviction, the prisoner refused
to confess, torture was applied.  If he then confessed,
some fine legal problems remained to be solved. Confession produced by torture the morbid conscience of
the Church could not accept.  It could only be regarded as an involuntary spasm, which we should now
call 'reflex action,' similar to the closing of the eyelids from fear of an expected blow. Confession had
to be voluntary. From the prisoner's standpoint this
215




The Story of Rome
refinement had the merit of stopping the torture for
the time.  The object in applying torture was to
compel his serious attention, and to bring him into
a frame of mind from which a voluntary confession
would naturally flow. Some of the more unfortunate
prisoners, unable to appreciate the legal subtleties of
the tribunal, went from confession to confession and
from torture to torture.  It was as easy to prove
recantation as the original heresy.  Any evidence
would do, and no defence could avail.
But perhaps the worst feature of the Inquisition was
the introduction of a new crime, suspicion of heresy.
To be suspected-rightly or wrongly was immaterial,
nor did it signify by whom-was in itself a crime.
This culmination of judicial iniquity has found its way
into the legal process of every country in which the
Inquisition  ever held sway.   England alone has
escaped. The Inquisition never found a home in the
British Isles.  The use of torture and of perjury was
greatly extended in England by the ferocious example
of the Inquisition; but its other leading features-the
adoption by the judge of the position of prosecutor, the
secrecy of evidence, the refusal of favourable evidence,
the establishment of mere suspicion from any quarter
as itself a crime-these principles, which make a
parody of justice, never took root in England. As a
recent celebrated case has shown, they have not yet
been entirely eliminated from the tribunals of Europe.
The Middle of the Middle Age was afflicted with
many extraordinary superstitions and manias, of which
the flagellants may be taken as the type.  In I260 the
whole of Europe seemed to be suddenly struck with remorse for the wickedness of the time. The practice
of self- flagellation, common enough in monasteries,
had been greatly extended by the precept and example
of St. Peter Damiani in the eleventh century. It
216




The -IMiddle of the eMiddle Age
had acquired a stated value among works of penance.
' By a fantastic arithmetic,' says Gibbon, 'a year of
penance was taxed at three thousand lashes; and such
was the skill and patience of a famous hermit, St.
Dominic of the iron cuirass' (Loricatus), 'that in six
days he could discharge an entire century by a whipping of 300,000 stripes. His example was followed
by many penitents of both sexes; and as a vicarious
sacrifice was accepted, a sturdy disciplinarian might
expiate on his own back the sins of his benefactors.'
The flagellators marched two and two in solemn procession through the towns, stripped naked to the waist,
their heads entirely covered by a hood which had two
orifices for the eyes; singing doleful hymns of penitence, such as ' Stabat Mater,' they scourged themselves in unison. This continued at night by the light
of torches, and throughout the cold of winter.  The
inhabitants of a town, stopping all business, would walk
out en masse to the next town, beating themselves in
rhythm all the way; and thus the frenzy was passed
on.   Even Rome, so little addicted to penitential
discipline, was touched by the contagion.  The dress
of the flagellants has been retained by the confraternities of mercy which are so familiar in Italy.
Meanwhile the struggle between Pope and Emperor,
so dramatically begun by Gregory VII. and Henry IV.,
was steadily continued, and remained throughout the
Middle of the Middle Age the dominant political fact
of European history.  Every nation was drawn into it.
The great question which puzzled and upset the mediaeval world was this: How far should the spirit rule
the body? What should be the- relations between
Church and State? Can religious and political matters
be separated? The answer has not yet been found.
In the time of Augustus the State was supreme; under
Innocent III. the Church was paramount; and now
217




T'he Story of Rome


the State, in Italy, is once more in the ascendant.
But it is obvious that the conflict is not at an end.
The Papal-Imperial conflict of the Middle of the
Middle Age ended in the complete triumph of the Pope.
After the discomfiture of Henry IV. by Gregory VII.
came the duel between the English Pope, Adrian IV.
(Nicholas Breakspear), and the most powerful of the
Germans, Frederic Barbarossa. Italy was rent by the
long and weary wars between Guelphs and Ghibellines.
Barbarossa,. not content with defying the Church,
attempted to tyrannise over the Italian free towns.
Rome and the Lombard cities took the part of the
Pope, with the result that, by the Peace of Constance,
in I 183, the emperor was obliged to concede a large
extension of independence.
The career of Barbarossa's grandson, Frederic II.,
an able and enlightened prince (in whom some historians
have seen a herald of the Renaissance), was ruined by
Papal opposition. Learned himself-he spoke German,
Italian, Latin, Greek and Hebrew-he founded the
University of Naples, and did all that was possible in
that illiterate age to spread a desire for knowledge.
He gave his people mild and good laws, emancipated
all serfs on the royal domain, abolished trials by battle
and ordeal, and established free trade. It was his fate
to be five times excommunicated, and to die at open
war with the Pope. His son, Conrad, did not long
survive him, and the hopes of the Empire rested upon
Frederic's grandson, Conradin, a youth of sixteen.
In 1268 Conradin marched upon Rome, where he was
received with delight by the Romans, who had driven
out the Pope, Urban IV. But the boy's triumph was
short.  Urban appealed to Charles of Anjou for
assistance, and in the battle of Tagliacco Conradin was
totally defeated; and subsequently captured. On being
consulted by Charles as to the fate of the prisoner,
218




The eMiddle of the      fMiddle Age
Urban replied, ' Vita Conradini, mors Caroli; mors
Conradini, vita Caroli.' The last of the Hohenstaufens
was thereupon executed at Naples in i268. Foreign
kings continued for two centuries to come to Rome
for coronation as emperor, the last ceremony of the
kind being performed by the Pope in favour of
Frederic III. in  1452; and the Holy Roman
Empire survived in name until its abolition by
Napoleon in I8o6. But with the execution of Conradin its practical power and significance disappeared
for ever.
The next act in the drama was the fall of the
Mediaeval Papacy. The Pope had called in Angevin
influence, and soon had himself to. submit to French
control.
The Pragmatic Sanction of St. Louis IX. limited
the powers of the Roman Pontiff in France as regards
the elections of the clergy and ecclesiastical taxation,
an edict to which Clement IV., a French Pope, could
offer no resistance. Then came the ' Sicilian Vespers,'
a general massacre of the French, which lost Sicily to
Charles and to the Guelph or Papal cause. In I292
the fall of Acre ended the benefit derived by the
Papacy from the Crusades. But worse was to follow.
On the death of Nicholas IV., in April 1292, the
Conclave, divided by the hostility of the Orsini and
Colonna, could not agree upon a successor. In June
the hot weather drove the cardinals out of Rome;
they dispersed, not to meet again till the lapse of more
than a year, and then at Perugia. There for eight
months they continued in hopeless disagreement, any
name supported by an Orsini being, ipso facto, opposed
by the Colonna. At last, in desperation, weary of the
conflict, the name of one Peter Morrone, a hermit,
wad brought forward. Nothing was known of him
beyond the fact that he lived in a remote cave in the
219




5The Story of Rome


Abruzzi Mountains, where his ascetic practices had
gained for him some local reputation among the
peasants. He, at least, had no enmity to any of the
cardinals. He was elected by acclamation.


N.EtMCHSE4.
S. GIORGIO IN VELABRO
The ambassadors of the Conclave, dressed in their
gorgeous costumes, toiled up the rough mountain, with
difficulty procuring a guide to direct them to the cave
of the Pope. Peering into the darkness, there they
saw an old man, with long, grey beard, eyelids swollen
with perpetual weeping, in a recess so small that he
could neither stand upright nor lie down; and they
220




The   5Middle of the JMiddle Age
fell on their knees before him, hoping that he should
deign to look upon one of them with favour.  But the
Pope's eyes were dim.    He could ill discern the
splendid figures before him, and for long refused to
credit the tale they told him. When at last the awful
truth broke upon him, he begged, with tears, to be let
alone, to be allowed to live and die in the home which
he knew so well.  It is the traditional Papal custom to
be overwhelmed at the disparity of the honour conferred by election, and the unworthiness of the recipient. Peter Morrone did not require any histrionic
talent. He wept as if his heart would break. But his
visitors were inexorable. There was no hope of escape.
He was carried off to Aquila, where the ceremony of
inauguration was greeted with immense enthusiasm by
the populace, who felt that at last they had a real saint
in the position which none but a saint should fill.  But
the holiness and humility of Celestine I. were not fitted
for the Papacy. He appointed his hermit friends to
the chief places in the Church, and made many new
cardinals, not one of whom was a Roman. At
Naples, the season of Advent drawing nigh, Celestine
had a cell made in the king's palace, whence he
could not see the sky, and there he once more
indulged in the luxuries of solitude, starvation,
weeping, and   other austerities.  He   longed  to
abdicate, and at length was permitted to do so;
earning by that act the contempt of Dante, who
placed him in the worst circle of hell for the
cowardice of his 'great refusal' (il gran rifiuto'Inferno,' III. 60).
The Conclave proceeded to the election of a man
whose character was a striking contrast to that of the
poor hermit. Boniface VIII. was as proud, aggressive
and violent as Celestine had been humble, meek and
gentle. One of his first acts was to cast his prede221




The Story of Rome


cessor into prison, where was soon ended that singularly
unfortunate life.
The inauguration of Boniface at Rome was a spectacle of unusual splendour. He rode a fine white
horse, gorgeously accoutred, the King of Naples holding the bridle on one side, the King of Hungary on the
other. The great nobles of Rome-Orsini, Colonna,
Savelli, Stefaneschi, Anibaldi-followed in the procession to St. Peter's, and back to the Lateran Palace.
The haughty Pontiff surveyed Christendom with the
eye of a master.
But events were to prove that the Church made a
mistake in exchanging the pious, though incompetent,
hermit for this arrogant tyrant.  As a result of the
overbearing attitude of Boniface, a quarrel arose between
him and the equally haughty Colonna family. The
Colonna proceeded to announce that inasmuch as a
Pope is incapable of abdicating, the election of Boniface
during the life of Celestine was illegal, and all his acts
as Pontiff void.  Boniface replied by preaching a
crusade against the Colonna. The Papal forces attacked
and captured the Colonna fortress of Palestrina.  The
town was razed to the ground, the plough was dug
through its streets, and salt was sown in the furrows.
The Colonna cardinals were deposed, and the family
reduced to beggary by the confiscation of the whole of
their property.
Successful so far, Boniface now issued the Bull,
' De Clericis Laos,' aimed at Edward I. of England
and Philip IV. of France, in which he declared
all Church property to be free from taxation by
the temporal power. Philip retaliated by expelling
the Papal legate from France; to which Boniface
answered by excommunication. But that weapon was
powerless against a popular monarch, and the French
nation took the part of their king.  An alliance was
222




The   MIiddle of the eMiddle Age
made between the Colonna and the French.      In
September I303, the Pope, with his court, was at
Anagni, his birthplace and summer residence. There
he was unexpectedly attacked by a body of men,
under the command of William of Nogaret, carrying
the banner of the French king, and Sciarra Colonna.
The Cardinals fled. The Pope was left to face his
opponents alone, which he did with courage and
dignity.
Dressed in the pontifical robes, the tiara on his head,
the keys of St. Peter in one hand, the crozier in the
other, he took his seat upon the Papal throne, and, like
the Roman senators of old, awaited the approach of the
Gaul. Sciarra Colonna was with difficulty prevented
from avenging the wrongs of his house upon the body
of the old man. The Pope was ordered to abdicate,
upon pain of death. 'Behold my neck, behold my
head,' was the calm reply. He was shackled in irons,
whilst his palace was completely looted of its vast
wealth. Though afterwards rescued by the people of
Anagni, the Pope, on his appearance in Rome, was
seized by Cardinal Orsini and put in prison, where he
soon died of passion and shame. The well-known
epitaph on Boniface VIII. runs:' Vulpes intravit, tanquam leo pontificavit, exiit ut
canis.' (' He got in like a fox, played the pontiff like
a lion, went out like a dog.')
After his death French influence raised a Frenchman
to the Papal chair, as Clement V.  This Pope was
crowned at Lyons and then settled at Avignon, where
he was a mere tool in the hands of the French king.
Thus ended the Mediaeval Papacy, soon after its
triumph over the Empire. What Gregory VII. had
begun, and Innocent III. had completed, Boniface
VIII. destroyed.
The Middle of the Middle Age had as distinguish223




The Story of Rome


ing characters the Crusades, the Mendicant Friars,
the Inquisition, the Flagellants; and finally, the long
struggle, in which every country of Europe was implicated, between Church and State, Pope and Emperor.
All these movements had one centre-Rome; and one
source-Religion.. Not one of them could have
occurred but for the existence at Rome, through the
combined merits of Julius Caesar and St. Peter, of the
Vicar of Christ. The goddess Roma was the star of
the mediaeval stage. To appreciate the play we must
have on the boards Crusaders, Mendicants, and Emperors as well as Popes.
But though Rome was the source of Mediavalism,
she was never herself infected with the mediaeval spirit.
The Romans wished to be senators, not knights, nor
monks.   They had neither chivalry nor piety; nor
was the Feudal System ever influential in Rome. The
Crusades, which turned the stream of pilgrims towards
Jerusalem, were a source of loss to Rome. The
Church, by stifling all secular growth, hindered the rise
of chivalry, and prevented the formation of a feudal
society.  On the other hand, it failed to impress the
Romans. It is a Roman saying that the nearer the
altar the less is the devotion. The Romans were
irreligious and irreverent; they mocked at the precepts
of the Church, and defied the Papal authority. Their
nobles were a rude, illiterate race, who lived in such
remnants of the monuments of antiquity as were capable
of conversion into fortresses.  From these castles and
towers, which covered the whole surface of the city,
they emerged octasionally to make war upon each other,
or to kill or rob a pope, or bishop, or any other wayfarer. The chief families-Pierleoni, Savelli, Frangipani, Scotti, Conti, Orsini, Colonna, Corsi, Massimi,
Cencii, Crescencii, Cappocci, Cafarelli-when not at war
with each other, were united in a common opposition
224




The 8Viddle of the       Mliddle Age
to all authority, whether of Pope, of Emperor or of
Senator.
The Savelli owned the theatre of Marcellus and the
temple of Libertas on the Aventine. The Frangipani
had a large central fortress on the Palatine, with outlying forts on the Colosseum, the Arches of Constantine
and Titus, and the Janus of the Forum Boarium. The
Colonna had possession of the mausoleum of Augustus;
the Crescenzi the baths of Severus Alexander; and the
Orsini the theatre of Pompey.
But though Rome was never truly mediaeval, though
she was neither chivalrous nor saintly, though the
emperor's coronation always ended in a battle, and
many a pope had to save his life by flight, yet it is
at Rome that the age which lies between the classic
and the modern may best be studied, for Rome
alone has remains of all these periods.  Look, for
instance, at the mediaeval towers, the Torre delle
Milizie and the Torre dei Conti. Note their immense
solidity, the pitiable little slits through which all light
and air had to enter, the aspect of hostile suspicion and
gloomy isolation. Then turn to the Pagan ruins on the
Palatine or elsewhere.  Observe the large and generous
openings, the modern look of frankness, of courage, of
intelligent satisfaction. In these various buildings the
history of civilisation  is revealed.  The essential
modernity of the Pagan ruins, the old-fashioned aspect
of the mediaeval-the Pagan and modern joy in light
and air, the mediaeval fear and hatred-are nowhere
visible save at Rome.


p


225




CHAPTER VII


Roman Revolutions
Roma vorax hominum, domat ardua colla virorum,
Roma ferax febrium, necis est uberrima frugum,
Romanae febres stabili sunt jure fideles.
St. Peter Damiani.
N   O  city has such a tale of civil war as Rome.
As many as 150 revolutions are said to have
occurred within her walls. Throughout the Middle
Age the Romans never ceased to dream of their former
world-wide empire, to chafe at their subjection, and to
rise in revolt against pope, emperor or barons.  George
Sand well said that the famous Republican leaders,
Alberic, Crescentius, Arnold, Rienzi, Tiburzio, Porcaro,
mistook memories for hopes ('ont pris les souvenirs
pour les esperances'). The great traditions of Rome
were the cause of her servitude. The Papacy and the
Empire grew and thrived on the prestige of Rome.
From   Rome they ruled the world; while the city
herself was deprived, by their presence, of her independence. While other Italian towns flourished as
fiee Republics, unhappy Rome was crushed under the
weight of her former greatness.
The revolution connected with the name of the
Italian monk, Arnold of Brescia, in the middle of the
twelfth century, introduces the only Englishman who rose
to the Papal chair-Nicholas Breakspear, Adrian IV.;
the red-bearded Hohenstaufen, Frederic Barbarossa;
the French monk St Bernard; and the French pro226




Roman Revolutions


fessor, afterwards a monk, Abelard-the lover of the
beautiful and talented Heloise.
Abelard was one of the first of the disputants who
attempted, by philosophy and dialectical skill, to expose
the falsity of the dogmas of the Church. He met his
match in St. Bernard, who also made himself a master
of controversial methods, and laid the foundations of
that gigantic bulwark of scholastic theology which
surrounds the Catholic doctrine.
The story of Abelard and Heloise, of her disinterested devotion, of his retirement to a monastery,
hers to a nunnery, of the passionate letters which she
wrote to him, cannot here be related.  On his death,
in I 142, Abelard was buried in the monastery of
the Paraclete, where for twenty-one years longer
Heloise, the abbess, mourned for him.   Then she
was buried at his side.  The two bodies were removed to the cemetery of Pere la Chaise in Paris,
in 1817.
The intellectual freedom taught by Abelard found
in his pupil, Arnold of Brescia, a practical champion.
Arnold declaimed against the temporal power of the
Church, to which he attributed the worldly avarice of
the clergy, whose nets were used to catch gold and
silver, but not souls. He also denounced the power of
emperor or king, declaring that the people themselves
formed the only rightful temporal sovereign.  St.
Bernard supported Arnold in so far as he desired
reform of the Church and abolition of the corrupting influences of the temporal power; but denounced
him as a heretic for his opposition to the Pope
and the Hierarchy. At a Lateran Council in 1139
a decree of banishment was pronounced against
Arnold.
In 1143, in his enforced absence, the Romans revolted against the Pope and restored the ancient forms
227




tihe Story of Rome
of the Republic on the Capitol, the equestrian order,
tribunes and senate. They made Jordan Pierleone head
of the civic government with the title of Patricius. They
declared the temporal power of the Pope to be at an
end, and destroyed the forts and palaces of the cardinals,
bishops and Papal nobles. The Frangipani, and other
nobles, joined hands with the Pope, Lucius II., who
personally led them in an attack upon the Capitol.
The quarrel being now one between aristocracy and
democracy, the Roman plebeians on the Capitol defended themselves with the courage of their ancestors.
The Pope, as he led his party up the hill, was struck
by a stone and killed, and the attack was repulsed.
The new Pope, Eugenius III., fled to France. Arnold
then returned to Rome, where he continued to rouse
the inferior clergy against their superiors, and to
strengthen the democratic spirit.
When the Englishman became Pope, as Adrian IV.,
II54, he demanded the expulsion of Arnold from
Rome. The Romans refused, and Adrian found himself a prisoner in the Leonine city. The power of
excommunication was his only weapon. He made the
fullest use of it. He placed Rome itself under the
interdict. All religious ceremonies ceased; no mass
was read; the churches were closed; the only sacraments celebrated were those for the baptism of infants,
and extreme unction to the dying; the dead were
refused burial in consecrated ground.  In those days
every important act was done after consultation with
the priest, just as in Pagan times the gods or oracles
were always consulted in serious matters.  But an
interdict cut off all intercourse between man and God,
leaving the world to the unrestrained power of the
devil. The Romans gave in. They expelled Arnold
and abandoned their Republic.
Triumphant in Rome, Adrian had still to deal with
228




Roman Revolutions


Frederic Barbarossa, who was on his way to Rome
for his coronation as emperor. He left Rome to meet
the arrogant young prince.   When the Pope had
approached, on horseback, the royal tent, he waited in
vain for the appearance of Barbarossa to perform the
usual ceremony of holding the Papal stirrup as the
Pontiff alighted.  At this deliberate affront the
cardinals fled in panic-leaving Adrian to get of his
horse without assistance.  Barbarossa then came forth
and cast himself at Adrian's feet, but the Pope refused
him the kiss of peace.  In the end, victory lay with
Adrian. Barbarossa had come to be crowned emperor
by the Pope, and he held the Pope's stirrup in order to
accomplish that purpose.  In return for the Imperial
crown, Adrian also demanded that the heretic and rebel
Arnold should be delivered over to him, a condition to
which Frederic readily agreed.   The doctrines of
Arnold were equally obnoxious to king and to Pope.
Arnold was captured by Frederic, and executed by
order of the Pope.  So popular was he in Rome that
the Pope ordered his body to be burnt and the ashes
to be thrown into the Tiber, that the populace might
not worship the remains.
Abelard and Arnold were in front of their age.
Abelard was the intellectual pioneer, the precursor of
Locke and Kant.     Arnold was the forerunner of
Mazzini.   He was the first to arouse opposition
to the secular character of the clergy.  In 1862,
seven hundred years after his death, election placards
in Italy carried the words, ' Viva il Pana non
Re!    Viva Arnaldo da Brescia!     Viva il Clero
Liberale! '
The meeting between Barbarossa and the envoys
sent from Rome to greet him, well illustrates the
longing of the Romans for a return of their former
consideration.  They addressed the emperor in bom229




The Story of Rome
bastic terms: ' We, ambassadors of the city, not
insignificant men of Rome, are sent by the Roman
Senate and people to thy Excellency. Benevolently
hear what the illustrious mistress of the world, whose
sovereign thou wilt soon be, offers thee. Thou desirest
the empire of the world, and I (Rome) gladly rise to
hasten forward with the crown. Thou wast my guest;
I have now made thee a citizen.  What was mine by
right I have given thee. Thou art, therefore, pledged
first of all to uphold my good customs and to swear to
the laws, ratified by thy predecessors, so that they may
not be injured by the fury of the barbarian. Thou
shalt pay ~5000 to my officials, whose duty it is to
proclaim thee on the Capitol; thou shalt avert every
injury from the Republic at the cost of thy blood, and
thou shalt confirm this by oath and documents.' To
this pompous oration the great Hohenstaufen replied:
-' I have heard much of the valour, still more of the
sagacity of the Romans. I am   therefore surprised
that your speech should be inflated by such foolish
arrogance and be so destitute of all reason. Thou
holdest up before me the nobility of thy ancient city.
I grant it; and with thy historian I say that virtue once
dwelt in this Republic. Rome has experienced the
change of things under the moon; or has perchance
this city alone been able to escape the law of all earthly
things?  Wilt thou know where the ancient glory of
thy Rome has gone? Look at my Teutonic nobles,
my banded chivalry.  These are the patricians, these
are the true Romans; this is the Senate invested in
perpetual authority. Thou demandest a sworn promise
to pay money. Is Rome not ashamed to traffic with
her emperor as with a usurer?  The great repay as a
favour only that which has been merited.  To what
laws do you presume to appeal but those which I shall
be pleased to enact?  Your only liberty is to render
230




Roman Revolutions


allegiance to your sovereign.  My entrance shall be a
festival for the city; but to those who unjustly demand
what is unjust, I will justly refuse all.'
The crestfallen Romans retired, full of humiliation
and resentment.  The coronation of Barbarossa by
Adrian in St. Peter's, was watched in gloomy defiance.
The emperor had not recognised the Roman constitution; he had rejected their offered votes; he had refused
the customary payment. When the ceremony was over,
the newly-crowned emperor, on his way to his camp
under Monte Mario, was accompanied as far as the
Bridge of St. Angelo by the Pope, who then crossed
the river and proceeded to his palace at the Lateran.
Then occurred the usual coronation battle.   The
Romans were the aggressors.    They attacked the
emperor's escort, and were beaten off with much loss.
But they refused to supply the German army with
provisions, and Barbarossa was compelled to retire
from  Rome.   Very few of the mediaeval emperors
were permitted by jealous Rome to cross the river and
enter the city.
Adrian IV. died in 11 59. He had failed to subdue
the Roman Republic; and Frederic Barbarossa, the
greatest monarch since Charlemagne, had become his
enemy. On his death-bed he inveighed against the
misfortunes of his lot. ' Oh, that I had never left my
native land, England, or the convent of St. Rufus.
Is there elsewhere in the world a man so miserable as
the Pope?   I have found so much hardship on the
Papal throne that all the bitterness of my past life
seems sweet in comparison.  Truly it is with justice
that the Pope is called the servant of the servants.
He is enslaved by the rapacity of the servile souls of
the Romans, and, does he fail to satisfy them, he is
forced to leave his throne and Rome as a fugitive;'
His coffin lies in the crypt of the Vatican, in a rude,
231




VTie Story of Rome


inartistic sarcophagus of red granite, fitly enclosing the
only English Pope, whose nature was as firm and
strong as the granite itself.
A Papal schism followed the election of Adrian's
successor, Alexander III.  Barbarossa supported an
anti-pope, and was thereupon excommunicated by
Alexander.   The reply of the emperor was to encamp with a large army before Rome. The Romans
defended their Pope, as they had before defended
Gregory VII. against the Emperor Henry IV. Barbarossa soon was master of the Leonine city, though
his Germans had to fight every step of the way
from the gates of St. Peter's up to the high altar,
leaving the pavement covered with corpses, the walls
and altars stained with blood. The Pope fled, but
Rome still held out. Then the great Roman ally
intervened'with irresistible force. The German army
was almost destroyed by an epidemic of malaria. In
a few days two thousand knights and squires were
dead, and the common soldiers in proportion. Barbarossa had no option but to break up his camp and
retire hastily northwards.  St. Thomas a Becket
voiced the general belief in a visitation from Heaven,
when he declared that the new Sennacherib had been
smitten in his pride.
In I190 the emperor was drowned while crossing
a river in the Holy Land. Many legends are connected with the name of the German national hero.
In an enchanted cave on the summit of the mountain
Kyffhauser he sits, his great red beard   having
grown through the stone table before him, waiting
till the ravens  cease hovering  over the  peak;
then he will come forth with his knights to bring
back to Germany the golden age of strength and
unity.
In the middle of the thirteenth century the Romans,
232




Roman Revolutions


as was their custom, drove their Pope, Innocent IV.,
out of the city. He had been absent nine years when
the newly-appointed Senator, Brancaleone, summoned
him to his capital, telling him roundly that 'it became not the pastor to abandon his flock; he was the
bishop not of Lyons, of Perugia, of Anagni, but of
Rome.' The Pope found it necessary to obey, and
returned to Rome like a scolded child.
Brancaleone held the position as Senator, which in
other Italian free towns went by the name of podesta,
or chief magistrate. A custom had arisen in Italy for
one town to invite a stranger from a friendly town
to preside over the municipality for a period of six
months.  Impartial and good government was expected, and often obtained, from these officials, who
were always men of position and distinction in the town
which was willing to lend them, for a short time, to
their fellow republics. Such an exchange of leading
citizens gives evidence of Republican fraternity, and
of a common national sentiment.  Solemn deputations
had frequently been seen in Rome, from even such
great towns as Pisa and Florence, begging for the loan
of an impartial and able magistrate. Rome had never
gone abroad for her Senator until, in 1252, the corrupt
state of the Republic, the violence and tyranny of the
nobles, and the implacable feud between Colonna and
Orsini, led the democratic leaders of the people to
seek a Senator from outside their own walls. They
applied to Bologna, then famous for its school of law,
and the Bolognese sent them Brancaleone degli Andalo,
Count of Casalecchio, a man learned in the law, of
good birth, of severe Republican spirit, and rich enough
to be unbribable. Gregorovius tells us that when
Prince Edward, afterwards King Edward I. of England, visited Bologna, Brancaleone sent him a hundred
carriages laden with gifts, so that the young prince
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The Story of Rome
declared  England  itself was  not   so  rich  as
Brancaleone.
Before agreeing to take up his new duties, Brancaleone showed his knowledge of the condition of affairs
in Rome, by demanding that he should have the
government for three years, instead of the usual six
months; and that the sons of thirty Roman nobles
should be sent to Bologna as hostages for his personal
security. These extraordinary conditions being, after
some hesitation, agreed to, the Senator journeyed to
Rome, where he was received with great honour, and
led in procession to the Capitol, amid the plaudits of the
delighted people, and the frowns of clergy and nobility.
The salary of the Senator was I500 gold florins for
the six months, paid as to one third on taking up his
office, another third at the commencement of his third
month, and the last third after the close of the term,
provided his conduct had given satisfaction.  Out of
this money the Senator had to pay for his own court,
or familia, consisting of a guard and other officials
brought with him from abroad. He was both chief
justice and commander-in-chief, with power of life and
death. But he was jealously watched in all his movements, and his personal freedom greatly curtailed.  He
could not leave the Capitol, except on stated occasions;
was debarred from the society of wife or child; and
was cut off from all social intercourse with the citizens.
He was a splendid prisoner.
Where important matters had to be settled, the
Senator, by his herald, summoned the Romans to a
parliament, while the bell of the Capitol was tolled.
The people assembled in front of the palace of the
Senator, in what is now called the Piazza del Campidoglio, their numbers on some occasions covering the
steps and extending to the Piazza Ara Coeli at their
base. They voted on the great questions of the time
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Roman Revolutions


-whether war, or an alliance, was to be made with
neighbouring communes,-how the emperor was to be
received,-whether the
return  of the absent           /
Pope was to be peremptorily   demanded. 
Lesser  matters  were
discussed in the Basilica
of Ara Coeli by the
representatives of the
thirteen regions. Here
Colonna   and  Orsini,
Frangipani and   Pierleoni, Savelli and
Capocci, Conti and
Anibaldi, met in fierce
debate, while the solitary
prisoner from  Bologna
presided over their meetings, and occasionally                i 
ordered one or other of    S
them to be clapped into _
prison or hung.
Brancaleone made full  1
use of his powers.  He  i, y ' ~
took up the cause of the  ^    -'          M,
people against the Pope' '  '' '".''
and the nobility, and -o
dealt out justice with  ~   '
fearless impartiality. He   AMBO IN THE ARA C(ELI
began, as we have said,
by accusing  Innocent IV. of 'wandering    like a
vagabond, now   here now   there, deserting  Rome,
the seat of the Apostle,'    and  compelling  him
to return meekly to his flock.   He   stopped the
brawling and violence of the nobles, hitherto accus235




Trhe Story of Rome
tomed to use their towers as fortresses whence they
might issue forth to kill any passer-by, or to lay
regular siege to the tower of a rival. By imprisonment
and hanging, unsparingly administered, Brancaleone
made the streets of Rome secure. During his three
years of power Rome was entirely independent of
both Pope and emperor, and became a respected
free state; and the people loved their foreign Senator.
But when the three years were over he was seized
by the nobles, and would have lost his life but for
the hostages which his forethought had obtained, now
secure in the hands of the Bolognese. The Pope
demanded the restoration of the hostages.  Bologna
refused. The Pope passed upon Bologna the fearful sentence of interdict.  Still the Bolognese, cut
off as they were from all hope of spiritual salvation,
helplessly exposed to the machinations of the devil,
defied both Pope and hell.  The hostages were kept
under strict lock and key, and Brancaleone lived.  In
the end the nobles had to set him flee.
Rome relapsed into her former condition of civil
war and disorder.  The people rose in revolt, they
attacked the Capitol, killed one of the Anibaldi, and
captured several towers, amongst them the Tor de'
Conti, which may still be seen off the Via Cavour.
Petrarch speaks of it as 'Turris illa toto urbe unica
quae comitum dicebatur.'  The nobles were obliged
to agree to the return of Brancaleone for a further
period of three years. His journey to Rome was not
without danger, the Pope having placed hired assassins
in ambush for him on the road, whom he was fortunate
in escaping. This time the great Senator entirely
crushed the Papal nobility. He hanged relatives of the
Pope himself, and imprisoned or banished many of the
members of noble families. The Pope fled to Viterbo,
whence he launched a bull of excommunication, which
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Roman Revolutions


was harmless against the popular idol.  The Romans
retaliated by marching upon Anagni, the home of the
Pope, and they threatened to raze it to the ground.
Alexander IV. was obliged to beg for mercy, and to
resign all pretence of civil power in the city. Brancaleone then ruthlessly attacked the root of the troubles
of Rome. He caused 140 of the towers of the nobility
to be entirely destroyed.  Gregorovius estimates that
there were probably at least 300 of such towers in existence, besides 300 attached to the city walls, and 300
campanili.
Brancaleone did not complete his second term. He
died of fever in Rome in I258. The people honoured
his memory in a sincere though curious manner.
They placed his head in a costly vase, on the top of
a marble column, on the Capitol.
The period between the Papal move to Avignon in
1309, and the end of the great schism, by the election
of Martin V. in I417, was a time of grave danger to
the Papacy, and of uncontrolled disorder at Rome.
The city, in the absence of the Pope, or in the presence of a Papal schism, was a prey to Anarchy. At
intervals a central authority would be established,
whose appearance would be marked by an epidemic
of executions.  But in the general melee the standardbearer would be cut down, and then every man's sword
was once more free to be turned against his neighbour.
Henry VII. came to be crowned at Rome in 1312.
He had to fight his way through the streets. The
Capitol was taken, but his Germans were defeated, after
many on both sides had been slain, in a street battle,
in which barricades and towers played a prominent
part.  Henry was obliged to beg the Romans, of
their own free will, to crown him.  They agreed,
and appointed Sciarra Colonna to perform the ceremony.
The fierce noble, who twenty-five years before had
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The Story of Rome
pointed his sword at the breast of a pope, now took
the place of the Pope as a dispenser of the Imperial
crown, placing it with his own hand upon the German
king's head. Well had he avenged the wrongs of his
house.
Rome felt the absence of the Pope as an ever-increasing misfortune.  Gregorovius tells us that, ' In
poverty and obscurity she withered away, a rubbishheap of history, while the Pope accumulated gold and
treasures in distant Avignon.  The savage feuds of the
nobles, quarrelling for the shreds of the senatorial
mantle, raged day and night above the dust and ruins.
The hostile houses of Colonna and Orsini severed
Rome as the Guelphs and Ghibellines severed other
cities.  One could not overpower the other.'...
'No means sufficed to reconcile the hatred of the
hostile factions in Rome.   Family fought against
family, the populace against the nobility, the plebeians
among themselves. A truce was occasionally agreed
upon; then all sides rushed again to arms. Vain were
the exhortations of Benedict XII., the Pope at Avignon. The factions entrenched themselves in Rome,
where they barred one entrance after another. Stephen
Colonna held four bridges; the remainder were occupied by Jacopo Savelli and his followers. On September
3, 1335, the Orsini destroyed Ponte Molle.'  The
distant Pope tried to tranquillise the city by appointing
two of the chief rivals, an Orsini and a Colonna, as
Senators. But the Romans attacked and captured the
Capitol, expelled one Senator and imprisoned the other,
and then sought their salvation in the importation of
two Florentines. The Pope protested against the employment of men who were not his adherents, and
superseded them  by his nominees.    The Romans
drove the latter away, and no peace came to the miserable city.
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Roman Revolutions


