ROME

Rome

Any attempt to describe Rome in the middle of the 1st cent. could be made only by one alike endowed with sympathetic imagination and equipped with minute erudition. Such an attempt has been made, not altogether unsuccessfully, by F. W. Farrar in his Darkness and Dawn (London, 1891), as well as by other writers. In this article it has seemed best to mention one or two points in which Rome of that period differed from a modern great city, and to follow this up by giving some account of certain important buildings of the early Empire, whether they actually date from the later Republic or not. The writer has not rigidly excluded those that belong to a period somewhat later than Nero, but he has as far as possible confined his attention throughout to buildings of which actual remains exist. He has been indebted to standard works mentioned in the Literature, but has himself seen everything which he describes.

The population of Rome at the time St. Paul reached it, about a.d. 60, may be estimated roughly at from 1,500,000 to 2,000,000, of which a very large proportion were slaves. The streets of the city were for the most part narrow, and no vehicles were allowed inside the city walls except the wagons necessary for building purposes. The traveller who did not walk was conveyed in a sedan chair or on horseback to one of the city gates, where his carriage was awaiting him. The public buildings were magnificent, but many of the dwelling-houses, three or more stories high, were in a state of dangerous disrepair. Crassus, the great financier of the 1st cent. b. c., owned much of this property, and derived a large fortune from it. Martial and Juvenal, towards the end of the 1st and the beginning of the 2nd cent. a.d., describe the perils to the pedestrian from falling tiles, etc. The dangers to the health of slum dwellers were to some extent obviated by the open-air life commonly led, by the porticces which gave protection from sun and rain, by the theatre, amphitheatre, circus, etc. There was no proper lighting of the streets at night. Active life was supposed to end at sunset, and those who were abroad after dark were accompanied by torch-bearers, as the Londoners of the 18th cent. by link-boys. Not till the time of Augustus was there any police in Rome, but the riots of the 1st cent. b.c. had shown the necessity, and Augustus divided the city into wards (regiones), and established an excellent police system, of which archaeological remains have been found.

Palatine Hill.-There is a general consensus of opinion that the original Rome, Roma Quadrata (Square Rome), was on the Palatine Hill only-the hill of Pales, the shepherds god. It is with the S.W. angle that the earliest legends of Rome are mostly associated. It was there that the basket was found containing the twins Romulus and Remus, after it had been washed ashore by the Tiber. There also was the lair of the she-wolf that suckled the twins, etc. The Palatine Hill is kept for the most part sacred from modern buildings, and is almost entirely covered by ruins of buildings belonging to various epochs. Excavation is still going on, but seemingly no attempt is made to check the growth of vegetation. In the Republican period the Palatine became a fashionable residential quarter. Here was the house of Cicero. On his exile in 58 b.c. the house was destroyed and the site confiscated, but in the next year it was restored to him. The Emperor Augustus was born near the N.E. corner, and various rooms of a house belonging to his wife Livia are still shown on the hill, with the frescces on the inside walls. Under the Empire practically the whole of the hill was converted into a huge Imperial residence. The process was begun by Augustus, who acquired a valuable property which had once belonged to the orator Hortensius, and added to it by the purchase of adjoining properties. There the Imperial palace was built. Fire and destruction worked upon this and other buildings, and we cannot with certainty identify remains on the hill as belonging to buildings of a particular date. What one sees is great masses of brickwork, with arched roofs. The bricks are square, and very thin as compared with those of to-day. The surviving edifices impress one greatly by their size and strength, but by nothing else. The whole looks excessively shabby. The explanation is that what we are now looking on is only the inner core of the building proper. In the heyday of their existence all these shabby brick buildings were encased in marble. The marble, in the course of ages, has been stripped off, partly in the interests of the decoration of Christian churches, and partly to be pounded down and made into lime. There is a well-known saying of Augustus that he found Rome built of brick and left it made of marble. On seeing these ruins it occurred to the present writer that what was meant by this saying was simply that he had covered brick buildings with marble. The Imperial palace on the Palatine was successively altered or enlarged, as the tastes or requirements of successive Emperors demanded. One most important building must be mentioned before we leave this hill, or mountain, as the Romans called it (see Roman Empire), namely, the temple and precinct of Apollo on the N. E. part of the hill. The decoration of the temple was magnificent. In a double colonnade connected with it were statues of each of the fifty fabled daughters of Danaus, and there also were the Imperial libraries of Greek and Roman literature, one of the earliest public libraries in Italy, splendidly equipped by Augustus not only with manuscript books but also with busts of the great authors.

Capitol.-In modern times the Capitoline Hill is disfigured on the southern side by a hideous barrack-like erection with a campanile, called the Campidoglio, and on the other peak, the Arx, there is being erected an enormous monument to commemorate united Italy. The great ornament of the Capitoline in ancient times was the temple of Jupiter, Best and Greatest (the god whom the Latin allies worshipped on the Alban Mount), together with Juno and Minerva. It was to this great temple that all the triumphal processions of Rome made their way. It was approached immediately by the Cliuus Capitolinus, Capitoline slope, from the Forum. The temple measured about 204 ft. by 188 ft. At the angle of the hill nearest the Tiber was the Tarpeian Rock, from which criminals were hurled. The sheer cliff may be seen from various points. One of the most prominent ancient features on the Capitoline Hill to-day is the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, placed there in 1538, probably under the direction of Michael Angelo, who was commissioned to lay out this site in as worthy a manner as possible. The statue owes its preservation to the belief that it was supposed to represent the earliest Christian Emperor, whereas, as a matter of fact, Marcus was one of the greatest persecutors of the Church. It is the only equestrian statue of an Emperor that has survived. The Arx was in ancient times for the most part not built on: it was from the ground there that heralds got the sacred plants which played a part in the conclusion of treaties with foreign powers. The plant (uerbena sagmina) symbolized the soil of Rome. The temple of Iuno Moneta was on this height; it was the seat of the Mint.

Forum.-Both these hills flank the Forum, to which most of our space must be devoted. Standing near the Cliuus Capitolinus, one looks straight down the Forum, and there must have been a lovely view of the Alban mountains in the distance, before the enormous Flavian amphitheatre, commonly called the Colosseum, shut it off. We must try to touch briefly on each of the more important buildings of which there are traces in the Forum. Like the Palatine, it is shut off from modern intrusions. The Forum was the centre of the throbbing life of the ancient city-the life social, commercial, legal, and political. Occupying a central position in the hollow surrounded by the various heights, it was the natural meeting-place of the communities on the hills above, and this it continued to be as long as ancient Rome lasted. It was flanked by all sorts of shops, those of the money-changers or bankers included. Military processions passed through it. The people were addressed there. Funeral processions stopped there for the funeral oration to be pronounced. In the adjoining buildings law-cases were tried. An enumeration of the buildings, proceeding from N. to S., will serve to give some notion of the comprehensiveness of the life of the Forum.

The Tabularium or Record Office was situated at the foot of the Capitol, and was built in 78 b.c. Its lower courses, on which mediaeval work is now superimposed, are the most splendid specimens of Republican masonry surviving.

In front of this was the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, erected in a.d. 80. Three columns are still standing. There is also a richly decorated frieze and cornice. An inscription records that the temple was restored by Septimius Severus and Caracalla.

To the left of this was the Temple of Concord. This temple with concrete foundations, built by M. Furius Camillus in 366 b.c., was restored by Opimius in 121 b.c., and again rebuilt by Tiberius in a.d. 7-10. Only the threshold is preserved, but some parts of the columns are to be found in museums.

Beyond this are the remains of the Mamertine Prison, where the Catilinarian conspirators Lentulus and Cethegus were strangled by order of the consul Cicero. The tradition that St. Paul was confined there is valueless.

To return to the other side, we come to the Temple of Saturn. Of this great temple the lofty sub-structures are preserved. The eight columns of red and grey granite belong to a late restoration. This restoration was irregular and carelessly carried out. The temple was originally built about 500 b.c. In its vaults was stored the public treasure of Rome. Julius Caesar, after crossing the Rubicon and thus declaring civil war, forced his way in and seized 300,000 of coined money, as well as 15,000 gold and 30,000 silver ingots.

Right over on the other side is the Arch of Severus. This was built in a.d. 203 as a memorial of the victorious campaigns of the Emperor Septimius Severus in the East. In ancient times it was reached by steps, being above the level of the Forum, and now that the ground has been cleared away, that is again true. The middle archway is 40 ft. 4 ins. in height and 22 ft. 11 ins. wide; the side archways are exactly as high as the large one is wide, but they are only 9 ft. 10 ins. wide. There are four columns on each faade standing on high bases. The bas-reliefs are the most interesting part. Some represent legionary soldiers leading prisoners from the East in chains. Another figures Rome receiving the homage of conquered Oriental peoples. The great majority depict detailed scenes of the various stages of war.

In front of this arch lie some of the most antique remains yet discovered in Rome-the Lapis Niger, etc. At this place there was probably a grave or an ill-omened place of some sort. The most interesting part is a rectangular column covered with inscriptions on all four faces. The writing goes from the top down and from the bottom up. The letters show a great resemblance to those of the Greek alphabet, from which the Latin alphabet is admittedly derived. The date is not later than the 5th cent. b.c. The sense cannot be made out. All we can say is that there is mention of a rex, of iouxmenta, beasts of burden, and of a kalator, public servant; the words sakros esed (= sacer sit, let so-and-so be sacred) occur also. It is probably a portion of a religious law that we have here.

Beyond the Black Stone lies all that remains of the Comitium, the voting-place of the Republic.

Beyond this again lies the Church of S. Adriano, which corresponds to the main room of the Senate House of the Empire. It was constructed by Julius Caesar. The situation of the smaller committee room is also known. The level of the ground round about has been gradually raised in the period intervening between the original date of the building and the present day.

If we turn back again to get to the other side we come to the remains of three large oblong erections parallel with one another, all much larger than any with which we have yet had to do. The first is the Basilica aemilia. It is only recently that this has been thoroughly excavated. The original building on this site goes back to the year 179 b.c., when its construction was completed by two censors. Lucius aemilius Paullus, the conqueror of Perseus of Macedon, seems to have decorated it, as an inscription in his honour has lately been found among the ruins. The building was restored by another aemilius, consul in 78 b.c. A coin of 61 b.c. shows the building as a two-storied portico. In 54 b.c. it was again restored by yet another aemilius-it was a sort of monument of this family-with Julius Caesars approval and at his expense. The building was restored again after a fire in 14 b.c. at the expense of the Emperor Augustus. The next restoration took place in a.d. 22 in the reign of Tiberius. Of the Republican building only foundations remain. The entrance opens into six rooms which served for banking business, etc. A staircase led to the upper story, which was similarly arranged. The main room was 95 ft. wide and about 228 ft. long. The galleries above the side aisles were supported by columns. A considerable number of these have been found lying among the other ruins, in all cases broken, but in some cases more so than in others. These are like Peterhead granite, and form part of the 5th cent. reconstruction, which was very thorough.