A brief gleam of sunshine lighted Rome when (in
I 341 ) a festival was held on the Capitol for the coronation of Petrarch as Poet Laureate. After reciting an
address, the poet was crowned by the Senator, amid
the applause of the Romans, who shouted, ' Long life
to the poet, and to the Capitol.' The memory of her
great past brought to Rome the foremost literary man
of the age, there to receive the patronage of the miserable beggars and cut-throats who lingered among her
ruins. A strange scene.
On one, at least, of the spectators it made a deep
impression. Unobserved among the crowd was a young
man of singular personal beauty, Nicola, son of Lorenzo
Gabrini, to us known as Rienzi, in his own day Cola
di Rienzo. His father was an innkeeper, his mother a
washerwoman, his profession that of a notary. Unlike
his barbarous fellow-citizens, who knew nothing of
Roman history, Rienzi had read of the great days of
the ruler of the world in Livy, Seneca and Cicero.
And as he saw the chief representative of European
literature crowned in the city which had honoured
Horace and Virgil, as he watched the vulgar bandits
going through the ancient ceremonies, he longed for a
restoration to Rome of some of her former greatness.
Perhaps he had read the De Monarchia, and had followed Dante's argument as to the necessity of a central,
universal monarchy with Rome for its capital. Standing before the inscriptions on the marble slabs which
lay about the city, he eagerly explained their meaning
to any who would hear him, and spoke of the great
traditions of the deserted capital. 'Where are those
good old Romans?' he would say. ' Where is their
lofty rectitude? Would that I could transport myself
back to the times when these men flourished! '
Though regarded as a visionary, even a lunatic, Rienzi
acquired fame as a speaker, and was sent as envoy to
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The Story of Rome
Clement VI. at Avignon, to beg him to re-visit Rome
and to declare a Jubilee for the year 1350. The Pope
was pleased with his eloquence, and, while not able to
visit Rome, agreed to make the Jubilee a celebration
every fifty years.  Rienzi was greatly encouraged, and
endeavoured, by speeches and symbolical pictures, to
kindle the enthusiasm of the Romans. He discovered
in the Lateran the bronze tablet inscribed with part of
the Lex Regia, by which the Imperial power was
conferred on Vespasian. He had it built into the wall
behind the choir of the Lateran basilica, and round it
a painting made of the Senate making Vespasian Emperor. He invited nobles and people to listen to a
discourse on the subject, which he delivered from a
prepared tribune, wearing a white toga and white hat.
' Illustrious Rome,' he began, 'lies in the dust. She
cannot even see her fall, since both her eyes-the
emperor and the Pope -have been torn from her.
Romans, behold how great was the splendour of the
Senate, which invested the Imperium with authority in
former days.' Then he read and explained the inscription to his listeners.
One day a great picture was seen painted on the
wall of the church of S. Angelo in Pescheria, in which
the sad condition and future greatness of Rome were
allegorically presented by a burning woman, an angel,
doves, and so on. Then on the wall of S. Giorgio in
Velabro appeared an inscription prophesying the resurrection of Rome.
While Rienzi's opinions were approved, people were
astonished at his taking the trouble to enunciate them.
A revival of Roman glory seemed beyond all reasonable
expectations.
The subsequent errors of the young enthusiast arose
in part from his hatred of the nobles. His younger
brother had been murdered in the street, and Rienzi's
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Roman Revolutions


efforts to obtain the punishment of the murderer had
been received with the sneers of the barons, who
taunted him  with his lowly birth.   John Colonna
invited him to meet a company of the nobility at dinner,
ostensibly in order to hear about his projects, but really
to amuse his guests.  Rienzi was stung by their superior
airs, and mocking laughter. He greatly tickled the
nobles with his angry defiance, as, pointing from one
to the other, he promised to hang some, and have
others beheaded, when he came to be their ruler.
The Jubilee of 1350, from which both Rome and
the Pope expected to obtain great profit, was approaching. The first Jubilee, or holy year, was announced
by Boniface VIII. in 1300. He promised plenary
indulgence to all who during the year should visit the
basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul. These indulgences had their origin in the early days of Christianity.
The Roman spirit of centralisation, of subordination of
the individual to the State; was as marked in the small
association of Christians as in the great world of the
Roman Empire. All sin against the Christian religion
was regarded primarily as sin against the Christian
community. The secret meetings of the sect being
under the ban of the law, it was very necessary to
enforce discipline, and to expel all half-hearted or
suspicious members.  Any sin against the Christian
religion was followed by expulsion, unless the sinner
satisfied the community of his regret. He had to convince the society of his sincerity by (I) public confession; (2) a voluntary peace-offering.  Then only
would the president lead the congregation in a common
prayer to God for forgiveness and acceptance of the
repentant culprit once more into the Christian fold.
Gradually the priest came to act for the community.
The Church then laid down the doctrine that there was
earthly, and purgatorial, punishment for all sin. The
Q                 241




rhe Story of Rome
latter could not with certainty be avoided; but the
Church, on confession and the receipt of an offering
in proof of penitence, agreed to intercede for the petitioner.  For the sin against the Church, an indulgence,
or forgiveness, was granted, in return for a money payment or other service.  Urban II. granted plenary
indulgence, a pardon for all sins against the Church,
to all actual Crusaders; and this was afterwards extended to all who made a money payment for the
advancement of the Crusades. When, by the fall of
Acre in 1292, the Crusades came to an end, Boniface
VIII. hit upon the plan of the Jubilee Year as a means
of stimulating Christian enthusiasm, and assisting the
Papal finances by the sale of indulgences.
It was an immense success. All Europe responded,
in a general contagion of religious zeal.  The roads in
the remotest parts of Germany, Hungary, Britain, were
crowded with pilgrims on the march to Rome. It
was estimated that there 'was a traffic of 30,000
pilgrims in and out of the city daily, and that 2,000,000
had  entered  Rome in the year.      The offerings
were gathered in at the altars with long rakes, the
copper coins alone giving a value of 50,000 gold
florins.
It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this
event.  From that time, jubilees and indulgences became the chief features in Papal policy. At first intended to inaugurate the commencement of each century,
the jubilees were afterwards fixed at intervals of
fifty, then thirty-three, and finally twenty-five years.
Originally to be earned only by personal attendance in
Rome, indulgences were extended to all who visited
certain specified churches in other countries, until the
pilgrimage came to hold a secondary position to the
payment of money. The money so obtained was indispensable to the Pontiff.  It was the sheet-anchor of
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Roman Revolutions


his finance. The manner in which it was collected
hastened the Reformation.
Rienzi, the Roman people, and the Pope, were united
in their desire for a successful Jubilee. But no pilgrims could be expected in Rome so long as the roads
in the environs were infested with banditti, and the
very streets of the city unsafe.  Thus the effort of
Rienzi to establish good government, though opposed
by the noble robbers and malefactors, was warmly supported by Pope and people.   With their approval,
Rienzi, after hearing mass in the church of S. Angelo
in Pescheria, marched at the head of a mob, accompanied by a Papal legate, to the Capitol, where he
announced new laws for the good estate (buono stato).
He declared that henceforth every murderer would be
executed; that all fortresses, bridges, and gates, would
be taken out of the hands of the nobles, and confided to
a representative of the people; that the barons would
be compelled to keep the roads open, and to put down
bandits; that widows and orphans and religious houses
would be supported by the Government; and a granary
established in each region. The people, who were
assembled on the Capitol, responded to this announcement with shouts of applause; and Rienzi was named
Tribune. He called himself ' Nicholas, by the grace
of Jesus Christ, Severe and Merciful, the Tribune of
Freedom, Peace and Justice, and the Liberator of the
Holy Roman Republic.'
Old Stephen Colonna, on being summoned to Rome
by the Tribune, answered: ' Tell the fool that if he
troubles me with his insolence I will throw him from
the windows of the Capitol.' But he had to come,
and was forced to join the other nobles in swearing
obedience to the Tribune, and to the laws of the Good
Estate.
Rienzi caused many of the baronial towers to be
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The Story of Rome
demolished, and succeeded in bringing back order and
prosperity to Rome.  But his insatiable vanity and
self-indulgence ruined him. The sneers of the nobles
at his lowly birth still rankled. The son of a washerwoman now announced that his father was no less a
person than the Emperor Henry VII. Not content
with his imperial ancestry, he determined to have himself knighted, with solemnities of special rarity and
splendour.  The popular festival of the ist of August
was at hand.    On the previous evening, Rienzi,
accompanied by all the chief civic and cleric officials of
Rome, proceeded in state to the baptistery of the
Lateran, and bathed in the basin of green basalt in
which Constantine is said to have washed away both
his Paganism  and his leprosy.  He slept in the
baptistery, and next morning was invested with the
girdle and gold spurs of a knight.  An immense public
banquet was given in the Lateran field, and the bronze
horse of Marcus Aurelius poured wine from one nostril,
water from the other. From this time Rienzi gave
himself* great titles-Candidate of the Holy Spirit,
the Knight Nicholas, Friend of the World, Tribune
Augustus, and so forth.  On the i5th of August, the
day of the Assumption of the Virgin, he was crowned
with six wreaths made of oak, ivy, myrtle, laurel, olive
-all taken from plants growing on the Arch of Constantine-and, finally, silver. He now declared that he
was filled with the Holy Ghost, compared himself with
Christ, and behaved in a most extravagant manner.
The festivals of the ist and I 5th August were to
Rienzi what the feast of the Supreme Being was to
Robespierre. They were the pinnacle from which a
fall was inevitable.
Rienzi still felt that he had not sufficiently triumphed
over the barons.  Their sneers at John Colonna's
dinner-party had not been fully paid back. He invited
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Roman Revolutions


all the chief nobles to a splendid banquet in the Capitol.
While bandying courtesies with his illustrious guests, he
tried in vain to overawe them with his grandeur and
dignity. But he had a moment of sweet revenge in
store. At the close of the meal every aristocrat
present was arrested, and thrust into prison, on the
charge of treasonous conspiracy against the popular
government. They were condemned to death.    The
great bell of the Capitol tolled for their execution.
They were brought to the scaffold in the Capitol; confessed; and were shriven. Stephen Colonna alone
refused to confess, declaring, with true aristocratic
arrogance, that no plebeian would have the courage
to put him to death.  Marvellous to relate, Rienzi
did in fact tremble before the proud old noble. He
preached a long sermon, concluding with a free pardon
to all; and promoted some of these convicted traitors
to the lighest offices in the State. His conduct
was universally regarded as an ignoble exhibition of
vanity, spite and cowardice. His plebeian friends were
ashamed, his aristocratic enemies infuriated.
The populace were of sterner stuff. In a battle
outside the gate of S. Lorenzo on November 20,
I 347, the barons were severely defeated, Stephen
Colonna (son of the great Stephen), his son John,
Peter Colonna, Jordan Orsini, and many others of the
chief nobles being slain. So many were killed that the
fall of the powef' of the nobility in Rome is reckoned
from that date. Rienzi showed himself a coward
during the fight, and behaved like a cad when his
side had won. The Colonna widows brought their
dead to be buried in the family chapel in Ara Cceli.
Rienzi ordered them to be driven away.  'If these
three accursed corpses irritate me further,' he said,
'I will have them thrown into the ditch of the hanged,
to which as traitors they belong.' On the day after
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The Story of Rome
the battle he took his son L orenzo to the spot where
Stephen Colonna had fallen, and baptized him with the
noble's blood as 'Knight Lorenzo of the Victory.'
He led his troops in triumph to the Capitol, where he
crowned himself with a wreath of olive; then, wiping
his bloodless sword upon his dress, he exclaimed,
' Thou hast struck the ear from a head which neither
emperor nor Pope was able to cut off! '
The good government and the grand schemes of the
Tribune had, in seven months, degenerated into tyranny
and self-indulgence. The Romans began to dislike
and to be ashamed of their leader. When the Pope
issued a bull accusing Rienzi of the intention to restore
the Empire in his own pqrson, and threatened excommunication, Rienzi was abandoned by Rome. Totally
incapable of assuming any determined or manly attitude,
the Tribune alternately swore and prayed. On December I5, I347, he abdicated; then, after a brief
refuge in the Castle of St. Angelo, secretly fled the
city.
His place was taken by the Black Death. The
ravages of the plague in the middle of the fourteenth
century filled Europe with superstitious terror. The
world went mad with fear. Some, imitating the Pagan
attitude towards the early Christians, attributed the
calamity to the existence in the world of Jews, who
were killed in large numbers; others joined the processions of flagellants which swarmed through the
towns; others again, feeling the uncertainty of life,
took to robbery and self-indulgence.  In  Rome,
sparsely populated, the plague appears to have been
comparatively moderate.  A  memento of its presence exists in the steps leading to the church of
the Ara Ccmli, built for the use of the pilgrims who
came to worship an image of the Virgin, which the
Romans regarded as their special protector from epi246




.THE STEPS TO THE ARA CCELI
I
<14 
-.1"l)
OF
C




I




Roman Revolutions


demics.  (The existing steps are restorations.)  Possibly the violent earthquake which seriously injured
many of the famous monuments, and drove the inhabitants out of their houses to live in tents, may have
had a sanitary influence.
The condition of Rome was indeed so desperate that
it could not have withstood any such blows as those
dealt by the Black Death upon Florence. The power
of the barons had been almost destroyed by the death of
their leaders on the field of battle; the Tribune of the
people had been driven out of the city; the Pope was
permanently absent.  The Jubilee of 1350 saved
Rome. It was also the one hope of mankind. The
world seemed to be passing through a time of nightmare,
which made penitence, confession and absolution more
than ever necessary. Matteo Villani says that I,200,000
pilgrims arrived in Rome between Christmas and Easter,
and 8oo00,000ooo more at Whitsuntide. The number was
undoubtedly very great. With them came Petrarch,
who expressed the amazement and horror of all the
pilgrims at the terrible condition of Rome.  ' The
houses are overthrown, the walls come to the ground,
the temples fall, the sanctuaries perish, the laws are
trodden under foot. The Lateran lies on the ground,
and the Mother of all the churches stands without a
roof and exposed to wind and rain. The holy dwellings of S. Peter and S. Paul totter, and what was
lately the temple of the Apostles is a shapeless heap of
ruins to excite pity in hearts of stone.' The riotous
anarchy of Rome may be judged from the fate of the
Jubilee Legates appointed by the Pope to dispense indulgences. One of them, Cardinal Guido, fled from
Rome, terrified by the savage mob which had attacked
the palace. The other, Cardinal Anibaldo, after receiving an arrow through his hat, never dared to appear
in the streets without a helmet under his hat, and a
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the Story of Rome
coat of mail under his habit. He was even driven to
the extraordinary expedient of laying Rome under the
interdict for eight days, during the holy year. He,
and several members of his family, died in the month
of July, of poison, it was said.
While Rome was given up to plague, murder and
robbery, Rienzi was living among the hermits of the
Fraticelli, in the mountains of the Abruzzi. As a
tertiary of the Order, he wore the single coarse gown
and cord, and lived on the rough, scanty fare. He remained doing penances among the anchorites for more
than two years. Then a hermit, Fra Angelo by name,
found him out, and explained that by Divine revelation he had learned that a holy man, chosen of God,
was destined to reform the world, and that he, Rienzi,
was that man.   A   parchment containing Merlin's
prophecies clearly pointed to Rienzi, and in every way
supported the hermit's tale.  Rienzi did not hesitate.
He left his solitude and went forth once more to
reform the world; only to find himself, after much
wandering, a prisoner at Avignon. His life was in
danger, but Petrarch interceded for him. Clement VI.
died, and the new Pope, Innocent VI., tried the experiment of sending Rienzi to Rome, to restore order
under the Papal authority. The Romans received him
with enthusiasm. But they found a great change in
their former favourite.  'Formerly,' says Muratori,
'he was sober, temperate, abstemious; he had now
become an inordinate drinker; he was always eating
confectionery, and drinking. It was terrible to see him.
It is said that in person he was of old quite meagre;
he had become enormously fat, and jovial as an abbot.'
His personal appearance and habits had become revolting, and his government was now an unmitigated
tyranny, compounded of unjust taxation, personal
extravagance and capricious hanging. In two short
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Roman Revolutions


months the people were driven to revolt. They
gathered on the Capitol, crying, ' Death to the tyrant,'
and set fire to the palace (since replaced by the existing Palace of the Senator).  Rienzi appeared on the
balcony, dressed in his knightly armour, and tried to
speak.  But the people would not listen; they pelted
him with stones, and one with an arrow pierced
the Tribune's hand. He then determined to escape.
He hastily cut off his beard, blackened his face, put on
the clothes of a shepherd, and joined the crowd. But
he was recognised by his gold bracelets, and surrounded
by the hooting mob. He stood among them, unable
to make himself heard, for more than an hour, close to
the basalt lions which stood at the bottom of the
palace steps-the spot at which he had first announced
the Good Estate, and where afterwards many of his
victims had been hanged. At last, during a slight lull
in the groaning and hooting, his voice was heard commencing a speech. Fearful of its influence, the nearest
man silenced it with a thrust of his pike. Then all
turned to hacking at the corpse.
Rienzi's two governments lasted no more than nine
months together. A few weeks of power made him a
cruel, unjust and incompetent ruler, devoted chiefly to the
indulgence of his passions and his vanity.  But for the
unique conditions, in time and place, of his environment,
he would never have risen to a false and unhappy celebrity.
Arnold of Brescia has more of our respect. He
was no boaster, no drunkard.   His single-minded
integrity, religious devotion, and clean life had earned
for him the praise of his ascetic opponent, St. Bernard.
While Rienzi aimed merely at the regeneration of
Rome, Arnold worked for a reformation of society.
He denounced the temporal Papacy, as did St.
Bernard, for its effect in oppressing the State and
degrading the Church, and hoped that by its overthrow
251




Tihe Story of Rome
not only would Rome once more become important,
but the true teaching of Christ would be renewed
throughout Christendom. Arnold failed as completely
as Rienzi. But his aims were far the larger; their
advocacy had in it no self-seeking; and they have been
successfully accomplished by a subsequent generation.
Italy has made Rome, not Rome Italy. Arnold saw,
what Rienzi did not see, that the claims of Rome were
trivial compared with the claims of Italy, nay, of mankind; that it was not for her own sake, but for the
advantage of Italy and the world, that Rome was to be
the capital of the Peninsula.
Soon after the fall of Rienzi, the cessation of the war
between England and France let loose upon society
large numbers of professional soldiers, who went about
in bands under some noted leader, and made a living
out of war. Italy, where rival towns and nobles,
Guelphs and Ghibellines, were always at feud, offered
a great field for these adventurers. One of the most
famous of them was an Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood, known to the Italians as 'Acuto,' in command
of ' The White Company.' Accosted one day by two
mendicant friars with the customary ' God give you
peace,' Hawkwood rudely answered, ' God take away
your alms.' The terrified friars protested they meant
no harm. Hawkwood rejoined, 'Do you not know
that I live by war? You are praying that God would
make me die of hunger.' One of his first expeditions
was directed against Avignon, which was in so defenceless a state that Innocent VI. was glad to buy him off,
pointing, at the same time, to the vast plunder and the
soldierless condition of Italy. Hawkwood took the
hint, and had a long and triumphant career in Italy in
the employ of the Visconti, of the Pope, and finally of
the Republic of Florence. He married the daughter
of Bernabo Visconti. On his death the Florentines
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Roman Revolutions


gave him a public funeral, and commemorated his services by an equestrian portrait in monochrome in the
Duomo. Some of the noblest Roman houses contributed young aristocrats to the ranks of the condottieri,
even the Colonna, Orsini and Savelli. Others-the
Sforza, Braccio, Malatesta, etc.-owe their rise to the
ability of a plebeian mercenary soldier.
Rome continued her appeal to the Pope to return to
his capital.  Petrarch and the saintly Catherine of
Siena added their entreaties.  It was evident that the
Avignonese residence was ruining both Rome and the
Papacy. Rome was losing trade and population, and
had become a den of thieves. The Papacy had come
in contact with the critical Western mind; while the
idleness, luxuriance and vice of the court at Avignon
still further estranged sympathy, and destroyed respect.
Yet the French Popes would in all probability have
continued to enjoy their ease in their beloved France,
if it had not been for the revolt against the Papal
authority, organised by Florence among the Italian
cities.  If Rome had joined the federation, it is
probable that the whole of Italy would have been lost
to the Pope. But Rome held back, and continued to
urge upon the Pope the absolute necessity of his return,
pointing out the probable consequences of a refusal.
The very life of the Papacy was at stake. Rome,
Petrarch and Catherine triumphed.   Gregory XI.
entered Rome; the Papacy was saved, not from
Roman turbulence, for that at once recommenced, nor
from schism, for the greatest of schisms immediately
broke out, but from the fate in store at Avignon-from
oblivion.
Gregory XI. left Avignon on September 13, 1376,
Marseilles on October 2, and arrived at Ostia on
January 14, 1377.  Every step of the halting journey
was attended with alarming omens, every advance made
253




The Story of Rome
in anxiety and fear.  From  Ostia he sailed up the
Tiber, landing at St. Paul's, where he was met by the
citizens; a procession was formed, and a triumphal
march made into Rome on the 17th January 1377.
Preceded by a large company of dancing buffoons
dressed in white, came the Pope riding a fine, richlyclothed horse, while the Senator and nobles of Rome
held a baldacchino over his head.  The route was
along the bank of the river, through the deserted Field
of Mars, and across the bridge of St. Angelo to St.
Peter's.  The Frenchman's path was strewn with
roses by the enthusiastic people.  He looked upon
their rough exterior, heard their strange speech, and
observed the desolation and ruin around him, with feelings of disgust and dismay. He had left behind him
the land of his birth, his luxurious home, a safe retreat
from violence; he was now in the midst of a foreign
people whose turbulence had driven away many of his
predecessors, who were in the lowest state of poverty
and degradation. He had been warned by his physicians that his delicate constitution would be seriously
injured by the climate.  He regarded himself, not
without reason, as a martyr to the necessities of the
Church.
The Pope's fears were soon justified. Rome entirely
repudiated his temporal authority, definitely refusing to
give up her Republican forms, her self-government.
Gregory resolved to return to Avignon. If he had
done so, it is probable that no Pope would again have
left the comfort and security of the French retreat.
At this crisis the pestilential atmosphere of Rome,
which had so often been fatal to the invasions from the
north, intervened to prevent desertion.  Before the
final arrangements for his departure had been completed, Gregory XI. lay dead, and in Rome. Bitterly
had he regretted having listened to the mystic prophecies
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Roman Revolutions


of the pious St. Catherine, the classic enthusiasm of
Petrarch, the self-seeking cries of Rome; and he died
believing that his personal sacrifice had been in vain.
A fine monument was erected to his memory by
the grateful Romans in the church of S. Francesca
Romana.
The death of the Pope at Rome, by fixing the
Conclave in the city, gave the Romans the opportunity,
which for seventy years had been denied to them, of
interfering in the election so as to force the cardinals to
elect a Roman, or at least an Italian.  There were
sixteen cardinals at Rome-one Spaniard, four Italians,
and eleven Frenchmen, but the latter were in two hostile
bodies. The government of the city was in the hands
of a Senator, assisted by the thirteen captains of the
regions. Their first precaution was to banish tjie leading nobles, and to guard the gates, with the double
purpose of preventing the provincial barons from entering, and the cardinals from leaving. The cardinals sent
all their valuables to the Castle of St. Angelo for safe
keeping. They were unable to prevent the Roman
mob from entering the Vatican apartments, in which
the Conclave was to be held, which some of them
insisted upon searching to assure themselves that none
but cardinals were there, and that the electors had no
secret outlet for escape.  When the rabble were at
last induced to withdraw, they threatened to kill all
the cardinals if a Roman or Italian pope were not
elected, and continued throughout the night to shout,
' Romano, Romano la volemo lo Papa, o almanco
Italiano.'  As the cardinals were unable for some time
to come to a decision, the Romans began to prepare
combustibles for burning the Conclave apartments; and
they pushed long spears up into the hall through the
boards, from below. At last an Italian, the Archbishop
of Bari (Urban VI.) was elected. Unluckily a report
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The Story of Rome
spread that their choice had fallen upon Cardinal Tibaldeschi, a Roman, and the joy of the populace at the news
made the cardinals afraid to let the truth be known.
They put the aged Tibaldeschi on the Papal chair,
clothed in the Papal mantle and mitre; and, while the
delighted Romans prostrated themselves for the adoration of the mock Pope, the guilty electors fled, some out
of Rome altogether, others to their own palaces, others to
the Castle of St. Angelo. For some time Tibaldeschi
in vain continued to deny that he was the Pope. His
protests were ascribed to humility.  But when the
people learned at last how they had been tricked, they
burst into the Vatican, crying, 'Death to the traitors! ',
searching for the real Pope, Urban VI., who had
fortunately discovered a secure place of concealment,
and thuj escaped assassination. Next morning passions
had cooled. The Romans consoled themselves with
the fact that the Pope was not French but Italian, and
Urban VI. was duly crowned a few days later.
Irretrievable mischief had, however, been done. The
French party declared that the election of Urban VI.
had been obtained by violence, and was therefore illegal
and void. They elected Robert of Geneva as Clement
VII. The Church was split in two, the whole of
Europe divided. Italy (except Naples), Hungary, Germany, Flanders, England supported Urban; Naples,
Savoy, France, Spain favoured Clement. The great
schism following the Babylonish Captivity was a heavy
disaster to the Papacy.  Rome, with her everlasting
demand for recognition, had a large share in precipitating the ultimately inevitable Reformation.
The first task of Urban VI. was to secure his position in Rome. The Castle of St. Angelo was in the
hands of the French. It was besieged, and, after a
long resistance, at length captured. The Romans, in
their senseless fury, attempted to demolish it, and suc256




Roman Revolutions


ceeded in destroying the upper part, and in tearing off
the marble blocks, which they used as paving-stones.
(Its older form is depicted in a fresco by Cimabue at
Assisi.)
During the forty years of the great schism, Rome
continued to be a centre of intrigue and violence. Insurrections were frequent. The Pope would be driven
out of the city one day, return soon after in triumph,
hang a number of the citizens, and then be compelled
once more to escape. Boniface IX. had to fly for his
life. But the Jubilee of 1400 was approaching; and
the Romans, fearful of losing his valuable presence
during the holy year, were obliged to beg his return.
He came back on his own conditions. The banderisi
or bannerets, democratic captains of the thirteen regions,
were for ever deprived of their power-the deathblow
to Republican government in the city; and the Pope's
nominee, Malatesta, was installed as Senator. Boniface strengthened his position by restoring the Castle of
St. Anrigelo, rebuilding the Palace of the Senator on
the Capitol, and fortifying the Vatican.
Two of the Colonnas of Palestrina, John and
Nicholas, headed a body of malcontents and forced
their way into the city through the Porta del Popolo,
raising the cry, ' Long live the people! Death to the
tyrant Boniface! ' But the Capitol was ably defended
by the Senator, a Venetian; the assailants defeated;
and thirty-one of their number taken prisoner and
hanged. The public executioner could not be found.
The youngest of the condemned men was spared on
condition that he hanged the rest; which he did,
amongst them his own father and brother.
Rome, in this same Jubilee year of 1 400, was
visited by a fresh outburst of flagellants, whose melancholy processions of howling and bleeding men and
women filled the streets; and by another unwelcome
R                257




The Story of Rome


visitor brought by the Jubilee pilgrims-the plague.
Never has Rome seen a Jubilee to compare with that
of 1400 for bloodshed, for disease, for despair and
misery.
On the death of Boniface IX., in 1404, the city
was once more in a state of tumult, the cries of Guelph,
Ghibelline, Colonna, Orsini resounding through the
barricaded streets.  Ladislas, King of Naples, appeared in Rome to act as mediator between the city
and the Pope. But the arrangement he made soon
broke down. The Romans claimed Ponte Molle as
within their area of government, which the Pope refused to acknowledge.  After some fighting it was
agreed that the bridge should be broken down in the
middle, so as to make its possession useless to either
side. As soon as this wanton destruction had been
carried out, the quarrel blazed with greater fury than
ever, owing to the seizure by Migliorati, the Pope's
nephew, of eleven respected deputies of the people, on
their way back from an interview with the Pope. The
envoys were dragged into the hospital of S. Spirito,
deliberately murdered, and their dead bodies thrown
out of the window into the crowded street below. A
paroxysm of fury at the dastardly deed came over the
people. Pope and cardinals fled for their lives, and
were followed with such eagerness that many of the
Papal retinue died on their way to Viterbo, from fear
and exhaustion; others were caught and at once
killed. The people burst into and sacked the Vatican,
where they installed John Colonna, calling him, in jest,
John XXIII. Rome was in the hands of the mob.
This state of anarchy soon became intolerable, and
when Paul Orsini appeared at the head of a Papal
force, he was welcomed as the symbol of law and
order. The drama ended in the usual manner, with
the triumphal re-entry of the Pope at the urgent
258




Roman Revolutions


entreaty of the people who had but recently driven
him away.
The next few years of Roman history are a
chronicle of further disorders.  The city was fought
for by Ladislas of Naples, Lewis of Anjou, and a
number of condottieri leaders, of whom Sforza, Braccio,
Paul Orsini, Malatesta and Corsa were the most prominent.  She had at one time (I41 5) no less than
three popes-John    XXIII., Gregory    XII. and
Benedict XIII. At last Europe intervened.    The
Council of Constance, after burning Hus and Jerome,
deposed the three popes and (1417) elected Otto
Colonna, who took the name of Martin V. With
him began a new chapter in the history of Rome and
of Europe.


^RMS OF MARTIN V (COLONNA)


259




CHAPTER VIII


Renaissance Rome
'E certo sono di ferma opinione, che le pietre nelle mura sue
siano degne di reverenzia; e'l suolo dov' ella siede sia degno
oltre quello che per gli uomini e predicato e provato.'-Dante.
Convito IV. c. 5.
'Nusquam minus Roma cognoscitur, quam Romae.'-Petrarch.
JHEN         Martin V. entered Rome in September
'W     I1420 he was met at the Porta del Popolo
and conducted to the Vatican by the delighted people,
who had at last a Roman Pope, with great demonstrations of joy. But what he saw was a ghost, not a
town. Houses and churches all in ruins, the deserted
streets a mass of rubbish and filth; the nobility destroyed by Rienzi, the middle class by the wars and
privations of the forty years of schism; the only inhabitants thieves, beggars, wolves and dogs.    An
English chronicler of the time says: ' O0 God, how
pitiable is Rome! Once she was filled with great
nobles and palaces; now with huts, thieves, wolves and
vermin, with waste places, and the Romans themselves
tear each other to pieces.' He had himself seen
wolves and dogs fighting close to St. Peter's.
The Florentine, Poggio Bracciolini, came to Rome
in I420 and left an account of the ruins, from which
it is evident that classic Rome had already been almost
entirely destroyed.
Soon after the arrival of the Pope the Tiber overflowed and inundated the empty town, the water rising
260




TOMB OF~ MARTIN V. IN THE LATERAN BASILICA




I




Renaissance Rome


in the Pantheon up to the high altar. Few travellers
dared to approach the city, surrounded as it was by
banditti. Martin V. suppressed these robbers and set
justice, long absent, once more in force. He then
began to repair the ruined basilicas, and commenced, in
humble fashion, the era of architectural adornment.
The Romans had seen no firm, settled, orderly
government since the days of Boniface VIII., a period
of one hundred and twenty years, and were deeply
grateful to Martin for the change which he brought.
On his death, after a pontificate of fourteen years, the
whole people followed the funeral procession to the
Basilica of St. John Lateran, where a fine tomb,
with a recumbent effigy in bronze by Antonio Filarete,
was raised to his memory. The epitaph speaks of the
'temporum suorum felicitas.' It was only as a contrast
to what had gone before that the Romans spoke of the
happy times of Martin V.
His successor, Eugenius IV., threw Rome once
more into disorder by the severe measures he took to
compel the relatives of the late Pope to give up the
wealth which they had derived from    him.   The
Colonnas refused to disgorge. Eugenius seized Otto,
the treasurer of Martin V., subjected him to a torture
from which he expired, and hanged two hundred of the
Colonna adherents. The Colonna palace he razed to
the ground.  For a time he was able to keep Rome
in subjection. But it was not long before the Romans
rose in insurrection, stormed the Capitol, and once
more set up a Republic. The Pope had the greatest
difficulty in escaping from his infuriated subjects. In
his reign Antonio Filarete made the bronze gates of
the central doorway of St. Peter's, in imitation of the
great work by Ghiberti at the Baptistery of the
Duomo, Florence.
If the strictly mediaeval history of Rome closes with
263




The Story of Rome


Boniface VIII. in 1303, and the period of desertion and
decay comes to an end on the arrival of Martin V. in
1420, the era of new life, of Renaissance, begins with
Nicholas V. in I447. The chief object of Nicholas
V. was to increase the prestige of the Church by the
grandeur of a new Rome.   Before his time pilgrims
to Rome had gazed with horror at the scandalous
behaviour of Pope and cardinals, with contempt at
the poverty and meanness of Rome. Boccaccio wittily
expressed this in his story of a Jew converted to
Christianity by a visit to Rome, where he found a
dirty little town in ruins and a clergy utterly regardless of the decencies of polite society.  The Jew was
at once convinced of the divine origin of a religion
which could live and flourish in spite of its contemptible Pope, its shameless cardinals and the pestilential
beggary of its capital.
Nicholas V. determined to change all this. He
thus explained his policvy: ' To create solid and stable
convictions in the minds of the uncultured masses, there
must be something that appeals to the eye: a popular
faith, sustained only by doctrines, will never be anything but feeble and vacillating. But if the authority
of the Holy See were visibly displayed in majestic
buildings, imperishable memorials and witnesses seemingly planted by the hand of God Himself, belief
would grow and strengthen like a tradition from one
generation to another, and all the world would accept
and revere it. Noble edifices combining taste and
beauty with imposing proportions would immensely
conduce to the exaltation of the chair of St. Peter.'
This was hardly a new discovery.  But Nicholas V.
was the first Pope who had both the opportunity and
the will to carry it out.  His works were mainly
restorations.  All the important churches were taken
in hand and the foundations laid for a new basilica of St.
264




Renaissance Rome


Peter. And Fra Angelico painted the fine frescoes in
Nicholas V.'s chapel in the Vatican.
The money for these works was obtained from the
large crowds of pilgrims who flocked into Rome for
the Jubilee of 1450.  As the people were returning
one evening from St. Peter's a block occurred on the
bridge of St. Angelo, which resulted in two hundred
being crushed to death or pushed into the river.
The Pope ordered a row of houses in front of the
bridge to be cleared away, and erected two chapels at
the entrance, where mass was daily offered for the
souls of the victims.
The plague re-appeared in Rome in Jubilee year.
It was to escape this pestilence, to ward it off by
piety and devotion, that many had come to Rome.
The black death had been a constant presence in
Europe since its first advent a hundred years before,
and needed only a vast concourse of people of every
rank and nation, all collected in one overcrowded spot,
to become once more the scourge of society. The
universal desire to escape the contagion by prayers and
offerings at Rome inevitably defeated itself.  The
idea of possible contagion had obtained no hold on
the public mind. It was desirable to escape from the
neighbourhood of the fell disease, but no precautions
were taken to avoid contact with those who had been
in the area of infection. Nicholas V. was one of the
first to realise that the plague was carried from place
to place by human beings. He left Rome hurriedly
and shut himself up in a lonely castle, whence he
issued the strictest orders that no man, not even a cardinal, should be allowed to come from Rome to within
seven miles of his place of refuge, on pain of instant
excommunication. As the weather became colder the
epidemic abated, and Nicholas returned to Rome to
collect the offerings of the faithful.
265




The Stoty of Rome
The pilgrims had to visit the four principal churches
of St. Peter, St. Paul, Sa. Maria Maggiore, and St.
John Lateran, every day for eight days in succession
if they were foreigners, for fourteen days if Italians, and
for a month if Romans. Their reward was a plenary
indulgence, by which they obtained remission of the
temporal punishments for such of their sins as had
already received the absolution of the Church. At
this time all the ornate ceremonies of the Church were
carried out with great solemnity and splendour.  At
the Jubilee of Nicholas V. no effort was spared to impress the spectators. The handkerchief of St. Veronica,
impressed with the miraculous likeness of the Saviour,
was exhibited in St. Peter's every Sunday; the heads
of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul on Saturdays.
Every church which had minor relics exposed them
daily. And the Pope gave his benediction at St.
Peter's every Sunday.
Fortunate in many respects, Nicholas V. did not
escape the fate of all popes, good or bad-a Roman
revolution.  Under the leadership of Stefano Porcaro
the Romans made another attempt to re-establish the
Senate of the Roman Republic. The effort failed,
and Porcaro was hanged from the battlements of the
Castle of St. Angelo.    But Nicholas was deeply
mortified at the ingratitude shown by the Romans for
his orderly and mild government, and the great improvements he had made in the city.
Himself one of the most learned men of the day,
and an ardent collector of books, Nicholas V. extended
a generous hospitality to the homeless scholars who
were driven out of Constantinople when it fell into
the hands of the Turks in I453. The Papal Court
became a centre of art and learning. Nicholas founded
the University of Glasgow, and the Vatican Library.
He kept learned men constantly employed in translat266




Renaissance Rome


ing Greek works into Latin. He was one of the few
popes who welcomed all literature, whether Christian
or profane.  Catholic writers complain that at that
date classical learning was dangerous to Christianity,
and that Nicholas V., by his encouragement, did
much to spread the false doctrines which produced the
Reformation.
Pius II. (JEneas Sylvius Piccolomini) vainly endeavoured to rouse Europe to a crusade against the
Turks. Constantinople was not Jerusalem; reverence
for the Papacy had been gravely affected by the
scandals of Avignon and the Great Schism; and the
mediaeval spirit of monastic chivalry and religious devotion had passed away.  Instead of leading Europe
in a crusade the Pope had to face an outbreak in
Rome.    During his temporary absence the discontented spirits, who regarded themselves as citizens first
and Churchmen afterwards, combined with some of
the barons-Savelli, Colonna, Anguillara-in a plot to
restore the Republic. The Pope returned to Rome.
' What city,' said he, 'is freer than Rome? You
pay no taxes, you bear no burdens, you occupy the
most honourable posts, you sell your wine and corn
at the price you choose, and your houses bring you in
rich rents. And, moreover, who is your ruler? Is
he a count, marquis, duke, king or emperor? No.
But a greater than all those-the Roman Pontiff, the
successor of St. Peter, the Vicar of Christ, whose
feet all men desire to kiss. He it is who brings you
glory and prosperity and attracts the wealth of the
whole world to your gates.'  It was the old quarrel.
Rome had no freedom when the Pope was present,
and no prosperity when he was absent. It ended in
the usual way.  For a short time the city was terrorised by the robbers and cut-throats who made their
fortunes out of the civic disorders; and then the ring267




The Story of Rome
leaders of reform, Tiburzio and Vateriano di Maso,
were hanged, and the revolt suppressed.
At the Conclave held on the death of Pius II. in
1464, each cardinal solemnly swore that he would
observe certain prescribed rules, called capitulations,
if he were elected Pope, the object being to increase
the power of the cardinals and limit that of the Pope.
As soon as the Venetian, Cardinal Barbo (Paul II.)
was elected, he repudiated his oath, on the ground that
the Pope receives his
plenitude    of power
directly from God, and
cannot divest himself of
it.  Capitulations  reiq   mained a part of the
Conclave procedure, but
no pope has ever allowed
K  (4"              ~~~~himself to be influenced
by his oath as a cardinal.
V/LyVS-VEUIETVS- P     i I   As compensation to
the cardinals for their
ARMS OF PAUL II (BARBO)  subjection,  the  Pope
gave them the privilege
of wearing red robes.   He had all a Venetian's
love of magnificence, and tried to make the Papal
Court a model of splendour for kings to imitate.
His tall, handsome, figure added dignity and impressiveness to the Papal processions, and to the
ornate ceremonies of the Church.   He revived the
use of the triple crown, which he adorned with valuable jewels. He had a passion, in his day regarded
as a mania, for collecting jewels, cameos, mosaics,
coins, and similar works of art. The Romans had
long enjoyed the curious privilege of sacking the apartments of a newly-elected pope. Cardinal Barbo valued
his treasures so highly that he took the precaution,
268




Renaissance Rome


before his election, of surrounding his house with a
body of soldiers. The mob, however, were not to be
denied, and desisted from their assault upon the defended palace only upon payment of a sum of money
as ransom.
The chief architectural work of Paul II. was the
Palace of St. Mark, or 'di Venezia,' now occupied
by the Austrian ambassador to the Pope. From this
fine edifice, which has still the castellated appearance
of a feudal fortress, Paul could enjoy the spectacle of
the Carnival, which he greatly patronised and elaborated. He made it famous for races in which horses,
donkeys, buffaloes, children, young men and aged Jews
took part, the route being from the Piazza del Popolo
to the Palazzo Venezia, along the street which thence
derived its name of Corso.
The Jews were compelled to run every day during
Carnival, and were given a dinner of rich food and
strong wine just before the race, in order to increase
their distress and the amusement of the spectators.
Clement IX., in i668, stopped this cruel ignominy,
accepting a money payment instead. The horse races
have only quite recently been abolished. Their peculiarity was the absence of jockeys.  Strapped on to
the backs of the horses were pieces of wood with
sharp nails sticking out. The pain they produced, and
the yells of the populace, made the poor beasts half
crazy with excitement, and they rushed madly down
the Corso until the Piazza Venezia was reached, the
first arrival earning a prize subscribed for by the Jews.
The small street close to the Palazzo Venezia, the
Via di Ripetta dei Barberi, where the horses were
caught as they galloped in, preserves the memory of
these races.
Splendid processions were organised representing the
ancient triumphs. Everything possible was done to
269




Tihe Story of Rome
amuse and delight the pageant-loving Romans. On
the last day of the Carnival a magnificent banquet
was given to the chief magistrates, at the close of
which the Pope himself threw coins among the
crowd.
Sixtus IV. (della Rovere), elected in I47I, made
nepotism  an essential feature of Papal policy.  He
tried to extend the temporal power of the Pope by
advancing the fortunes of his nephew, Piero Riario.
His example was followed by Alexander VI. on behalf of his son Cesare Borgia.  But the final conquest
of the Papal States was reserved for the militant Julius
II. In support of the policy of Sixtus IV., Alexander
VI., and Julius II., it is argued that the temporal
power of the Pope preserved the Papacy, at the time
of the Reformation, from falling to its primitive condition of bishopdom. The Papal States upheld the
Papacy, and thus gave time for the reorganisation of
its ecclesiastical system. At the present day the Papal
demand for temporal power is based on somewhat
analogous grounds.
Sixtus IV., as Machiavelli remarked, 'was the first
Pope who began to show the extent of the Papal
power, and how things that before were called errors
could be hidden behind the Papal authority.' He
supported the assassins who killed Giuliano de Medici,
and tried to kill Lorenzo, in the Duomo at Florence.
The conflict between Colonna and Orsini produced
desperate broils in Rome, which the Pope increased by
his treacherous interference. He had Oddo Colonna
executed, under circumstances which strongly point to
broken faith. The mother of Oddo asserted that
Sixtus IV. 'promised that if we gave up Marino he
would give up my son. He has Marino, and I have
my son's corpse; such is his faith.' Secret assassination, and shameless duplicity, were adopted as integral
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portions of the policy of the Christian Church, by
Sixtus IV. He began the moral degradation of the
Papacy, paving the way for Innocent VIII., Alexander
VI. and Clement VII.
The Jubilee of 1475, though not so successful as
that of Nicholas V., brought great wealth, much of
which Sixtus IV. devoted, in imitation of Nicholas V.,
to improvements in the city. He had already, in
anticipation of the Jubilee, converted the Ponte Rotto
into the Ponte Sisto, and thus prevented the recurrence
of the previous disaster, by making the crowd use the
Ponte St. Angelo in going to St. Peter's, and the
Ponte Sisto in returning.  As preparation for the
pilgrims, Sixtus IV. also had the great hospital of
Santo Spirito almost entirely rebuilt. Other works of
practical utility were the restoration of the Acqua
Virgine and the improvement of the decorated Fontana
Trevi; and Rome was given something of its modern
topography by the straightening and broadening of
crooked narrow streets, for which purpose many old
buildings and  churches were destroyed.  But his
chief work was the Sistine Chapel.  By his order
the following great artists were employed in decorating
the walls with paintings, viz.: Domenico Ghirlandajo,
Sandro Botticelli, Luca Signorelli, Cosimo Rosselli,
Pietro Perugino and Pinturicchio. Melozzo da Forli
painted a portrait of Sixtus IV., surrounded by his
relatives, appointing Platina as librarian of the Vatican.
Originally a fresco on the walls of the Vatican library,
this painting is now on canvas in the Vatican Picture
Gallery, the process of removal having caused it much
damage. Sixtus also employed Filippino Lippi, Luca
Signorelli, Piero di Cosimo, Fra Diamante, and others
of less fame, who came to Rome at his bidding. He
rebuilt the church of S. Maria del Popolo, which
contains some of the best paintings and monuments of
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the Renaissance. His own beautiful tomb is in the
chapel of the Sacrament in St. Peter's.
His successor, Innocent VIII. (1484-92), was the
father of sixteen children.  The era of shameless
scandals was fully established. The example of. the
Curia was followed by all classes. Murder and robbery,
in the open light of day, went unpunished, save that the
_wealthier  criminals were
Wt~*mw~,    m~ "~ft.~    induced to buy absolution.................   Cardinal  Borgia, the  Papal..............................i-Hi i.^^'~i, l      Vice-Chancellor, explained:S:!,,CAL Ed ":.I...~- the policy of the court by
saying,' God desires not the;Iq   t-y~!j|         death of a sinner, but rather
I-                 > that he should    pay and
live.'
With the help of the
11~i~ (( \^ ^^1 }) I   Borgia bought the Papal
-  1  |  chair. To Cardinal Orsini
he gave his palace at Rome
EL-=_,_.__"_  _A_ '    with his villas of MontiN.E                    cello  and  Soriano;  to
ARMS OF INNOCENT VIII. (CJBo)  Cardinal Colonna the Abbey
of Subiaco; to Cardinal
Savelli the church of S. M. Maggiore and the town
of Civita Castellana; to Cardinal Ascanio Sforza four
mules laden with gold and silver, and a promise of
the office of Vice-Chancellor; and to others in
similar profusion. Thus did Cardinal Borgia become
Alexander VI.
The characters of Alexander, his son Cesare, and
his daughter Lucrezia have long been the subject of
controversy. Lucrezia has finally been cleared of all the
charges brought against her. Of Alexander and Cesare
it is now said that, although they were undoubtedly
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licentious, treacherous and murderers, their conduct
differed but little, if at all, from that of their peers and
contemporaries. At least they do not hold that preeminence in crime which has been assigned to them.
They were Spaniards, and therefore foreigners-always
a great disadvantage at the Papal Court.  Cesare made
a bad impression by speaking in Spanish to his father
whatever the company or the occasion. And Alexander defied public opinion. He was the first Pope to
openly declare himself the father of his children.  He
publicly named Cesare his son, and Lucrezia his
daughter. To the Italian, a pope who took no pains
to put on the gloss of a decent appearance, was a lost
soul and capable of any crime.    When once this
character was acquired it grew with its own impetus.
Just as the witty sayings of an entire generation are all
ascribed to the reigning humorist of the day, so was
it with the crimes of the Borgias. No prominent man
died suddenly but his end was attributed to the poison
of Alexander, or the dagger of Cesare. The Venetian
envoy in Rome, after relating the current scandals as to
the Borgia family, adds: ' Whatever may be the truth,
one thing is certain; this Pope behaves in an outrageous
and intolerable way.' He gave colour to accusations
which, in themselves, are not grounded upon historical
facts.
There were three exceptionally notorious tragedies
in the Borgia family: the murder of the Duke of
Gandia, Alexander's eldest son; the murder of the
Duke of Biseglia, Alexander's son-in-law and husband
of Lucrezia; and the death of Alexander himself.
The fate of the Duke of Gandia is thus related by
the least unreliable contemporary, Burchard:' On the 8th of June the Cardinal of Valencia
(Cesare Borgia) and the Duke of Gandia, sons of the
Pope, supped with their mother, Vanozza, near the
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Trhe Story of Rome
church of St. Pietro in Vincoli, several other persons
being present at the entertainment.   A  late hour
approaching, and the cardinal having reminded his
brother that it was time to return to the apostolic
palace, they mounted their horses and mules, with only
a few attendants, and proceeded together as far as
the palace of Ascanio Sforza, where the duke took
leave of Cesare, saying that he had to pay another
visit that evening.  Dismissing, therefore, all his
attendants, except his stff/iere or footman, and a person
in a mask who had paid him a visit while at supper,
and who, during the space of a month or thereabouts
previous to this time, had called on him almost daily
at the apostolic palace, he took this person behind him
on a mule, and proceeded to the street of the Jews,
where he quitted his servant, directing him to remain
there till a certain hour, when, if he did not return, he
might return to the palace.  The duke then seated
the person in a mask behind him and rode I know not
whither, but on that night he was assassinated and
thrown into the river.  The servant, after having been
dismissed, was also assaulted and mortally wounded,
and although he was attended with great care, yet he
could give no intelligible account of what had befallen
his master. In the morning, the duke not having
returned to the palace, the servants began to be alarmed,
and one of them informed the Pontiff that he had not
made his appearance since he left the palace the evening before. This gave the Pope no small anxiety,
but still he took no further steps in the matter. When,
however, the evening arrived, and he found himself
disappointed in his expectation that his son would
return, he became deeply afflicted, and began to make
inquiries of different persons whom he had appointed
to attend him for that purpose. Among these was a
man of the name of Giorgio Schiavone, who, having
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discharged some timber from a barque in the river, had
remained on board the vessel to watch it. On being
interrogated whether he had seen anyone thrown into
the river on the preceding night, he replied that he saw
two men on foot, who came down the street and
looked diligently about to observe whether any person
was passing; that, seeing no one, they returned, and a
short time afterwards two others came and looked
round in the same manner as the former. No persons
still appearing, they gave a sign to their companions,
when a man came, mounted on a white horse, having
behind him a dead body, the head and arms of which
hung on one side of the horse, and the feet on the
other, the two persons on foot preventing the body
from falling. They now proceeded towards that part
where the filth of the city is usually discharged into
the river, and turning the horse with his tail towards
the water, the two persons took the dead body by the
arms and feet, and, with all their strength, flung it into
the river.  The person on horseback then asked if
they had thrown it in, to which they replied, " Signor,
si" ("yes, sir").  He then looked towards the river
and saw a mantle floating on the stream. He inquired
what it was that appeared black, on which they
answered that it was a mantle, and one of them threw
stones upon it, in consequence of which it sank. The
attendants of the Pontiff then inquired of Giorgio why
he had not revealed this to the Governor of the city,
to which he replied that he had seen in his time a
hundred dead bodies thrown into the river at the same
place without any inquiry being made respecting them,
and he had not, therefore, considered it a matter of
any importance.)
The body was found with the throat cut, and
eight other wounds, but there were thirty gold ducats
in the purse, showing that the assassins were not
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The Story of Rome
robbers. The corpse was taken to the church of S.
Maria del Popolo, where it lay in state. Alexander VI.
was prostrated with grief. He instituted a searching
inquiry into the matter, without obtaining any clue.
Suspicion fell in turn upon most of the prominent men,
but without result.  At a consistory, Alexander,
almost overcome with emotion, said, 'The Duke of
Gandia is dead.  Our grief is inexpressible, because we
loved him dearly. We no longer value the Papacy or
anything else. If we had seven Papacies we would
give them all to restore him to life. Perhaps God
has punished us for some sin; it is not because he
deserved so cruel a death.  It is said that the Lord of
Pesaro has killed him; we are sure that it is not so.
Of the Prince of Squillace it is incredible. We are
sure also of the Duke of Urbino. God pardon whoever it be. For ourselves, we can attend to nothing,
neither the Papacy nor our life.' Cardinal Ascanio
Sforza at first was strongly suspected; then Antonio
della Mirandola, whose house was near the spot where
the body was found, and who had a beautiful daughter.
But nothing was discovered, and the murder of the
Duke of Gandia remains a mystery. When, some
time afterwards, the Pope began to advance his second
son Cesare to the place formerly held by the murdered
man, suspicion was fastened upon the brother, and
there it has remained ever since.
The Papal policy was now directed to the advancement of Cesare.  Lucrezia was used for that purpose.
She was both beautiful and learned, could read and
write Latin, Italian and Spanish.  On one occasion,
during her father's absence from Rome, she was entrusted with the opening and answering of the Papal
correspondence-a fine example of Alexander's contempt for public opinion. While yet a child, Lucrezia
was betrothed to a Spanish gentleman, a connection
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which was immediately dissolved by her father on his
elevation to the Pontificate.  She was married at the
age of fifteen or sixteen to Giovanni Sforza, Lord of
Pesaro.  When the Pope found that Sforza was a
man of weak character, useless for ambitious projects,
he annulled the marriage, and gave Lucrezia as wife
to Alfonso, Duke of Biseglia, natural son of Alfonso II.,
King of Naples.
Shortly after the marriage, Lucrezia's new husband
was attacked near St. Peter's, and severely wounded, by
a band of assassins who were immediately escorted out
of the city by a force of cavalry which had been waiting
in a place of concealment. Clearly some person of influence had instigated the assault. The wounded man
was carried to the house of the nearest cardinal.  Before he had recovered from his wounds he was murdered
in his room. According to the popular belief of the
time, Cesare himself dispatched his brother-in-law, being
admitted into the house for that purpose by Lucrezia.
Her complicity is now entirely disbelieved. Lucrezia
was very fond of her husband. She nursed him with
tender care; she occupied the same room, never leaving it, and there she herself cooked his food, for fear
of poison. The best known contemporary account is
that of the Venetian ambassador, Paolo Capello, who
thus reported: ' During the time Alfonso lay in his
sick-room, recovering fiom  his wounds, the Pope,
knowing the hatred Cesare Borgia bore to his brotherin-law, had the house surrounded by guards lest the
duke should kill him. On only one occasion, when
the Pope visited Alfonso, did Cesare Borgia accompany him; and then, on noticing how much his
brother-in-law had recovered from the wounds he had
received, he merely remarked: " Quello che non e
fatto a disnar, si fara a cena " (" what has not been done
at dinner shall be done at supper"). Accordingly, one
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day, when he entered the room, he found the patient
had already risen, and making some excuse for sending
Lucrezia and Sancia out of the room, Michele, the
common executioner, came in as if called and strangled
the said youth.'  If this story is to be believed the
intentions of Cesare were well known, and yet he was
permitted to visit his brother-in-law; Lucrezia ventuied to leave the two together, and even allowed so
notorious a character as the public
executioner to  walk into her
husband's sick-room.   Exactly
how the Dukes of Gandia and
Biseglia met their deaths will
never be known. Cesare is accused of both murders.   There
is not enough evidence to connect
him with the death of his brother,
but he probably did cause his
brother-in-law to be killed.
The death of Alexander VI.
is thus described by a contemporary, Sanuto: 'The Cardinal
ARMS OF ALEXANDER VI. Datary Adrian de Corneto, hav(BORGIA)     ing one morning received a message from the Pontiff stating that
he intended, in company with his son Cesare,
the Duke of Valentinois, that evening to pay the
cardinal a visit and to sup with him, and that they
would bring their supper with them, was terrified
at the intelligence, being fully impressed with the
conviction that His Holiness or his son intended
poisoning him in order to possess his treasure, the said
cardinal being very rich.  Thinking rapidly over the
matter, he saw but one means of saving his life. He
immediately sent to the head carver of the Pope,
requesting he would oblige him by visiting him as soon
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as possible. The carver obeyed the request, and the
cardinal, having conducted him to a private room, placed
in his hand ten gold ducats, which he requested the
said carver to accept as a proof of the love he bore him.
After many objections and simulated repugnance the
carver accepted the gift, stating that he did so from
obedience to the orders of His Eminence.    The
cardinal then, finding the carver willing to lend a
ready ear to anything he might say, addressed him in
the following manner: " You perfectly well know the
intentions of the Pope, and that he and his son, the
Duke of Valentinois, have determined that I shall die
by poison, which will be administered to me this
evening, and I now humbly beg of you to spare my
life."  After some demur, stimulated doubtless by
the promise of reward on the part of the cardinal, the
carver told him the manner in which it had been
agreed between them that the poison should be administered.  After supper was over he had been
ordered to place on the table three boxes of confectionery, one of which was to be placed before the
Pope, another before the cardinal, and the third before
the Duke of Valentinois, taking care to place the one
containing the poison before His Excellency. The
cardinal begged and implored the said carver to change
the manner the confectioneries were to be placed on
the table, so that the one containing the poison should
be put before the Pope that he might eat of it and die.
The carver at first was horrified at the suggestion, but
on the cardinal offering him o10,000ooo ducats in gold as
a reward he relented, and agreed that the box of
poisoned sweetmeats should be placed before the Pope.
After the supper was over the cardinal placed on the
table the boxes of sweetmeats, having first received
information from the carver which was the one containing the poison, and that the cardinal placed before
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The Story of Rome
the Pope, who, under the impression that the one
before him did not contain the poisoned sweetmeats,
ate of them gaily, and of the other, which he believed
contained the poison, the Pope pressed the cardinal to
eat, who obeyed him without hesitation.  Shortly after
His Holiness had departed he felt ill, and the next
morning he died; while the cardinal, still having some
fear that the sweetmeats he had eaten might have been
poisoned, took an emetic, and thus escaped the danger
with which he had been threatened.'
Voltaire was one of the first to discredit this story.
Speaking of Guicciardini's account, which followed
that of Sanuto, he says:    'I make bold to say
to Guicciardini, Europe has been deceived by you,
and you have been deceived by your hatred. You
were the Pope's enemy; you have trusted too much
to your. dislike and to the actions of his life.  True,
he had carried out cruel and perfidious vengeance on
enemies as cruel and perfidious as himself; therefore
you conclude that a Pope of seventy-four did not die
a natural death; you pretend, merely on rumour, vague
rumour, that an aged sovereign, whose coffers at the
time were filled with more than a million gold ducats,
wished to poison some cardinals that he might get
possession of their furniture.  But was this furniture
so very important? These articles were nearly always
carried off by servants before the popes could lay hold
of a few fragments of the plunder. How can you
think that, for so small a gain, a prudent man would
risk so infamous an action? It was one which needed
accomplices, and which, sooner or later, must be discovered.  Ought I not rather to believe the diary of
the Pope's illness than idle public gossip? That diary
relates that he died of a double tertian fever.  There
is not the slightest evidence for the accusation brought
against his memory. His son Borgia fell ill at the
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time of his father's death,; therein lies the sole foundation for the poison story.'
Voltaire, with his usual over-statement, has brought
down the Papal advantage from the death of a cardinal
to a hopeless scramble for odd pieces of furniture.
Alexander derived great advantage from the death
of a cardinal, whose property he confiscated, whose
dignity he sold. The million ducats to which Voltaire
alludes were collected in this manner.  It is more to
the purpose to show, as Creighton has done, that there
was no abnormal increase in the death-rate of the
cardinals during the reputed epidemic of poisoning by
Alexander VI.
In the fifteenth century medical knowledge had not
advanced far.  Little was known of drugs.    The
physicians had small skill in diagnosing the cause of
death, and an autopsy was seldom attempted. That
certain substances, crude poisons, would cause death if
swallowed, was recognised; but the opinion of a medical
attendant of that age, who had not seen poison administered, as to the cause of death, can carry no weight to
the modern mind. The contemporary belief in poisons
had no more solid ground than had the common
faith in the efficacy of amulets, precious stones and
other charms against poison.  Itinerant necromancers,
astrologers, and other quacks, with one hand distributed
the most deadly and invisible poisons, while with the
other they did a great trade in the charms which would
warn the wearer of their presence.  It was implicitly
believed that men could be killed merely by the smell
of a poisonous vapour, or the touch of a poisonous ointment. If poison could so easily be administered, it is
strange that an able and unscrupulous man like Cesare
Borgia should have exposed his own person to danger
during the operation of hacking at an enemy with a
sword. No doubt poison was sometimes used effec28i




The Story of Rome


tively by the princes of that time, and Alexander VI.
would not hesitate to avail himself of its powers. But
the extent of his operations must have been exceedingly
limited. His own death was caused by supping, on a
hot summer evening, in the garden of the Cardinal
Adrian, in the Borgo Nuovo. The cardinal, the Pope
and Cesare, who was also present, were all attacked by
fever. The aged Pontiff died; the younger men recovered. Voltaire anticipated modern opinion when
he said that it was the illness of Cesare, and the unscrupulous character of Alexander, which gave a ready
acceptance to the inventions of the enemies of the Borgia
family.
The death of his father proved disastrous to the
fortunes of Cesare.  At the suggestion   of Pope
Julius II. (della Rovere) he was seized, by order of
Ferdinand of Spain, and imprisoned in Valencia.
After two years of confinement he managed to escape,
but was killed while fighting for his brother-in-law,
the King of Navarre, at the siege of Viana, on the
12th May 1507, at the age of thirty-one.  Cesare was
handsome, brave, talented, a brilliant soldier, a just and
able administrator, the patron of Pinturicchio and of
Leonarda da Vinci. The son of a Spanish pope by
his Italian mistress (Vanossa), he had determined to
make for himself a great place among the haughty
princes of Italy.  Fraud and violence were the only
weapons used in his day. Cesare Borgia owes his
fearful reputation to the whole-souled thoroughness
with which he played the game.
The Borgias have left memorials in Rome. Alexander VI. employed Antonio di Sangallo in the
restoration and decoration of the Castle of St. Angelo.
It was given the appearance of a medieval castle, with
towers and ditches; the houses round it were pulled
down, and it was connected with the Vatican by the
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new street called the Borgo Nuovo, as well as by the
older private passage along which several popes have
fled to reach the protection of the fortress. Alexander
also employed Pinturicchio, Giovanni da Udine and
Pierino del Vaga to beautify the handsome Appartamenti
Borgia in the Vatican.
Alexander VI. was succeeded by his enemy, Julius
II. The new Pope recovered and settled upon a solid
foundation the States of the Church. He will be longer
remembered for the works of art which were produced
under his patronage.
The foundations of the Basilica of St. Peter had
begun to give way at the side which leaned upon the
wall of the Circus of Nero. Julius resolved to carry
out the scheme of Nicholas V., not by restoration, but
by demolition and re-erection. The grand old church,
with its unrivalled historic monuments and associations,
its beautiful mosaic pavement, its pillars perhaps dating
from Constantine, was ordered to be pulled down, and
Bramante was commissioned to build a new one. On
April i8, i 506, Julius II. laid the foundation stone,
now covered by the pier of St. Veronica. Bramante
lived to complete the four immense piers, and the
arches which spring from them.  The successors of
Julius employed the most famous artists to continue the
work, amongst them Raphael, Michelangelo (who built
the drum and designed the dome), Vignola, Pirro
Ligorio, Giacomo della Porta (who built the dome,
making a slight alteration from the curve intended by
Michelangelo), and Carlo Maderno (who built the
excessive facade).  The basilica was finally dedicated by Urban VIII. in i626, having cost about
~io,ooo,ooo.   The facade is out of proportion to
the rest of the building, obscuring the dome; and the
use of the single order throughout wastes the advantage to be derived from immense size. The interior
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The Story of Rome
also has defects, the opening for the cupola seeming
like a slit in the roof.  But, looked at as a whole, St.
Peter's is the most splendid church in the world. It
is made entirely, even to the mortar, of materials taken
from the ruins of classic monuments.
Julius II. caused the coffin of his hated predecessor,
Alexander VI., to be taken out of old St. Peter's and
deposited in the church of S. Giacomo degli Spagnuoli (now in charge of the French congregation of
the Sacred Heart), whence it was transferred to the
Spanish National Church of S. Maria di Monserrato.
There also lie the remains of his uncle, Alfonso Borgia,
Pope Calixtus III. In i88i a tardy monument was
erected to commemorate the most notorious name in
the Papal record.
For his own tomb Julius employed Michelangelo,
who produced the monument-only a fragment of the
original design-which is now in the church of S.
Pietro in Vincoli, and not, as intended, in St. Peter's.
Fine as it is, this tomb absorbed an excessive amount of
Michelangelo's time and energy. For years it remained
a constant source of worry and annoyance, interfering
with other projects, and damaging his artistic career.
A greater achievement was the marvellous portrait of
the fortunate Julius, painted by Raphael, to be seen in
the National Gallery in London.
The work executed by Michelangelo and Raphael
in Rome was undoubtedly influenced by the personality
of Julius II.  The grandeur of his ideas, his passionate
energy, may now be seen on the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel, which was begun and completed during the
life of the Pope, and under his direction and inspiration.
The paintings of Raphael in the Stanza della Segnatura
probably owe their general design to the suggestions of
this imperious Pontiff.
In 151 I, during the Pontificate of Julius II., there
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came to Rome the Augustinian monk, Martin Luther.
It was with feelings of pious awe that he approached the
sacred city. When he first caught a glimpse of the
church towers in the distance, he fell on his knees and
exclaimed, 'Hail to thee, Holy Rome! made holy
by the holy martyrs and the blood which they have
shed.' He entered the convent attached to the church
of Sta. Maria del Popolo. He tells us how shocked
he was on finding that before he had got as far as the
Gospel, while saying his first mass, his Italian companion
had arrived at the final words, ' Ite missa est'
(from which the mass takes its name). Long afterwards Luther spoke of his disillusionment at Rome.
'I would not,' he said, 'for a thousand florins have
missed seeing Rome. I should have always felt an
uneasy doubt whether I was not, after all, doing injustice to the Pope. As it is, I am quite satisfied on
the point.'  Yet while he was in Rome he was full of
pious enthusiasm. ' I was like a mad saint in Rome,'
he says. ' I ran through all the churches and believed
everything that is lied there. I have said many masses
at Rome, and while there was heartily sorry that my
father and mother were yet living, so willingly would I
have released them from purgatory by my masses and
other excellent works and prayers.' But one day when
he was slowly and laboriously climbing up the Scala
Santa on his knees he heard a voice say, ' The just
shall live by faith, not by pilgrimage, not by penance.'
Though occasionally shocked by what he saw, he
left Rome the ardent Catholic that he was when he
arrived, and it was only when his feelings had changed
that he gave a hostile interpretation to his Roman experiences. He tells us that he was greatly impressed
by the gorgeous Papal processions that he witnessed;
that he clambered over the ruins of the Colosseum ' at
the peril of his life '; and that he felt the extraordinary
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The Story of Rome
significance of the Christian service performed in the
Pagan Pantheon.
Of the customs of the country the simple-minded
monk thus speaks: ' The Italians only require you to
look in a mirror to be able to kill you. They can
deprive you of all your senses by secret poisons. In
Italy the air itself is pestilential; at night they close
hermetically every window, and stop up every chink
and cranny.' He and the brother who was his travelling companion became very ill from sleeping with the
window open, but managed to cure themselves by eating
pomegranates.
On the death of Julius II. in I513 the Cardinals in
Conclave had some difficulty in choosing a successor.
The older men favoured one of the senior members
of the College, Raffaele Riario, while the younger
cardinals preferred Giovanni de' Medici for his genial,
polished manners and his unwarlike, easy-going temperament.  They were tired of the scandals of
Alexander VI., and the political turmoil under Julius II.
They voted for a quiet, ornamental Pope. Their own
youth gained them the day. The guardians of the
Conclave were obliged, in order to hasten a decision,
to reduce the food of the cardinals, and finally cut
them down to a vegetable diet. The older men had
to give in. Cardinal Medici, though only thirty-eight
years of age, was known to suffer from a dangerous
disease, and did not promise to be long-lived, so he
was at last elected, and took the name of Leo X.
The first Medici pope, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, had been a cardinal from the age of nineteen. He made Rome the social, intellectual and
artistic capital of Europe. He carried out, as no
pontiff before or since has been in a position to do,
the great plan of Nicholas V. to subjugate the world
by splendour. Raphael was employed to continue the
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series of paintings which he had commenced for
Julius II. He chose subjects which would be flattering to the Pope.   In the Stanza d'Eliodoro the
Deliverance of St. Peter from Prison refers to the
liberation of Leo X. when cardinal, after his capture
at the battle of Ravenna; and the Flight of Attila
from St. Leo I., who has the features of Leo X.,
alludes to the Pope's success in driving the French
out of Italy. In the Stanza dell' Incendio the subjects
are, the Coronation of Charlemagne by Leo III., the
Conjuring of the Fire in the Borgo by Leo IV., the
Justification of Leo III. before Charlemagne, and
the Defeat of the Saracens at Ostia by Leo IV.-the
Pope in each picture being Leo X.
The Pope was a generous patron of art, bringing
to Rome all the great artists of the day. He was
also prodigal in expenditure upon Church ceremonies,
great civic pageants, and sumptuous banquets. His
extravagance was rivalled by that of the wealthy
banker, Agostino Chigi. The Villa of Chigi, now
the Palazzo della Farnesina, was built from the
designs of Baldassare Peruzzi, and adorned with paintings by Raphael, Michelangelo, Giulio Romano,
Sebastiano del Piombo, Daniele da Volterra, and others
of almost equal fame. Even his stables were planned by
Raphael. He invited the Pope to dinner in the loggia
of his garden by the Tiber. The silver plates and
dishes, as they became soiled by use, were ostentatiously
thrown into the river, where, unknown to the astonished
guests, nets had been laid to catch them. Were it
not for the prudence exhibited in anecdotes of this
nature, the Rome of Leo X. might almost be regarded
as rivalling in extravagance the luxury of the Claudian
Emperors. Leo would, no doubt, have outdone Nero
if he had been able, but he had not the means. He
spent a great deal more than his income, left behind
T                289