Next comes the Forum Romanum proper-an open space. At the end nearest to the site of the later Arch of Severus stood the Rostra of the Republic. This was a raised platform decorated with the prows of ships captured in the First Carthaginian War in 260 b.c., under Duillius: hence the name. From this platform many a historic speech, many a funeral oration, including that of Mark Antony on Julius Caesar, was delivered. Another interesting feature of the Forum, of which only the basis now survives, was a bronze equestrian statue of the Emperor Domitian, raised towards the end of the 1st cent. a.d. and described in detail by Statius in the first of his miscellaneous pcems called Siluae.

Leaving the Forum proper, we cross the Sacra Via (the pcet Horace [Sat. I. ix. 1] by the requirements of his metre said uia sacra, but to the ordinary Roman it would have been as absurd to say Via Sacra as to say Street Oxford or Street Princes to-day). This Sacred Way was one of the oldest streets in Rome. Its exact course through the Forum is uncertain, but it would appear that it passed between the Forum proper and the Basilica Iulia, that it then went N.E. and ran along the east side of the Forum, turning southwards eventually and passing under what is now the Arch of Titus. It was the thoroughfare through the Forum, and was connected with almost every movement of importance, sacred and secular, throughout the whole of Roman history.

Crossing it, we come to what was by far the largest edifice in the Forum, the Basilica Iulia. Nothing but the pavement and the basis of some of the columns now remains. It was begun in the year 54 b.c. and was dedicated, though not yet finished, by the dictator Julius Caesar on the day of the celebration of the victory over his Pompeian enemies at Thapsus in 46 b.c. Augustus completed it. On its destruction by fire, he built a much larger building, which retained the original name. It consisted of three parts-a vestibule on the Sacra Via side, the main hall with the galleries surrounding it, and the separated rooms situated behind it. The main hall, used as a law-court, etc., was 328 ft. long and 118 ft. wide (central nave 271 ft. by 59 ft.). Thirty-six pillars of brick covered with marble surrounded the central nave, and into this nave the galleries in the upper story opened. The roof above the central nave was constructed with a clerestory. Much timber was used in making the roof. Four tribunals could try cases at once in this large hall, so that there must have been partitions between them. It is on record that an orator with a specially powerful voice who was pleading before one tribunal received applause from the crowds attending in all four courts. Such buildings have a special interest for us, as it was on them that one at least of the earliest types of Christian church was modelled, and from them that it received the name Basilica, which is still current.

Crossing the Vicus Tuscus or Etrurian Street, which went at right angles to the Sacra Via, we come to the great Temple of Castor or the Castors. The three columns which still stand are at once one of the most conspicuous and one of the most beautiful monuments remaining in the Forum. The temple itself was one of the most ancient of Roman foundations, going back to about 500 b.c. The legend of the help given by the twin-brother gods to the Romans when in straits at the battle of Regillus is familiar to all. The temple was the repayment of a vow. Frequently reconstructed as it was, the remains we now know date from the beginning of the 2nd cent. a.d. under Trajan and Hadrian. It is quite a steep climb to get to the floor of the temple. This is of black and white mosaic laid in Tiberius time, and covered a century later with slabs of variegated marble. The testing of weights and measures was carried on in this temple.

We come next to the Lacus Iuturnae. At the foot of the Palatine the goddess who presided over the springs which bubble forth there was worshipped as Juturna, she who appears in Virgils aeneid as the sister of Turnus, the king of the Rutulians. The pool is about 6 ft. deep and about 16 ft. 9 ins. square. It is fed by two springs. Various ornaments and other interesting objects have been dug out there.

In this neighbourhood are three (or rather two) connected buildings, all belonging to the same cult, that of Vesta. They are respectively the circular aedes Vestae and the Atrium Vestae, with the Domus Virginum Vestalium. The worship of Vesta was the worship of fire and the hearth. Fire is to the house a continual necessity, whether for the cooking of food or for the external warmth of the body, and it has for the citys house the same importance as for the private house. Just as there were a fire and a hearth in every private house, so there were a fire and a hearth in the central part of every Latin town, belonging to the people itself. In the primitive community it was important that there should be a central fire belonging equally to all the citizens, where fire could be obtained for their houses, if their own fire had gone out. It must never be allowed to go out. Six noble ladies in Rome, vowed to single life, were appointed to guard this fire. Their connexion with the town religion, as well as their high birth, made them a power in Rome, and they were universally respected. The importance of this cult is reflected in the ruins surviving in the Forum. The Temple of Vesta was round, a less common shape than the square or rectangular, and the foundations alone survive. It stood upon a circular substructure 46 ft. in diameter and was ornamented by pilasters. The entrance faced exactly east. The altar was not quite in the middle. The other two buildings ought strictly to be regarded as one, the central Atrium Vestae, which was very large, being flanked on both sides by the living-rooms of the Vestals house. This house was roomy and splendid, but shut in like a cloister. The central part of the Atrium seems to have been laid out as a garden. There is much of interest about this place that must be passed over.

Right at the other side is the Temple of the god Antoninus and the goddess Faustina. On the death of the Empress Faustina in a.d. 141, the Senate, at the instance of her husband, who had been passionately devoted to her, elevated her among the gods, and vowed her a temple, the construction of which was begun almost at once. The name of Antoninus himself was added to that of his wife at his own death. The vestibule of the temple has six unfluted columns of EubCEan marble, 55 ft. 9 ins. high and 4 ft. 9 ins. in diameter. The shafts of the columns have numerous inscriptions on them. A church was built into this temple before the 12th century.

At the southern end of the Forum, on higher ground at the top of the Sacra Via, stands the Arch of Titus. This noble structure was decreed by the Senate and people to the Emperor Titus after the triumphant end of the war with Judaea and the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70, but was not completed till after the end of his reign (a.d. 81). Piers at the sides, having been seriously injured in the course of repeated misuse of the building in the Middle Ages, were skilfully renewed in 1821. The chief features of the arch are the numerous reliefs with which it is adorned. One shows the Emperor in a chariot crowned by the goddess of Victory. Here also are the lictors carrying the bundles of rods. The most notable relief represents a section of the triumphal procession, where the treasures of the Temple at Jerusalem are being carried on litters; on the first the table of the shewbread and the trumpets of the year of Jubilee, on the second the seven-branched candlestick.

Such is a cursory review of the most notable surviving ruins in the Forum, belonging to the period of the Republic and the early Empire. The area is about 430 by 110 yards. If the grandeur of the ruins impresses one, the impression of decay, perhaps even shabbiness, is also vivid. But the setting in which the remains appear adds glory to them. Vegetation is not seriously interfered with, and in early April one may see growing wild there clover, vetch, cranesbill, geranium, violet, pink, cyclamen, periwinkle, borage, blue anemone, wallflower, birdsfoot trefoil, etc. On some of the ruined walls you will find, five weeks before English time, the wistaria, surely the most exquisitely delicate of all creepers. In the warm period of the day the lizards scurry hither and thither. Above, on the Palatine, wild mignonette abounds.

Beyond the Forum to the south is the Flavian Amphitheatre (commonly called the Colosseum). It is one of the most wonderful ruined structures in the world. In this vast edifice, where many a victim bestial and human was butchered to make a Roman holiday, there was room for very many thousands of spectators. The building is a beautiful oval in shape. It is upwards of 180 ft. in height and one-third of a mile in circumference. The exterior is ornamented by three styles of columns-the Doric on the lowest range, the Ionic in the middle, and the Corinthian above. The inside sloping part, where stone seats rose in tiers, was built by the most skilful use of the arch. Beneath the arena there is a vast number of rooms, and certain of these may have been used to house the victims till they were required for exhibition. The nearest modern analogy to the Roman amphitheatre is the Spanish bull-ring (plaza de toros) built on the same model. In both, the system of entrances and exits to the various parts of the house is admirably efficient. In both the sunlight has to be reckoned with, and on occasion in Rome a silk awning was drawn over the top. Towards the end of the 1st cent. of the Empire, tickets (nomismata) were often showered upon the populace from above (Stat. Sliuae, i. 6; Martial, passim). Each ticket bore on it the indication of a prize which the lucky catcher obtained on presenting it at an office in the city.

Law-courts.-Leaving this quarter of the city, we can now return to the northern end of the Forum. As the volume of legal business increased with the settled state of the Empire, now free from the curse of civil war, additional law-courts became necessary, and Emperors vied with one another in building them. North of the northern end of the Forum proper was built the Julian Forum, north of that the Augustan, and west of that the huge square forum of Trajan with double apses, bounded on its west side by the Basilica Ulpia. Yet this does not exhaust the number of these buildings. Behind the place where the temple of Antoninus and Faustina afterwards stood, was Vespasians Forum with the Temple of Peace. To connect this with the Augustan Forum just mentioned, Nerva built one which was called after him, but also called Transitorium (the connecting Forum). Of all this wonderful group of glorious buildings very little remains.

On the north side of the Augustan Forum was the Temple of Mars Ultor. The three columns and architrave of this building, vowed by Augustus on the battle-field of Philippi and dedicated in 2 b.c., are all that remain to show how splendid a structure it was. The only portion of the Forum Transitorium that remains visible is a fragment of the eastern enclosing wall of the forum with two columns belonging to the colonnade half buried in the ground. The cornice and attic of the wall project above and behind these columns. On the attic is a figure of Minerva in relief. Trajan, in order to build his forum, had to cut away the S.W. spur which connects the Quirinal Hill with the Capitoline Mount. The earth was carted away and used to cover up an old cemetery.

Of all Trajans magnificent buildings nothing remains uncovered but the central portion-about half the area-of the Basilica Ulpia, with the Column of Trajan in a rectangular court at the further side of the Basilica. The column, which had a statue of Trajan on the top, is over 100 ft. high, and is said to be exactly the height of the spur of the hill which was cut away. It is notable as having a series of reliefs arranged spirally from the basis to the capital-namely, twenty-three blocks of Parian marble. The Senate and people of Rome erected the column in the year 113. The reliefs are of immense interest as depicting many scenes in the wars carried on by Trajan against the Dacians. This people lived in modern Transylvania and also south of the Carpathians in Wallachia and part of Roumania. In the time of the Flavian Emperors they became a serious menace to the Empire. By Trajans time their king had established a great military power. The second of Trajans wars with them resulted in the conquest of Dacia (105-106) and the reduction of it to the status of a Roman province. The reliefs are a contemporary historical document of value unsurpassed in the whole of Roman history. Apart from its historical value, the monument has been described as the most important example of an attempt to create a purely Roman art filled with the Roman spirit.