The Story of Rome
him immense personal debts, and the Papal treasury
empty. To furnish funds for his magnificence, he
sold Indulgences, and thus lost nearly half of Europe.
Raphael produced Luther, St. Peter's the Reformation.
The Conclave which met on the death of Leo X.
had great difficulty in coming to a choice. Finally,
when their food had been reduced, the cardinals elected
the last foreigner to be a pope, Cardinal Adrian Florent
of Utrecht, who retained his own name and became
Adrian VI. The new Pope seems to have realised
that the struggle for supremacy between Francis I. of
France and the Emperor Charles V., which absorbed
all men's minds, was not the vital issue of the time.
He saw that the movement for reform in the Church
was more important than the rivalry of king and emperor. He tried to meet the moral discontent of the
northern lands by reforming the Curia itself, by cleansing the Papal Court of its gross venality and corruption, by making the Pope once more the holder of the
conscience of Europe. He succeeded merely in irritating the cardinals and estranging Rome. His death
was regarded as a happy release from a stern master.
The cardinals disputed long over the selection of a
successor. They were united on one point, that no
zealous, reforming foreigner should again be introduced
into the sacred purlieus of the Vatican to disturb its
customs, hallowed by the memories of Sixtus IV.,
Innocent VIII. and Alexander VI.-and all subsequent conclaves have been of the same opinion. The
struggle went on until the manager of the Conclave
limited the food of the cardinals to bread and water.
Then Cardinal Medici promised, if elected, to bestow
on Cardinal Colonna the office of Vice-Chancellor and
the Riario Palace; and dedicated all his other benefices
to be divided among the other cardinals, who would
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Renaissance Rome


thus, it was calculated, get oo1000 ducats each. He
was elected.
Clement VII. was the unfortunate Pope who saw
Rome sacked, and the Papacy reduced almost to impotence by the Reformation. Like Leo X., he thought
more about Francis I. and Charles V. than about
Luther.  The temporal aspect of the Papacy had
swallowed up the spiritual. Clement took the part of
the French king, who was defeated and captured at the
battle of Pavia in I525. This Papal misfortune was
followed by the defection of Cardinal Colonna, who
had not obtained from the Pope what he considered
the full price for his vote and influence at the Conclave, and raised the powerful Colonna party against
Clement. Moncada, who had fought under Cesare
Borgia, and was now the envoy of Charles V., was
given command of the Colonna army. He entered
Rome without opposition. Clement VII. had to submit to the terms offered. He promised to abandon
the cause of Francis and to pardon the Colonna, and
he gave hostages.  No prince or pope of that age
adhered to the stipulations of a treaty longer than suited
his convenience. As soon as Moncada was gone,
Clement collected 10,000 men, who attacked and
destroyed the Colonna castles at Marino, Frascati,
Grotta Ferrata and Genanzano. The cardinal and his
family were dismissed from all their offices.
The great Roman family had not long to wait for a
revenge similar to that which their famous ancestor
Sciarra had, with the aid of France, exacted from
Boniface VIII. for his destruction of the Colonna
fortress at Palestrina. On May 5, 1527, the Duke of
Bourbon stood before Rome at the head of a Colonnese
and Imperial army, a motley crowd of Germans,
Spaniards and Italians. Early on the following morning he led them, carrying ladders, to assault the low
291




The Story of Rome


walls between the gates of San Pancrazio and Santo
Spirito on the Vatican Hill. The sun rising caused a
fog which concealed the invaders, who were thus able
to scramble on to the walls and take possession of the
Borgo, after a short resistance. The Pope was in his
chapel, whence he hastened along the private gallery
leading from the Vatican to the Castle of St. Angelo,
an attendant holding up the Papal train while they
both ran at top speed, followed by a number of cardinals
and Court officials. In front of the castle, wisely
fortified by Alexander VI., was a struggling mass of
ecclesiastics and nobles, fighting with each other for
entrance. Cardinal Pucci was trampled upon and badly
hurt, but his attendants succeeded in pushing him
through a window. Cardinal Armellino, after the gate
had been closed, was drawn up in a basket.
Then began a sack from which Rome has never
recovered. Bourbon, most unfortunately for Rome,
had been killed early in the assault. The invaders
were under no control. There was no Alaric to
restrain the horde of 40,oo000 half-starved savages who
found themselves masters of the city; no Brennus to
stay their hands on payment of ransom. For several
days every desire was gratified; murder, rape, pillage,
cruelty, lust, avarice held Rome in relentless embrace.
The German Lutherans took an especial pleasure in
despoiling the churches and disregarding their sanctity.
The Spaniards distinguished themselves by their applications of torture to assist the recovery of hidden
wealth. The Italians were the most ingenious in the
discovery of secret hoards. The Germans were the
first to relieve the blackness by a touch of grey comedy.
They paraded through the streets, dressed in the richest
garments of the Church, imitating with drunken
solemnity the gorgeous processions of the Papal Court.
The Cardinal of Siena, though an Imperialist by the
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Renaissance Rome


traditions of his family, had to pay a ransom to the
Spaniards. This did not save him from the Germans,
who stripped him naked and dragged him through the


ARMS OF LEO X. (MEDICI)
streets in that condition, until he agreed to pay them a
ransom also. The Cardinal of Ara Coeli they placed
upon a bier, which they carried into a church, and
there celebrated with ribald buffoonery the obsequies of
the mock corpse. A bishop, whose finger refused to
be released of its ring, had to lose both ring and finger,
293




The Story o] Rome


hacked off with a knife.  Friend and foe were treated
alike. The Portuguese embassy was sacked and the
Portuguese ambassador compelled to pay a large
ransom.  Even the Imperial secretary had to buy his
life with a money payment. The only distinction
made by the soldiers was between beauty and ugliness,
wealth and poverty. ' Never,' says Ranke, ' never did
a richer booty fall into the hands of a more terrible
army; never was there a more protracted and more
ruinous pillage. The splendour of Rome fills the
beginning of the sixteenth century; it marks an
astonishing period of development of the human mindwith this day it was extinguished for ever.'
Clement VII. remained in security in the Castle of
St. Angelo. His contribution towards the defence of
Rome was a copious and sustained flow of whines and
tears.  On May 10 Cardinal Colonna arrived, and
made an effort, only partially successful, to stop the
excesses. Then St. Angelo was attacked, and the
Pope capitulated. He placed himself and his cardinals
in the power of the Imperial generals; agreed to pay
400,ooo ducats; surrendered Ostia, Civita Vecchia,
Modena, Parma and Piacenza; and restored the
Colonna family to their dignities and possessions. The
money, however, was not paid, and as all threats were
powerless to compel payment, the German soldiers,
who had left Rome to escape the plague which sprang
up in the wake of the destruction and death which
they had sown, suddenly returned and seized Clement's
relatives and advisers as hostages. Cardinal Colonna's
anxiety for a cessation of the pillage of Rome led him
to use every endeavour for raising the money. The
Germans announced that they would kill their hostages,
whom they dragged about in irons, if they did not get
50,ooo ducats in five days' time.  SGmething had to
be done.  It was proposed to create five cardinals at
294




Renaissance Rome


20,000 ducats each; but nobody would pay such a
price on the doubtful security of a pope in prison.
Three bishops, however, agreed to make a deposit
with a surety of 10,000 ducats each, to be paid over
only when the Pope was released and they had their
cardinals' hats in their hands; a further 10,000 ducats
would be paid when their creations were published.
Upon this basis it was finally arranged that the Pope
should be set free from his imprisonment in St. Angelo
on payment of 66,ooo ducats at once, to be followed
by 300,000 more within three months.     The first
instalment was paid, Clement released, the three
cardinals' hats sent to their lucky purchasers, and the
savages withdrew from their prey. 'When at last,'
says Symonds, 'the barbarians, sated with blood, surfeited with lechery, glutted with gold and decimated
with pestilence, withdrew, Rome raised her head a
widow. From the shame and torment of that sack
she never recovered-never again became the gay,
licentious capital of arts and letfers-the glittering,
extravagant Rome of Leo X.'
The humiliation of the Pope had, in fact, been
greater than the victors desired. The Imperial envoy
wrote from Rome to Charles V. with a request for
instructions. ' We are waiting,' he said, ' to know how
your Majesty intends the City of Rome to be governed;
whether it is to be some sort of Apostolic Seat or not.
The opinion of many of your Majesty's servants is that
the Apostolic Seat should not be entirely removed from
Rome; for then the King of France will set up a
patriarch in his kingdom, and deny obedience to the
Apostolic Seat; the King of England will do likewise,
and so will all other Christian princes. The opinion
of your Majesty's servants is that it would be best to
keep the Apostolic Seat so low that your Majesty can
always dispose of it and command it.' Only fourteen
295




The Story of Rome


years had elapsed since the glorious days of Leo X.
Rome was in ashes, and it was seriously debated
whether the Papacy was any longer of any use to anybody; whether it would not be well to get rid of it as
a common nuisance. This was the result of neglecting
the reforms demanded by Luther and of concentrating
the Papal attention upon political and merely temporal
conflicts.
The splendid Papacy of Renaissance Rome, inaugurated by Martin V., came to an end with the successor
of Leo X. The Romans spoke of the happiness of
the times of Martin V. from their recollection of the
terrors which preceded it.  It is as a contrast to what
followed that the name of Leo X. is associated with
the Golden Age.


ARMS OF SIXTUS IV. AND JULIUS II. (DELLA ROVERE)


296




-            -                        1


THF DOME OF ST. PETER S FROM THE JANICULAN


CHAPTER IX
The    Catholic     Reaction
'There is not, and there never was on this earth, a work of
human policy so well deserving of examination as the Roman
Catholic Church. The history of that Church joins together the
two great ages of human civilisation.  No other institution is
left standing which carries the mind back to the times when the
smoke of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon, and when camelopards and tigers bounded in the Flavian amphitheatre....
And she may still exist in undiminished vigour when some
traveller from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude,
take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the
ruins of St Paul's. '-Macaulay.
THE sack of Rome, and the Reformation movement in Germany      and England, were heavy
blows for the Papal power; its influence seemed to be
gone for ever; some of the most devout Catholics
believed that their religion was doomed.       But the
Church of Rome has as great a vitality as the eternal
city in which she was born. The wave of hostility
297




The Story of Rome


which lost her the northern states of Europe was
followed by a reaction which raised the Papacy once
more to a position, if not of supremacy in Europe, yet
of substantial importance. The chief factors in the
Papal restoration were the normal ebb and flow of
human nature, and the equally natural tendency of the
temporary victors to quarrel over the spoils. While
the Protestants were wrangling over the dogmas of the
new religion, there was a rebound in favour of Catholicism in the hitherto undecided countries of Central
Europe. The South of Europe remained, from the
first, true to the Pope.  The war between the North
and the South for the central territory - France,
Belgium, Bavaria, Bohemia, Austria, Poland, Hungary
-ended by the Peace of Westphalia in 1 648, in favour
of the South. The Papal triumph was as much due
to spiritual and moral influences as to military success.
Organisation and zeal overcame disorder and apathy.
Clement VII. made peace with Charles V.      In
I 530, at Bologna, he crowned Charles Emperor of the
Romans, the last occasion on which the Holy Roman
Empire was consecrated at the hands of a pope. Emperor and Pope entered into an alliance which secured
the supremacy of Spain and the Papacy throughout Italy.
With the aid of Spain, which had come to Charles through
his mother, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, the
Pope became more powerful as an Italian prince than
had ever previously been the case.  Italy, indeed, was
now subject to a Spanish and Papal tyranny.
The moral regeneration of Catholic Christendom was
brought about by new institutions and reforms, the work
of zealous and devoted men. Ignatius Loyola began
his crusade. The Spanish Inquisition was established
in Rome. The censorship over literature commenced.
And the Council of Trent defied the Protestant world
by insisting that all Christians must continue to em298




The Catholic Reaction


brace in every particular the old established creed of
the Roman Church, and nothing less.
Loyola was the son of a Spanish noble. A true
Spanish gentleman of the better class, he had the
eager, passionate ideals of religious chivalry which, in
all countries except Spain, had died with the failure
of the Crusades. The romance of Amadis de Gaul,
with its mystic piety, enthusiasm, and knightly adventures, was published during his childhood, and became his favourite reading as a young man.    The
spirit which animated Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad
still lingered amongst the Spanish nobility. Don Quixote
was not published till a hundred years later. Loyola
secretly devoted his life to the service of a lady, ' no
countess and no duchess, but of yet higher degree;' and
at the same time he was writing a romantic story of St.
Peter. An accident changed the course of his life.
At the siege of Pampeluna, in 1 5 21, he was struck by a
cannon ball in both legs, and survived the injury only to
be lame for life. During the long illness and slow
convalescence he read such books as the Castle of
Loyola contained-a Life of Christ and Lives of the
Saints. Cut off by physical injury from all hope of
military glory, the ambitious spirit of the young man
now became inflamed with religious ardour. He determined to emulate the heroic deeds of St. Dominic and
St. Francis. He took the vows of chastity and poverty,
and embarked upon the routine of self-flagellation and
ascetic mortification. He made a pilgrimage to Our
Lady of Montserrat, near Barcelona, hung up his arms
at the shrine, and, going through the ceremony ordained
in Amadis de Gaul, he performed in dark and secret
solitude the vigil by which a squire earned the spurs of
knighthood. Next day he gave away his fine clothing
to a beggar, assumed the garb of a mendicant pilgrim,
and went forth into the world in the self-dedicated
299




The Story of Rome
character of Knight of the Holy Church.      His
travels and adventures, including visits to Jerusalem
and London, and several narrow escapes from the
Inquisition on the charge of heresy, cannot be further
related here.
It was in 1 540, at Rome, that the Society of Jesus
was launched, and in 1 543 that it was finally and unconditionally established with the approval of Paul III.
(Farnese), Loyola being unanimously elected General
of the Order. Under the famous motto, 'Ad majorem
Dei gloriam,' Ignatius organised a Company of Adventurers to make war on heresy and insubordination. The
military basis of the Society suggests curious comparisons
with the Knights Templars of the Crusades, and the
modern Salvation Army. The Jesuits described themselves as 'a cohort combined for combat against spiritual
foes; men-at-arms devoted, body and soul, to our Lord
Jesus Christ and to his true and lawful Vicar upon earth.'
The mainspring of the new company was the old monastic
virtue of obedience, to be carried out with a truly military
completeness.  The Jesuit was to do and to think
what he was told to do and think, without hesitation
or inquiry. Loyola left many explicit instructions on
this point. Here are some of them:-   I ought to
desire to be ruled by a superior who endeavours to
subjugate my judgment and subdue my understanding.'... When it seems to me that I am commanded by
my superior to do a thing against which my conscience
revolts as sinful, and my superior judges otherwise, it is
my duty to yield my doubts to him, unless I am constrained by evident reasons.'... ' I ought not to be
my own but His who created me, and his too through
whom God governs me, yielding myself to be moulded
in his hands like wax.'... ' A sin, whether venial
or mortal, must be committed if it is commanded by
the Superior.'... 'If the Church pronounces a thing
300




The Catholic Reaction
which seems to us white to be black, we must immediately say that it is black.'
The company had instant and great success. In
a very few years it had missionaries in every part of the
world, and it was soon recognised in Europe as the
most powerful of all the moral forces arrayed on the
side of the Catholic religion. The Jesuits had a large
share in the final decisions of the Council of Trent-a
Council collected for the purpose of reform, which
ended in formulating doctrines and practices which had
grown up since the days of the great General Councils,
but had never yet been officially approved. The great
object of the Jesuits was the enforcement of orthodoxy.
They regarded all means as fair in their war against
heterodox opinions. Loyola said, ' I have made myself
all things to all men,' Ad majorem Dei gloriam (For the
greater glory of God)-a formula which makes all acts
permissible, provided they achieve this aim. They
built their whole system of education upon the virtue of
obedience, and the theory that the end justifies the
means. Symonds says: 'Art, science, literature, religion, morality and politics, all suffered from their
interference.  By preferring artifice to reality, affectation to sincerity, shams and subterfuges to plain principle
and candour, they confused the conscience and enfeebled
the intellect of Europe. When we speak of the Jesuit
style in architecture, rhetoric and poetry, of Jesuit
learning and scholarship, of Jesuit casuistry and of
Jesuit diplomacy, it is either with languid contempt for
bad taste and insipidity, or with the burning indignation
which systematic falsehood and corruption inspire in
honourable minds.'
The Jesuits became too powerful.    They were
expelled from Venice in i 606, from Bohemia in 1618,
Naples and the Netherlands in I622, Russia in I676,
Portugal in I759, France in 1764, and Spain in I767;
301




The Story of Rome


the Order was suppressed in 1773 by Clement XIV.,
but restored in 18i4 by Pius VII.  The Anti-Jesuit
Popes, Sixtus V., Urban VII. and Clement VIII.,
were all three supposed at the time to have been put
to death by Jesuit agency, a striking testimony to the
popular belief in the power and the methods of the Order.
When the Basilica of S. Paolo Fuori le Mura was
destroyed by fire in i 823, one of the few objects saved
from the flames was the medallion in mosaic of the
Madonna, before which St. Ignatius Loyola with five
companions made their vows on the 22nd April 1541.
It is now in the Chapel of the Crucifix in the new
basilica.  Shortly after the death of Loyola, the little
chapel in which he had preached was pulled down,
and the church known as the Gesu erected on the site.
It is a large building in the baroque style of its architect,
Vignola. The body of the saint lies under the high altar.
Noted musical services are performed in this popular
church on the 3ist December, the 3Ist July (the festival of St. Ignatius), and during the Quarant' ore, the
two last days of the Carnival. In No. i Via di Ara
Cceli are the rooms in which St. Ignatius lived and died.
In their efforts to suppress heresy, the Jesuits were
greatly assisted by the Inquisition. The old Dominican
Inquisition had become obsolete and ineffective, when
in 1483 the powers of the Holy Office were greatly
extended in Spain by the Inquisitor-General of Castile
and Arragon, Thomas of Torquemada. The Inquisition established a reign of terror in Spain, clearing the
country by banishment, or burning, of three million inhabitants in the first hundred and forty years of its
renovated existence.  An auto-da-fe, or burning on
one common pile of a number of living victims, together
with condemned corpses, and effigies of heretics whose
bodies could not be obtained, became a common sight,
which the people enjoyed as much as they had done
302




The Catholic Reaction


the gladiatorial shows in Pagan times.  In 1542 the
Inquisition was restored in Rome. It was not nearly
so severe or so powerful as in Spain, but every year a
number of heretics were publicly burned in the city.
The Congregation of the
Holy Office would meet in           Q
the church of S. M. Sopra....
Minerva, and the burnings    /.
take place in the square in     -
front, or in the Campo dei
Fiori.
One of the most famous        ^
of the victims was Giordano:                   - -
Bruno, a monk who refused            _    \'.-d
to repudiate his belief in
the   Copernican  system.
After an imprisonment of           _m_
seven years, Bruno was declared an impenitent and
obstinate heretic, and handed  to           -
over to the civil authority,
with the usual injunction
that 'he should be punished
as leniently as possible, and      z     E
without shedding of blood,'  -_X......
the disgusting formula used
to indicate death by fire. 
On hearing his sentence, ARMS OF PAUL 111. (FARNESE)
Bruno said, 'Peradventure
ye pronounce this sentence with a greater fear than
I receive it.'  It was the year i60o (Jubilee year),
Rome being crowded with pilgrims. ' At this time,'
says Berti, his biographer, ' while it might have seemed
that all hearts ought to have been inclined to mercy,
and attracted longingly to the gentle Redeemer of
humanity, the poor philosopher of Nola, preceded and
303




The Story of Rome


followed by crowds of people, accompanied by priests
carrying crucifixes, and escorted by soldiers, was
wending his way to the Campo dei Fiori to die for
freedom and the rights of conscience. As the lonely
thinker-the disciple and worshipper of the Infinitepassed through the streets clothed in the San Benito,
but with head erect, and haughty, fearless glance, what
thoughts must have passed through his mind! The
feeling of utter isolation could not but have been felt
by him. He must have found-it was the conclusion
of his intellectual career-that he was alone in his
researches, in his passionate quest for truth, in the
inferences and conclusions he had laboriously wrought
out. Sympathy with the crowds around him, who,
no doubt, hooted the heretic in order to display their
own orthodoxy, he was hardly likely to feel, except
as a sentiment of pity for the ignorance and fanaticism
of which he was only one victim among many.'
When tied to the stake he declared that 'he died a
martyr and willingly, even though his soul should not
ascend to Paradise with the smoke of his fire, but
that was of no consequence to him if he spoke the
truth; ' he bore the slow agonies of burning without
a cry or moan, and when a crucifix was thrust before
him, turned his head scornfully away.
Near the spot where he was burned, in the Campo
dei Fiori, a bronze statue was erected to his memory
in 1889. It contains eight medallions to the champions
of religious freedom, of whom the most notable are
Paolo Sarpi, John Wycliffe and John Huss. On the
17th February 1900, the tercentenary of the burning
of Bruno, the statue was surrounded with floral wreaths.
The unveiling of this statue produced a public remonstrance from Leo XIII., on the ground that Bruno's
writings were subversive of morality. But if any proof
were required of the not surprising nor exceptionally
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The Catholic Reaction


heinous fact (considering the times) that he was burned
for his scientific opinions, it would be furnished by the
treatment, a few years later, of a greater man, Galileo.
Eleven years after the death of Bruno, Galileo was
received with distinction at Rome, but he also ultimately
offended the Inquisition, and was forced, by fear of
sharing Bruno's fate, to denounce the Copernican
system and to declare that the earth does not move
round the sun.  It was not till 1761 that the legend
arose that, immediately after his recantation, he added,
sotto voce, I E pur si muove.'
In its efforts to stifle freedom of thought the Inquisition added to imprisonment and fire, the destruction
of literature.  In 1543 it was made a penal offence to
possess any book which had not passed the censorship.
In 1559, under Paul IV. (Caraffa), the list of condemned writings took its present form, known as the
Index of Condemned Books.      The suppression of
books was carried out in the most searching and
thorough manner.   Even admittedly harmless books
were destroyed if they were written or published by a
suspected heretic. It is needless to enlarge upon the
subject.  Italian literature suffered severely.  The last
Italian poet, Torquato Tasso, was driven mad by fear
that the Holy Office would censor his masterpiece,
Gerusalemme Liberata, a romantic poem in praise of
Tancred and the first Crusade.
After seven years of confinement, Tasso was sufficiently recovered from his mental disorders to be released, and spent much of his later life in Rome. In
1 595 Clement VIII. awarded him a pension and made
preparations for crowning him as Poet-Laureate on the
Capitol. But first bad weather, and then the fatal illness of the poet, put an end to the project.  From his
dwelling in the Vatican, Tasso had been accustomed to
wander over the Janiculan Hill, where he was often to
u                 305




The Story of Rome
be found in a quiet spot under an oak tree.  There are
superb views of St. Peter's, Monte Mario, the Tiber,
the Sabine Mountains and the great city from this position. When lTIsso felt that his last illness was upon
him he asked to be taken in at the convent of S. Onofrio,
whence he could sometimes be carried to his favourite
haunt to gaze upon the wonderful scene below. On his
death, the laurel which had been prepared for the coronation was placed upon the brow of the corpse, which was
then carried in solemn procession through the Borgo
and back again to S. Onofrio, and there buried. The
church contains a modern monument to his memory;
and in the convent the room is shown where the poet
died, with a model in wax taken from a cast of his face.
One of the arts fortunately escaped the repressive
measures of the counter Reformation. The genius of
Palestrina saved Church music from the hostile threats
of the Tridentine Council, and thereby warded off a
severe blow  directed at music itself.  The simple
unison singing of S. Ambrose and S. Gregory the Great
had in time given way to contrapuntal elaborations of
any plain melody, too frequently a vulgar street tune.
The frivolous tone thus given to the choral service
reached, at last, a shocking, almost incredible scandal.
While one part of the choir sang the words of the
mass, the other was actually uttering the words of
the song whose melody had been adopted.       The
Council of Trent, in its haste to stop such disgraceful
proceedings, decreed the total abolition of all Church
music. At this crisis Palestrina, the choirmaster at
the Basilica of S. M. Maggiore, composed the ' Missa
Papa Marcelli,' dedicated to the short-lived Pope
Marcellus II. (died 1555).  It was at once recognised as containing the requisite qualities.  It was
devotional, and yet attractive; though the reverse of
frivolous, it was not regarded, in that age, as dull.
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The Catholic Reaction
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rhe Story of Rome


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The Catholic Reaction
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The Story of Rome
Some of the great events affecting the Catholic
revival in the latter half of the sixteenth century require
mention.  In I57I was fought the naval battle of
Lepanto, in which the Turks were defeated by the
combined force led by Don John of Austria and
Marcantonio Colonna. There is a painting of the battle
on the ceiling of the Great Hall of the Colonna
Palace, and another in the Sala Regia of the Vatican.
There also is a fresco representing the triumph of the
Church by means of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew
in 1572, when large numbers of Protestants were
murdered in France. In 1585 Sixtus V. was elected
Pope. In 1588 the Spanish Armada was dispersed.
In 1589 Henry of Navarre was King of France; in
1593 he became a Catholic; in 1598 he issued the
Edict of Nantes, which gave Protestants liberty of
conscience in his kingdom.
The story of Sixtus V. requires further notice.
Piergentile Peretti, while cultivating his oranges and
olives in his small garden between the villages of
Grottamare and Montalto, south of Ancona, carried
a strange idea in his head.  Though as yet childless,
he was convinced that he was destined to be the father
of a pope. When a son was born to him on December 13, 152I, he signalised the first step towards the
realisation of his ambition by naming the child Felix.
At the age of twelve Felix entered the Franciscan
order. He grew up as ambitious for himself as his
father had been for him, with unlimited confidence in
his destiny.  Born a candidate for the Papacy, he continued throughout his career to regard himself in that
light.  At length his powerful sermons in the church
of the Apostles at Rome began to attract the attention of the chief clerics of the time-amongst them
St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Philip Neri, and Cardinal
Ghislieri, afterwards St. Pius V.  From  that time
310




The Catholic Reaction


his promotion was rapid, and when Pius made him a
cardinal the Papacy seemed within his grasp.  But
the election of his enemy, Buoncompagni, as Gregory
XIII., in 1572, was a heavy blow. Out of favour,
even in disgrace, Cardinal Peretti found occupation in
the erection of a villa and the culture of a vineyard on
the slopes of the Esquiline. The Villa Peretti, afterwards known as the Villa Massimi, or the Villa
Negroni, was destroyed, together with the remains of
the classic Villa of Maocenas, in the same locality, by
order of the municipality of Rome, in 1874 and subsequent years. Here the life of the cardinal, during
the Papacy of Gregory XIII., was one of seclusion
and retirement.  He was waiting, patiently waiting,
for the death of the aged Pope. When that hopedfor event at last occurred, the behaviour of Peretti in
the Conclave was as quiet and unobtrusive as so proud
and aggressive a nature could make it. As soon as he
was elected Pope his manner completely changed.
He let it be seen at once that he intended to rule the
temporal and spiritual provinces under his care with a
rod of iron. The Sacred College was entrapped into
the election, and regretted their action as soon as they
saw Sixtus V. on the throne. No man of such
resolute will and fearless originality has since been seen
in the Papal chair. Queen Elizabeth, with a woman's
admiration for a masterful disposition, on being urged
to choose a husband, replied, with a smile, ' I know of
but one man who is worthy of my hand, and that man
is Sixtus V.'
It was this startling change Detween the cardinal
and the Pope which gave rise to the well-known
legend that Cardinal Peretti feigned sickness and old
age during the Conclave, going about feebly with bent
figure, supported by crutches; and that, immediately
his election was accomplished, he drew himself straight,
311I




The Story of Rome


flung away his crutches, and announced in a voice of
thunder, to the terror-stricken cardinals, that he intended
to be implicitly obeyed in everything.  False in literal
fact, the story has an entirely accurate symbolic meaning. Within a few hours of his election the new Pope
created a panic in all evil-doers by an act of extravagant
severity. Four young brothers, who had been employed
to keep order in Rome during the usual orgy of robbery
and murder which always broke out between the death
of one pope and the election of another, were found still
carrying their arms, a few hours after the election of
Sixtus V. Their excuse for not having laid them
down on hearing of the election of a Pope, was that
order had not been re-established and that their own
lives were in danger. Doubtless this was true. But
the carrying of arms was, according to a law which
was never enforced, a capital offence. Sixtus V. ordered
these poor lads to be immediately hanged on the bridge
of St. Angelo. Hitherto no execution had ever taken
place in the interval between the election and the coronation of a pope.  To all expostulations he merely
replied, 'While I live, every criminal must die.' In
truth, the lawless condition of Rome was such that no
life-not even that of the pope himself-was safe at
any time of the day, or in any part of the city. The
States of the Church were overrun by organised forces
of banditti under the command of Alphonso Piccolomini, of Lambert Malatesta, of the priest Guercino, and
other outlaws.
These soldiers of fortune, called fuorusciti, were the
successors of the condottieri who had served with Hawkwood, Sforza and Braccio.   They found their way
into the towns, and were patronised by the nobility,
who could not afford to offend them. Every Roman
noble or cardinal had in his pay a number of hired
assassins, or bravi, who defied all authority, whether of
312




The Catholic Reaction


the Pope or the Municipality.   It was the darling
ambition of every spirited young aristocrat to murder a
policeman, if possible the head of the sbirri (police),
the bargello himself. In one of these conflicts between
the nobility and the sbirri, Cardinal Peretti, present by
accident, barely escaped with his life.  The bargello
had seized a bandit in the pay of the Orsini; on the
way to the prison he and his police by chance met a
party of young nobles on horseback, amongst them an
Orsini, a Savelli, a Rusticucci and a Goetani, who
instantly attacked the officials.  Raimondo Orsini,
Rusticucci, and others of the aristocratic party, besides
several of the sbirri, and even the innocent cardinal's
servant, were killed.  The Orsini family demanded
from the weak Pope Gregory XIII., and obtained, the
execution of the bargello.  The Pope was obliged to
hang his chief of police for the offence of defending his
own life against the murderous assault of a band of
riotous nobles.
But the murder of Cardinal Peretti's servant was remembered by Sixtus V. To break down the alliance
between the nobility and the bravi seemed impossible,
but the very existence of the Papal Court at Rome was
at stake, and Sixtus V., as Elizabeth had noted, was a
man. When a cardinal complained of the arrest and
imprisonment of a fellow-member of the Sacred College,
the Pope said shortly: 'We intend to be obeyed here
in Rome by all.' Sixtus V. saw, what few of his predecessors had realised, that the Papal power, whether
spiritual or temporal, depended upon the position of the
Papal authority in Rome itself. He began, where every
Pope ought to have begun, by asserting his authority in
the holy city. People soon learned that for every homicide there was an execution. Pasquino and Marforio had
much to say about the new situation. They composed
a dialogue for the statues of St. Peter and St. Paul on
3 13




The Story of Rome


the bridge of St. Angelo, spectators of many a hanging.
St. Paul asked St. Peter why he carried a bundle upon
his back, to which St. Peter replied that he had made
up his mind to leave Rome, fearing to be hanged for
having cut off Malchus's ear. The measures adopted by
Sixtus V. were indeed merciless, almost ferocious. If
the position was desperate the remedy applied was
radical and savage. Success, however, may reasonably be pleaded in extenuation. Within a year both
life and property were safe in Rome, and the banditti
had been driven out of the Papal States.
As illustrating the social manners and morals of
Rome and Italy during the Catholic reaction, it may be
of interest to glance at the stories of Benvenuto Cellini,
artist, and murderer; of the beautiful Vittoria Accoramboni; and of Shelley's heroine, Beatrice Cenci.
BENVENUTO CELLINI.
The autobiography of Cellini was first translated
and mad- famous by Goethe. An excellent translation into English, with a preface by J. A. Symonds,
was issued in i887.   Symonds describes one of the
most interesting of all autobiographies thus:-' It is,'
he says, ' no work of art or of reflection, but the plain
utterance of a man who lived the whole life of his age,
who felt its thirst for glory, who shared its adoration
of the beautiful, who blent its Paganism and its superstitions, who represented its two main aspects of exquisite
sensibility to form and almost brutal ruffianism.' Born
at Florence in 1 500, Benvenuto Cellini became the
first goldsmith of his time. His ability as a sculptor is
sufficiently evident by his bronze ' Perseus,' to be seen
in the Loggia dei Lanzi of the Piazza della Signoria at
Florence.  Of his success as a lover, a courtier and
314