Of further ancient monuments one must simply select one or two for mention. Near the Tiber the vaulted channel of the Cloaca Maxima (Great Drain) can be observed. This construction first made habitable the marshy ground of the Forum and the land between the Capitoline and the Palatine. Near this is a circular building, once perhaps the Temple of Mater Matuta, now the Church of S. Maria del Sole. The superstructure is solid marble, and had a peristyle of twenty Corinthian columns, of which one is now lost. Some considerable distance N. of this, in what was once the Campus Martins, is the Pantheon, the most complete and the most impressive surviving monument of the earliest Imperial period. The original building, erected in 27 b.c., was burned in a.d. 80, restored by Domitian, struck by lightning and again burned in 110, and finally restored by Hadrian (120-124). It is his building we now see. It is a huge rotunda of the simplest proportions. The height of the cupola is the same as that of the drum upon which it rests, and the total height of the building is therefore the same as the diameter of the pavement. The dome is not solid concrete throughout. There are the beginnings of an articulated system of supports between which the weight is distributed. On either side of the vestibule are niches in which colossal statues of Agrippa (the builder) and Augustus once stood. The one opening in the roof admits sufficient light. The building, originally erected to all the divine protectors of the Julian house, has since a.d. 609 been used mostly as a church. What the Church, the great destroyer of Roman pagan buildings, did not ruin, it modified and used for its own purposes.

Literature.-The most minute works on the topography of ancient Rome are H. Jordan and C. Huelsen, Topographie der Stadt Romans , 2 vols., Berlin, 1871-1907; O. Richter, Topographic der Stadt Romans 2 (in Iwan von Mllers Handbuch), Munich, 1901. The best work on the Forum is C. Huelsen, The Roman Forum, Eng. translation , Rome, 1906, 21909 (cf. his I pi recenti scavi nel Foro Romano, Rome, 1910). Other works of value and interest are T. Ashby, in A Companion to Latin Studies, ed. Sandys, Cambridge, 1910, pp. 35-47, and W. Ramsay and R. A. Lanciani, A Manual of Roman Antiquities15, London, 1894 (especially as introductions); H. S. Jones, Classical Rome, do., 1910, and the fascinating works by R. A. Lanciani, Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries, do., 1889, Pagan and Christian Rome, do., 1892, and Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome, do., 1897. The most convenient and up-to-date maps are in H. Kiepert and C. Huelsen, Formae Urbis Romae Antiquae: accedit Nomenclator Topographicus, Berlin, 1896, 21912.

A. Souter.

Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church

Rome

City and diocese of the Pope, known also as the See of Peter, the Apostolic See, the Holy Roman Church, the Holy See, and the Eternal City. It was inhabited as early as the 8th century B.C., and, according to some authorities, several centuries earlier. Its first growth is obscure, there being, however, three clearly-defined original tribes, Ramnians (Latins), Titians (Sabines), and Luceres (Etruscans). The members of these ancient tribes were known as patricians, and their struggle down to the Imperial period with the newer inhabitants or plebeians resulted in the civil, political, and judicial organization of Rome. With the end of the reign of Tarquinius Superbus, the last of its hereditary kings, Rome took to itself the republican form of government, with two consuls, elected for one year, and a dictator elected in difficult times to wield unlimited power. The dictatorship and the oligarchy led naturally to the monarchy, of which Julius Caesar was the first acknowledged exponent. Under the emperors, although the Roman power materially extended, Roman history is no longer that of the city of Rome, notwithstanding the fact that it was not until Caracalla’s reign in 211 that Roman citizenship was accorded to all free subjects of the Empire.

According to ancient tradition, Saint Peter first came to Rome in 42, although Saint Barnabas is also given as its first evangelist, and at the arrival of Saint Paul (c.60) the Christians had become numerous. The systematic and continued persecutions began under Nero (c.64) but the Church continued to grow so that even after the fury of the Decian persecution, c.250, the city numbered about 50,000 Christians. Heresies, too, appeared here, even at this early period; Arianism alone, however, disturbed the religious peace of the era. With the Vandal invasion of 456, although the destruction of Rome did not then begin, there ensued a long period of incessant attacks upon the waning power of the Empire, principally by Goths and Lombards, the ancient Senate and the Roman nobility having finally become extinct with the Byzantine occupation of 552. After the coronation of Charlemagne in 800, though the pope was master at Rome, the power of the sword was wielded by the imperial missi. Thus the government was divided. Later, in the 10th century, the temporal power of the pope, threatened by the decline of the Carlovingian dynasty, became a cause of war in the friction between papacy and empire. With the absence of the popes from the city in the 14th century a tenure of anarchy set in which, during a comparatively brief period, disrupted the fragile pretense of civilization. After the Schism of the West, the real rebirth of Rome began with Martin V, the patronage of letters and of arts, however, soon degenerating into a license and luxury which was followed by the sack of 1527. With the ending of the pontificate of Pope Pius VI came the proclamation of the Republic of Rome, 1798, and the pope’s exile. Pope Pius VII was able to return, but after 1806 there was a French government at Rome, as well as the papal, and in 1809 the city was incorporated into the empire. After the coronation of Pope Pius IX the Constituent Assembly in February 1849 declared the papal power abolished, and hatred against the Church culminated in the massacre of defenseless priests and the wrecking of churches, until the restoration of the papal power by the French in August 1849. Garibaldi invaded the Papal States in 1867, although it was not until 1870 that Rome was taken from the popes and made the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. By a treaty between the Italian Government and the Vatican on 11 February 1929, the full and independent sovereignty of the Holy See in the City of the Vatican was recognized.

The non-religious buildings of Rome include the Palace of the Cancelleria and the Curia of Pope Innocent X, now occupied by the Italian Government. The principal ancient edifices include the Flavian Amphitheater or Coliseum, the Arch of Constantine, the Circus Maximus, Trajan’s Column, and the Mausoleum of Augustus. The most notable museums are the Vatican, Lateran, Capitoline, Borghese, and the National Galleries. The diocese comprises 66 parishes, 56 in the city and 10 in the suburbs, with 362 churches and chapels and 550 secular priests; also the four great basilicas: Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter’s, Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls, and Saint Mary Major. The patriarchal basilica of Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls, and the ten minor basilicas: San Croce in Gerusalemme; Saint Sebastian Outside the Walls; San Maria in Trastevere; San Lorenzo in Damaso; San Maria in Cosmedin; Santi Apostoli; San Pietro in Vincoli; San Maria Regina Caeli in Monte Santo; San Maria degli Angeli; Sacred Heart, at the Castro Pretorio. Other interesting churches are the Gesti, a 16th-century church; San Maria Sopra Minerva, the only authentic Gothic church in Rome; San Cecilia, a very ancient church, standing on the site of the saint’s home; San Salvatore della Scala Santa, containing the stairs of Pilate’s praetorium. The institutes of public charity are all consolidated in the Congregazione di Carita. For ecclesiastical instruction there are, besides the various Italian and foreign colleges, three great ecclesiastical universities: the Gregorian, under the Jesuits; the schools of the Roman Seminary; and the Collegio Angelico of the Dominicans. The University of Rome, established in 1303, is now under control of the Italian Government.

Suffragen dioceses include

Albano (Suburbicarian See)

Anagni-Alatri

Civita Castellana (, Orte, Gallese, Nepi e Sutri)

Civitaveccia-Tarquinia

Frascati (Suburbicarian See)

Frosinone-Veroli-Ferentino

Gaeta

Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno

Montecassino (Territorial Abbey)

Palestrina (Suburbicarian See)

Porto-Santa Rufina (Suburbicarian See)

Rieti (-S. Salvatore Maggiore)

Sabina-Poggio Mirteto (Suburbicarian See)

Santa Maria di Grottaferrata (Territorial Abbey)

Sora-Aquino-Pontecorvo

Subiaco (Territorial Abbey)

Tivoli

Velletri-Segni (Suburbicarian See)

Viterbo

See also

Catholic-Hierarchy.Org

Vatican

patron saints index

New Catholic Dictionary

Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary

Rome

The significance of Rome lies primarily in the fact that it is the city of the pope. The Bishop of Rome, as the successor of St. Peter, is the Vicar of Christ on earth and the visible head of the Catholic Church. Rome is consequently the centre of unity in belief, the source of ecclesiastical jurisdiction and the seat of the supreme authority which can bind by its enactments the faithful throughout the world. The Diocese of Rome is known as the “See of Peter”, the “Apostolic See”, the “Holy Roman Church” the “Holy See” — titles which indicate its unique position in Christendom and suggest the origin of its preeminence. Rome, more than any other city, bears witness both to the past splendour of the pagan world and to the triumph of Christianity. It is here that the history of the Church can be traced from the earliest days, from the humble beginnings in the Catacombs to the majestic ritual of St. Peter’s. At every turn one comes upon places hallowed by the deaths of the martyrs, the lives of innumerable saints, the memories of wise and holy pontiffs. From Rome the bearers of the Gospel message went out to the peoples of Europe and eventually to the uttermost ends of the earth. To Rome, again, in every age countless pilgrims have thronged from all the nations, and especially from English-speaking countries. With religion the missionaries carried the best elements of ancient culture and civilization which Rome had preserved amid all the vicissitudes of barbaric invasion. To these treasures of antiquity have been added the productions of a nobler art inspired by higher ideals, that have filled Rome with masterpieces in architecture, painting, and sculpture. These appeal indeed to every mind endowed with artistic perception; but their full meaning only the Catholic believer can appreciate, because he alone, in his deepest thought and feeling, is at one with the spirit that pulsates here in the heart of the Christian world.

Many details concerning Rome have been set forth in other articles of THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA. For the prerogatives of the papacy the reader is referred to POPE; for the ecclesiastical government of the city and diocese, to CARDINAL VICAR; for liturgical matters, to ROMAN RITE; for education, to ROMAN COLLEGES; for literary development, to ROMAN ACADEMIES; for history, to the biographical articles on the various popes, and the articles CONSTANTINE THE GREAT, CHARLEMAGNE, etc. There is a special article on each of the religious orders, saints, and artists mentioned in this article, while the details of the papal administration, both spiritual and temporal, will be found treated under APOSTOLIC CAMERA; PONTIFICAL AUDIENCES; APOSTOLIC EXAMINERS; HOLY SEE; PAPAL RESCRIPTS; ROMAN CONGREGATIONS; ROMAN CURIA; SACRA ROMANA ROTA; STATES OF THE CHURCH, etc. Of the great Christian monuments of the Eternal City, special articles are devoted to BASILICA OF ST. PETER; TOMB OF ST. PETER; LATERAN BASILICA; VATICAN; CHAIR OF PETER.

The present article will be divided: Topography and Existing Conditions; General History of the City; Churches and other Monuments.

I. TOPOGRAPHY AND EXISTING CONDITIONS

The City of Rome rises on the banks of the Tiber at a distance of from 16 to 19 miles from the mouth of that river, which makes a deep furrow in the plain which extends between the Alban hills, to the south; the hills of Palestrina and Tivoli, and the Sabine hills, to the east: and the Umbrian hills and Monte Tolfa, to the north. The city stands in latitude 41°54′ N. and longitude 12°30′ E. of Greenwich. It occupies, on the left bank, not only the plain, but also the adjacent heights, namely, portions of the Parioli hills, of the Pincian, the Quirinal, the Viminal, the Esquiline (which are only the extremities of a mountain-mass of tufa extending to the Alban hills), the Capitoline, the Cælian, the Palatine, and the Aventine — hills which are now isolated. On the right bank is the valley lying beneath Monte Mario the Vatican, and the Janiculan, the last-named of which has now become covered with houses and gardens. The Tiber, traversing the city, forms two sharp bends and an island (S. Bartolomeo), and within the city its banks are protected by the strong and lofty walls which were begun in 1875. The river is crossed by fourteen bridges, one of them being only provisional, while ten have been built since 1870. There is also a railroad drawbridge near St. Paul’s. Navigation on the river is practicable only for vessels of light draught, which anchor at Ripa Grande, taking cargoes of oil and other commodities.

For the cure of souls, the city is divided into 54 parishes (including 7 in the suburbs), administered partly by secular clergy, partly by regular. The boundaries of the parishes have been radically changed by Pius X, to meet new needs arising out of topographical changes. Each parish has, besides its parish priest, one or two assistant priests, a chief sacristan, and an indeterminate number of chaplains. The parish priests every year elect a chamberlain of the clergy, whose position is purely honorary; every month they assemble for a conference to discuss cases in moral theology and also the practical exigencies of the ministry. In each parish there is a parochial committee for Catholic works; each has its various confraternities, many of which have their own church and oratory. In the vast extent of country outside of Rome, along the main highways, there are chapels for the accommodation of the few settled inhabitants, and the labourers and shepherds who from October to July are engaged in the work of the open country. In former times most of these chapels had priests of their own, who also kept schools; nowadays, through the exertions of the Society for the Religious Aid of the Agro Romano (i. e. the country districts around Rome), priests are taken thither from Rome every Sunday to say Mass, catechize, and preach on the Gospel. The houses of male religious number about 160; of female religious, 205, for the most part devoted to teaching, ministering to the sick in public and private hospitals, managing various houses of retreat etc. Besides the three patriarchal chapters (see below, under “Churches”), there are at Rome eleven collegiate chapters.

In the patriarchal basilicas there are confessors for all the principal languages. Some nations have their national churches (Germans, Anima and Campo Santo; French, S. Luigi and S. Claudio; Croats, S. Girolamo dei Schiavoni; Belgians, S. Giuliano; Portuguese, S. Antonio; Spaniards, S. Maria in Monserrato; to all which may be added the churches of the Oriental rites). Moreover, in the churches and chapels of many religious houses, particularly the generalates, as well as in the various national colleges, it is possible for foreigners to fulfil their religious obligations. For English-speaking persons the convents of the Irish Dominicans (S. Clemente) and of the Irish Franciscans (S. Isidoro), the English, Irish, and American Colleges, the new Church of S. Patrizio in the Via Ludovisi, that of S. Giorgio of the English Sisters in the Via S. Sebastianello, and particularly S. Silvestro in Capite (Pallottini) should be mentioned. In these churches, too, there are, regularly, sermons in English on feast-day afternoons, during Lent and Advent, and on other occasions. Sometimes there are sermons in English in other churches also, notice being given beforehand by bills posted outside the churches and by advertisements in the papers. First Communions are mostly made in the parish churches; many parents place their daughters in seclusion during the period of immediate preparation, in some educational institution. There are also two institutions for the preparation of boys for their First Communion, one of them without charge (Ponte Rotto). Christian doctrine is taught both in the day and night schools which are dependent either on the Holy See, or on religious congregations or Catholic associations. For those who attend the public elementary schools, parochial catechism is provided on Sunday and feast-day afternoons. For intermediate and university students suitable schools of religious instruction have been formed, connected with the language schools and the scholastic ripetizioni, so as to attract the young men. The confraternities, altogether 92 in number, are either professional (for members of certain professions or trades), or national, or for some charitable object (e. g., for charity to prisoners; S. Lucia del Gonfalone and others like it, for giving dowries to poor young women of good character; the Confraternità della Morte, for burying those who die in the country districts, and various confraternities for escorting funerals, of which the principal one is that of the Sacconi; that of S. Giovanni Decollato, to assist persons condemned to death), or again they have some purely devotional aim, like the Confraternities of the Blessed Sacrament, of the Christian Doctrine, of the various mysteries of religion, and of certain saints.

For ecclesiastical instruction there are in the city, besides the various Italian and foreign colleges, three great ecclesiastical universities: the Gregorian, under the Jesuits; the Schools of the Roman Seminary, at S. Apollinare; the Collegio Angelico of the Dominicans, formerly known as the Minerva. Several religious orders also have schools of their own — the Benedictines at S. Anselmo, the Franciscans at S. Antonio, the Redemptorists at S. Alfonso, the Calced Carmelites at the College of S. Alberto, the. Capuchina the Minor Conventuals, the Augustinians, and others. (See ROMAN COLLEGES.) For classical studies there are, besides the schools of S. Apollinare, the Collegio Massimo, under the Jesuits, comprising also elementary and technical schools; the Collegio Nazareno (Piarists), the gymnasium and intermediate school of which take rank with those of the Government; the Instituto Angelo Mai (Barnabite). The Brothers of the Christian Schools have a flourishing technical institute (de Merode) with a boarding-house (convitto). There are eight colleges for youths under the direction of ecclesiastics or religious. The Holy See and the Society for the Protection of Catholic Interests also maintain forty-six elementary schools for the people mostly under the care of religious congregations. For the education of girls there are twenty-six institutions directed by Sisters, some of which also receive day-pupils. The orphanages are nine in number, and some of them are connected with technical and industrial schools. The Salesians, too, have a similar institution, and there are two agricultural institutions. Hospices are provided for converts from the Christian sects and for Hebrew neophytes. Thirty other houses of refuge, for infants, orphans, old people, etc., are directed by religious men or women.

As the capital of Italy, Rome is the residence of the reigning house, the ministers, the tribunals, and the other civil and military officials of both the national Government and the provincial. For public instruction there are the university, two technical institutes, a commercial high school, five gymnasium-lyceums, eight technical schools, a female institute for the preparation of secondary teachers, a national boarding school, and other lay institutions, besides a military college. There are also several private schools for languages etc. — the Vaticana, the Nazionale (formed out of the libraries of the Roman College, of the Aracœli Convent and other monastic libraries partially ruined), the Corsiniana (now the School of the Accademia dei Lincei), the Casanatense (see CASANATTA), the Angelica (formerly belonging to the Augustinians), the Vallicellana (Oratorians, founded by Cardinal Baronius), the Militare Centrale, the Chigiana, and others. (For the academies see ACADEMIES, ROMAN.) Foreign nations maintain institutions for artistic, historical, or archæological study (America, Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, Prussia, Holland, Belgium, France). There are three astronomical and meteorological observatories: the Vatican, the Capitol (Campidoglio), and the Roman College (Jesuit), the last-named, situated on the Janiculan, has been suppressed. The museums and galleries worthy of mention are the Vatican (see VATICAN), those of Christian and of profane antiquities at the Lateran (famous for the “Dancing Satyr”; the “Sophocles”, one of the finest of portrait statues in existence found at Terracina; the “Neptune”, the pagan and Christian sarcophagi with decorations in relief, and the statue of Hippolytus). In the gallery at the Lateran there are paintings by Crivelli, Gozzoli, Lippi, Spagna, Francia, Palmezzano, Sassoferrato, and Seitz. The Capitoline Museum contains Roman prehistoric tombs and household furniture, reliefs from the Arch of Marcus Aurelius, a head of Amalasunta, a half-length figure of the Emperor Commodus, the epitaph of the infant prodigy Quintus Sulpicius Maximus, the Esquiline and the Capitoline Venuses, “Diana of the Ephesians”, the Capitoline Wolf (Etruscan work of the fifth century B. C.), Marforius, the Dying Gladiator, busts of the emperors and other famous men of antiquity, and Vespasian’s “Lex regia”; the Gallery contains works by Spagna, Tintoretto, Caracci, Caravaggio, Guercino (St. Petronilla, the original of the mosaic in St. Peter’s), Guido Reni, Titian, Van Dyke, Domenichino, Paolo Veronese, and other masters. There are important numismatic collections and collections of gold jewelry. The Villa Giulia has a collection of Etruscan terracotta; the Museo Romano, objects recently excavated; the Museo Kircheriano has been enlarged into an ethnographical museum. The Borghese Gallery is in the villa of the same name. The National Gallery, in the Exposition Building (Palazzo dell’ Esposizione), is formed out of the Corsini, Sciarra, and Torlonia collections, together with modern acquisitions. There are also various private collections in different parts of the city.

The institutions of public charity are all consolidated in the Congregazione di Carità, under the Communal Administration. There are twenty-seven public hospitals, the most important of which are: the Polyclinic, which is destined to absorb all the others; S. Spirito, to which is annexed the lunatic asylum and the foundling hospital; S. Salvatore, a hospital for women, in the Lateran; S. Giacomo; S. Antonio; the Consolazione; two military hospitals. There are also an institute for the blind, two clinics for diseases of the eye, twenty-five asylums for abandoned children, three lying-in hospitals, and numerous private clinics for paying patients. The great public promenades are the Pincian, adjoining the Villa Borghese and now known as the Umberto Primo, where a zoological garden has recently been installed, and the Janiculum. Several private parks or gardens, as the Villa Pamphili, are also accessible to the public every day.

The population of Rome in 1901 was 462,783. Of these 5000 were Protestants, 7000 Jews, 8200 of other religions and no religion. In the census now (1910) being made an increase of more than 100,000 is expected. Rome is now the most salubrious of all the large cities of Italy, its mortality for 1907 being 18.8 per thousand, against 19.9 at Milan and 19.6 at Turin. The Press is represented by five agencies: there are 17 daily papers, two of them Catholic (“Osservatore Romano” and “Corriere d’Italia”); 8 periodicals are issued once or oftener in the week (5 catholic, 4 in English — “Rome”, “Roman Herald”, “Roman Messenger”, “Roman World”); 88 are issued more than once a month (7 Catholic); there are 101 monthlies (19 Catholic); 55 periodicals appear less frequently than once a month.

II. GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CITY

Arms and implements of the Palæolithic Age, found in the near vicinity of Rome, testify to the presence of man here in those remote times. The most recent excavations have established that as early as the eighth century B. C. or, according to some, several centuries earlier, there was a group of human habitations on the Palatine Hill, a tufaceous ledge rising in the midst of marshy ground near the Tiber. (That river, it may be observed here, was known to the primitive peoples by the name of Rumo, “the River”.) Thus is the traditional account of the origin of Rome substantially verified. At the same time, or very little later, a colony of Sabines was formed on the Quirinal, and on the Esquiline an Etruscan colony. Between the Palatine and the Quirinal rose the Capitoline, once covered by two sacred groves, afterwards occupied by the temple of Jupiter and the Rock. Within a small space, therefore, were established the advance guards of three distinct peoples of different characters; the Latins, shepherds; the Sabines, tillers of the soil; the Etruscans, already far advanced in civilization, and therefore in commerce and the industries. How these three villages became a city, with, first, the Latin influence preponderating, then the Sabine, then the Etruscan (the two Tarquins), is all enveloped in the obscurity of the history of the seven kings (753-509 B. C.). The same uncertainty prevails as to the conquests made at the expense of the surrounding peoples. it is unquestionable that all those conquests had to be made afresh after the expulsion of the kings.