The Catholic Reaction


an assassin he continually boasts. How many men he
killed we shall never know. In fair warfare, he declares
that it was his shot that caused the death of Bourbon in
the assault upon Rome, and boasts of having killed many
persons, after the enemy had entered, by firing the
cannon on the Castle of St. Angelo. Of actual murders
he relates only the three which gave him the most
pleasure to look back upon.
His first admitted murder occurred in this way.
The bargello at Rome was taking a malefactor to
prison when an attempt was made to rescue him, which
ended in failure and the death of one of the assailants,
a youth named Bertino Aldobrandini, the dear friend of
Benvenuto's brother, Cecchino.  On hearing the fate
which had befallen his comrade, Cecchino ran amuck
at the guard, killed the official who had dealt Aldobrandini his death wound, and was himself fatally
wounded by another. Benvenuto admits that this man
acted in self-defence, and only just in time to save himself from the blow which his brother was preparing for
him. When his brother was dead, Benvenuto resolved to
kill the policeman who had struck him down. 'When
I saw that the fever caused by always seeing him about
was depriving me of sleep and appetite, and was bringing me by degrees to sorry plight, I overcame my
repugnance to so low and not quite praiseworthy an
enterprise, and made up my mind one evening to rid
myself of the torment. The fellow lived in a house
near a place called Torre Sanguigna' (near the Piazza
Navona), 'next door to the lodging of one of the most
fashionable courtesans in Rome, named Signora Antea.
It had just struck twenty-four' (sunset), 'and he was
standing at the house door, with his sword in hand,
having risen from supper. With great address I stole
up to him, holding a large Pistojan dagger, and dealt
him a back-handed stroke, with which I meant to cut
315




The Story of Rome
his head clean off; but as he turned round very suddenly
the blow fell upon the point of his left shoulder and
broke the bone. He sprang up, dropped his sword,
half stunned with the great pain, and took to flight. I
followed after, and in four steps caught him up, when I
lifted my dagger above his head, which he was holding
very low, and hit him in the back, exactly at the
junction of the nape bone and the neck. The poniard
entered this point so deep into the bone that, though I
used all my strength to pull it out, I was not able, for
just at that moment four soldiers with drawn swords
sprang out from Antea's lodging, and obliged me to
set hand to my own sword to defend my life. Leaving
the poniard then, I made off, and, fearing I might be
recognised, took refuge in the palace of Duke Alessandro, which was between Piazzo Navona and the
Rotunda' (the Pantheon). ' On my arrival I asked to
see the duke, who told me that, if I was alone, I need
only keep quiet and have no further anxiety, but go on
working at the jewel which the Pope had set his heart
on, and stay eight days indoors. He gave this advice
the more securely because the soldiers had now arrived
who interrupted the completion of my deed; they
held the dagger in their hand, and were relating how
the matter happened, and the great trouble they had to
pull the weapon from the neck and head-bone of the
man, whose name they did not know.      Just then
Giovan Bandini came up and said to them, "That
poniard is mine, and I lent it to Benvenuto, who was bent
on revenging his brother." The soldiers were profuse
in their expressions of regret at having interrupted me,
although my vengeance had been amply satisfied.'
It is evident that Cellini enjoyed the act of killing,
and was proud of such achievements. He could not
have guessed that posterity would read his autobiography for its sensation, and regard with horror the
316




The Catholic Reaction


acts whose relation provides so much entertainment.
On being upbraided for his murders by the sculptor
Bandinelli, he replied, 'At anyrate, the men I have
killed do not shame me so much as your bad statues
shame you; for the earth covers my victims, whereas
yours are exposed to the view of the world.'
Cellini gained fame for his cleverness and determination in escaping from the Castle of St. Angelo, where
he had been imprisoned for murdering Pompeo, a rival
goldsmith. He stole a pair of pincers from a workman
in the castle, and with them took off the hinges of the
door of his cell. Then he climbed on to the roof and
let himself down to the ground by a rope made of
bands of linen torn from the sheets of his bed. He
had still to scale two walls, which he did by means of
a pole he luckily found at hand, but in descending the
last wall he fell and broke his leg just above the ankle.
He crawled on hands and knees towards the Borgo
Vecchio, and was attacked and bitten by dogs, whom
he had to beat off with his poniard. In the early
morning, as he was scraping his way along, he fortunately came across a servant of Cardinal Cornaro, and
was taken into the cardinal's house, where he remained
until the Papal pardon had been obtained. Visitors to
the Castle of St. Angelo are shown a cell which is
said to be the identical one from which Cellini escaped.
VITTORIA ACCORAMBONI.
Vittoria, daughter of Claudio Accoramboni, was an
exceptionally beautiful woman, and married at the age of
sixteen to Felice Peretti, nephew of the future Pope.
Her brother Marcello, who had been outlawed for
murder, was a favourite of Paolo Giordano Orsini, the
powerful Duke of Bracciano. Marcello conceived the
317




The Story of Rome


idea of permanently establishing the fortunes of the
family by marrying his sister' to the duke.  There
were difficulties in carrying out the scheme. The
husband could easily be removed. But the social gulf
between the Accoramboni and the Orsini was a serious
obstacle, and, in Symonds's phrase, ' It was an affair of
delicacy to stimulate, without satisfying, the duke's
passion.' The duke was a widower, having with his
own hand killed his wife, Isabella de' Medici, on
suspicion of adultery. Aged fifty, he was a man of
great stature, enormously corpulent, and afflicted with
an incurable disease.  Vittoria's powers of attraction
were such that she succeeded in obtaining from the
duke a promise of marriage, to take place as soon as
her husband had been got rid of. That was soon done.
One night a certain Mancino, an outlaw who had been
in the service of Peretti as bravo, brought his master a
letter from Marcello, asking for immediate assistance
in a great difficulty. Marcello knew he could rely
upon the generous impulses of his brother-in-law.
Peretti's wife, who knew of the plot, and wished him
dead, shrank from definitely committing herself to the
position of accomplice, and begged her husband not to
risk the peril of a night adventure.  But Peretti would
not desert a friend, his wife's brother, and leaving her
in tears, made for the indicated place of meeting on
Monte Cavallo. Next morning his dead body was
found there, close to the Sforza garden, now attached
to the Palazzo Rospigliosi. A few days later Vittoria
was secretly married to the Duke of Bracciano.
The Orsini family objected to the mesalliance, and
prevailed upon Pope Gregory XIII. to annul the marriage.  The duke would not give up his prize.  He
went through a public marriage ceremony with Vittoria.
Gregory XIII. again declared it invalid, but died soon
after. While the Conclave of Sixtus V. was sitting,
318




The Catholic Reaction


Bracciano was for a third time married to Vittoria.
On hearing of the election of his wife's uncle, the
duke hastened to pay his respects to the Holy Father,
when his reception was such that he and Vittoria at
once left Rome A few months later he died suddenly
and mysteriously, after having made large provision for
his widow in his will. At Padua, Vittoria, a second
time a widow, was joined by her late husband's kinsman, Prince Ludovico Orsini, a violent man of infamous
character.  As was inevitable, they quarrelled about
the will. Ludovico decided to be rid of the widow,
and sent his bravi to kill her.  In the evening they
forced their way into her house, where they found her
at her devotions before retiring to rest.  She had no
protector. While others held her, one of the bravi
undid her dress so as to expose the left breast, beneath
which he pressed his dagger home, saying, 'Does it
touch the heart? Tell me. Why do you not answer? '
The Paduans were loyal to their duchess. They
surrounded the Orsini Palace and compelled Ludovico
to capitulate. He was strangled in prison. Of his
associates two were quartered alive, one of them, the
actual murderer, having a dagger fixed up to the hilt in
his heart; fifteen were hanged, and others sent to the
galleys. Marcello, the originator of all the tragedy,
was executed by order of Sixtus V.
When Shakespeare killed off all the chief characters
at the end of a play, he was doubtless influenced by his
knowledge of the Italian tragedies of the time.
BEATRICE CENCI.
Francesco Cenci was the son of Monsignore Cenci
by a married woman, and was born in the lifetime of
the lady's husband. His father left him great wealth.
319




lThe Story of Rome
HIe was a man of violent passions, who committed
many crimes. He suffered one short term of imprisonment, and was outlawed for a time, but usually succeeded in compounding for his misdeeds by the
payment of fines. His children were like their father.
One son was murdered in the course of an intrigue
with a married woman; another came to a merited
end in a brawl; the eldest, Giacomo, was a professional forger; and the youngest daughter, Beatrice,
though unmarried, had given birth to a child.
Cenci treated his children cruelly, and they hated
him with all the strength of their lawless, violent
natures. At last Giacomo the eldest, Bernardo the
youngest, Beatrice, the priest Guerco, her intimate
friend-probably her lover-and the second wife,
Lucrezia, all joined in a scheme for killing the head
of the house.  He was a bad father, and rich.  An
assassin's fee was small.
They employed two bravi, Olimpio and Marzio,
who entered Cenci's bedroom while he was asleep
and drove a big nail through his eye into the brain.
The body was thrown out of the window, its condition
ascribed to an accidental fall, and it was hastily buried.
But suspicion fell upon the culprits. Other bravi were
instantly hired to kill the first pair, lest they should be
caught, and tell the story. The new men did succeed
in killing Olimpio, but Marzio fell into the clutches of
the law, and, on being tortured, implicated the Cenci
family. Upbraided by Beatrice for his confession, the
poor wretch then recanted. He was again tortured,
but persisted in denying what he had formerly said,
though every form of physical agony was tried, until at
last death put an end to his sufferings and his testimony.
Meanwhile the brothers Giacomo and Bernardo had
confessed under torture, but no pain could extract any
admission from Beatrice. Unluckily the Cenci family
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The Catholic Reaction


were not in a position to employ bravi to kill the bravi
who had killed one of the bravi who had killed
Francesco Cenci.   One of these bravi was caught
and his evidence confirmed the story originally told by
Marzio. There was always this danger in the use of
bravi, that unless they killed each other simultaneously
the survivor was in a position to give evidence against
his employer.  For this reason the bolder spirits of the
time did their own killing, which was safer and more
economical.
When it was no longer possible to deny the truth,
Beatrice at last also confessed, and the whole family were
lodged in the Castle of St. Angelo. At the trial their
advocate, Prospero Farinacci, unable to deny their guilt
as parricides, brought forward a plea in mitigation of
sentence, ascribing to the father an unnatural passion
for his daughter Beatrice. Clement VIII. hesitated.
At that inopportune moment one of the Santa Croce,
a relative of the Cenci, murdered his own mother.
The Pope's heart was hardened, and the Cenci family
condemned to death.   In 1599 the executions took
place before an immense crowd in the small square
opening from the bridge of St. Angelo, in front of
the statues of SS. Peter and Paul.   Lucrezia and
Beatrice were first decapitated by a machine somewhat resembling the guillotine of later times. Then
Giacomo was killed by a blow of the executioner's
hammer, the body cut in four, and the pieces exposed
on the bridge, together with the bodies and heads of
Lucrezia and Beatrice. Bernardo, fainting with fear
and horror, was, at the last, spared in consideration of
his youth.
Beatrice was twenty-two years of age. No evidence
now exists in support of her advocate's contention.
There is a portrait of him standing in a doorway,
painted on the wall of one of the rooms in the Castle
x                 321




The Story of Rome


of St. Angelo. That the famous picture of a young
girl in the Barberini gallery is a portrait of Beatrice
Cenci, is most improbable. Guido Reni, to whom it
has been ascribed, was not in Rome till some years
after her death.
The Cenci estates were confiscated by the Pope.
Paul V. (Borghese) gave a part of them, now the
Villa Borghese and Park, to his nephews. They have
recently been bought by the Government.
The name of Sixtus V. is associated with the
Banditti, the Monti, the Congregations and the Obelisk.
Having suppressed brigandage, the Pope set about the
restoration of the Papal exchequer.  Foreign tribute,
since the Reformation, had fallen to small dimensions.
Sixtus V. cut down the ordinary expenditure by one
half, levied new taxes, made every applicant for office
or promotion buy the situation he required, and
established the system of the monti-the precursor of
all national debts. When the Pope was in need of
money he created a new office, a title with no duties,
carrying a fixed salary, which the applicant bought by
the payment of a round sum; thus the salary was a
life annuity bought at the ordinary rate according to
the value of money.   The plan was extended by
allowing the annuitant, for an extra payment, to nominate a successor to the office when it should be vacated
by his death. In return for a loan, perpetual annuities
were paid as interest, under the guise of salary.
Sixtus V. established the Congregations-committees
of prelates appointed with a permanent organisation for
certain defined purposes. Paul III. formed the first of
these committees, under the title of the Congregation
of the Holy Office, i.e., the Inquisition. Sixtus V.
extended them, giving them something of the form
which they still maintain.  The influence of these
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Jrhe Catholic Reaction


councils, as directors of the Papal policy, has been
greatly extended of late years.
When we remember that Peretti was Pope for only
five years, it is remarkable what he achieved. The
appearance of Rome he entirely transformed.   His
predecessors of the same century had all done something for Rome.   Julius II. made the Via Giulia,
Leo X. the Ripetta, Pius IV. the Via Pia, Paul III.
the Via Paolina, Gregory XIII. the Via Gregoriana.
Sixtus V. pulled down the old buildings of the Lateran,
and erected the modern palace; he made the great
flight of marble steps leading from the Piazza di
Spagna to the church of Trinita dei Monti; he laid
out the Via Felice and the streets which lead to S.
Maria Maggiore, and connected the Lateran with the
Colosseum. He moved the statues of the horse-tamers
to their present position on Monte Cavallo. He was
a great destroyer, ruthlessly pulling down any medieval
or classic building which stood in the way of a new
street. He cared nothing for antiquity, demolished
the Septizonium, and could scarcely be prevented from
laying hands upon the tomb of Cecilia Metella. He
converted the disused Aqua Marcia into the modern
Acqua Felice; completed the Dome of St. Peter's in
twenty-two months, a work which Rome had long
since despaired of ever seeing finished; and achieved
what was considered impossible-the erection of the
obelisk before St. Peter's.
This success was regarded as one of the wonders of
the world. The obelisk had stood in Caligula's circus.
It had witnessed the Pagan games, the crucifixion of
St. Peter, and the cruelties practised by Nero upon
Christians. It was now lying half buried in the soil
close to the sacristy on the western side of St. Peter's.
The spot is passed by every visitor to the sculpture
galleriesoftheVatican. Paul III. had consulted Michel323




Tihe Story of Rome


angelo and Sangallo as to the feasibility of removing
the Needle to the Piazza of St. Peter's, and had received fiom both the reply that the scheme was impracticable.  But no previous Pope had believed the
suppression of the banditti, the reorganisation of the
finances, or the completion of the Dome of St. Peter's
to be possible achievements; and Sixtus V. soon showed
that even a Pope may do great things if he have a
little courage. He began, in the traditional manner
where any great difficulty is to be surmounted, by
appointing a commission to report; but when he found
that its members were, in accordance with custom,
applying the whole of their energy in quarrelling,
tripping each other up, fighting for the ultimate job,
the new broom swept them all away, and appointed a
young friend of his own, Domenico Fontana, to plan
and execute the undertaking. Fontana was given the
two necessaries-ample funds and absolute power.
These factors sufficed to build the Pyramids of Egypt,
and it would have been a humiliation and disgrace for
Europe if the head of the Christian religion had been
unable to lift a monument which had been brought
across the sea, and raised in Rome, by the Pagans of
sixteen centuries back. But since their time the world
had passed through the darkness of the barbarian invasions, and it was only beginning to be conscious of the
restored powers which had come to it since the Renaissance. As the young architect gradually accumulated
his materials-immense beams of wood, large pieces of
iron, miles of the thickest ropes-Rome became wild
with excitement, and Europe greatly interested. When
at last all the preparations had been completed, Fontana
flung himself at the feet of the Holy Father and begged
his blessing on the enterprise. The Pope seems to have
felt that something more than pious wishes was necessary, for he gave Fontana to understand that any
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The Catholic Reaction


accident or failure would be followed by his decapitation. On the eventful day all Rome crowded to the
piazza, to see a large number of horses, and go900
men, tugging at the various ropes and pulleys.  In
order that Fontana's commands should be instantly
heard by all his assistants, the onlookers were ordered
to keep absolute silence on pain of death on the
gallows, already erected, and unpleasantly noticeable
in the piazza itself.  When the obelisk had slowly
been raised into a half erect position, it stopped, and
would move no further.   In the excitement of the
moment a sailor from San Remo risked his head by
shouting, 'Aiga, dai de l'aiga ae corde! ' ('Water,
give water to the ropes').  The police instantly seized
the culprit and hurried him off to the nearest scaffold.
But Fontana was not above taking a hint; water was
poured on the ropes, which swelled and stiffened in
time to raise the Needle, and save the sailor's life. He
was presented to the Pope and rewarded, and San
Remo has ever since enjoyed the privilege of supplying the palm branches on Palm Sunday for St.
Peter's.
The placing of the obelisk in the piazza was not
only a Papal triumph over difficulties which since the
fall of Paganism had been considered insuperable. The
Pagan monument was intentionally placed in a position
where it should look crushed and insignificant beneath
the giant facade of the Christian church, and the
glorious dome towering above it. The erection of
statues of St. Peter and St. Paul on the summit of the
columns of Marcus Aurelius and Trajan was also
designed to symbolise the triumph of Christianity over
Paganism.
The general result of the energy of Sixtus V. on the
appearance of Rome is shown by the letter of a contemporary.   'I am  in Rome,' writes Padre Don
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The Story of Rome


Angelo Grillo, 'after an absence of ten years, and do
not recognise it, so new does all appear to me to be:
monuments, streets, piazzas, fountains, aqueducts,
obelisks, and other wonders, all the work of Sixtus V.
If I were a poet I would say that, to the imperious
sound of the trumpet of that great-hearted Pope, the
wakened limbs of that half-buried and gigantic body
which spreads over the Latin Campagna have replied
-that, thanks to the power of that fervent and exuberant spirit, a new Rome has risen from its ashes.'


ARMS OF SIXTUS V (PERETTI)


326




FROM THE VILLA MEDICI


CHAPTER X
The ~Dome of St. Peter's
'Quand le genie Gothique s'est a jamais eteint a 1'horizon de
l'art, Michel-Ange avait eu une derniere idee, une idee de
desespoir. Ce Titan de 1'art avait entasse le Pantheon sur la
Parthenon, et fait Saint Pierre de Rome.'
Victor Hugo, ' Notre Dame de Paris.'
THE Popes who succeeded Sixtus V. continued the
building policy which had been commenced by
Nicholas V. In the two and a half centuries between
the middle of the fifteenth and the end of the seventeenth century, Rome gradually took the appearance
she maintained until I870. The streets were laid
almost as they now are. The churches, which had
fallen to a condition of decay which necessitated further
destruction before any repairs could be attempted, were
entirely transformed. In their present state Nicholas
V. would scarcely recognise any one of them. While
the churches were being restored, the Papal policy of
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The Story of Rome


nepotism, begun by Martin V., produced new and
powerful families, who expended the Papal gifts in the
erection of great palaces and villas. Nepotism-the
distribution of the income of the Catholic Church for
the establishment of wealthy families in Rome-has
had a very important influence upon the later prosperity
of the city. What was meant for the world was given
to Rome. To the old renowned Roman families-the
Savelli, Conti, Orsini, Colonna and Gaetani-were
gradually added the Aldobrandini, Borghese, Ludovisi,
Barberini, Pamfili, Chigi, Rospigliosi, each of them
founded by a pope. Round the person of the Pope a
ceaseless conflict raged between his own newly-ennobled
relatives, the family of his predecessor, and the party
that hoped to nominate his successor.  The life of
the Pope was the most important factor of the situation,
for if he could survive a majority of the cardinals who
elected him, the Sacred College, and with it the Papacy
and all its patronage, would be in the hands of his
nominees. Old age thus came to be the most necessary
of all qualifications for the Papal candidate, no young
or even middle-aged man having any chance of election.
The advanced age of every Pope produced frequent
elections, and kept the Sacred College in a condition
of permanent intrigue. The Pope might die at any
moment, and a Conclave seemed always to be imminent
The procedure of a Conclave, or assembly under key
(clavis), was most carefully regulated, and is now as
follows:When a pope dies, the Cardinal Camerlengo
(chamberlain) is immediately summoned to certify the
act.  Standing by the corpse, he calls out three times
the baptismal name of the dead man, and taps three
times with a silver hammer on the forehead. He then
takes the Fisherman's ring from the stiff finger, and
defaces it. This famous ring has upon it a seal repre328




The Dome of St. Peter's
senting St. Peter fishing from his boat. A new one is
made for each Pope, with his name engraved on it.
The Pope's body is then embalmed, the interior portion
being deposited in a subterranean chamber in the church
of SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio, the Parish Church of
the Quirinal, opposite the Fountain of Trevi. The body
is taken to the Sistine Chapel, where it is dressed in
full pontificals. It then lies in state for three days in
the Chapel of the Sacrament in St. Peter's; and is
afterwards placed in a coffin inside two others, and
temporarily buried in a niche close to the tomb of
Innocent VIII. in the Cappella del Coro (where the
daily services are held with choral accompaniment).
Since the Popes have left the Quirinal Palace the
church of SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio has lost its
peculiar prerogative.  The 'praecordia' of Pius IX.
were taken to the Sagre Grotte Vaticane; and his body
lies in S. Lorenzo Fuori.
The secretary of the Sacred College sends to each
cardinal a notice of the death of the Pope, and the
Conclave meets ten days after the death of the Pontiff.
Sixtus V. fixed the Sacred College at seventy-six cardinal bishops, fifty cardinal priests, and fourteen cardinal
deacons; but the full number is seldom reached. The
cardinals who have arrived in Rome proceed on the
morning of the eleventh day to the Basilica of St.
Peter, where the Cardinal Dean celebrates Mass.
Then they enter the Chapel of the Conclave, and once
having entered are not permitted to leave-except in
case of serious illness-until a Pope is elected.
During the first day the public have free access to
the rooms of the Conclave until three hours after sunset,
when with the call of Exeunt Omnes all are excluded.
Each cardinal then enters his cubicle or cell, over which
at the entrance his coat of arms is displayed. In the
rooms set apart for the Conclave all the windows and
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The Story of Rome


doors are blocked up, with the exception of one, or
perhaps two, windows for air and light, and one door
for the exit of a sick cardinal or the entrance of a late
arrival. The key of the inside lock of this door is
kept by the Cardinal Camerlengo, of the outside by the
Governor or Marshal of the Conclave, a hereditary
office vested in one of the noble Roman families.
From the thirteenth century onwards the Savelli held
this honour, till the family became extinct, when Clement
XI. conferred it upon the Chigi, who still retain it.
Each cardinal takes into the Conclave two secretaries,
officials who have great opportunities for intrigue, and
exert a potent influence on the election. There are
many other attendants locked up with the cardinals.
Formerly they had the right, on an election being completed, of sacking the new Pope's apartments, but that
form of remuneration has now been superseded by a fixed
sum of money    The doors outside are watched by a
guard of prelates-patriarchs, archbishops and bishops.
Formerly each cardinal's food was brought, ready
cooked, in the cardinal's carriage or by a servant on
foot, and the assemblage of these gorgeous equipages
and attendants in the piazza was one of the great sights
of the Conclave. All food was carefully examined by
persons specially appointed to see that no message was
concealed in it; it was then passed to the Conclave
apartments by means of a curious turning-box, the key
of the inside being in the keeping of the master of the
ceremonies, while that of the outside was kept by the
prelate appointed by the outer guard.
Every detail seems to have been considered, and all
possible events anticipated.  Suppose, for instance, that
all the cardinals were to die in the Conclave before a
Pope had been elected, it is held that the election would
devolve upon the canons of the Basilica of St. John
Lateran, the Cathedral of Rome.
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The Dome of St. Peter's
The actual election is by voting papers. Each cardinal is supplied with a ticket, on which he writes the
name of the candidate he favours, and his own name on
the back. Then he folds the paper so that the front
only can be seen, and affixes his seal at the back. The
papers are then placed in a large vase in the shape of a
chalice, which stands on the altar of the Conclave
chapel.  From  this receptacle they are taken by
scrutineers, who hand them to other scrutineers, who
read out the names on the front.  If any cardinal has
received two-thirds plus one of all the votes he is
elected. The addition of one is to nullify any vote
which a cardinal may give for himself.
If no cardinal has received the requisite number of
votes, the voting papers, mixed with a quantity of damp
straw, are burned, and the thick smoke issuing from the
chimney gives the populace outside the news that the
morning ballot has failed. The next ballot takes place
at two o'clock in the afternoon, and if the people then
see a thin smoke issuing from the chimney they know
that the voting papers were burned without straw, and
that they have a Pope. Presently the first cardinal
deacon appears on the balcony over the entrance to the
Vatican Palace, and says: 'Nuntio vobis gaudium
magnum; habemus pontificem, eminentissimum N,
qui nomen imposuit    ' ('I announce to you a great
joy; we have a Pope, the Most Eminent N, who
has taken the name of — '). The Sacred College has
the power of electing any person, whether clerical or
lay; but it has long been the custom to choose a cardinal.
Three countries-Austria, Spain and France-have
each acquired the right of one objection, or veto, to an
election. In 1831 Cardinal Giustiani, who had already
received many votes, was excluded by the veto of
Spain. In I 846 Pius IX. would not have been elected
if Cardinal Gaysruch, who had been sent by Austria to
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The Story of Rome
veto his election, travelling at the greatest speed of
post horses, had arrived in time.  It is questionable
whether the veto will again be used, or, if used, whether
the Sacred College would submit to it. Probably Italy
could not be excluded from any future use of the power,
if it be retained by the other countries.
Endless are the stories of the fraud and the violence
which have been employed in the Conclaves. One of
the most characteristic is told of the young Cardinal
Cibo, who, aged only twenty-seven, had of course no
chance of election. At the Conclave of Adrian V1.
he was ill and unable to leave his cubicle. He asked
each cardinal in turn to visit him, and begged him,
merely as a consolation, for his one vote at the next
scrutiny. It would always be a source of pride to him
if he could say that he had obtained one vote. By this
appeal 'ad misericordiam' he obtained the promise of
enough votes to give him the Papacy, when unfortunately the vigilant Cardinal Colonna discovered and
published the plot, to the consternation and amusement
of all.
Many cardinals have been raised to that dignity when
still children, a fact which may help to account for the
boyish pranks for which the Conclaves have such a
reputation. No cardinal can be deprived of his vote on
any pretext. The Conclave has sometimes had to put
up with the presence of a criminal cardinal, released
from prison in order that he may vote.
The frequent elections, with their rapid changes of
authority, gave a fluctuating, unsettled character to the
population of the city. Every man depended for his
livelihood upon the patronage of the Papal Court, but
for which there would have been no trade or employment, or even-presumably-any city at all. Besides
those who supported themselves by supplying the wants
of the Church and the Papal nobility, Rome always
332




ruhe Dome of St. Peter's
contained a large number of strangers seeking for office,
either from the reigning Pope or his successor.  Every
day saw the departure of the disappointed, and the
arrival of fresh applicants.  But when, towards the
end of the seventeenth century, many rich and powerful families had been established, when the Thirty
Years' War had come to an end, and the counter Reformation had been completed, when internal discord and
foreign conflict both had ceased, Rome gradually acquired a settled population, and became once more a
centre of art, culture, and refined -society.  A  visit to
Rome became a necessary part of polite education.
The history of the city in the nineteenth century
may briefly be related. Napoleon declared the temporal sovereignty of the Pope abolished. But, like
Charles V. after the sack in I527, he finally came to
the conclusion that he could make use of the Papacy.
He restored Pius VII. and, in imitation of Charlemagne, was crowned by him, but at Paris, not at
Rome. His son, 'lI'Aiglon,' was designated King of
Rome. In 1 848 Pius IX. was. driven out of Rome
by a revolution, and a Republic was established, which
divested the Pope of all temporal power. Marshal
Oudinot, at the head of French troops, forced his
way into the city after a bombardment of the walls,
and when order had been restored, the Pope returned.
In 1870 the Franco-Prussian War caused the withdrawal of the French soldiers, who were immediately
replaced by those of Victor Emmanuel II. Rome
became the capital of Italy, and the Pope retired into
the Vatican, whence he has not since issued. The
Government occupied all the Papal possessions with
the exception of the Vatican and a few official buildings, the Lateran, S. Maria Maggiore, and the villa
of. Castel Gandolfo near Albano; and awarded the
Pope an annuity of fLx 30,000 per annum, which has
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The Story of Rome


never been accepted.   Without interfering  in the
Pope's use of these quarters and buildings, the Italian
Government claims that they belong to the Crown,
and has asserted its right, and, if necessary, its intention,
to occupy the Vatican on the occasion of a Conclave,
or at any other time when disorders may be in prospect.
The Pope is now seldom visible. Permission to
attend the indoor Papal ceremonies is eagerly sought
and hard to obtain.  Except in St. Peter's,; where the
Papal appearances are rare, there is no adequate space
for a large number of visitors. The Sistine Chapel and
the Pope's private chapel, can accommodate very few
beyond the officials. Even before 1 870, only by special
favour was permission given to attend one of the Papal
functions. Pasquino long before had voiced a general
Roman complaint, in his conversation between a Roman
citizen and a Protestant foreigner. 'Where go you today dressed so fine?' said the Roman. The foreigner
replied, ' I am to see the Pope in the Sistine Chapel.
Why do you not come? '      To which the Roman
answered, 'Because all the tickets for admission are
given to Protestants and foreigners.'
The Pope's costume varies with time and place, and
his wardrobe is large. Until the election of St. Pius V.
(Ghislieri) in 1566, the dress was red, but that Pope
belonged to the White Dominicans, and continuing as
Pope to wear that colour, set the fashion which has
since been retained. The Pope's cap, cape and shoes
are still red, except at Easter, when they also turn
white.
When officiating at great ecclesiastical functions the
Pope wears a mitre like any other bishop, but otherwise, on State occasions, he appears in the tiara, a
white conical-shaped hat, with three gold crowns
encircling it, one above the other.  The double crown
was adopted soon after the time of Charlemagne, and
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The Dome of St. Peter's


expressed the Papal intention of being supreme as
well in temporal as in spiritual matters. The third
crown was added by the arrogant Boniface VIII.
At important functions the Pope is carried by twelve
men in the chair called the sedia gestatoria, while on
each side an official bears aloft a huge fan of ostrich
feathers at the end of a long red pole.
In 1 866 the scandalous condition of the Italian
monastic houses led to their suppression and confiscation, to the number of over two thousand, by the Italian
Government.    The State did summarily what the
Church should have done gradually.   Pius IX. remarked, 'It was the devil's work, but the good God
will turn it into a blessing, since their destruction was
the only reform  possible.'  Monks, friars and nuns
still exist in large numbers, and live together, though
their houses are not recognised by the Government as
monasteries or convents.  In Rome there are many
in the Suburra, in Trastevere, and on the Calian Hill.
They give to the modernised town almost its only
mediaeval feature. The different fraternities may be
distinguished from each other by their dress, but the
variations are numerous as to form and colour of habit,
scapular, hood, rosary, hat, cord, tassel and foot-gear.
Of monks, the habit of the parent order, the Benedictine, is black; the Cistercians and Trappists have
a white habit with black scapular; the Carthusians and
Camaldolese are all white.  The Franciscan Minor
wears a habit which was originally designated grey, is
now described as brown, and is, in fact, maroon, the
Minor Capuchin and Poor Clare being brown. The
Franciscan Minor Conventual is in black. All Franciscans wear a coarse woollen material which is tied
round the waist with a white cord. The Dominican
wears a white habit and scapular, with a black cloak.
The Carmelite is in brown, with a white cloak. The
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The Story of Rome
Augustinian wears white indoors, but black out of
doors, with a leather belt, of which a strip hangs down.
The Sisters of Charity (Filles de la Charite) of St.
Vincent de Paul wear a blue gown, a blue apron, and
a stiff white hat of peculiar shape, called the cornette.
The Passionists wear a black habit and black cloak,
having embroidered upon them a heart below a cross,
in white. The simplest rules are that no monk wears
a rosary, and that Franciscans alone wear the white
cord.
The picturesque costume of the Swiss Guard was
designed by Michelangelo. These fine soldiers have
been devoted defenders of their employer. On two
occasions they have fought to protect the Pope until
all, or nearly all, were killed. It seems probable that
they may be disbanded, and their place as personal
body-guard to the Pope, taken by Italians, though the
costume will doubtless be retained.
Until I870 the Roman was a true child of Rome.
Though the town was once entirely deserted, and
again, eight centuries later, reduced to a minute population, the genius loci, the spirit of the place, infected all
new arrivals, who soon learnt to do at Rome as the
Romans did. Since that date the city has grown so
enormously that now a large number of the inhabitants
are Italians first and Romans afterwards.  A  great
indigenous population is springing up, whose character
will be affected by the novel conditions, by the selfgovernment which Rome has now obtained after the
struggles of many centuries, and by the rapid communication with the outside world which is so important a
feature of modern civic development.
The old Roman was a lazy, superstitious, vagabond.
Rather than work, he would beg, or steal, or even kill.
Panis et circenses were his right. When the Pagan
triumphs, games, and gladiatorial displays, had come to
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The Dome of St. Peter's
an end, the Church found it necessary to propitiate him
with gorgeous ceremonies and splendid processions.
The Church functions were made as ornate and attractive as possible, and great pageants were exhibited, in
the processions of emperor and Pope, in the Miracle
and Passion plays, in the burnings of heretics or public
hangings and quarterings of criminals, and in the races and sports
of the Carnival.   Nothing of all
this remains.  Except for an occasional review of troops, as on the
king's birthday, or a big funeral,
there are no longer any free outdoor spectacles.  Even the Carnival is now  merely an excuse for
juvenile masquerades.
Between Christmas and Epiphany
the Church of the Ara Cceli exhibits  a presepio  or manger, in
which are figures of the Madonna
and Child, St. Joseph, an ox, an
ass, cherubs and angels; while in:,
another part of the church, on a
raised platform, children recite compositions relating to the Nativity.
This church contains the miracleworking Santissimo Bambino, a doll T    RA CBELI
carved by a Franciscan pilgrim in
the Holy Land, from the wood of a tree growing
on the Mount of Olives.    The bambino is famed
for its miraculous powers of curing the sick, and
is covered with jewels and votive ornaments presented by the grateful persons whom it has restored
to health. Not only the poor and ignorant believe
in its powers. Only a few months have passed since
it was taken to the bedside of a dying cardinal,
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The Story of Rome


though without ameliorating  effect.  One of the
Roman newspapers which chronicled this event
added the remark: 'Quanto a noi, riteniamo superflui i commenti: li far'a da s6 l'intelligente lettore.'
Twelfth Night is also celebrated by a toy fair, the
Befana (Epiphany). The steps leading up to the Ara
Cceli are covered with vendors of playthings for children, especially whistles and trumpets and similar
instruments of torture. But the Befana is more uproarious in the Piazza Navona in the evening-a place
to be avoided at that time by all who have sensitive
ears.
The post-classic Roman was not fed at the cost of
the State, as his ancestor had been, but his right to be
kept alive without doing work was recognised, and
found expression in the institution of begging, which
has always been encouraged by the Roman Church.
Recently the Municipality has done something to
abate the nuisance, but the complete eradication of
all beggars would seem to be impossible.   It may
be well to mention that practically all beggars are
professionals, and that many of the unpleasant physical
ailments which they exhibit have been intentionally
created, for the sake of their value as a monetary
speculation.
Even more averse to work than are other Italians,
the Roman is a natural gambler.     Morra   is his
favourite game.  It is said to have been played by the
Egyptians 2000 years before the Christian era.
The two players stand squarely in front of each
other, holding the right hand behind the back; each
shows his hand at the same moment, having one or
more fingers exposed and the rest concealed, and cries
out the number which he guesses his exposed fingers,
added to those exposed by his adversary, will total. If
he is right and his opponent's guess is wrong, he gains
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OLD-FASHIONED ROME