But the social organization of the new city during this period stands out clearly: There were three original tribes: the Ramnians (Latins), the Titians (Sabines), and the Luceres (Etruscans). Each tribe was divided into ten curiœ, each curia into ten gentes; each gens into ten (or thirty) families. Those who belonged to these, the most ancient, tribes were Patricians, and the chiefs of the three hundred gentes formed the Senate. In the course of time and the wars with surrounding peoples, new inhabitants occupied the remaining hills; thus, under Tullus Hostilius, the Cælian was assigned to the population of the razed Alba Longa (Albano); the Sabines, conquered by Ancus Martius, had the Aventine. Later on, the Viminal was occupied. The new inhabitants formed the Plebeians (Plebs), and their civil rights were less than those of the older citizens. The internal history of Rome down to the Imperial Period is nothing but a struggle of plebeians against patricians for the acquisition of greater civil rights, and these struggles resulted in the civil, political, and juridical organization of Rome. The king was high-priest, judge, leader in war and head of the Government; the Senate and the Comitia of the People were convoked by him at his pleasure, and debated the measures proposed by him. Moreover, the kingly dignity was hereditary. Among the important public works in this earliest period were the drains, or sewers (cloacœ), for draining the marshes around the Palatine, the work of the Etruscan Tarquinius Priscus; the city wall was built by Servius Tullius, who also organized the Plebeians, dividing them into thirty tribes; the Sublician Bridge was constructed to unite the Rome of that time with the Janiculan.

During the splendid reign of Tarquinius Superbus, Rome was the mistress of Latium as far as Circeii and Signia. But, returning victorious from Ardea, the king found the gates of the city closed against him. Rome took to itself a republican form of government, with two consuls, who held office for only one year; only in times of difficulty was a dictator elected, to wield unlimited power. In the expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus some historians have seen a revolt of the Latin element against Etruscan domination. Besides wars and treaties with the Latins and other peoples, the principal events, down to the burning of Rome by the Gauls, were the institution of the tribunes of the people (tribuni plebis), the establishment of the laws of the Twelve Tables, and the destruction of Veii. In 390 the Romans were defeated by the Gauls near the River Allia; a few days later the city was taken and set on fire, and after the Gauls had departed it was rebuilt without plan or rule. Cumillus, the dictator, reorganized the army and, after long resistance to the change, at last consented that one of the consuls should be a plebeian. Southern Etruria became subject to Rome, with the capture of Nepi and Sutri in 386. The Appian Way and Aqueduct were constructed at this period. Very soon it was possible to think of conquering the whole peninsula. The principal stages of this conquest are formed by the three wars against the Samnites (victory of Suesaula 343); the victory of Bovianum, 304; those over the Etruscans and Umbrians, in 310 and 308; lastly the victory of Sentinum, in 295, over the combined Samnites, Etruscans, and Gauls. The Tarentine (282-272) and the First and Second Punic Wars (264-201) determined the conquest of the rest of Italy, with the adjacent islands, as well as the first invasion of Spain.

Soon after this, the Kingdom of Macedonia (Cynoscephalæ, 197; Pydna, 168) and Greece (capture of Corinth, 146) were subdued, while the war against Antiochus of Syria (192-89) and against the Galatians (189) brought Roman supremacy into Asia, In 146 Carthage was destroyed, and Africa reduced to subjection; between 149 and 133 the conquest of Spain was completed. Everywhere Roman colonies sprang up. With conquest, the luxurious vices of the conquered peoples also came to Rome, and thus the contrast between patricians and plebeians was accentuated. To champion the cause of the plebeians there arose the brothers Tiberius and Calus Gracchus. The Servile Wars (132-171) and the Jugurthine War (111-105) revealed the utter corruption of Roman society. Marius and Sulla, both of whom had won glory in foreign wars, rallied to them the two opposing parties, Democratic and Aristocratic, respectively. Sulla firmly established his dictatorship with the victory of the Colline Gate (83), reorganized the administration, and enacted some good laws to arrest the moral decay of the city. But the times were ripe for the oligarchy, which was to lead in the natural course of events to the monarchy. In the year 60, Cæsar, Pompey, and Crassus formed the first Triumvirate. While Cæsar conquered Gaul (58-50), and Crassus waged an unsuccessful war against the Parthians (54-53), Pompey succeeded in gaining supreme control of the capital. The war between Pompey to whom the nobles adhered, and Cæsar, who had the democracy with him, was inevitable. The battle of Pharsalia (48) decided the issue; in 45 Cæsar was already thinking of establishing monarchical government; his assassination (44) could do no more than delay the movement towards monarchy. Another triumvirate was soon formed by Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian; Antony and Octavian disagreed, and at Actium (32) the issue was decided in Octavian’s favour. Roman power had meanwhile been consolidated and extended in Spain, in Gaul, and even as far as Pannonia, in Pontus, in Palestine, and in Egypt. Henceforward Roman history is no longer the history of the City of Rome, although it was only under Caracalla (A. D. 211) that Roman citizenship was accorded to all free subjects of the empire.

In the midst of these political vicissitudes the city was growing and being beautified with temples and other buildings, public and private. On the Campus Martius and beyond the Tiber, at the foot of the Janiculan, new and populous quarters sprang up with theatres (those of Pompey and of Marcellus) and circuses (the Maximus and the Flaminius, 221 B. C.). The centre of political life was the Forum, which had been the market before the centre of buying and selling was transferred, in 388, to the Campus Martius (Forum Holitorium), leaving the old Forum Romanum to the business of the State. Here were the temples of Concord (366), Saturn (497), the Dî Consentes, Castor and Pollux (484), the Basilica Æmilia (179), the Basilica Julia (45), the Curia Hostilia (S. Adriano), the Rostra, etc. Scarcely had the empire been consolidated when Augustus turned his attention to the embellishment of Rome, and succeeding emperors followed his example: brick-built Rome became marble Rome. After the sixth decade B.C. many Hebrews had settled at Rome, in the Trastevere quarter and that of the Porta Capena, and soon they became a financial power. They were incessantly making proselytes, especially among the women of the upper classes. The names of thirteen synagogues are known as existing (though not all at the same time) at Rome during the Imperial Period. Thus was the way prepared for the Gospel, whereby Rome, already mistress of the world, was to be given a new sublimer and more lasting, title to that dominion — the dominion over the souls of all mankind.

Even on the Day of Pentecost, “Roman strangers” (advenœ Romani, Acts 2:10) were present at Jerusalem, and they surely must have carried the good news to their fellow-citizens at Rome. Ancient tradition assigns to the year 42 the first coming of St. Peter to Rome, though, according to the pseudo-Clementine Epistles, St. Barnabas was the first to preach the Gospel in the Eternal City. Under Claudius (c. A.D. 50), the name of Christ had become such an occasion of discord among the Hebrews of Rome that the emperor drove them all out of the city, though they were not long in returning. About ten years later Paul also arrived, a prisoner, and exercised a vigorous apostolate during his sojourn. The Christians were numerous at that time, even at the imperial Court. The burning of the city — by order of Nero, who wished to effect a thorough renovation — was the pretext for the first official persecution of the Christian name. Moreover, it was very natural that persecution, which had been occasional, should in course of time have become general and systematic; hence it is unnecessary to transfer the date of the Apostles’ martyrdom from the year 67, assigned by tradition, to the year 64 (see PETER, SAINT; PAUL, SAINT). Domitian’s reign took its victims both from among the opponents of absolutism and from the Christians; among them some who were of very exalted rank — Titus Flavius Clemens, Acilius Glabrio (Cemetery of Priscilla), and Flavia Domitilla, a relative of the emperor. It must have been then, too, that St. John, according to a very ancient legend (Tertullian), was brought to Rome.

The reign of Trajan and Adrian was the culminating point of the arts at Rome. The Roman martyrdoms attributed to this period are, with the exception of St. Ignatius’s, somewhat doubtful. At the same time the heads of various Gnostic sects settled at Rome, notably Valentinus, Cerdon, and Marcion; but it does not appear that they had any great following. Under Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius, and Commodus, several Roman martyrs are known — Pope St. Telesphorus, Sts. Lucius, Ptolemæus, Justin and companions, and the Senator Apollonius. Under Commodus, thanks to Martia, his morganatic wife, the condition of the Christians improved. At the same time the schools of Rhodon, St. Justin, and others flourished. But three new heresies from the East brought serious trouble to the internal peace of the Church: that of Theodotus, the shoemaker of Byzantium; that of Noetus brought in by one Epigonus; and Montanism. In the struggle against these heresies, particularly the last-named, the priest Hippolytus, a disciple of St. Irenæus, bore a distinguished part but he, in his turn, incurred the censures of Popes Zephyrinus and Callistus and became the leader of a schismatical party. But the controversies between Hippolytus and Callistus were not confined to theological questions, but also bore upon discipline, the pope thinking proper to introduce certain restrictions. Another sect transplanted to Rome at this period was that of the Elcesaites.

The persecution of Septimius Severus does not appear to have been very acute at Rome, where, before this time, many persons of rank — even of the imperial household — had been Christians. The long period of tranquillity, hardly interrupted by Maximinus (235-38), fostered the growth of Roman church organization; so much so that, under Cornelius, after the first fury of the Decian persecution, the city numbered about 50,000 Christians. The last-named persecution produced many Roman martyrs — Pope St. Fabian among the first — and many apostates, and the problem of reconciling the latter resulted in the schism of Novatian. The persecution of Valerian, too, fell first upon the Church of Rome. Under Aurelian (271-76), the menace of an invasion of the Germans who had already advanced as far as Pesaro compelled the emperor to restore and extend the walls of Rome. The persecution of Diocletian also had its victims in the city, although there are no trustworthy records of them; it did not last long, however, in the West. Maxentius went so far as to restore to the Christians their cemeteries and other landed property, and, if we are to believe Eusebius, ended by showing them favour, as a means of winning popularity. At this period several pretentious buildings were erected — baths, a circus, a basilica, etc. In the fourth and fifth centuries the city began to be embellished with Christian buildings, and the moribund art of antiquity thus received a new accession of vitality.

Of the heresies of this period, Arianism alone disturbed the religious peace for a brief space; even Pelagianiam failed to take root. The conflict between triumphant Christianity and dying Paganism was more bitter. Symmachus, Prætextatus, and Nicomachus were the most zealous and most powerful defenders of the ancient religion. At Milan, St. Ambrose kept watch. By the end of the fourth century the deserted temples were becoming filled with cobwebs; pontiffs and vestals were demanding baptism. The statues of the gods served as public ornaments; precious objects were seldom plundered, and until the year 526 not one temple was converted to the uses of Christian worship. In, 402 the necessity once more arose of fortifying Rome. The capital of the world, which had never beheld a hostile army since the days of Hannibal, in 408 withstood the double siege of Alaric. But the Senate, mainly at the instigation of a pagan minority, treated with Alaric, deposed Honorius, and enthroned a new emperor Attalus. Two years later, Alaric returned, succeeded in taking the city, and sacked it. It is false, however, that the destruction of Rome began then. Under Alaric, as in the Gothic war of the sixth century, only so much was destroyed as military exigencies rendered inevitable. The intervention of St. Leo the Great saved the Eternal City from the fury of Attila, but could not prevent the Vandals, in 456, from sacking it without mercy for fifteen days: statues, gold, silver, bronze, brass — whether the property of the State, or of the Church, or of private persons — were taken and shipped to Carthage.

Rome still called itself the capital of the empire, but since the second century it had seen the emperors only at rare and fleeting moments; even the kings of Italy preferred Ravenna as a residence. Theodoric, nevertheless, made provision for the outward magnificence of the city, preserving its monuments so far as was possible. Pope St. Agapetus and the learned Cassiodorus entertained the idea of creating at Rome a school of advanced Scripture studies, on the model of that which flourished at Edessa, but the Gothic invasion made shipwreck of this design. In that Titanic war Rome stood five sieges. In 536 Belisarius took it without striking a blow. Next year Vitiges besieged it, cutting the aqueducts, plundering the outlying villas, and even penetrating into the catacombs; the city would have been taken had not the garrison of Hadrian’s tomb defended themselves with fragments of the statues of heroes and gods which they found in that monument. Soon after the departure of Pope Vigilius from Rome (November, 545), King Totila invested it and captured a fleet bearing supplies sent by Vigilius, who by that time had passed over to Sicily. In December, 546, the city was captured, through the treachery of the Isaurian soldiery, and once more sacked. Totila, obliged to set out for the south, forced the whole population of Rome to leave the city, so that it was left uninhabited; but they returned with Belisarius in 547. Two years later, another Isaurian treachery made Totila once more master of the city, which then for the last time saw the games of the circus. After the battle of Taginæ (552), Rome opened its gates to Narces and became Byzantine. The ancient Senate and the Roman nobility were extinct. There was a breathing-space of sixteen years, and then the Lombards drew near to Rome, pillaging and destroying the neighbouring regions. St. Gregory the Great has described the lamentable condition of the city; the same saint did his best to remedy matters. The seventh century was disastrously marked by a violent assault on the Lateran made by Mauricius, the chartularius of the Exarch of Ravenna (640), by the exile of Pope St. Martin (653), and by the visit of the Emperor Constans I (663). The imprisonment of St. Sergius, which had been ordered by Justinian II, was prevented by the native troops of the Exarchate.

In the eighth century the Lombards, with Liutprand, were seized with the old idea of occupying all Italy, and Rome in particular. The popes, from Gregory II on, saved the city and Italy from Lombard domination by the power of their threats, until they were finally rescued by the aid of Pepin, when Rome and the peninsula came under Frankish domination. Provision was made for the material well-being of the city by repairs on the walls and the aqueducts, and by the establishment of agricultural colonies (domus cultœ) for the cultivation of the wide domains surrounding the city. But in Rome itself there were various factions — favouring either the Franks or the Lombards, or, later on, Frankish or Nationalist — and these factions often caused tumults, as, in particular, on the death of Paul I (767) and at the beginning of Leo III’s pontificate (795). With the coronation of Charlemagne (799) Rome became finally detached from the Empire of the East. Though the pope was master of Rome, the power of the Sword was wielded by the imperial missi, and this arrangement came to be more clearly defined by the Constitution of Lothair (824). Thus the government was divided. In the ninth century the pope had to defend Rome and Central Italy against the Saracens. Gregoriopolis, the Leonine City, placed outside the walls for the defence of the Basilica of St. Peter, and sacked in 846, and Joannipolis, for the defence of St. Paul’s were built by Gregory IV, Leo IV, and John VIII. The latter two and John X also gained splendid victories over these barbarians.

The decline of the Carlovingian dynasty was not without its effect upon the papacy and upon Rome, which became a mere lordship of the great feudal families, especially those of Theodora and Marozia. When Hugh of Provence wished to marry Marozia, so as to become master of Rome, his son Alberic rebelled against him and was elected their chief by the Romans, with the title of Patrician (Patricius) and Consul. The temporal power of the pope might then have come to an end, had not John, Alberic’s son, reunited the two powers. But John’s life and his conduct of the government necessitated the intervention of the Emperor Otto I (963), who instituted the office of prœfectus urbis, to represent the imperial authority. (This office became hereditary in the Vico family.) Order did not reign for long: Crescentius, leader of the anti-papal party, deposed and murdered popes. It was only for a few brief intervals that Otto II (980) and Otto III (996-998-1002) were able to re-establish the imperial and pontifical authority. At the beginning of the eleventh century three popes of the family of the counts of Tusculum immediately succeeded each other, and the last of the three, Benedict IX, led a life so scandalous as made it necessary for Henry III to intervene (1046). The schism of Honorius II and the struggle between Gregory VII and Henry IV exasperated party passions at Rome, and conspicuous in the struggle was another Crescentius, a member of the Imperialist Party. Robert Guiscard, called to the rescue by Gregory VII, sacked the city and burned a great part of it, with immense destruction of monuments and documents. The struggle was revived under Henry V, and Rome was repeatedly besieged by the imperial troops.

Then followed the schism of Pier Leone (Anacletus II), which had hardly been ended, in 1143, when Girolamo di Pierleone, counselled by Arnold of Brescia, made Rome into a republic, modelled after the Lombard communes, under the rule of fifty-six senators. In vain did Lucius II attack the Capitol, attempting to drive out the usurpers. The commune was in opposition no less to the imperial than to the papal authority. At first the popes thought to lean on the emperors, and thus Adrian IV induced Barbarossa to burn Arnold alive (1155). Still, just as in the preceding century, every coronation of an emperor was accompanied by quarrels and fights between the Romans and the imperial soldiery. In 1188 a modus vivendi was established between the commune and Clement III, the people recognizing the pope’s sovereignty and conceding to him the right of coinage, the senators and military captains being obliged to swear fealty to him. But the friction did not cease. Innocent III (1203) was obliged to flee from Rome, but, on the other hand, the friendly disposition of the mercantile middle class facilitated his return and secured to him some influence in the affairs of the communes, in which he obtained the appointment of a chief of the Senate, known as “the senator” (1207). The Senate, therefore, was reduced to the status of the Communal Council of Rome; the senator was the syndic, or mayor, and remained so until 1870. In the conflicts between the popes, on the one hand, and, on the other Frederick II and his heirs, the Senate was mostly Imperialist, cherishing some sort of desire for the ancient independence; at times, however, it was divided against itself (as in 1262, for Richard, brother of the King of England, against Manfred, King of Naples).

In 1263 Charles of Anjou, returning from the conquest of Naples, caused himself to be elected senator for life;. but Urban IV obliged him to be content with a term of ten years. Nicholas III forbade that any foreign prince should be elected senator, and in 1278 he himself held the office. The election was always to be subject to the pope’s approval. However, these laws soon fell into desuetude. The absence of the popes from Rome had the most disastrous results for the city: anarchy prevailed; the powerful families of Colonna, Savelli, Orsini, Anguillara, and others lorded it with no one to gainsay them; the pope’s vicars were either stupid or weak; the monuments crumbled of themselves or were destroyed; sheep and cows were penned in the Lateran Basilica; no new buildings arose, except the innumerable towers, or keeps, of which Brancaleone degli Andalò, the senator (1252-56) caused more than a hundred to be pulled down; the revival of art, so promising in the thirteenth century was abruptly cut off. The mad enterprise of Cola di Rieuzo only added to the general confusion. The population was reduced to about 17,000. The Schism of the West, with the wars of King Ladislaus (1408 and 1460, siege and sack of Rome), kept the city from benefiting by the popes’ return as quickly as it should. Noteworthy, however, is the understanding between Boniface IX and the Senate as to their respective rights (1393). This pope and Innocent VII also made provision for the restoration of the city.

With Martin V the renascence of Rome began. Eugene IV again was driven out by the Romans, and Nicholas V had to punish the conspiracy of Stefano Porcari; but the patronage of letters by the popes and the new spirit of humanism obliterated the memory of these longings for independence. Rome became the city of the arts and of letters, of luxury and of dissoluteness. The population, too, changed in character and dialect, which had before more nearly approached the Neapolitan, but now showed the influence of immigration from Tuscany, Umbria, and the Marches. The sack of 1527 was a judgment, and a salutary warning to begin that reformation of manners to which the Brothers of the Oratory of Divine Love (the nucleus of the Theatine Order) and, later, the Jesuits and St. Philip Neri devoted themselves. In the war between Paul IV and Philip II (1556), the Colonna for the last time displayed their insubordination to the Pontifical Government. Until 1799 Rome was at peace under the popes, who vied with the cardinals in embellishing the city with churches, fountains, obelisks, palaces, statues, and paintings. Unfortunately, this work of restoration was accompanied by the destruction of ancient and, still more, medieval monuments. An attempt was also made to improve the ground plan of Rome by straightening and widening the streets (Sixths IV, Sixtus V — the Corso, the Ripetta, the Babuino, Giulia, Paola, Sistina, and other streets). The artists who have successively left their imprint on the City are Bramante, Michelangelo, Vignola, Giacomo della Porta, Fontana, Maderna, Bernini, Borromini, and, in the eighteenth century, Fuga. The most important popular risings of this period were those against Urban VIII, on account of the mischief done by the Barberini and against Cardinal Cascia, after the death of Benedict XIII.

The pontificate of Pius VI, illustrious for its works of public utility, ended with the proclamation of the Republic of Rome (10 February, 1798) and the pope’s exile. Pius VII was able to return, but after 1806 there was a French Government at Rome side by side with the papal, and in 1809 the city was incorporated in the empire. General Miollis, indeed, deserved well of Rome for the public works he caused to be executed (the Pincian), and the archæological excavations, which were vigorously and systematically continued in the succeeding pontificates, especially that of Pius IX. Of the works of art carried away to Paris only a part were restored after the Congress of Vienna.

But the Revolutionary germ still remained planted at Rome, even though it gave no signs of activity either in 1820 or in 1830 and 1831. A few political murders were the only indication of the fire that smouldered beneath the ashes. The election of Pius IX, hailed as the Liberal pontiff, electrified all Rome. The pope saw his power slipping away; the assassination of Pellegrino Rossi and the riots before the Quirinal (25 November, 1848) counselled his flight to Gaeta. The Triumvirate was formed and, on 6 February, 1849, convoked the Constituent Assembly, which declared the papal power abolished. The mob abandoned itself to the massacre of defenceless priests, and the wrecking of churches and palaces. Oudinot’s French troops restored the papal power (6 August, 1849), the pope retaining a few French regiments. Secret plotting went on, though at Rome none dared attempt anything (the Fausti trial). Only in 1867, when Garibaldi, the victor at Monterotondo, defeated at Mentana, invaded the Papal States, was the revolt prepared that was to have burst while Enrico Cairoi was trying to enter the city; but the coup de main failed; the stores of arms and ammunition were discovered; the only serious occurrence was the explosion of a mine, which destroyed the Serristori Barracks in the Borgo. Not until 20 September, 1870, was Rome taken from the popes and made the actual capital of the Kingdom of Italy.