The Dome of St. Peter's
a point. They both shout very loud, play at surprising
speed, and become greatly excited. Cheating is not so
easy as one would suppose, but that it is frequently
attempted and achieved is shown by the old saying that
a man's honesty is such that one might safely play
morra with him in the dark-' Dignus est quicum
in tenebris mices.'  That must refer to a form
of the game in which only one hand is counted.
Cicero mentions micatio, and Varro describes it as
now played.
Bowls, and quoits with pieces of flat stone, are played
wherever there is an open space. Marks of the games
played with knucklebones or dice in classic times, are
still visible in the circles cut on the pavement of the
Basilica Julia in the Forum.
But the lottery is the great outlet for gambling instincts. In all parts of the city one comes across the
placards, on which are marked five numbers, announcing the result of the week's drawing.   Practically
every Roman, man or woman, has fiom time to time a
ticket in the lottery.  Some of them lay aside a regular
part of their weekly earnings for the purpose.  They
try to dream of lucky numbers, or buy books which
disclose the secret.  The lottery dictionary gives the
lucky number for all events or ideas. The modern
Roman believes in dreams and auguries as firmly as did
his classic ancestor.  He retains all the old superstitions with regard to Friday, the evil eye, the number
thirteen, and countless other equally sensational facts.
The wealthy and educated are not free from these antique,
but still fashionable, beliefs.  Even the modern visitor
from the cold and sceptical North will, before leaving
Rome, throw a coin into the fountain of Trevi, whereby
his return is assured.
Lazy and superstitious, the Roman was also a robber
and an assassin.  Since I870 there has been a great
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The Story of Rome
change, but during the Papal regime there were many
dark lanes in Rome, and lonely roads in the Campagna,
which were not safe for respectable people. Probably
no European town has such a record of murder. The
shows of the amphitheatre, and in later times the weakness of the central authority, gave the inhabitants a
taste for blood which was under no control. One is
reminded of the former conditions by the suspicious
habit, among the poorer classes, of keeping the door
of an apartment locked to a visitor until his name
and business have been   ascertained.  When   he
has rung the bell, a cautious voice from behind the
barred door will say, 'Chi e,' to which he must
reply, 'Amico,' or he has small chance of being
admitted.
The old-fashioned part of Rome lies between the
Corso and the Tiber, and in Trastevere on the other
side of the river. A visit to that part of Rome might
begin at the Piazza Colonna. The column was erected
in honour of Marcus Aurelius during his lifetime, in
imitation of the Column of Trajan. The reliefs represent events in the Marcomannic War.   Piazza and
column have become so intimately blended that a young
Roman noble, on being asked by a visitor the name of
the column, answered, ' That is the column of Piazza
Colonna.' Beyond it is the Piazza Monte Citorio, with
the Camera dei Deputati, the Italian House of Parliament, on the right. A new building is in course of
erection for the Parliament. In the centre of the piazza
is an obelisk brought to Rome by Augustus. Turning
south through the narrow Via della Guglia, and then to
the left, we enter the Piazza di Pietra, where are the
remains of the Temple of Neptune erected by Hadrian.
Continuing to the end of the piazza, and then turning
south (right) into the Piazza di S. Ignazio, before us
is the large church of S. Ignazio; turning here to the
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11%
i
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The Dome of St. Peter's


right, the Via del Seminario brings us to the Piazza
della Rotonda.
T&e Pantheon is unique in Rome-in the worldas a building which has been in use for nearly i800oo
years and still retains its old walls and vaulting. The
portico bears on the entablature an inscription with the
name of Agrippa, but the rest of his building was
entirely destroyed by fire, and Hadrian retained that
part of the portico when he rebuilt the remainder.
Urban VIII. in 1632 completed the spoliation commenced by the Eastern Emperor Constans II., taking
from the roof the remaining bronze beams, and out
of the material so obtained, Bernini cast the pillars
which support the baldacchino of St. Peter's. The
bronze doors, though greatly restored, are originals. The
interior is remarkable for the round opening in the dome
by which all light enters.  The original building of
Agrippa was erected out of compliment to Augustus,
his patron and friend, as a temple to Mars, Venus and
the other divine ancestors of Julius Caesar; and Hadrian
dedicated his building to the same object. The recesses
in the walls, where now are Christian altars, may
originally have contained the statues of Julius Cesar,
Mars, Venus and other gods.
The Pantheon was consecrated as a Christian church
by Boniface IV. in 608, hence its preservation. The
word Pantheon may mean ' very sacred,' but the usual
interpretation is, ' temple of all the gods.' It was this
meaning which induced Boniface IV. to institute the
Feast of all Saints, in connection with the conversion
of the Pantheon to Christian use. At one time the
church was called S. Maria ad Martyres, in allusion
to the many waggon-loads of corpses that were removed
there from the catacombs. It is now S. Maria Rotonda.
Here are buried Victor Emmanuel II., 'II Re Galant
Uomo,' the murdered King Humbert, and Raphael.
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The Story of Rome
After 300 years of rest the coffin of Raphael was
opened in 1833, and the narrow skeleton, 5 ft. 7 in.
in length, was placed in the ancient marble sarcophagus
in which it now lies. Victor Emmanuel II. died on the
9th January i878, a few days before the death of Pius
IX. The magnificent and costly monument which is
being erected close to the Ara Coeli, in memory of the
founder of the Sardinian Dynasty, will confer less
honour than this niche in the Pantheon. The body
of King Humbert was brought here from Monza, where
he was assassinated in i900.
Just south of the Pantheon lies S. Maria Sopra
Minerva, a piece of exotic northern Gothic in
classical Rome. The interior has been much changed
by ' restoration ' in 1849-54, but contains many interesting monuments. In the Caraffa Chapel, for instance,
there are frescoes (restored) by Filippino Lippi, and a
statue, designed by Pirro Ligorio, of Paul IV., the Pope
who persecuted the Jews and stimulated the Inquisition.
Beneath the high altar is a gorgeous figure, surrounded
by tapers constantly burning, under which lies the body
of S. Catherine of Siena. On the left is a statue of
Christ by Michelangelo, originally naked, now partly
covered with bronze drapery. The adjoining Dominican monastery, now containing the offices of the
Minister of Education, was formerly the home of the
Inquisition. There Giordano Bruno was condemned,
while Galileo, by denying the truth, escaped. In the
piazza, where stands the obelisk on the back of an
elephant, many heretics have been burned to death.
Returning to the Pantheon and taking any of the
streets leading west (to the left) we soon reach the
Piazza Navona, a long open space which formed the
Stadium, for athletic contests, built by Domitian. It
has three fountains; the central and southern by Bernini.
In the centre of the western side is the church of
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The Dome of St. Peter's


St. Agnese, erected on the spot of her exposure (aged
fourteen) and martyrdom. At the northern end of
the piazza is the Torre Sanguigna, where Cellini
murdered the sbirro. West of the southern end we
shall find at a corner the torso known as Pasquino.
The satirical genius of the Romans found vent in
Pasquinades at a time when the censorship of the Press
stifled all free expression of
opinion.  Pasquino   was  a
tailor,  whose  shop   stood
opposite the statue.  He introduced the custom of pasting
pieces of paper on the statue,
carrying pungent comments
concerning the events of the
day.   Then another statue,                 _
Marforio, a large recumbent R
figure of Ocean, was made < 
the vehicle for replies. The 
dialogues between  Pasquino 
and Marforio were an unfail-     ARMS OF URIAN V.
ing indication of the trend of      (BARBKRINI)
public opinion.  Their verdict
upon the executions of Sixtus V. has been already
mentioned.  Among the most famous of Pasquino's
sayings was his allusion to the destruction of classic
monuments carried out by order of Urban VIII.
(Barberini)' Quod non fecerunt barbari, fecit Barberini.'
When Pius VI. (1775-I800) covered        Roman
monuments with the conspicuous letters which still
meet one at every turn, recording the restorations of
the Pope, ' Munificentia Pii Sexti,' Pasquino exhibited
the household loaf, reduced in size owing to a poor
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The Story of Rome


harvest-as Rome thought, to Papal extravagancewith the significant comment, ' Munificentia Pii
Sexti.'
When Napoleon Buonaparte had Rome and Pius VII.
safely in his possession, Pasquino said,
'I Francesi son tutti ladre.' To which Marforio
replied,' Non tutti-ma Buona parte.'
Naturally the Popes did not like Pasquino. Adrian VI.
ordered the statue to be thrown into the Tiber; but he
was told that its sarcastic spirit would permeate the
frogs in the river, who would never cease to croak
pasquinades, and was so terrified at the idea that he
left the statue alone.  Marforio, however, was shut up
in the Capitoline Museum, where he is still to be
seen.
Proceeding south, we are now in the great new street,
the Corso Vittorio Emmanuele. We cross and, leaving
the Cancelleria on the right, continue down the Piazzi
Cancelleria till we reach the fruit and flower market,
the Campo de' Fiori, where a statue to Giordano Bruno
has lately been erected on the spot where he was burned.
Still keeping south, we enter the Piazza Farnese to admire the fine palace, built of travertine blocks taken from
the Theatre of Marcellus and the Colosseum. It was
begun by Paul III. from the designs of Sangallo, and
completed under the direction of Michelangelo. It is
now the residence of the French Ambassador to the
Quirinal. On our right is the English College, which
contains portraits of all the English Cardinals from
Wolsey to Vaughan. East of the Piazza Farnese we
shall find the Palazzo Spada (now used for the Court
of Cassation), which is visited by all tourists for the
sake of its fine statue of Pompey, said to be the original
which looked down upon the dead body of Julius
Caesar in the Senate House. This statue was found
346




The Dome of St. Peter's


where the Senate House is known to have stood, the
head separated from the body. It is not certain that
it represents Pompey; and the head is probably not a
portrait of the great Roman.
From the Palazzo Spada, continuing east, we are
soon in the Via di Pettinari, which leads across the
river by the Ponte Sisto, built by Sixtus IV. in 1473
for the convenience of the pilgrims on their return
from St. Peter's at the Jubilee of 1475.  From the
Trastevere (across the river) side, the Via del Moro
leads south to the piazza in front of S. Maria in
Trastevere. The tribune, mosaics and high altar of
this church date from  the twelfth century. It has
been severely ' restored' by Nicholas V. in 1450, and
again in i 870.  The mosaics on the facade represent
the Virgin and Child, with kneeling figures of Popes
Innocent II. and Eugenius III., and ten female saints.
The twenty-four red granite columns in the interior
are of different orders and sizes, and were taken from
a classic building; some of them carried on the capitals
small sculptured heads of Isis and Serapis, and probably
came from a temple of Isis. In 1870 these Pagan
heads were cut off. At that date the old Cosmati
pavement was removed, but exactly copied by the
present one, which contains some of the original pieces.
The twelfth century mosaics of the Tribune (several
times restored) and many of the ornaments are worthy
of notice, especially the fifteenth century tombs of
Cardinals d'Alengon and Stefaneschi, at the end of
the left aisle.
The Via S. Cosimato leads south to the church of
SS. Cosma e Damiano in Trastevere, commonly known
as S. Cosimato. SS. Cosma and Damiano were brothers,
physicians from Arabia, who suffered martyrdom under
Diocletian. A better known church named after them
adjoins the Forum. There is an old gateway at the
347




The Story of Rome


entrance to this Trastevere church, with a low arch and
two ancient columns, all of the tenth century; and it has
fine cloisters of the tenth to the fifteenth century, with
a good red brick campanile.
From the Viale del Re we turn south-east to the
church of S. Francesco a Ripa; thence by the Via
Anicia to the church of S. M. del Orto; and thence
by the Via S. M. del Orto and the Via S. Cecilia to
the church of S. Cecilia.  This church is one of the
earliest foundations in Rome, dating from the third
century, soon after the martyrdom of the saint during
the reign of Marcus Aurelius.  She was of good
Roman family. Being condemned to death for her
obstinate adherence (obstinatio) to Christianity, she was
at first shut up in the hot room adjoining the bath in
her own house, but by a miracle she was unharmed by
the suffocating vapours, and was then ordered to be decapitated. The executioner, though he struck her neck
with the axe, was unable to cut off the head in the regulation three blows, and the Roman law forbade any
further attempts.  She lingered a few days but died of
her injuries, and was buried in the catacomb of Calixtus.
Her place of sepulture was forgotten until she made it
known by appearing in a vision to Paschal I. in 82i,
who thereupon rebuilt the church, to make it more
fitting the reception of the tomb.  In i 599 the tomb
was opened, and the body found in the attitude which
was reproduced by Carlo Maderno in the statue now
under the high altar of the church.
The church stands on the site of her house, which
has recently been unearthed. Paschal's ninth century
edifice has been greatly altered, and is once more in
process of restoration. The campanile is of the twelfth
century. The church is approached by a large court
or atrium, which contains an antique marble vase. On
the narrow frieze are mosaic portraits of the ninth
348




The Dome of St. Peter's


century, the two central representing S. Cecilia.  On
the right, inside the door, is the tomb of Cardinal
Adam of Hertford (1398), with the arms of England,
at that time three leopards quartered with fteur-de-lis.
On the left is the fifteenth century tomb of Cardinal
Fortiguerra. The chapel of S. Cecilia should be examined, also the ninth century (restored) mosaics of
the Tribune.   There is a handsome Gothic canopy
over the high altar, and, in the confession below, the
statue already mentioned.
The origin of the connection of S. Cecilia with
music seems to be the story that when the heated apartment in which she had been immured was opened, she
was found singing. Her music has the power of bringing angels down from heaven.
'When to her organ vocal breath was given,
An angel heard, and straight appeared,
Mistaking earth for heaven.'
Dryden, 'Ode for St. Cecilia's Day.
From here the Via Vascellari leads to the Ponte
Palatino, by the side of which, in the stream, is one
arch of the Ponte Rotto (i554).
We will cross the river by the Ponte S. Bartolommeo to the Tiber Island. The original bridge here
was called the Pons Cestius, from Lucius Cestus, a
magistrate in 46 B.C. It was rebuilt under the Emperor
Gratian (fourth century), and entirely altered in I886,
the central arch only being ancient. The island is said
by Livy to have been formed by the accumulation of
corn grown in the Campus Martius, which after the
expulsion of the Tarquins was consecrated to the god
Mars, and thrown into the river.  On the island formerly stood the Temple of a.Esculapius, the god of
medicine, who came to Rome in the form of a ship, and
then, changing to a serpent, hid in the reeds of the
349




rthe Story of Rome


island. The whole island was in classic times faced
with travertine and given the form of a ship. The
stern, with the figure of a snake upon it, was recently
visible, but is now submerged under sand. A great
part of the sandy bed of the river has been laid bare
by the excessive breadth given to the new embankments, an error of calculation.  Beneath that sand,
how deep one cannot know, lie statues, coins and
countless other precious relics from the earliest days
of Rome. Only when a flood carries the stream
over the usually dry part does the Tiber Island become
an island.
The Ponte Quattro Capi is the Pons Fabricius,
built in 62 B.C., and has thus survived for nearly 2000
years. Its modern name is derived from the fourheaded Jani, of which two remain, which once
supported the railings.
Having recrossed the river, in front is the open
deserted space which was at one time the crowded
Ghetto. On the left is the Palazzo Cenci, where the
father of Beatrice committed so many crimes.
The Jews were compelled to reside in the Ghetto
(from the Talmud 'Ghet,' meaning segregation) by
Paul II., the same Pope who made them run races in
the Corso during Carnival. At Ave Maria the gates
of the walled-in Ghetto were closed, and no further
exit or entry permitted. The Jews were compelled to
pay special taxes, to wear a yellow hat or veil as a distinguishing mark, and were treated as a lower race,
with few rights. Paul II. declared that it was 'too
shameless and unseemly that Jews, whose guilt has
precipitated them into eternal slavery, under the pretext of receiving Christian compassion, should insolently
assume to dwell among Christians and take Christian
servants, and even to purchase houses, without bearing
a badge.' Express laws made it penal for a Jew to
350




'the Dome of St. Peter's
enter into any trade except the selling of old clothes.
Under the influence of this degrading legislation they
naturally turned to fortune-telling, witchcraft, usury,
and other even lower schemes for earning a livelihood.
Julius Caesar and Sixtus V. are the two great men who
endeavoured to raise the condition of the Jews. With
the abolition of Papal rule they finally obtained the
rights common to human beings. The Ghetto was
destroyed in 1 886, its inhabitants migrating either to the
Trastevere district or to the Lateran Quarter.
If we return to the Corso and the Piazza Colonna,
a good route would be by the Piazza Tartarughe
(north), where is a beautiful fountain, continuing past
the Palazzo Mattei into the Corso Vittorio Emmanuele; thence by the Jesuit Church of the Gesu,
and the Palazzo Venezia, to the Corso.
If, instead of returning, we continue our walk, we
shall make for the remains of the porticus of Octavia,
originally erected by Augustus. Within what was the
portico is the church of S. Angelo in Pescheria, on
the walls of which Rienzi exhibited his allegorical
picture of Rome, and whence he issued, with the Papal
legate, to take over the government by proclamation on
the Capitol. To the right are the remains of the
Theatre of Marcellus, in the Middle Ages converted
into a fortress by the Pierleoni, now the Orsini Palace.
Passing the Piazza Montanara, we reach the church of
S. Nicola in Carcere, connected with the story of the
' Caritas Romana,' so often painted. The story is that
in one of the cells (shown to visitors) below the church
an aged prisoner, who was to have been starved to death,
was kept alive by milk from his daughter's breast.
Continuing south, we reach the Piazza Bocca della
Verita, the fountain with tritons in the centre; on the
right the famous round temple known to a previous
generation as the Temple of Vesta; and in front the
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The Story of Rome
church of S. M. in Cosmedin, with its fine ninth
century campanile.
The origin of the name of this church is uncertain.
The church is of the eighth and ninth centuries, but
has been much and recently restored. It is approached
through a portico in which is the stone mask, the
Bocca della Verita. In the Middle Ages it was
believed that if a man made a false statement the stone
would close upon his hand when placed in the
mouth.
Ascending from the piazza towards the river, we
pass the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, dating from the
Republican age, but many times restored, and the house
of Crescentius, until we stand upon the Ponte Palatino.
From this point we may return by passing through the
market-place into the Via S. Teodoro, and so on to
the Forum, observing on the left the Arch of Janus
Quadrifons and the church of S. Giorgio in Velabro,
with its mediaeval campanile.
The time has come to leave Rome. Before parting
I must pay my final respects to the two genii of the
place-the Amphitheatre of Vespasian and Titus, the
Basilica of Bramante and Michelangelo-the Colosseum,
and St. Peter's.
If the reader will accompany me, we will take our
seats in the comfortable victoria of my friend Vincenzo,
a cabdriver of all the virtues, for he never flogs, but
sometimes kisses, his sleek, fat horse; he does not
quarrel with his fee; and he has the tact to be
garrulous or silent according to the mood of his
employer.
Our route is by the Via delle Quattro Fontane,
passing the church and campanile of S. Pudenziana,
the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore with its most
beautiful interior, the splendid Pagan column used as a
352




.21
I,
N 
iI1j
1i4f    








T'he Dome of St. Peter's


pedestal for a saint, the curious little church of S.
Prassede, the remains of two red brick medieval
towers, and the church of S. Martino ai Monti-passing these treasures, for we are after even bigger gamethe carriage stops at the entrance to the Sette Salle.
Amongst the olives and oranges, the shrubs and plants
of this delightful garden, great ruined blocks of the
Baths of Trajan crop up here and there, and in the
distance looms the giant figure of the Colosseum. A
nearer view may be obtained by driving a little further
past the church of S. Pietro in Vincoli. But here, in
the Sette Salle, we are spared the sight of guides and
tourists; no modern associations disturb our reverent
farewell to the Flavian amphitheatre.
There stands the genius of classic Rome. Its immense size, its splendid utility, and its terrible purpose
belong to no race but the Roman. Beautiful now as
a ruin, when new it was merely big and well planned.
The crowds who flocked to it, were able to reach their
seats without struggling or turmoil. They knew that
the officials, whose duty it was to assist them, were
servants of the public, and that in the conduct of the
show the wishes of the emperor himself had to give
way to the desire of the people. The London policeman controlling the overgrown traffic of a street blocked
with vehicles, is but the modern representative of that
genius for discipline and organisation, which made Rome
the mistress of the world. Being seated, what was it
the Romans had come to see? Death, ugly death,
with all its horrid show of blood and pallor, its screams
and groans of human anguish. Death, thrust with
unsparing hand upon foreign captives, criminals, slaves,
and professional killers, the lowest class of the population. Such an exhibition would have been impossible
in any society which had retained its respect for the
rights of the individual.  It was agreed that a class
355




Tihe Story of Rome
existed who had no rights-not even the right to die
in peace. They were so worthless that their deathagonies were to be prolonged for the entertainment of
the community. Amongst these unfortunates were
those who had gone out of their way to denounce the
religion which was a part of the State machinery. A
man might think what he liked, and worship whom he
pleased, but he was not permitted to lay his axe upon
an integral portion of the social organisation. The
Christians were convicted of 'hatred of the human
race,' opposition to the omnipotence of the State
(Widerstand gegen die Staatsomnipotenz, C. F. Arnold);
and one cannot be surprised that their death was
demanded in the amphitheatre.
The Colosseum, then, typifies the Roman nature by
its giant proportions, its strength, its practical convenience for the public, its neglect of beauty or
ornament.  For its purpose, it reveals the indifference
of Roman society to the welfare of any individuals who
chose to dissociate themselves from the community;
such persons were outside the pale, and had no rights
of any sort; the only use to which they could be put
was as amusement to the rest, whether in living or in
dying.
We now re-enter the carriage and drive slowly half
round the great mass, and then under the Arch of
Constantine, keeping first between the Palatine and the
Caelian, then between the Palatine and Aventine, and
so by the river's bank to the bridge of S. Angelo, and,
rolling along the crowded Borgo, alight at the foot of
the famous obelisk in the great square.
As I look up at the immense facade what are my
sensations? Certainly not pleasure-admiration, perhaps, but it is tinged with fear. I have an uncomfortable feeling of unworthiness, even of guilt. I am found
out. The facade sees me. It calls upon me, with all
356






The Dome of St. Peter's


the stupefying effect of its broad and massive strength,
to fall down upon my knees and-confess.     As I
hesitate, it stares me out of countenance. I drop my
eyes and turn to the delicate sprays of gentlyfalling water. But now I feel the cold scrutiny of
Bernini's self-complacent columns-their long octopus
arms ready to encircle me, while the body of the
monster waits eyeing me from the distance. I cannot
escape. I approach the great church in a chastened
spirit, the sense of subjection, of inevitableness, of the
loss of will-power, increasing with every nearer
step. Such is the effect of this Christian temple upon
me. I have ventured to mention my own personal
feelings, because they correspond to the intention of the
Church. Sixtus V. placed the obelisk where it now
stands in order that it should look small, to symbolise
the crushing superiority of Christianity over Paganism;
and the insignificance of man, the feebleness of the
individual in face of the triumphant grandeur of the
Church, is the lesson which the great basilica is designed
to impress upon every visitor.
Surely the Gothic cathedrals of the north have a
truer conception of the spirit of Christianity.  Every
part of their structure points, with mystic piety and
reverence, to the sky. They encourage the pilgrim to
join in a common hymn of praise and devotion to the
great God of Love in Heaven. ' Come,' says Milan,
Amiens, Cologne, York, 'come and worship God with
me. See how comely it is to do so.' But Rome says,
' See how grand and powerful I am, and how contemptible you are.   Remember that no man can reach
Heaven without my protection; and that I have in my
hands the disciplinary weapons of Excommunication,
Inquisition and Index.' As I am oppressed by these
thoughts I remember that the travertine, the marble,
even the mortar of this imposing edifice have come
357
111.Si -




The Story of Rome
from the Colosseum and other Roman works of
antiquity; and then I see that it is the spirit of old
Rome that stands before me. Out of the dibris of
classic Rome the Roman Church has been built.
Here is the old Roman love of size, of overwhelming
immensity.  This great open area in front of the
church, with the long arms stretching on each side to
gather in all stragglers, is the old Roman spirit of
centralisation.  The severe discipline and wonderful
organisation of the Roman Church are inherited from
the Imperial City. Here again is old Rome in its
wide toleration of all acts or misdemeanours, save the
one unpardonable sin, the modern 'hatred of the
human race'-heresy.   On this point the Basilica of
St. Peter has outdone the Colosseum. The Pagan did
not follow a traitor beyond the grave. He was content
with the punishment of this world. In other respects
the Roman Church is the child of Rome, and has
a character indigenous to the soil on which it stands,
which could not have been produced in any other part
of the world.
A last general look at Rome must be taken. Here
from the Vatican the usual routine is to mount the
Janiculan for the views from several excellent points,
S. Onofrio, Tasso's oak, Garibaldi's statue, S. Pietro
in Montorio. But to-day I have a mind for the
upper road on Monte Marlo, returning by Ponte
Molle and the old Via Flaminia, for a last turn on
the Pincio.
We turn out of the Piazza and enter the new
quarter, which artists and other lovers of the beautiful
have denounced in such strong language. These large
square blocks have been badly built, without regard for
health or comfort, and in defiance of all aesthetic considerations. The glorious dome looks down upon these
results of the immense extension of Rome since the
358




The Dome of St. Peter's


temporal power of the Pope was superseded by that of
the kingdom of Italy, with obvious contempt. ' A
time will come,' it seems to say, ' when your mushroom
growth of lath and plaster will fall to pieces, while I,
who can trace my descent through nineteen centuries,
am destined to live for ever.' On the one side is all the
halo of an unrivalled historic tradition, all the attraction of ornament, of gorgeous ceremony, of mystery, of
art, of beauty; on the other, the sordid spirit of an
unscrupulous, commercial age. How picturesque was
Papal Rome!    For an artist no town in the world
could offer such attractions. Though still by far the
most interesting spot on earth, Rome now contains a
great deal that is merely ugly.  Bare cleanliness and
cold newness have taken the place of the beautiful dirt
and ruins. And yet one cannot shut one's eyes to the
material advantages of electric tramcars and sanitary inspectors.  If it be true that the Pope stood in the way
of these advantages, one is bound to congratulate Rome
on the increase of human happiness produced by the
events of 1870.  How the quarrel will end it would
be folly to prognosticate. There is no lack of confidence on either side.
Meanwhile we have been ascending the slopes of
Monte Mario, whence we obtain the view of Rome
which greeted the German kings who came to be
crowned emperor by the Pope. A curious effect is
now noticed. The Dome of St. Peter's, as we get
steadily further from it, begins to lose its inquisitive,
spying, mundane look. In Rome, wherever we may
be, the dome seems always to have its eye upon our
movements.   Go where you please, the dome sees
you.   But from outside Rome it seems to raise its
great eyeball away from the muddy earth, and the
soiled creatures crawling over its surface, to the clear
sky of Heaven. This is already apparent from Monte
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the Story of Rome
Mario; but at greater distances in the Campagna,
from Frascati or Tivoli, the dome, no longer the
oppressive inquisitor we have known in Rome, seems
now to be pointing upwards.
Precisely the same effect may be noticed in any
town which has a dome. But in Rome it is particularly noteworthy owing to the history of the city,
and of the church. From a distance the Roman
Church has always had a spiritual appearance, which,
on closer inspection, assumed a more worldly tint. In
the Middle Ages all the world was looking at Rome,
thinking of Rome, kneeling in adoration at the feet of
the Roman Pontiff. Crusaders, monks, friars, flagellants, jubilee visitors-all were inspired by awe of
Rome. But when the multitudes of pilgrims, at the
end of their long and dangerous journey, had arrived
in the Holy City, they were shocked at what they
found there.  The Crusaders, to their horror, saw
the altar of St. Peter's sprinkled with the blood of
murdered men.    Luther never forgot the indecent
haste of his Roman neighbour in saying Mass, and
declared that his visit to Rome hastened the Reformation. Boccaccio thought a religion which could continue to influence a pilgrim after he had seen what
really went on at Rome, must be divinely inspired.
And as for the people who lived at the fountain head,
the Romans themselves, the whole history of the
Middle Ages is one long record of the vain efforts
made by each Pontiff in turn, to make his authority
respected in the city.  While the distant potentates
of Europe were bowing down before the Pope, he had
to flee from Rome to save his life. Even at the
present day the strength of the Roman Church is outside of Italy, a fact which is in some way connected
with the persistent selection of an Italian for the Papal
chair, ever since the Reformation.  Foreigners think
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The Dome of St. Peter's
that a foreign Pope alone can save the Church; Italians
that such a selection would hasten her ruin.  There is
much to be said on both sides.
We are now descending the slopes of Monte Mario,
and we presently reach the river, which we cross by
Ponte Molle. Here it was that Constantine defeated
Maxentius, Christianity triumphing over Paganism.
In the plain on our right was fought the first battle
between Belisarius and Vitiges; there began the long
war, which ended in the destruction of the Gothic
kingdom in Italy, a brief resurrection of the Roman
Imperium under the generals of Justinian, and thenthe Dark Age.
In the first half of the present century, before the
introduction of railways, travellers usually approached
Rome via Marseilles and Civita Vecchia, the actual
entry being made at St. Peter's. The older pilgrims
who walked all the way-Luther, for instance-came
by this road, which retains its name of Via Flaminia,
to the Porta del Popolo, and found accommodation in
the neighbourhood of the Piazza del Popolo.
As the sun is getting low we drive up the slow
ascent of the Pincian Hill.   There, amongst the
throng of tourists and residents, we get a last general
view of Rome.
The day's excursion has included all the symbols of
Roman history.   The Colosseum stands for ancient
Rome, St. Peter's for the Church, the Prati for the
Romans, the Pincio for the visitors. The Colosseum
embodies the idea of Roman supremacy over the
world. Upon that solid basis have grown the three
rivals-the Roman Church, the Roman Municipality,
the Roman pilgrims.
The Basilica of San Pietro in Vaticano typifies the
cry. of Rome for the Church; the Prati is the call of
Rome for the Romans; and here, on the Pincio, are
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The Story of Rome


the foreigners, who, whether as Gothic kings, as
German emperors, as artists, or as tourists, have always
considered that Rome belongs to the visitors. All are
struggling, in healthy rivalry, to get what they can out
of the prestige of the Eternal City.




THE DOLE OF ST. PETER'S,


362




APPENDIX


PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS
Hotels.-The Grand, in the Piazza delle Terme, is
well situated, near, but not too near, to the railway
station and the electric tram-line.  It is a large modern
hotel, with all the usual comforts to be found in the best
establishments. The Quirinale, in the Via Nazionale,
is of the same class.  It is in a busy street, and has the
electric tramway passing the door. The Russie is in a
different direction, close to the Piazza del Popolo, just
under the Pincian Hill. It has a beautiful garden. A
large hotel much frequented by English visitors, where
the charges are lower, is the Continental, in the Via
Cavour. It is so near the railway station that the hotel
porters can be heard calling out the names of their hotels
on the arrival of a train; and the electric tram-cars pass
the door. A smaller hotel is the Eden, in the Via
Ludovisi, also on the tram-road. There is a fine view
from the upper part of this hotel over the whole town.
Farther up in the same street is a popular, less expensive
hotel, the Beausite.  Well situated, above the Piazza
Barberini, is the new Hotel Suisse.   Also in this
quarter, in the Via Lombardia, is the inexpensive
Pension Sud.    Near the Piazza di Spagna is the
Angleterre. A good cheap hotel is the Victoria, in
the Via Due Macelli. It has a pretty garden, and the
sunny rooms are very quiet.
There are many good pensions in Rome, at reasonable prices.  The Pension Bethell, with its large
363




Appendix


Catholic clientele, is in 41 Via del Babuino. The
Pension  Cargill is in the Piazza dell Esedra di
Termini, near the railway station.   The   Pension
Dawes Rose is at 57 Via Sistina, near the Piazza di
Spagna. All these are managed by English ladies.
Rome is well provided with omnibuses and tram-cars,
though the latter are often inconveniently crowded.
The cabs are inexpensive. Inside the city walls the
fare is 8o centesimi for each course, or 2 lire for an
hour and 50 centesimi for each extra quarter of an
hour.  Outside the city the fare is 2 lire 50 centesimi
by the hour, and 50 centesimi for every extra quarter
of an hour.
Excellent meals at moderate prices may be obtained
at the following restaurants:-The Roma, 426 Corso;
the Colonna, in the Piazza Colonna, west of the
Column of Marcus Aurelius; Ranieri's, 26 Via Mario
dei Fiori, a street which lies west of, and nearly parallel
to, the Piazza di Spagna, running in a north and south
direction.  Rather cheaper, but still excellent, is Corradetti, Via della Croce 8i; the visitor passes under a
gateway into a courtyard, beyond which he will see
the restaurant.  The Greco, in the Via Condotti, was
famous among artists in the early years of the nineteenth century.  Visitors to St. Peter's may obtain a
meal in the restaurant which faces the Basilica, the
Europea, Piazza Rusticucci. On the Aventine is the
Constantino, with a terrace overlooking the Palatine
ruins. Visitors to the tombs on the Appian or Latin
ways will find an obliging landlord at Tavolato, who is
a good cook.  There is a fair restaurant opposite the
Lateran. Outside the Porta Pia, beyond the church
of S. Agnese Fuori, there is a tolerable trattoria.
On the left of the steps in the Piazza di Spagna are
the tea-rooms managed by Miss Babington.     Next
door is the library of Miss Wilson. Piale's frequented
364




Appendix


shop, with library and reading-room, is at No. I in the
Piazza; and at 85 is Spith6ver, for books, maps, engravings and photographs. The best-known cafe is
Aragno's, also called the Nazionale, 179 Corso. The
chief Post Office is in the Piazza S. Silvestro.
Climate.-Statistics show that Rome is one of the
healthiest large towns in the world; but it resembles
all other Italian towns in the great difference of temperature between sun and shade. Residents in Rome dress
for the shade.  May, when there are few visitors, and
June, which sees hardly any, are perhaps the pleasantest
months in Rome. August and September should be
avoided.
Itinerary.-The visitor who has ample time, who
can give two or more winters to Rome, will probably
in due course become acquainted with most of the sights
recorded in large type in the index to Murray's Handbook to Rome and the Campagna.   Such an one needs
not the assistance of an itinerary.  He will wander
from place to place according to the convenience of the
moment, taking care not to crowd his impressions, never
attempting to absorb more than he can conveniently hold.
But those who are pressed for time will inevitably
waste their scanty store unless they arrange it carefully.
In Rome it is extremely difficult to lay out time to the
best advantage, because of the enormous quantity of
interesting objects it contains, which are mixed together
without regard to chronology. There is such danger
of confused impressions, which must inevitably fade,
that one is inclined to advise the stranger who has
small time at disposal to see as little as possible, and
to make sure that he carries away with him a permanent
recollection of what he does see.