III. CHURCHES AND OTHER MONUMENTS

The “Annuario Ecclesiastico” enumerates 358 public churches and oratories in Rome and its suburbs. Besides, there are the chapels of the seminaries, colleges, monasteries, and other institutions. Since 1870 many churches have been destroyed, but many new ones have arisen in the new quarters.

The principal patriarchal basilicas are St. Peter’s (the Vatican Basilica), St. John Lateran (the Basilica of Constantine), and St. Mary Major (the Liberian Basilica).

The Liberian Basilica dates from the fourth century, when it was called the Basilica Sicinini; in the fifth century, under Sixtus III, it was adorned with interesting mosaics of Biblical subjects; Eugene III added the portico, when the mosaics of the apse and the façade were restored and, to some extent, altered. On the two sides are two chapels with cupolas: that of Sixtus V, containing the altar of the Blessed Sacrament and the tombs of Sixtus V and St. Pius V; the other, that of Paul V, with the Madonna of St. Luke, which existed as early as the sixth century. Benedict XIV caused it to be restored by Fuga (1743), who designed the façade which now almost shuts out the view of the mosaics. Beneath the high altar, the baldacchino of which is supported by four porphyry columns, are the relics of St. Matthew and of the Holy Crib (hence the name, S. Maria ad prœsepe). Here are buried St. Jerome, Nicholas IV, Clement VIII, IX, and X, and Paul V. (See also SAINT PAUL-OUTSIDE-THE-WALLS.)

Among the lesser basilicas is S. Croce in Gerusalemme (Basilica Sessoriana), founded, it is said, by St. Helena in the place called the Sessorium, restored by Lucius II (1144) and by Benedict XIV (1743). Here, in the tribune, is the fresco of Pinturicchio representing the Finding of the Cross, and here are preserved the relics of the Cross of Jesus Christ, the Title, one of the Thorns, the finger of St. Thomas, etc. The church is served by Cistercians, whose convent, however, has been converted into barracks.

St. Lawrence-Outside-the-Walls, another minor basilica, which stands in the Cemetery of S. Ciriaco, where the saint was buried, was built under Constantine and, next to St. Peter’s, was the most frequented sanctuary in Rome at the end of the fourth century (see Prudentius’s description). Pelagius II (578), Honorius III, and Pius IX made thorough repairs in this basilica, the last-named adding frescoes by Fracassini, representing the martyrdom of St. Lawrence. The frescoes of the atrium date from the thirteenth century. The high altar stands beneath a raised ambo, behind which is the simple tomb of Pius IX. The mosaics of the triumphal arch date from the time of Pelagius II. Near this basilica is the Cemetery of Rome, constructed in 1837, and surpassed by few in Italy for the sumptuousness of its monuments. Both the church and the cemetery are served by Capuchina.

St. Sebastian-Outside-the-Walls, near the cemetery ad catacumbas (see CATACOMBS), built in the fourth or fifth century and altered in 1612, contains Giorgini’s statue of the saint. The churches so far named are the “Seven Churches” usually visited by pilgrims and residents to gain the large indulgences attached to them.

S. Agnese fuori le Mura, near the catacombs of the same name, was built, by Constantine, decorated by Pope Symmachus with mosaics, in which that pope’s portrait appears, and restored by Honorius II (portrait), by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (1479), and by Pius IX. It is served by Canons Regular of St. John Lateran. In one of the adjacent buildings Pius IX, in 1856, fell with the flooring of a room, but without suffering any injury.

Not far off is S. Costanza, the mausoleum of Constantine’s daughter, which was made into a church in 1256. S. Giorgio in Velabro, Cardinal Newman’s diaconal title, takes its name from the ancient Velabrum, where it stands, and dates from the fourth century; it has a fine tabernacle, but the church is much damaged by damp. S. Lorenzo in Damaso, built by Pope Damasus (370), was, in the time of Bramante, enclosed in the palace of the Cancelleria; it contains modern frescoes and the tombs of Annibale Caro and Pellegrino Rossi. S. Maria ad Martyres (the Pantheon) is a grandiose circular building with a portico. It was built in 25 B.C. by Marcus Agrippa and has often been restored; in 662 Constantine II caused the bronze which covered its dome to be taken away; it contains the tombs of Raphael, Cardinal Consalvi and Kings Victor Emmanuel II and Humbert I. S. Maria in Cosmedin, which stands on the foundations of a temple of Hercules and a granary, dates from the sixth century at latest; it was a diaconate and the seat of the Greek colony, and was restored by Adrian I, Nicholas I, and Cardinal Albani (1718), and at last was remodelled in its original form. It has a noteworthy ambo and tabernacle (c. 130), and its campanile, with seven intercolumnars, is the most graceful in Rome. This was the title of Reginald Cardinal Pole. S. Maria in Trastevere, the title of Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, dates from St. Callistus or, more probably, from St. Julius I, and was restored by Eugene III by Nicholas V, and by Pius IX, to the last-named of whom are due the mosaics of the façade, the antique columns, and the rich baroque ceiling. The mosaics of the tribune are of the twelfth century, the others are by Cavallini (1291). It contains the tombs of Stanislaus Hosius and other cardinals. The four basilicas enumerated above have collegiate chapters.

S. Agostino was built (1479-83) by Cardinal d’Estoutevile, with Giacomo di Pietrasanta for architect. On the high altar, by Bernini, is the Madonna of St. Luke, brought from Constantinople. Its chapel of St. Augustine contains a picture by Guercino; in its chapel of the Blessed Sacrament is the tomb of St. Monica; its altar of St. Peter has a relief by Cotignola, and below one of the pilasters is Raphael’s Isaiss. In the basement of this church is the Madonna del Parto, the work of Jacopo Tatto, one of the most highly venerated images in Rome. The adjoining convent, once the residence of the general of the Augustinians, is now the Ministry of Marine; but the Angelica Library, founded (1605) by Cardinal Angelo Rocca, an Augustinian, is still there. S. Alfonso, built in 1855 for the Redemptorists, who have their generalate there, has fine pictures by von Rhoden. Its high altar possesses a Byzantine image of unknown origin, called the Madonna del Perpetuo Soccorso. S. Ambrogio della Massima, in the paternal mansion of St. Ambrose, belongs to the Cassinese Benedictines. S. Andrea della Valle (Theatines), notable for the severe majesty of its lines, was built by Carlo Maderna in 1591; it contains the chapel of the Strozzi, the tombs of Pius II, of Nicolò della Guardía, and, opposite, of Pius III, and the frescoes of Domenichino, his most perfect work, as well as other very modern frescoes. In this church, on every feast of the Epiphany, solemn Mass is celebrated in every rite subject to Rome, and there are sermons in the various European languages — a festival instituted by Ven. Vincent Gallotta. S. Andrea de Quirinale belongs to the Jesuits, who have their novitiate here, in which the cell of St. Stanislaus Kostka is still to be seen. S. Andrea delle Fratte, belonging to the Minims, was, in the Middle Ages, the national church of the Scots; it received its present form (a cupola and a fanciful Campanile) from the architects Guerra and Borromini in the seventeenth century and has two angels by Bernini. Before the Lady altar of this church took place the conversion of Venerable Marie Alphonse Ratisbonne. S. Angelo in Pescheria, built in the eighth century and restored in 1584, is occupied by the Clerics Regular Minor, who were transferred to it from S. Lorenzo in Lucina. S. Anselmo, on the Aventine, is a Romanesque building (1900), annexed to the international college of the Benedictines, and is the residence of the abbot primate of their order. Santi Apostoli, adjoining the generalate of the Minor Conventuals, dates from the fifth century; it was restored by Martin V, with frescoes by Melozzo da Forli, remodelled in 1702 by Francesco Fontana, and contains the tombs of Cardinals Riario and Bessarion. The convent is occupied by the headquarters of a military division. S. Bartolomeo all’ Isola, Friars Minor, stands on the site of the ancient temple of Æsculapius and was built by Otto III, in 1001, in honour of St. Adalbert. The relics of St. Bartholomew were brought thither from Beneventum, those of St. Paulinus of Nola being given in exchange. The church has been several times restored. S. Bernardo alle Terme, Cistercians, is a round church built in 1598, its foundations being laid in the calidarium of the baths (Italian terme) of Diocletian. S. Bonaventura, on the Palatine, Friars Minor, contains the tomb of St. Leonard of Port Maurice. S. Camillo, a very modern church, is the residence of the Camilline Attendants of the Sick, and has a hospital connected with it. S. Carlo (Carlino) of the Spanish Trinitarians belongs to the Borromini. S. Carlo ai Catinari, Barnabites, formerly dedicated to St. Biagius, was put into its present shape by Rosati in 1612, with frescoes and framed pictures by Domenichino, Pietro da Cortona, Guido Reni, and Andrea Sacchi. Its convent is occupied by a section of the Ministry of War. S. Carlo al Corso, the church of the Lombards, was built by the Lunghi for the canonization of St. Charles Borromeo, on the site of a little church dedicated to S. Niccolo del Tufo. The decorations of the cupola are by Pietro da Cortona; there is a picture by Maratta and a statue of Judith by Le Brun. The Rosminians have officiated in this church for some years past. S. Claudio dei Borgognoni is served by the Congregation of the Most Holy Sacrament; it has Exposition all the year around.

S. Clemente, the church of the Irish Dominicans (1643), and titular church of William Cardinal O’Connell, Archbishop of Boston, existed as early as the fourth century, dedicated to St. Clement, pope and martyr. It is characterized by the two ambos which project about half way down the nave and an atrium which is also the courtyard of the convent which stands in front of the basilica. The ambos date from John VIII (872); the altar and tabernacle, from Paschal II. The church was destroyed in the conflagration kindled by Robert Guiscard (1084); its rebuilding was begun immediately, but the plan was adopted of raising somewhat the pavement of the old church, which was filled in with debris; the new church was also less spacious. At this period the mosaics of the apse were executed. In the chapel of st. Catherine are some frescoes attributed to Masaccio (1428); in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, the tombs of Cardinals Brusati and Roverella; in that of St. Cyril, who is buried in the basilica, modern frescoes. In 1858 the excavation of the old basilica was begun, through the efforts of the Dominican prior, Mulhooly. The frescoes, seventh to eleventh century, are important; in them may be distinguished the first indications of a new birth of Christian art, and particularly interesting are those relating to Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The original basilica was raised upon the remains of a still earlier building, in which, moreover, there was a spelœum, or grotto, of Mithras; it is probable that this building was St. Clement’s paternal home. Santissima Concenzione, Capuchins, near the Piazza Barberini, was built by the Capuchin Cardinal Barberini, twin brother of Urban VIII (1624). Bl. Crispin of Viterbo is buried here. The church is noted for a St. Michael by Guido Reni, a St. Francis by Domenichino, a St. Felix of Cantalico by Turchi, and other pictures by Sacchi and Pietro da Cortona. Beneath the church is the ossarium of the friars. Sts. Cosmas and Damian, Franciscan Tertiaries, is made up of two ancient buildings, the temples of Romulus, son of Maxentius, and of the Sacra Urbs, which were given to the Church by Theodoric and converted into a basilica by Felix IV (528), to whom are due the mosaics of the apse and the arch, retouched in the ninth and sixteenth centuries. Urban VIII caused its pavement to be raised ten feet. In the crypt are the tomb of Felix II and some objects belonging to the old church.