365




Appendix


HALF-DAYS
The Forum, Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Catacomb of
Calixtus, Baths of Caracalla, and Baths of Titus are
open till dusk.  All the churches are shut between
twelve and three, except St. Peter's, St. Paul's, St.
John Lateran, Sa. M. Maggiore, S. Lorenzo Fuori,
Sa. Croce in Gerusalemme, and S. Sebastiano. Most
of the museums and galleries close at three.
It is advisable, as a rule, to visit museums in the
morning, and churches at, or soon after, three, as towards
sunset the light becomes deficient.
Assuming that the traveller drives, he may, by
following the routes given below, succeed in visiting all
the most important sights in sixteen days, without
excessive fatigue.  If time or strength fail, he should
omit the less important objects, which are for that
purpose enclosed within brackets.
i. Morning.-Corso. Piazza del Popolo. Castle
of St. Angelo. St. Peter's. Janiculan Hill for the
view of Rome. The Aventine for view of the Palatine.  The Palatine.  The Tower of the Capitol.
Return by Forum of Nerva, Temple of Mars Ultor,
and Column of Trajan.  (See Chapter I. p. 9 et seq.)
Afternoon.-Arch    of  Constantine.  Colosseum.
Arch of Titus.  (See Chapter II. p. 36 et seq.)
2. Morning.- acra Via and Forum Romanum.
(See Chapter II. p. 52 et seq.)
Afternoon.-Palatine Hill.
3. Morning.-Via Latina. Tombs. Cross to Via
Appia. Columbaria in the Vigna Codini.
Afternoon.-S. Sebastiano. Catacomb of Calixtus.
Baths of Caracalla.
A little beyond the tombs in the Via Latina is
366




Appendix


Tavolato (good view of the aqueducts and Campagna),
where there is a restaurant.
4. Morning.-Vatican Sculptures and Antiquities.
Afternoon.-S. Peter's.
The Europea restaurant (not first-rate) is in the
Piazza Rusticucci, facing St Peter's.
5. Morning.-Vatican Paintings.
Afternoon.-Sistine Chapel. Castle of St. Angelo.
Ticket of admission at 24 Via Della Pilotta: or
from the hotel porter.
6. Morning.-S.    M. in    Ara   Coeli.  Museo
Capitolino.
Afternoon.-Trevi Fountain. Piazza di Spagna.
S. M. del Popolo. Villa Medici. Pincian Hill.
7. Morning.-Pantheon. S. M. Sopra Minerva.
Piazza Navona. Pasquino. Palazzo Spado for reputed
statue of Pompey.  (See Chapter X. p. 343 et seq.)
Afternoon.-S. M. in Trastevere.    S. Cosimato.
S. Cecilia.  Tiber Island.   Porticus Octavia.  S.
Angelo in Pescheria (exterior). Theatre of Marcellus.
House of Crescentius. Temple of Fortuna Virilis.
Round Temple. S. M. in Cosmedin. Janus. S.
Giorgio in Velabro   (exterior).  (See Chapter X.
p. 347 et seq).
8. Morning.-Aventine.    S. Sabina.  S. M. in
Aventina. [S. Saba.] 'Fake early lunch at Restaurant
del Constantino.
Afternoon.-S. Paolo alle Tre Fontane. SS.
Vincenzo ed Anastasio alle Tre Fontane. S. Paolo
Fuori.  Tomb of C. Cestius.     Tombs of Shelley
and Keats. [Monte Testaccio.]
9. Morning.-S. Clemente.    [SS. Quattro Cormati.]   Lateran Museum   (Christian).  There are
fair restaurants opposite the Lateran.
Afternoon.-Basilica of St. John Lateran. Cloisters
Baptistery. Scala Santa.
367




Appendix


io. Morning.-Lateran Museum      (Pagan).   S.
Croce in Gerusalemme. Porta Maggiore.
Afternoon.-S. Lorenzo Fuori.
I I. Morning.-S. Pudenziana. S. Prassede. S.
Maria Maggiore.
Afternoon.-S. Martino ai Monti.     Sette Salle.
S. Pietro in Vincoli.  S. Francesca Romana.  SS.
Cosma e Damiano.
I2. Morning. -  S. M. degli Angeli.     Museo
Nazionale.
Afternoon.-Villa Borghese.
13. Morning.-Palazzo Doria. Palazzo Colonna.
Afternoon.-Villa Mattei (Thursdays). S. Stefano
Rotondo. SS. Giovanni e Paolo. S. Gregorio Magno.
14. Morning.-Palazzo Corsini. Villa Farnesina.
Afternoon.-Villa Doria Pamfili.   S. Pietro in
Montorio. S. Onofrio.
I5. Morning.-Palazzo Rospigliosi. Palazzo Barberini.
Afternoon.-S. Agnese Fuori. Catacombs of S.
Agnese.
T6. Morning.-II Gesu.    S. Marco.  Museo dei
Conservatori.  Monte Cavallo.  [Quirinal Palace.]
Afternoon.-St. Peter's.  Monte Mario.     Villa
Madama (Saturdays). [Villa Papa Giulio.]  Pincio.
(See Chapter X. p. 358 et seq.)
BOOKS
The following is a short list of books, written in
English, which may interest the ordinary reader:HANDBOOK
Rome and the Campagna. Published by Mr John
Murray.
368




Appendix


ARCHAEOLOGY
G. Boissier. Archaeological Rambles. Translated by
D. Havelock Fisher (1896).
R. Lanciani. Ancient Rome (I888). Pagan and
Christian Rome (I892).   The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome (i897).
7. H. Middleton.   The Remains of Ancient Rome
(1892).   2 vols.
Northcote and Brownlow.  Roma Sotteranea (I878).
2 vols.
M. A. R. Tuker and H. Malleson.     Handbook to
Christian and Ecclesiastical Rome (1900).  3
vols.
HISTORY AND MISCELLANEOUS
U. Balzani. Early Chronicles of Italy (1883).
S. Baring Gould. The Tragedy of the Cesars.
A. S. Barnes. St. Peter in Rome (1900).
E. N. Bennett.  Paganism and Christianity (1900).
7. W. Bowden. The Life and Pontificate of Gregory
VII.   2 vols.
7. Bryce. The Holy Roman Empire.
7. B. Bury.    The Student's Roman Empire (27
B.C. to i 80 A.D.).
The Later Roman Empire (A.D. 395-800)
(1889).   2 vols.
7. Burckhardt. The Renaissance in Italy.
F. Marion Crawford.    Ave Roma Immortalis.     2
vols.
M. Creighton. A History of the Papacy during the
Reformation.  5 vols.
Gibbon.  Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Edited by J. A. Bury (1900). 7 vols.
F. Granger. The Worship of the Romans.
2 A               369




Appendix


F. Gregorovius. History of the City of Rome in the
Middle Ages. Translated by Annie Hamilton.
I i vols.
E. G. Hardy. Christianity and the Roman Government (1894).
T. Hodgkin.    Italy and Her Invaders.   8 vols.
Theodoric (Heroes of the Nations).
Baron Hiibner. Sixtus V. Translation by H. E. H.
Jerningham. 2 vols.
Alethea Lawley.  Vittoria Colonna.
H. C. Lea. History of the Inquisition in the Middle
Ages ( I 888).
Vernon Lee. Euphorion: being Studies of the Antique
and Medieval in the Renaissance.
C. Merivale.   A   General History of Rome (to
A.D. 476).  I vol.
H. H. Milman. Latin Christianity.
T. Mommsen. The History of Rome. Translation
by W. P. Dickson ( I88 I).  4 vols.
J. C. Morison. The Life and Times of St.
Bernard.
7. Owen. The Skeptics of the Italian Renaissance
(1893).
Count Pasolini.  Catherine Sforza.  Abridged and
translated by Paul Sylvester.
L. Pastor.  History of the Popes from the Close of
the Middle Ages (1895). 6 vols.
W. Pater. Marius the Epicurean.
H. F. Pelham. Outlines of Roman History (to A.D.
476). i vol.
A. R. Pennington.  The Papal Conclaves (1898).
L. Ranke. The Popes of Rome. 3 vols.
E. Renan. Hibbert Lecture.    i88o.   (The Early
Days of Christianity.)
P. Sabatier.  St. Francis of Assisi. Translated by
Louise S. Houghton (1895).
370




Appendix


W. R. W. Stephens.    Hildebrand and His Times.
(Epochs of Church History.)
W. W. Story.   Roba di Roma.
The Castle of St. Angelo.
W. 7. Stillmann. The Old Rome and the New.
7. A. Symonds.   The Renaissance in Italy (I886).
7 vols.
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini: Introduction and Translation.
A. Tarleton.  Adrian IV. (i896).
E. Zola. Rome. Translated by E. T. Vizetelly.
CHURCHES
S. Agnese fuori was founded by Constantine. St.
Agnes, aged about I5, was exposed in a house of
ill-fame (the site now marked by S. Agnese in Piazza
Navona) and then killed with a sword, in the Valerian
persecution (257-8). She is one of the most important of the saints and martyrs, ranking with St.
Lawrence, after the Apostles. The original edifice
was an oratory to the adjoining catacombs. The
present basilica is of the fifth century, and though
frequently restored, retains much of its primitive form.
The basilica is reached by a long flight of marble
stairs, having on the walls early Christian inscriptions.
At the bottom, on the right, is an inscription in honour
of St. Agnes, by Pope Damasus (366-85).
The nave has sixteen ancient columns, and a triforium gallery. The baldacchino (1614) is supported
by four porphyry columns, and covers an antique statue
of St. Agnes in alabaster, with modern additions in
gilt.  Her body lies in the confession beneath.  In
the tribune are mosaics of the seventh century.  In
371




Appendix


the second chapel on the right is a relief of SS.
Stephen and Lawrence (1490).
At the festival of St. Agnes, 2ist January, two
lambs are blessed at the high altar.
S. Cecilia (see p. 348).
S. Clemente is an excellent example of the primitive
church. The side entrance generally used is in the
Via S. Giovanni. The main entrance, in the Via
S. Clemente, opens on to an atrium with a colonnade
of Ionic columns.  The upper church was built by
Paschal II. in 1io8, the choir and ambones, of the
sixth century, being brought up from a lower church.
It has sixteen ancient columns of different orders and
materials.  The gospel ambone, on the left, has a
double staircase and a mosaic candelabrum.   The
presbytery has a marble screen, also brought from the
lower church.  The baldacchino is of the time of
Paschal II. (i i08), who restored the marble throne
with its slabs of the fourth century.  The mosaics
date from  I i2. At the end of the right aisle, near
the high altar, are monuments to Cardinal Roverella
(1476), and of the left aisle to Cardinal Venerio
1479), the latter having half-columns of the sixth
century. At the left of the main entrance, and right
of the side entrance, is the chapel of the Passion, with
frescoes by Masolino (I422).
The lower church was discovered in 1857 by
Father Mulooly. It is of the fourth century, and has
well-preserved frescoes. It is built upon blocks of
travertine and tufa of the republican period.  To
the left of the tribune, at the end of the left aisle
are some ancient Roman stairs leading to a house
of the Imperial period which may have been the
oratory used by St. Clement, the friend of SS.
Peter and Paul, and himself bishop (fourth in the
list of Popes) from A.D. 90-100. Beyond has been
372




Appendix


excavated a sacellum or chapel to the Egyptian god
Mithras.
SS. Cosma e Damiano was built by Felix IV.
(526-30) in the Templum     Sacrae Urbis and the
Templum   Romuli, in the Forum   Romanum.    The
floor of the church was so damp that Urban VIII.
in 1633 raised it to its present level, leaving the
original floor below, and thus forming an upper and
a lower church.
The mosaics in the apse date from the original
foundation (526-30), and are among the best in
Rome. The bodies of SS. Cosma and Damiano,
who were martyred in the persecution of Diocletian,
are under the high altar, which has some transparent
marbles.
S. Croce in jerusalemme was founded by Constantine,
and takes its name from the piece of the Cross deposited
here by the Empress Helena. The Church received
its present form in 1774.  The bell-tower is of the
twelfth century. It is one of the seven pilgrimage
churches, which are not closed between I 2 and 3.
Beneath the high altar is an ancient sarcophagus in
green basalt, which contains the bodies of SS. Caesarius
and Anastasius. The frescoes in the tribune are attributed to Pinturicchio.
The chapel of St. Helen has mosaics after Baldassare Peruzzi. The floor beneath the pavement is of
earth brought by St. Helen from Jerusalem.    The
relics of the Cross may be inspected. It was in this
basilica that the Popes used to bless the golden rose.
Sylvester II. died in this church while celebrating
mass, in 1003 (see p. 179).
S. Francesca Romana was built on a part of the site
of the Temple of Venus and Rome in the ninth
century, and restored in 1612 by Paul V.     The
church was at one time called S. M. Antica, and
373




Appendix


after a restoration by Nicholas I. (858-67), S. M.
Nuova. Caesar Borgia was cardinal of this church.
Francesca Ponziani founded the Order of the Oblate
Nuns, who are all of good family. She was buried
in this church, and canonised in I6o8.
In the right transept, on the left, is the tomb of
Gregory XI., with a bas-relief (i584) representing
the return of the Papal Court from Avignon to Rome
in 1377 (see p. 254). St. Catherine of Siena, whose
influence had strengthened the papal resolve, is shown
walking in front of the Pope, while Roma welcomes
him, and the citizens watch the procession through the
holes in the walls.
On the right are stones in the wall, marked by the
knees of St. Peter.
Under the floor of this church the pavement of the
Via Sacra has recently been discovered.
The bell-tower is of the twelfth century.
The Gesu was built by Vignola in 1575; the facade
and cupola being added by Giacomo della Porta. It
is a large and gaudy church. In the right transept is
the Death of S. Francis Xavier, by Carlo Maratta.
The body of S. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the
Jesuits, is beneath the large ornate altar in the left
transept.  In the centre is the Jesuit motto, 'Ad
majorem Dei gloriam,' and above a statue of S.
Ignatius in electro-plate.
The church has good music, and well-delivered
sermons.
SS. Giovanni e Paolo was founded in the fourth
century on the site of the house of John and Paul,
two officials of the Imperial Court, who were martyred
in 362 under Julian the Apostate. The picturesque
exterior arcaded apse is of the thirteenth century; to
this period also belongs the bell-tower, with its inlaid
coloured tiles and marbles, which rests upon solid
374




Appendix


blocks of travertine, originally forming part of the
Temple of Claudius. The church is approached by a
thirteenth century portico, supported by granite and
marble columns.
The nave has sixteen ancient columns, and a
pavement in opus alexandrinum.
In the right aisle is the chapel of St. Paul of the
Cross, founder of the Passionist Order; the walls
are covered with marbles, and on each side of the
altar are columns of Egyptian alabaster.
Excavations in 1889 revealed the dwelling-house of
SS. John and Paul, which is reached from a door in
this chapel.  One room has pagan frescoes of a date
previous to the conversion of the martyrs, while others
have paintings of the ninth, tenth and thirteenth
centuries.
S. Gregorio Magno stands upon the site of the house
of Gregory the Great, in which he lived before he
became a priest.
A long flight of steps leads to the atrium, which
has some interesting monuments.
The nave has sixteen ancient granite columns.
The pavement is in opus alexandrinum.
At the end of the right aisle, in the chapel of St.
Gregory, the altar has sculptures of the fifteenth century,
and a predella attributed to Luca Signorelli. On the
right is a small chapel with the chair in which
Gregory sat, and the recess in the wall where he
slept.  At the end of the left aisle is the Salviati
chapel, which has over the altar, on the right, a
Madonna which spoke to St. Gregory.
On the east of the atrium a door leads to a garden
where are three chapels. To the right the chapel of
St. Silvia; in the centre the chapel of St. Andrew,
with the rival pictures, painted in i608, of the martyrdom of St. Andrew-that on the right by Domeni375




Appendix


chino, on the left by Guido Reni; on the left the
chapel of St. Barbara, with a sitting statue of Gregory,
begun by Michelangelo and finished by Cordieri, and
in the centre a marble table at which Gregory entertained twelve poor persons daily, where they were
joined one day by an angel.
St. John Lateran stands on the site of a house
which belonged to Plautius Lateranus, who was put
to death by Nero.   Afterwards it belonged to the
family of Marcus Aurelius, who was born there; and
then  it became an Imperial palace.    Constantine
gave it to the Bishop of Rome, St. Sylvester, and
founded the church.  Throughout the Middle Ages
this was the principal church of Rome, and it still
takes precedence of St. Peter's. The Lateran Palace
was the residence of the Popes from Constantine to
I308, when it was burned down, and the Popes left
Rome for Avignon.     The palace was rebuilt by
Domenico Fontana for Sixtus V. in 1586, but by that
time the Popes had become established in the Vatican.
The church has a Porta Santa for a Jubilee Year;
and was, until i870, the scene of the coronation of a
Pope.   The present edifice is largely the work of
successive restorations.
The facade (I 734) is by Alessandro Galilei.
The bronze doors in the centre of the five entrances
were taken from the Senate House (now S. Adriano).
The church has a nave and double aisles.   In the
niches of the piers are statues of the Apostles,
of the school of Bernini; and above are stucco reliefs
of Old and New Testament subjects. The ceiling is
the work of Giacomo della Porta.    The pavement
dates from 1420.
In the right aisle, against the inside of the first
pillar, is a fresco by Giotto of Boniface VIII. proclaiming the first Jubilee (of 1300).
376




Appendix


The second chapel on the right belongs to the
Torlonia family.  The third, the Massimi chapel, is
the work of Giacomo della Porta. It has a Crucifixion by Sicciolante.
In the centre of the transept is the high altar
beneath a Gothic canopy (1367) of white marble,
with three columns of grey granite and one of marble.
It contains, with other relics, the heads of SS. Peter
and Paul.  Below, in front of the confession, is the
bronze monument of Martin V. by Simone Ghini
(1433)In the right transept are two ancient columns of
giallo antico.  The choir, greatly altered in I865 and
I886, is covered with marbles, gilding and frescoes.
The thirteenth century mosaics by Jacopo da Torrita
have been refixed on the new vault of the apse.
To the left of the choir is the winter choir, which
has finely carved oak stalls, and two columns of nero
antico.
In the left transept is the altar of the sacrament,
with four ancient bronze Corinthian columns covered
with gold.
On the left is the entrance to the cloisters, which
should be visited. They were constructed by Vassalectus in the thirteenth century upon a ninth century
original.  In  the centre is a ninth century well.
The passages contain numerous interesting fragments.
The Corsini chapel, on the left of the main entrance,
was built by Alessandro Galilei in 1729, and decorated with marbles, gilding and reliefs.  In the burial
vault of the Corsini, on the left of the altar, is a
Pieta by Antonio Montauti.
Important General Councils, known as Lateran
Councils, have taken place in this church.
The Baptistery, or Church of S. Giovanni in Fonte,
lies to the west. In the centre, surrounded by eight
377




Appendix


columns of porphyry, with antique entablature, is the
baptismal font of green basalt, in which Constantine in
324 was cured of paganism and leprosy at the same
time. Here also Rienzi bathed, on August i, 1347,
on the occasion of his adopting the emblems of
knighthood.
On the right is the oratory of St John the Baptist,
with a bronze statue by Valadier (1772) between two
columns of serpentine. The bronze doors are said to
have come from the baths of Caracalla.
On the left is the oratory    of St. John  the
Evangelist.  It has two fine columns of Oriental
alabaster, mosaics on the roof, and bronze doors of
1196.
Opposite the main entrance is a chapel with mosaics
of the sixth century.
In the oratory of S. Venantinus is a mosaic of the
seventh century.
S. Lorenzo fuori is one of the five patriarchal
basilicas, to the patriarchs Paul, the Virgin, Peter,
Lawrence and John; and it is one of the seven
foundations of Constantine, and churches of pilgrimage.
The original church was an oratory over the Catacombs. Pelagius II. in 578 rebuilt and enlarged it.
Honorius III. in 1216 built the present nave with its
portico, and the chancel.
In front of the basilica is a statue of S. Lawrence
on a column of red granite, brought here in 1865 from
St. Paolo fuori.
The portico has six Ionic columns, above which is
a mosaic frieze of the time of Honorius III. (early
thirteenth century); and above that a frieze of sculptured marble, flowers, foliage and lions' heads, taken
from an ancient building. The painting on the facade
above is modern. Under the portico, on the left, is a
sarcophagus, on which are reliefs representing a vintage
378




Appendix
On the walls are thirteenth century paintings of events
in the lives of SS. Lawrence, Stephen, Hippolytus and
the Emperor Henry II.
The nave has twenty-two ancient Ionic columns
of granite and cipollino.  The pavement, of the
twelfth century, is alexandrine.  On the right of the
entrance is an ancient Pagan sarcophagus, with reliefs
representing a marriage. The walls above the nave
have modern paintings concerning St. Lawrence and
St. Stephen. The wooden ceiling has recently been
painted in strong colours. Near the centre of the
pavement is a mosaic of two mounted knights in
armour, with  griffins.  The ambones, inlaid with
serpentine and porphyry, are of the twelfth century.
That on the right has a mosaic candelabrum.
The presbytery is over the nave of the church
built by Pelagius II., where stand the lower portions of the ten ancient fluted columns of pavonazetto, and two of Hymettian marble, which rise on
each side above the present level of the floor. Above
are ten smaller columns of pavonazetto, and two of
black Egyptian granite.  The high altar is of the
twelfth century. Behind it is a mosaic screen with
panels of red and green porphyry, and an ancient
Papal throne.   The pavement is of the thirteenth
century. On the arch, of which this is the original
front, are mosaics of the time of Pelagius II.
(578-90).
The lower church is reached by steps on the right.
The stone on which the gridiron of St. Lawrence was
placed is exhibited.  Beyond is a modern chapel,
gorgeously decorated in mosaic, where, at his special
desire, Pius IX. lies buried. On the fresco above, the
face of Cardinal Manning may be recognised.
S. M. degli Angeli is a large church built in the
lepidarium of the Baths of Diocletian according to
379




Appendix
the designs of Michelangelo. The church is entered
by a vestibule which was once the circular hot-bath
chamber.  On the right of the entrance is the monument of Carlo Maratta, on the left that of Salvator
Rosa.  Further on to the right is the statue of S.
Bruno, by Houdon, which Clement XIV. said would
speak if the rule of his Order did not forbid it.
The transept is a hundred yards in length.  Eight
of the granite columns, forty-five feet in height, are
ancient. Owing to the dampness of the floor Michelangelo raised the pavement about seven feet, thereby
burying the original bases of the columns.  Across
the floor a meridian line in bronze was made in I1701,
with the signs of the Zodiac.
Most of the large pictures were brought here from
St. Peter's, where they have been replaced by copies
in mosaic.
S. M. in Ara Cali (commonly called the Ara
Coeli).  The Capitol in classic times had on its
south-west summit the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus,
and on the north-east the Arx or citadel, and the
Temple of Juno Moneta. On this latter horn now
stands the Ara Cceli, which dates from the sixth
century. Originally Benedictine, the church and convent were transferred to the Franciscans in 1250.
In the Middle Ages this church was the meetingplace of the Roman Parliament. The great flight of
steps leading up from the Piazza Ara Caeli was erected
at the time of the plague in 1350, as an offering to
the Madonna of the Ara Coeli, the special protector of
the Romans. The shorter staircase from the Piazza
Campidoglio to the western entrance of the church
was formerly the scene of the gratuitous dentistry
performed by the monks.
In the nave are eighteen ancient columns of Egyptian
granite, two of fluted white marble and two of cipollino.
380




Appendix


The ancient pavement has pieces of mosaic, white
marble, green and red porphyry. It has many slab
tombs, still interesting, though much worn, for their
medieval costumes.  The ceiling ( 575) was restored
to commemorate the battle of Lepanto ( 571).
In the right aisle the first chapel has frescoes by
Pinturicchio.  Further on, a colossal sitting statue of
Gregory XIII.
In the left aisle the second chapel, closed at other
times, is at Christmas fitted up as a presepio or
manger; and children recite verses on a stage opposite.
The   Santissimo Bambino, usually kept in the
sacristy, is then publicly exhibited  (see p. 337).
Further on, in the left aisle, is the sitting statue of
Paul III.
In the right transept, against the left wall of the
principal chapel, is the tomb of Luca Savelli ( I 266),
father of Pope Honorius IV., and his son Pandolfo
(1306), by Agostino and Agnolo da Siena from the
designs of Giotto.  Opposite is another tomb of the
Savelli family, with an effigy of Honorius IV. above.
In the choir, on the left of the high altar, is the
tomb of Cardinal Giambattista Savelli (1498).
The isolated octagonal chapel is dedicated to St.
Helena.   It is supposed to contain an ancient altar,
said to have been erected by Augustus, bearing the
inscription, 'Ara Primogeniti Dei,' from which has
been derived the name of Ara Cceli. Here, in the
left transept, is the sitting statue of Leo X.
The two Gothic ambones, covered with mosaic, are
by Lorenzo and Jacopo Cosmati.
S. M. Aventina is also called S. M. del Priorato,
from an adjoining priory of the Knights of Malta, to
whom the church belongs.
On the right of the entrance is an ancient marble
sarcophagus, now the tomb of Bishop Spinelli.
381




Appendix


Further on a statue of Piranesi, the engraver (I778).
Near the altar, to the right, is the tomb of Bartollomeo
Caraffa (1440).
In the monastery, famous during the Middle Ages,
Hildebrand (Gregory VII.) passed some years.
There is a fine view from the garden.
A key-hole in the gate at the entrance gives a view
of St. Peter's'at the end of the avenue.
S. M. in Cosmedin (see p. 352).
The nave has twelve ancient marble columns. The
pavement, the ambones, and the candelabra are of
the twelfth century. The Gothic canopy over the
high altar is supported by four columns of red Egyptian
granite, and covers a red granite sarcophagus. Behind
is an episcopal chair, with lions (about I 20); and
a tabernacle of white marble inlaid with mosaic.
In the sacristy is a mosaic on gold, the Adoration
of the Kings, brought from old St. Peter's, where it
had been placed in 706.
The ninth century campanile is one of the best
in Rome.
S. M. Maggiore (see p. I91) is in importance
the third church inside the walls, and has a Porta
Santa, opened in a Jubilee Year. The facade dates from
Benedict XIV. (1741). The back of the church in
the Piazza del Esquilino is by Carlo Rainaldi (I673).
The twelfth century bell-tower is the largest in Rome,
with a short spire added in 1375.   The nave has
forty-two columns, chiefly of Hymettian marble, with
Ionic capitals. The flat coffered ceiling, designed by
Giuliano Sangallo, is gilded with the first gold brought
to Spain from South America, which was presented
to Alexander VI. by Ferdinand and Isabella.
The mosaics over the chancel arch are of the fifth
century; those in the tribune are by Jacopo Turrita
(thirteenth century).  The first chapel in the right
382




Appendix
aisle is the baptistery, with an ancient font of red
porphyry. The sacristy, entered from the baptistery,
has reliefs by Mino da Fiesole.
The Sistine chapel in the right transept was erected
by Sixtus V., who employed Domenico Fontana; it was
restored by Pius IX. in i865. On the right is the
monument and statue of Sixtus V., on the left Pius V.
Over the altar is a tabernacle supported by four angels,
of gilded bronze. At the end of the right aisle is the
Gothic tomb of Cardinal Consalvi by Giovanni Cosma
(1299).
The baldacchino, supported by four columns of red
porphyry, was erected by Benedict XIV. (1740-58),
who employed Fuga. Below is a kneeling statue of
Pius IX., surrounded by walls of marble. To the
left of the high altar is a candelabrum in black and
white marble.
In the left transept is the Borghese chapel, built by
Flaminio Ponzio for Paul V. in i608, adorned with
marble and alabaster.  Over the altar of agate and
lapis lazuli is a miraculous painting of the Virgin and
Child which preceded  Gregory the Great in the
procession to stay the plague in 590 (see p. 157).
On the left is the monument of Paul V., on the right
Clement VIII. Some of the frescoes above are by
Guido Reni.
S. M. Sopra Minerva is the only Gothic church
of any significance in   Rome.   The interior was
thoroughly restored in 1849-54, the columns and roof
being painted.
In the fourth chapel of the right aisle is a picture
showing Cardinal Torquemada, founder of the society
for giving marriage portions to poor girls, presenting
three children to the Madonna. In the right transept
is the Caraffa chapel, with frescoes by Filippino Lippi,
and the tomb with sitting statue of Paul IV. (Caraffa).
383




Appendix
Further on is the Gothic tomb of Guillaume Durand,
Bishop of Mende (1 I296), by Giovanni Cosmas.
On the right of the high altar is a modern statue
of St. John, on the left Christ by Michelangelo, to
which modern drapery has been added. Under the
high altar is a figure representing St. Catherine of
Siena, whose body lies below.
In the choir are monuments to the two Medici
Popes, Leo X. and Clement VII. On the left of
the high altar is the tomb of Fra Angelico. The
third chapel in the left aisle has a statue of S. Sebastian
by Mino da Fiesole.
On the left of the entrance is the tomb of Francesco
Tornabuoni (1480), by Mino da Fiesole.
S. M. del Popolo stands on the site of a church
built by Paschal II. in 1099, on the spot which, in
the popular belief, was haunted by the evil spirit of
Nero. The present church was erected by Sixtus IV.
in 1480, embellished by his nephew, Julius II., and
again by Alexander VII. (died 1667), who employed
Bernini.
In the first chapel on the right are frescoes by
Pinturicchio; over the altar the Nativity, and scenes
from the life of S. Jerome in the lunettes. On the
left is the tomb of Cardinal Cristoforo della Rovere
(1480); on the right Cardinal de Castro (1506).
Above these, and other tombs in this church, are
lunettes of the Virgin and Child.
The second chapel has an Assumption by Carlo
Maratta.
The third chapel has frescoes by Pinturicchio.
On the right is the tomb of Giovanni della Rovere,
brother of Julius II. (1483); on the left the bronze
recumbent figure of a bishop or cardinal.
The fourth chapel has a Renaissance altar-piece,
and in the lunettes frescoes by Pinturicchio.  On the
384




Appendix


right is the tomb of Marcantonio Alberti (1485); on
the left Cardinal Giorgio Costa (1508).    In the
right transept, on the right is the tomb of Cardinal
Podocantharus, of Cyprus    (i6th  century), with
Virgin and Child and two Angels above. A door
here leads to the sacristy, where is a high altar
(put up in the church by Cardinal Borgia, afterwards
Alexander VI.) by Andrea Bregno; and on the
right the tomb of Bishop Gomiel; on the left the
tomb of Archbishop Rocca.
The choir has frescoes on the vault by Pinturicchio;
painted glass by Claude and Guillamme de Marseilles;
on the right the tomb of Cardinal Girolamo Basso,
nephew of Sixtus IV., on the left Cardinal Ascanio
Sforza, both by Andrea di Sansovino (51 o).
In the left transept, on the left is the fifteenth
century tomb of Cardinal Lonati, with a relief of
the Resurrection.
In the left aisle the second chapel was planned by
Raphael to the order of Agostino Chigi, the famous
banker. The mosaics on the vault of the cupola are
from the designs of Raphael. In the left corner the
Btatue of the youthful Jonah sitting on a whale
was modelled by Raphael and sculptured by Lorenzetto.
The first chapel has the tomb of Cardinal Pallavicini
( 1507); and two ciboria beside the altar, with statuettes.
Luther resided in the Augustinian convent adjoining
this church.
S. Martino ai Monti is the Church of the Carmelites.
In 500, S. Symmachus built the church over an earlier
foundation, but it was modernised in 165o and has
been restored since. In the nave are twenty-four fine
ancient columns.   It has a handsome roof, quite
recently restored.  In the left aisle are two interesting
frescoes representing the interior of St. John Lateran
2 B               385




Appendix


and old St. Peter's; the latter shows the bronze fir cone
which is now in the Vatican Palace. The high altar,
rich in marbles, stands upon a platform reached by
steps.  Another flight of steps leads to the confession,
below which is the crypt and the original, now
subterranean, church; here in 325 Constantine was
present at a Council confirming the decisions of the
Council of Nice.
S. Onofrio, on the Janiculan Hill, dates from  the
fifteenth century. It was built in honour of a monk
who retired to the desert in Egypt and lived alone,
and naked, in a cave for sixty years. The church
is approached by a portico which has in the lunettes
scenes from the life of St. Jerome by Domenichino.
The first chapel on the left has the modern monument to Tasso. The second chapel on the right has
the Madonna di Loreto, an altar-piece by Caracci.
The frescoes behind the high altar are by Baldassare Peruzzi.
In the adjoining monastery the room is shown in
which Torquato Tasso died, which has a wax cast
of his face. Tasso's oak is a short distance further
up the hill (see p. 305).
S. Paolofuori-le-mura (St. Paul's) was founded by
Constantine over the grave of St. Paul. The splendid
fourth century basilica, before the Reformation under
the protection of the British Crown, was destroyed by
fire in 1823. The wooden roof took fire during some
repairs, and fell into the nave and aisles, almost totally
demolishing the basilica.
The facade towards the river has modern mosaics
Before it is a square atrium supported by large columns
of pink and grey Baveno granite.
The interior has a broad nave floored with polished
marbles, and double aisles supported by four rows of
grey granite Baveno columns with Corinthian capitals
386




Appendix


of white marble. Near the door are two columns of
Oriental alabaster, yellow streaked with chalky white;
these, with the four of the same material which support the baldacchino, were presented by Mehemet Ali,
Viceroy of Egypt. The roof has modern carving and
gilding.  Above the transept, nave, and aisles, are
medallion portraits of all the Popes in chronological
order; the first forty, having escaped the fire, are from
the old basilica. It so happens that the only English
Pope, Nicholas Breakspear, Adrian IV., is in the worst
position in the inner corner of the left aisle.
The two large Ionic columns which support the
chancel arch were placed there in the fifth century.
The mosaics above are ' restorations' of the originals,
which were of the fifth century.
The colossal statues of SS. Peter and Paul are
modern. The high altar has a Gothic canopy (under
the modern baldacchino), the work of the Florentine
Arnolfo (i285).    It rests on four columns of red
porphyry. The malachite on the pedestals was presented by the Emperor Nicholas I. of Russia. The
body of St. Paul lies beneath the altar, his head, witlh
that of St. Peter, being in St. John Lateran.
On the right of the high altar is a twelfth century
marble candlestick with sculptures by Vassalectus.
The tribune has thirteenth century mosaics.
In the first chapel on the left of the tribune is a
statue of St. Bridget by Carlo Maderno, and        a
very ancient wooden statue of St. Paul, much injured
by the fire.    Over the altar is the Crucifix, which
spoke to St. Bridget, by Pietro Cavallini; and below
it the medallion in mosaic of the Madonna, before
which St. Ignatius Loyola and his followers made
their vows (see p. 302).
The first chapel on the right of the tribune was
designed by Carlo Maderno and escaped the fire.
387




Appendix


The second chapel on the right has a sitting statue of
St. Benedict by Tenerani, and twelve fluted Doric
columns of grey marble.
The entrance to the cloisters (early thirteenth
century) is on the right of the right transept. On
their walls are pagan and early Christian inscriptions,
and sepulchral monuments of later dates.
St. Peter's.  St. Peter was crucified in the circus
built by Caligula and made famous by Nero. Its
north wall was used as the south wall of the old
basilica commenced by Constantine. When that wall
showed signs of giving way, Nicholas V. (1450)
began a new building, which made little progress until
Julius II. employed Bramante, and laid the foundation stone in  1 506.  The existing result is the
work of many artists, among whom should be noted,
Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Giacomo della
Porta who was employed by Sixtus V. ( 1 5 8 5-90) to
complete the dome after the design of Michelangelo
(though not an exact copy), and Carlo Maderno
(i606), who erected   the immense fagade.   The
basilica was dedicated by Urban VIII. in i 626.
The colonnade was commenced by Bernini in 1667.
The obelisk (near which St. Peter was crucified) was
moved from its original site in the circus of Caligula
and Nero, near the Sacristy of the Basilica, to its
present position, by Sixtus V. in 1586. The fountains
are by Carlo Maderno.
The bronze doors of the central entrance to the
basilica were executed, to rival those of the Baptistery
of the Duomo at Florence, by Antonio Filarete in
1445. On the right is the Porta Santa which is
opened only during a Jubilee Year. It was opened,
with great ceremony, by Leo XIII. on Christmas Eve
1899, and closed by him exactly a year later.
St. Peter's is the largest church in the world, being
388




Appendix


204 yards long to the 173 yards of St. Paul's,
London.   From the pavement to the top of the cross
on the summit of the dome is 149 yards to the 128
yards of St. Paul's.
The dome is 46 yards in diameter, about i yard
less than the Pantheon.
The vaulted roof is richly decorated with gilding
and sunken coffers.  There are four massive piers
on each side with Corinthian pilasters in stucco.
The walls and piers are throughout adorned with
marble, sculptures and medallions. The figures are
much larger than they seem to be, their gigantic proportions being in harmony with the immense size of
the building. The pavement is of coloured marble.
Near the entrance is a slab of porphyry on which
some of the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire
have been crowned.
The dome rests upon four enormous pillars, 78 yards
in circumference, which have, in niches facing the
high altar, colossal statues of S. Longinus (who pierced
the side of Christ with a spear), S. Helena, S. Veronica,
and St. Andrew. Above, in the balconies, are preserved,
and periodically exhibited, the spear of S. Longinus,
the piece of the cross of St. Helena, the handkerchief
of Veronica with which Christ wiped his brow on the
way to Calvary, the impression of His countenance
remaining, and the head of St. Andrew. On the
frieze of the dome are the words:-' Tu Es Petrus
Et Super Hanc Petram Aedificabo Ecclesiam Meam
Et Tibi Dabo Claves Regni Coelorum.'
The baldacchino, or canopy, is 95 feet high to the
summit of the cross; it was cast in 1633 by Bernini
with bronze taken from the Pantheon by Urban
VIII., whose armorial three bees are marked on the
gilded spiral columns. The high altar stands over
the tomb of St. Peter. In front, on a marble balus389




Appendix


trade, are ninety-five lamps, which burn night and
day. In the Confession below is a statue of Pius VI.
by Canova. Looking towards the entrance, on the
left will be seen the bronze statue of St. Peter, the
foot worn by kisses.
Right aisle.  First chapel, della Pieta.  Over the
altar, the marble Pieta, the work of Michelangelo
when only twenty-four years old. On the right is a
marble column, from old St. Peter's, on which Christ
leaned when disputing with the doctors. It has spiral
flutings.
The next is a small circular chapel containing relics.
The third large chapel, of the Holy Sacrament,
contains the bronze tomb of Sixtus IV., by Antonio
Pollajuolo. Near it a stone in the pavement marks
the grave of Julius II. (nephew of Sixtus IV.), for
whose tomb Michelangelo executed the Moses in
S. Pietro in Vincoli.
In the right aisle of the tribune is the tomb of
Clement XIII., by Canova.
At the end of the tribune is the bronze chair of St.
Peter, by Bernini, supported by four fathers of the
Church, SS. Augustine, Ambrose, Chrysostom and
Athanasius.  It is supposed to contain the very ancient,
much worn, wooden chair of St. Peter, which is, however, kept in a niche in the wall. On the right is the
tomb of Urban VIII. by Bernini, adorned with the
Barberini bees. On the left the tomb of Paul III.
(Farnese) by Guglielmo della Porta. The statues
of Prudence and Truth were modelled from the mother
of Paul III. and his sister-in-law, Giulia Farnese.
The latter was partly covered with a robe of painted
lead by Bernini, and again (later) by order of
Pius IX.
At the end of the left aisle of the tribune, over the
altar of St. Leo I., is a large relief by Algardi, repre390




Appendix
senting that Pope invoking the assistance of SS. Peter
and Paul against Attila, the Hun.   Returning towards the entrance on the right is the tomb of Alexander VII. by Bernini.    In the left transept are
confessionals for persons of different nationalities.  In
front of the central altar of this transept lies the body
ofPalestrina (died 594),without a monument. Above
is the Crucifixion of St. Peter, after Guido Reni (not
far from the spot where the Apostle was crucified).
Under the next arch, to the right is the entrance
to the sacristy, erected in 1775 by order of Pius VI.
Inside the doorway are the statues of St. Peter (right)
and St. Paul (left), executed in 1461 by Paolo
Romano, which stood in front of the old Basilica.
The chapel has a Madonna and Child by Giulio
Romano. In the Chapter House are three panels by
Giotto, and fragments of frescoes, angels playing on
musical instruments, and heads of apostles, by Melozzo
da Forli. On the opposite side of the octagon is the
Treasury, with crucifixes and candelabra, some of them
from the designs of Michelangelo or Benvenuto Cellini,
and other precious ornaments. They are not shown to
every visitor.
On the left of the entrance to the sacristy is the
altar under which lies the body of Gregory the Great
(died 604). On the left is the tomb of Pius VII.
(died 1823), by Thorwaldsen. In the left aisle is
the choir chapel, decorated by Giacomo della Porta,
where the daily choral services take place. Under the
next arch, on the left, is the tomb of Innocent VIII.
by Pietro and Antonio Pollajuolo. Opposite is the
niche where rests the body of a Pope until the completion of his monument. The remains of Pius IX. lay
here for three years before burial in S. Lorenzo fuori.
Under the next arch, on the right, over the door
leading to the dome, is the tomb of Maria Sobiesky,
391




Appendix


wife of the Pretender 'James III.'; and opposite is
the monument to the three Stuart Princes, the Pretender and his sons Charles Edward (the Young
Pretender) and Henry (Cardinal York).      It was
executed by Canova by order of George IV.
The crypt is closed to the public.
The ascent of the dome, 8 to i a.m., commences
by the door opposite the Stuart monument.
S. Pietro in Montorio derives its name from the
yellow sand of this part of the Janiculan hill. It was
built on an older foundation in the fifteenth century.
During the siege of Rome by the French in 1849 the
campanilo and tribune were destroyed, and have since
been rebuilt.
In the first chapel on the right are friescoes by
Sebastiano del Piombo. In the fifth is the Conversion
of St. Paul, by Vasari.
In the fifth chapel on the left, Baptism in the Jordan, by Daniele da Volterra. In the first, St. Francis
receiving the Stigmata, by Giovanni de Vecchi.
Near the entrance, the tomb of St. Julian, Archbishop of Ragusa, by G. A. Dosio (i5i0o).
Beyond the third chapel, on the right, is the door
leading to the Temple of Bramante (1502), on the
spot where St. Peter was, at that time, supposed to
have been crucified.
From the front of the church there is a fine view
(see p. i 0).
S. Pietro in Vincoli is so called because it contains
the chains which were used to bind St. Peter in Jerusalem; they are preserved in a bronze tabernacle under
the high altar.
the nave has 20o ancient fluted Doric columns of
Hymettian marble. At the end of the right aisle is
the celebrated colossal statue of Moses by Michelangelo, with figures of Rachel and Leah, partly
392




Appendix


executed by him, on each side. They were intended
to form part of an immense tomb of Julius II., to be
executed by Michelangelo and placed in St. Peter's.
The figure of Julius, leaning his head on his hand, and
the remainder of the monument, are by inferior artists.
The Pope was not buried here, but in St. Peter's.
The sacristy contains the Deliverance of St. Peter
from Prison, by Domenichino. Above the second
altar of the left aisle is a mosaic, dated 680, of S.
Sebastian represented as an old man with a beard.
S. Prassede was the daughter of Pudens, in whose
house St. Peter lived. The present church was built
by Paschal I. in the ninth century, but has been much
restored and modernised. The mosaics in the tribune,
and those on the exterior and in the interior of the
chapel of S. Zeno (third right), are of the ninth century.  In the niche to the right of this chapel is one
of the many extant pieces of the column at which
Christ was scourged. It was brought to Rome by
Cardinal Giovanni Colonna in 1223. The doorway
of the chapel has ancient columns of black marble,
and a carved architrave of white marble. In the adjoining recess is the recumbent statue on the tomb of
Cardinal Cetive ( 474), with reliefs of SS. Peter,
Paul, Prassede and Pudenziana: and at the end of the
aisle the tomb of Cardinal Anchera (1286).  The
bodies of SS. Prassede and Pudenziana lie under the
high altar.  In the sacristy is a Flagellation, by
Giulio Romano. There are remains of a curious old
campanile.
S. Pudenziana (see p. 86) is the oldest foundation
in Rome, being on the site of the house of Pudens,
with whom St. Peter lodged, and whose daughters,
S.S. Prassede and Pudenziana, he converted.
The church is below the road, being reached by
steps. In the nave are fourteen ancient grey marble
393




Appendix


columns built up into piers.  The mosaics of the
tribune date from the fourth century, but have been
much restored.  In the chapel at the end of the left
aisle is a marble group, by Giacomo della Porta, of the
delivery of the keys to St. Peter. Below it is kept
part of the altar at which St. Peter said mass. The
well with a grating over it is supposed to contain the
bones of 3000 martyrs.    In the left aisle is the
Gaetani chapel, with ancient mosaics.
S. Sabina, on the Aventine, dates from the fifth
century.
The doors of cypress wood have sculptured panels,
said to be of the fifth century. The door jambs of
sculptured marble are of the thirteenth century.
In the interior are twenty-four fluted Corinthian
columns of Hymettian marble taken from the Temple
of Juno Regina, which stood on this site. Above
them are mosaic decorations in red and green porphyry,
of the fifth century.
In the pavement are several slab tombs. Near the
high altar the mosaic tomb of Munoz da Zamora,
General of the Dominican Order (I295). Near the
entrance, on the top of a short pillar, is a large black
Martyr's Stone, which was thrown by the devil at
St. Dominic.
At the end of the right aisle is the Chapel of the
Rosary, with an altar-piece showing St. Catherine of
Siena and St. Dominic kneeling before the Madonna,
by Sassoferrato. On the right is the fifteenth century
tomb of a cardinal, with the inscription, Ut moriens
viveret vixit ut moriturus.
On the entrance wall of the left aisle are some
slabs of marble with ninth century carving.
Over the entrance door on the inside are the
remains of a fifth century mosaic.
In the garden of the monastery in which St.
394




Appendix


Dominic lived is the orange tree planted by him.
St. Dominic's room has been converted into a chapel,
which is shown to visitors.
The Scala Santa is in a building opposite the northeast corner of the Lateran Palace. The twenty-eight
marble steps are supposed to be those ascended and
descended by Christ in the house of Pilate. They
may be ascended only on the knees. The marble has
become so worn that Clement XII. (1730-40)
covered it with planks of wood, which also have been
several times renewed. The Ecce Homo and Betrayal
at the foot of the stairs are by Giacommetti.
At the top is the Sancta Sanctorum, built by one
of the Cosma family in 1278, which may not be
entered by the public, who proceed instead to the
chapel of S. Lorenzo, on the right.
S. Sebastiano fuori was one of the seven churches
of pilgrimage.  It was in early times called  S.
Sebastiano ad catacumbus.  The present church is
of the seventeenth century.  On the right is the
Chapel of Relics, amongst them being a piece of
white marble bearing the impression of the foot of
Christ. The Saviour met Peter when he was leaving
Rome, at the spot now marked by the chapel of
'Domine quo Vadis,' where there is a copy of this
footprint.
St. Sebastian, martyred in 270 A.D., was at first
transfixed by arrows, but recovering from his wounds
was beaten to death. His remainslie under the high altar.
It was in this church that the bodies of SS. Peter
and Paul found a temporary place of refuge in the.
third century; the well where they were interred
should be inspected. The catacombs are not worth a
visit. 
S. Stefano Rotondo, on the Cslian, was founded in
the fifth century. It is circular in form.
395




Appendix


In the vestibule is an ancient marble chair said to
have been used by Gregory the Great.
The church has two circles of grey granite Ionic
columns.
The walls are covered with frescoes by Pomarancio,
scenes of martyrdom in chronological order.
In the apse of the first chapel on the left is a
mosaic of the seventh century.
The second chapel on the left has a sixteenth
century tomb.


396




INDEX


A
Abelard, 227.
Accoramboni, Vittoria, 317.
Acqua Felice, 323.
Acqua Paola, 17.
Adrian IV., 218, 228, 231.,, VI., 290..Eneas, 2.
Agnese Fuori, S., 371.
Agrippa, Menenius, 6.
Alaric, 24, 12I et seq.
Alban Mountains, 2, T0, x6.
Alberic, 175.
Alessio, S., 12.
Alexander VI., 272 et seq.
Alfred the Great, I69.
Amalasuntha, 134.
Amphitheatre, the, 44.
Flavian, 41 et seq.
Anathema, 192-194.
Angeli, S. M. degli, 380.
Angelo, St., Bridge of, 99.,,,, Castle of, Ix, 157, 282,
317.
Angelo, S., in Pescheria, 351.
Anselmo, S., 12.
Antonines, the, 32.
Antoninus Pius, 31.
Antoninus and Faustina, temple of,
i6, 57.
Apollodorus, 19, 52.
Appius Claudius, 66.
Aqua Claudia, 13, I6.
Aqueducts, 21, 138.
Ara Coeli, the, II, 235, 337, 380.
Arena, 44.
Arnold of Brescia, 227, 251.
Arx, 15.
Attila, 130.
Augustus, 13.,    Arch of, 63.,,   Mausoleum of, 17, 96-98.
Temple of, 15, 75.
Aurelian, II5.
Aventina, S. M., 382.
Aventine Hill, 2, I2.
Avignon, 223, 253.


B
Bambino, 337.
Barbarians, II8.
Bartholomew, St., Massacre of, 3I0.
Basilica, Aemilia, 67.,,   Christian, recently  discovered, 63.,,   Julia, i6, 74.,,   Ulpia, I8.
Befana, 338.
Belisarius, 25, 134 et seq.
Benedict, St., 15I-152.
Benedict IX., I8o0-i8.
Bernard, St., 2I0.
Bernini, 390, 391.
Bestiarius, 47.
Biseglia, Duke of, 277.
Blood sacrifice, 44.
Bocca della Verita, Piazza, 351.
Boccaccio, 264.
Body, resurrection of, 8I, 112, 113.
Boniface VIII., 221-223.,,   IX., 257.
Borgia, Cesare, 272 et seq.,,   Lucrezia, 272 et seq., and
see Alexander VI.
Borgo, I69.
Bosio, Antony, o08.
Bourbon, Duke of, 291.
Bramante, 283, 393.
Brancaleone, 233-237.
Bravi, 312.
Britain, I40.
Bruno, Giordano, 303.
Burial, 95.
Byron, 29, 50.
C
Caius Cestius, 12, I4, 17.
Caligula, 23, 15, 31.,,   Palace of, 57
Calixtus I., 148.
Camillus, 4.
Campagna, 2.1,
Campanili, T0.
397




Index


Campo dei Fiori, 303.,,  Vaccino, i6, 28.
Canossa, I95.
Canova, 390, 392.
Capitoline Hill, 2.
Tower, iI, i6.
Capitulations, 268.
Caracalla, I 5.
baths of, I4, I7.
Carlo, S., I7.
Carnival, 269.
Cassiodorus, 145.
Castor and Pollux, temple of, i6, 6i.
Catacombs, Iox et seq.,,    illustrations in, iii.
symbols in, ixo.
Catherine, St., of Siena, 253, 344,
384 -Cecilia Metella, 12, 14, I7.
Cecilia, St., 12, i8, 171, 348.
Celestine I., 219-222.
Celibacy of clergy, 149, i88.
Cellini, Benvenuto, 324.
Cenci, Beatrice, 319-322.,,  Francesco, 319.
Palazzo, 350.
Cencius, 19o.
Charlemagne, I65-I67.
Charles of Anjou, 2I8.
Charles V., 290, 295.
Chigi, Agostino, 289.
Chivalry, 204.
Christian martyrs, 47.
Cicero, 49, 56, 79.
Circus Maximus, 34, 144.
Circus of Caligula and Nero, 87.
Civitas Leonina, 172.
Classic remains, 22.
Claudius, 3q.,,   Gothicus, Ii5.
Clement VII., 29I et seq.
VIII., 321.
Clemente, S., 372.
Clivus Capitohnus, 72, 75.
Cloisters, medieval, 22.
Clubs, 96.
Colonna and Orsini, 238.
Colonna, John, 24I.
Piazza, 340.,,  Sciarra, 223, 2;;.,,  Stephen, 243, 245, 246.
Colosseum, 3i, 13, i6, 4I et seq.,
355.
Columbarium, 96, Iox.
Comitium, 65, 69.
Commodus, 31, 46, 1 I4.
398


Conclave, 328-332.,,    of Adrian VI., 290.,    of Clement VII., 290.
of Leo X., 286.
of Urban VI., 255.
Concord, temple of, 75.
Condottieri, 252.
Congregations, the, 322.
Conradin, 2I8.
Constans II., I63.
Constantine, 88, 92, ii6, 117.,,    Arch of, 13, 36 et seq.,,    Basilica of, ix, I6, 36.
55.
Constantinople, 5, 117, 266.
Coronation battle, 231.
Corso, I7, 269.
Cosimato, S., 22, 347.
Cosma e Damiano, SS., 347, 373.
Cosmedin, S. M. in, I8, 352, 382.
Costume, monastic, 335.,,   Papal, 334.
of Swiss Guard, 336.
Crescentius, 176, 178.,,    house of, 352.
Crisogono, S., Io, i8.
Croce, S., in Gerusalemme, 176,
373.
Crusades, 202-208.
Curia, 68.
Curtian lake, 65.
D
Damasus, xo6, I48.
Damiani, St. Peter, i88.
Death, 8I.
Decius, II5.
Diocletian, xI6.
Domenichino, 376.
Domitian, 13, 31, 41.,,   Palace of, i5.
Domine quo vadis, 86.
Dominic, St., I86, 210, 395.
E
Elagabulus I 25.
Elizabeth, Queen, 311.
England, conversion of, 255.
Epicureans, 78.
Ethelwolf, I69.
Eugenius IV., 263.
Excommunication, 193.




Index


F
Fabius, Arch of, 56.
Fall of Western Empire, 17-t20.
Farinacci, Prospero, 321.
Farnese Villa, I5.,,  Palace, 346.
Fate, 79.
Flagellants, 2x6.
Flavius, 42.
Fontana, Domenico, 324.
Formosus, 172.
Fortuna Virilis, temple of, 352.
Forum of Augustus, I8.
of Julius, I8.,,  of Nerva, I8.,   Romanum, 28, 64 et seq.,,  of Trajan, I8.,   of Vespasian, I8.
Fra Angelico, 384.
Francesca Romana, S., iI, 16, 373.
Francis I., 290.
Francis, St., of Assisi, 212.
Frangipani, 52.
Frascati, I0.
Frederic I., Barbarossa, 2a8, 229.
II., 218.
Friars, 211.
G
Galileo, 305.
Gandia, Duke of, 273.
Garibaldi, statue of, 9, 27.,,    (Ponte), 17.
Genseric, 25, 131.
Gesu, 11, 17, 302, 374.
Ghetto, 350.
Gibbon, 31, 125, 145, 217.
Giorgio in Velabro, S., 352.
Giotto, 377, 39r.
Giovanni e Paolo, SS., 13, 374.
Gladiators, 45.
Godfrey de Bouillon, 207.
Gothic cathedrals, 357.
Goths, I33 et seq.
Greek character, 7.
Gregorio, S., 13, i6o, 375.
Gregorovius, i68, 238.
Gregory I., the Great, X55-x6o., II., I64.,,   VII., x88 et seq.,,   IX., 213.. XI., 253.,,   XIII., 3x, 3I3.


Grotta Ferrata, o0.
Guiscard, Robert, I96-I97.
Guizot, I98.
H
Hadrian, 31, 51.,,   mausoleum    of, 98-oo00
I39 -Hawkwood, Sir John, 252.
Henry III., Emperor, I8I, x86.,,  IV., Emperor, I89 et seq.,,  V., Emperor, 201, 202.,, VII., Emperor, 237.
Hildebrand I87 et seq.
Holy Roman Empire, I67.
Honorius, 120 et seq.
Horace, 52, 8o.
Humbert, King, 343.
I
Iconoclast dispute, 164.
Ina, i68.
Index of Condemned Books, 305.
Indulgences, 241-242.
Innocent III., 208.,    VIII., 272.
Inquisition, 213-2I6, 302, 344.
Inscriptions, io9.
Interdict, 228, 236.
Investitures, war of, x88.
J
Janiculan Hill, 9.
Janus, arch of, 352.,,  temple of, 6, 68.
Jerome, 148, 149.
erusalem, temple of, 52.
Jesuits, 300-302.
Jews, 83.
John, King of England, 208.
John XII., 176.
Jubilee, of 1300, 241-242.,,  of 2350, 249.,,  of 1400, 257.,   of 1450, 265.,,  of I475, 27I.
Julius Caesar, rostra of, 63.,,     temple of, 63.
Julius II., 283.
Jupiter Capitolinus, temple of, I5
77, 122.
399




Index


Justin Martyr, 90o.
Juturna, lake of, I5, 62.,,   shrine of, 62.
K
Keats, 14.
Knights Templars, 235.,,   Hospitallers, 205.
L
Lanciani, I08.
Lateran, the, I2, 13, i6, 22, 323, 376.,,     Baptistery, 378.
Lawrence, St 02.
Leo I., the Great, 130.,, III., i65.,, IV., i69, 172.
X., 286., XIII., 304.
Lepanto, battle of, 310.
Ligorio, Pirro, 283.
Livy, 4, 6, 65, 8o.
Lombards, 159, x64.
Lorenzo Fuori, S., 22, 378.
Lottery, 339.
Louis, St., 207.
Loyola, St. Ignatius, 299, 310, 374.
Lucius II., 228.,,  Verus, 33, 114.
Luther, Martin, 284.
M
Macchiavelli, 270.
Maderno, Carlo, 283, 388, 389.
Majorian, Emperor, 25.
Mamertine Prison, 75, 87.
Marble plan of Rome, 56.
Marcellinus, Ammianus, 19, 123,
148.
Marcellus, 97.
mass of Pope, 307-309.
Marcus Aurelius, 312 49, 90, 114.,,,,     column of, 17.,,,,     statue of, 17, 36,
I64, 244.
Marforio 313, 345-346.
Maria Maggiore, S., 10, II, 17,
190-191, 382.
Marozia, I73-175.
Mars Ultor, temple of, x8.
Martin V., 259.
Martino ai Monti, S., 386.
400


Matilda, Countess, I95.
Mattei Palazzo, 351., Villa, 12, I3.
Maxentius, 56.
Maximin, 115.
Mediaeval Papacy, i86, 197, 219,
223.
Mediaeval remains, 22, 23.
Medici Villa, lI, 17.
Michelangelo, 283, 284, 323, 339,
344, 346, 384, 390, 393.
Middle Age, the, x83-I87.
Milan, 5, ii6.
Milliareum aureum, 71.
Milman, 195.
Minerva, S. M. Sopra, 303, 344,
384.
Mommsen, 7.
Monasticism, 152.
Montanara, Piazza, 351
Monte Caprino, i6.,, Cassino, I52.,, Cavallo, 323.,, Cavo, I0.,,  Citorio, 340.,,  Mario, I0, 359.,,  Soratte, I0.
Testaccio, 22.
Mons, Sacer 6.
Menti, the, 322.
Morra, 338.
Muratori, x45.
Muro Torto, I37.
N
Napoleon, 333, 346.
Nantes, edict of, 310.
Narses, I44.
Navona, Piazza, 344.
Nepotism, 270, 328.
Neptune, temple of, 340.
Nero, 31, i8i.,,  colossus of, 51.,,  cruelty of, 83-85.,, golden house of, 42.
Nerva, 31.
forum of, I8.
Nicholas V., 264.
Nicola, S., in Carcere, 351.
Niger lapis, 69.
Normans, I96-197.


O
Obelisk before St. Peter's, 323.




Octavia, porticus of, 351.
Odoacer, 132.
Onofrio, S., 9, 306, 386.
Orsini and Colonna, 238.
Ludovico, 319.
P. G., I)uke of Bracciano,
317, 318.
Otto 1., 176..,      i1., 176-178.
P
Pagan ruins, 22.
Palace of Justice, II, 17.
Palaces of the Caesars, 12.
Palatine Hill, 2, 3, 17.
Palazzo Farnese, Io., di Venezia, 269.
Palestrina, 306.
Pantheon, 17, 163, 343.
Paolo, S., alle Tre Fontane, 87.
Porta, I4.
Papal cost ume, 334.
Paschal I., I71.
Pasquino, 313, 345, 346.
Patricius, 165. I66, 179, 190.
Paul, S., Basilica of, 10, 12, 14, 17.
22, 387.
burial of, 88.
execution of, 87.
head of, 88.
likeness of, 89.
Paul II., 268.,, IV., 305.
Pepin, 165.
Persecutions, 91.
Peter, S., Basilica of II, 12, 17, 88,
283, 323, 356, 388 et seq.
burial of, 88.
chair of, 88.,,   crucifixion of, 87.
head of, 88...  in Rome, 85-87.. ikeness of, 89.,tatue of, 89.
Peter, City Prefect, 176.
Peter's Pence, 169.
Petrarch, 239, 249, 253.
Philip, Emperor, 1I5.
Philip Neri, S., 310.
Phocas, 16o.,,   column of, i6, 29, 70, 16o.
Pietro, S., in Montorio, 9, 17, 392.
in Vincoli, 284, 393.
Pilgrims, I68.
Pincian Hill, iI, 17, 137, 361.


Pinturicchio, 385.
Pius I I. 267.., V., S., 31o.. VI., 345., IX., 33I, 333, 38o.
Plague, 90, 157, 246. 265.
Pliny thle Younger, 89.
Pllutei, 70.
Poison, 281.
l'ompey, soul of, 112.
Pompey, statue of, 346.
Ponte Molle, 258, 361.
Palatino, 18, 349, 352., Quattro Capi, 350..,   Rotto, 349.,,  Sisto,,47.
lope Joan, I74.
Popolo, Piazza del, 17.
S. S\l. del, 271, 384.
Porcaro, Stefano, 266.
Porta, Giacomo della, 283, 377.
Prassede, S., 393.
Prati, the, IT, 17, 358.
Presepio, 337.
Protestant cemetery, 17.
Putdenziana, S., 86, 394.
Q.
Quirinal Palace, 10, It, 77.
R.
Ranke, 294.
Raphael, 116, 13i, I69, 283, 286,
343, 344, 384 -Ravenna, 5, 121, 133.
Reformation, 297.
Regia, 57.
Relics, 171.
Renaissance, the, 184-186.
Reni, Guido, 376.
Resurrection of the body, 81, 112,
113.
Rhea Silvia, 3.
Richard, Coeur de Lion, i86, 207.
Rienzi, 239 et seq.
cremation of, 98.
Ripetta, 323.
Ritual, Pagan and Christian, 92.
Roma Quadrata, 2, 13.
Roman character, 5, 8.,, roads, 5.,, religion, 78.
Romano, Giulio, 116.


2C


40o




Index


Rome, destruction of, 24.
improvement of, 27.,,  sack of, by Alaric, i S.,,   by Genseric, 131.,,,,   by Guiscard, 197.,,,,   i n 1527, 292.,,  siege of, by Barbarossa, 232.,,,,    by the Goths, I37.,    by Henry IV., 196.,,  splendour of, 20.
suburbs of, 21.
Romulus, and Remus, 3.,,   Augustulus, I32.,,   temple of, x6.,,   tomb of, 70.
Rospigliosi, Palace, 17.
1)e Rossi, I02, io8.
Rostra, 69, 71.
S.
Sabine Hills, o0.
Sabines, rape of, 66.
S. Sabina, 12, 22, 394
Sacra Via, 52.
Sacred City, temple of, 55.
Sand, Georges, 226.
Saracens, 172.
Sassoferato, 395.
Saturn, temple of, i6, 74.
Savelli tombs, 38I.
Saxon school, i68.
Scala Santa, 395.
Schism, the Great, 256.
S. Sebastiano, 14, 88, I02, 395.,,       Porta, I7.
Senate house, 68.
Senator, 233.
Seneca, 85.
Septimius Severus, 13, 1IS.,,        Arch of, z6, 72.
Palace of, 12.
Sette Salle, 355.
Seven Hills, 2.
Severus Alexander, Ix5.
Shah Jehan, 00oo.
Shelley, I4.
Shrines, 58.
Silvester II., 178-179.
Simony, 188.
Sistine chapel, 271, 334.
Sixtus II., 105.
IV., 270.
V., 310o et seq.
Soul, immortality of, x12, 113.
Spagna, Piazza di, 323.
S. Spirito in Sassia, ix, x69.
402


Stadium, 13.
S. Stefano Rotondo, 12, 396.
Stilicho, 121 et seq.
Stillmann, W. J., 28.
Stoics, 78, 81.
Story, W. W., 46, 99.
Symonds, J. A., 293, 301, 314.
Tabularium, I5.
Tacitus, 84.
Taj Mahal, roo.
Tarpeian rock. 13.
Tartarughe, Piazza, 331.
Tasso's oak, 9.
Tasso, Torquato, 305, 386.
Telemachus, 49.
Teias, 145.
Theodora, 173.
Theodoric, 133.
Thorwaldsen, 392.
Tiber, 2, 5.,,  Island, 17, 349.
Tiberius, 13, 31.
Arch of, 74.
Titus, 41.
Arch of, z6, 51.
baths of,
Torre delle Milizie, 10, 1I, 17, 22,
225.
dei Conti, 22, 225, 236.
Torrita, Jacopo da, 377, 383.
Totila, 14I-145.
Towers, 237.
Trajan, 31, 32, 89.,,  baths of, 50.
column of, 17, 19.,,  forum of, I8.
Trastevere, S. M. in, 347.
Tre Fontane, 14, 17, 88.
Trent, council of, 298, 306.
Treves, 5, rI6.
Trevi fountain, 271.
Triumph, the, 32.
U
Umbilicus Romze, 72.
Urban VIII., 345.
V
Vandalism, 132.
Vatican Palace, 17.




Index


Vasisalectus, 377, 355.
Veii, 4.
Venus and Rome. temple Of, 51.
Venus Cloacina, 68.
Vespasian, 411.
temple of, i6, 75.
Vesta, temple of, 59. 6i.
1)so-called tem"ple Of, 351.
Vestals, 58 el seq.
hou101se of, 58.
k la Appia-, 2I.
Flaminia, 361.
Ostia, 17.
Tritimphalis, r3.
Victor Emmanuei IL., 333, 334.
Vicus Thutrarius, 73.


Vignola, 283.
SS. Vin~cenzo e Anastasio, 57.
Virginia, 66.
Vitelliuls, 31.
Vitiges, 134.
Voltaire, 167, 230.
'V
Walls of Rome, 17, 253, 137.
WVilliam the Conqueror, 193.
z
Zola, I i.


THE END


403




EDINB3URGH
COLSTON ANY) CoY. LIMITED
INIIENTENRS




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