St. Crisogono, Trinitarians, dates at least as far back as the fifth century, and was restored by Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1623). It has a fine tabernacle and, in the apse, mosaics by Cavillini (1290). Excavations have recently been made under this church, which is associated with English history as having been the titular church of Cardinal Langton. S. Cuore al Castro Pretorio, Salesians, a fine church built in 1887 by Vespegniani, is due to the zeal of Don Bosco. Connected with it is a boarding-school of arts and industries. S. Francesca Romana (S. Maria Nova), Olivetans, was erected by Leo IV in place of S. Maria Antiqua, which was in danger of being injured by the ruins of the Palatine, on a portion of the ruined temple of Venus and Rome, where once stood a chapel commemorating the fall of Simon Magus. It was restored by Honorius III and under Paul V. In the apse are mosaics of 1161; in the confession, the tomb of St. Frances of Rome (1440). There is a group by Meli, also the tombs of Gregory XI (1574), Cardinal Vulcani, and Francesco Rido. S. Francesco a Ripa, the provincialate of the Friars Minor (1229), has pictures by the Cavaliere d’Arpino and by Sabiati (Annunciation), and the tomb of Lodovico Albertoni, one of Bernini’s best works. S. Francesco di Paola belongs to the Minims, the convent being now occupied by a technical institute.

The Gesù, connected with the professed house and general’s residence of the Jesuits, is the work of Vignola (1568-73), completed by Giacomo della Porta, through the munificence of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. It became the model of the style known as “Jesuit”. Its altar of St. Ignatius, who is buried there, has a silver statue of the saint which is ordinarily covered by a picture painted by the Jesuit Pozzo; the globe and four columns are of lapis lazuli Opposite is the altar of St. Francis Xavier, where an arm of that saint is preserved, and a picture by Maratta. The ceiling is painted by Gaulli with the Triumph of the Name of Jesus. The Madonna della Strada is venerated in one of the chapels. In this church are the tombs of Cardinal Bellarmine and Ven. Giuseppe Maria Pignatelli. Gesù e Maria, Calced Augustinians, with its magnificent high altar, is in the Corso. S. Gioacchino, Redemptorists, was erected for the sacerdotal jubilee of Leo XIII, its side chapels being subscribed for by the various nations. S. Giovanni Calibita, on the Island of S. Bartolomeo, belongs to the Fatebenefratelli, who have a hospital. SS. Giovanni e Paolo, on the Cælian, Passionists, was built by Pammachius in the house of these two saints, who were officials in the palace of Constantia, daughter of Constantine, and were slain by order of Julian. In 1154 the church was enlarged and adorned with frescoes, some of which are preserved in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. The chapel of St. Paul of the Cross is modern. Under the church are still to be seen thirteen interstices of the house of the saints with other saints. This was the titular church of Edward Cardinal Howard, afterwards Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati (died 1892). S. Gregorio al Celio, Camadolese, was built by Gregory II in the paternal home of St. Gregory the Great, and was modernized by Soria (1633) and Ferravi (1734). It contains an altar of the saint, with his stone bed and his marble chair, and there is an ancient image of the Madonna. In the monks’ garden there are also three chapels; those of St. Silvia, mother of St. Gregory, with her statue by Cordieri and frescoes by Guido Reni, of St. Andrew, decorated by Reni and Domenichino, and of St. Barbara, with a statue of St. Gregory by Cordieri. The title of this church was borne successively by Henry Edward Cardinal Manning and Herbert Cardinal Vaughan, Archbishops of Westminster.

S. Ignazio, Jesuits, was built in 1626 by Cardinal Ludovisi, under the direction of the Jesuit Grassi. The frescoes of the vault, representing the apotheosis of St. Ignatius, were painted by the Jesuit lay brother Pozzo, whose are also some of the pictures on the altars. Sts. Aloysius Gonzaga and John Berchmans, buried here, have splendid altars; in the adjoining Roman College (now the Ginnasio-Liceo and National Library) there are still other chapels with souvenirs of these two saints. On the highest point of the façade Father Secchi caused to be erected a pole with a ball which, by a mechanical contrivance, drops precisely at noon every day. S. Isidoro belongs to the Irish Franciscans. In the adjoining convent the famous Luke Wadding wrote his history of the Franciscan Order. S. Marcello, Servites, is believed to be built over the stable in which Pope St. Marcellus was compelled to serve. It was restored in 1519 by order of Giuliano de’ Medici (Clement VII), completed in 1708 by Carlo Fontana, and contains paintings by Pierin del Vaga and Federico Zuccaro. It was the titular church of Thomas Cardinal Weld (see WELD, FAMILY OF). S. Maria in Ara Cœli, on the Capitol, once the general’s residence of the Franciscans (beginning from 1250), is (1911) the titular church of Cardinal Falconio. It stands on the site of the ancient citadel of Rome and the temple of Juno Moneta, and is approached by a flight of 124 steps. The façade is still of brick, and the church contains antique columns and capitals; in the Buffalini chapel are frescoes (Life of St. Bernardino) by Pinturicchio, and on the high altar is a Madonna attributed to st. Luke, where was formerly the Madonna of Foligno. To the left a small building, known as the Cappella Santa di Sant’ Elena (Holy Chapel of St. Helena), marks the spot where, according to a legend winch can be traced to the ninth century, the Emperor Augustus saw the Blessed Virgin upon an altar of heaven (Lat. ara cœli). To this legend something was contributed by Virgil’s fourth eclogue, in which he speaks of the “nova progenies” descending from heaven, and which was interpreted in Christian antiquity as a prophecy of the coming of Christ (thus Constantine in the sermon “Ad sanctorum cœtum”). In the sacristy is venerated the “Santo Bambino”, a little figure of olive wood from the Mount of Olives (sixteenth century) for which the Romans have a great devotion. The sepulchral monuments of this church are numerous and important, including those of Cardinal Louis d’Albert, with figures of St. Michael and St. Francis; Michelangelo Marchese di Saluzzo, by Dosio; Pietro de’ Vincenti, by Sansovino; Honorius IV and others of the Savelli family in the Savelli chapel, which dates from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; Cardinal Matthew of Acquasparta; Catherine, Queen of Bosnia (1478). The Crib, built every year in the second chapel on the left, is famous; at Christmas and Epiphany children recite dialogues and little discourses near it.

S. Maria in Traspontina, in the Borgo, Calced Carmelites, was erected by Sixtus IV on the site of a chapel that had been built there, in 1099, to drive away the demons which haunted the ashes of Nero. The architect was Meo del Caprina; Bramante and Bernini modified the building. It is one of the most beautiful monuments of the Renaissance, its cupola being the first of its kind built in Rome. It contains paintings by Pinturicchio — the Adoration of the Shepherds, all the paintings of the Lady Chapel and the chapel of St. Augustine, the frescoes of the vault, etc. Raphael designed the mosaics of the Chigi chapel, and there are paintings by Caracci, Caravaggio and Sebastiano del Piombo (the Birth of the Blessed Virgin). The sepulchral monuments are costly including those of Giovanni della Rovere, Cardinal Costa, Cardinal Podocatharo, Cardinal Girolamo Basso, by Sansovino, and Cardinal Sforza, by the same sculptor, Agostino Chigi, in the Chigi chapel after suggestions, and decorated, by Raphael, and Cardinal Pallavicino. The painted windows, the most beautiful in Rome, are by Guillaume de Marcilot (1509). S. Maria del Priorato, Knights of Malta, on the Aventine, was built in 939, when Alberic II gave his palace to St. Odo of Cluny. The present form of the church, however, is due to Piranesi (1765). Some of the tombs of the grand masters of the Order of Malta — Caraffa, Caracciolo, and others — are interesting. The adjoining residence commands a splendid panorama. S. Maria del Rosario, on Monte Mario, belongs to the Dominicans. S. Maria della Scala, Discalced Carmelites, built by Francesco da Volterra, is so called from an image of the Madonna found under the stairs of a neighbouring house, and contains paintings by Saraceni and Gerhard Honthorst. In the adjoining convent, a great part of which is occupied by the Guardie di Pubblica Sicurezza, the friars have a pharmacy where they make the “Acqua della Scala”. S. Maria della Vittoria, Carmelites, was erected by Paul V in memory of the victory of the Imperialists over the Protestants at Prague (1623), and contains pictures by Domenichino, Guercino, and Serra (1884), also a famous group by Bernini, of St. Teresa transfixed by an angel, and Turkish standards captured at the siege of Vienna (1683). S. Maria in Aquiro, the ancient diaconate titulus Equitii, was restored in 1590. It was formerly an asylum for the destitute; Clement VIII gave it to the Somaschi Brothers, who still have an orphanage there under the supervision of the municipality. S. Maria in Campitelli was built in 1665 to receive the image of S. Maria in Portica (now S. Galla) in thanksgiving for Rome’s deliverance from the plague (1658). It contains a picture of St. Anne, by Luca Giordano, and the tomb of Cardinal Pacca. It is served by the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God.

S. Maria in Vallicella (the Chiesa Nuova, or “New Church”), Oratorians of St. Philip Neri, is associated with the spiritual renewal of the City by the labours of St. Philip, who founded it. The frescoes of the vaulting and of the cupola are by Pietro da Cortona, the three pictures of the high altar by Rubens, and others by Scipione Gaetano, Cavaliere d’Arpino Maratta, Guido Reni (St. Philip), Ronocelli, and Baroccio. The chapel of the saint is rich in votive offerings; in the adjoining house, until now almost entirely occupied by the Assize Court, is his cell, with relics and souvenirs of him. The library (Vallicelliana) now belongs to the State. S. Maria in Via, Servites is a fine church of the late Renaissance (1549). S. Maria Maddalena, Servants of the Sick (formerly their generalate), is now occupied by the elementary communal schools. Here the cell of St. Camillus of Lellis is preserved, with the crucifix which encouraged him to found his order. S. Maria Sopra Minerva, the only authentic Gothic church in Rome, belongs to the Dominicans, who had their general staff and their higher schools in the adjoining convent, now the Ministry of Instruction, as well as the Casanatense Library, now in the hands of the State. This was the titular church of the Cardinal of Norfolk (see HOWARD, THOMAS PHILIP), Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop of New York, and Cardinal Taschereau, Archbishop of Quebec (see MCCLOSKEY JOHN; TASCHEREAU, ELZÉAR ALEXANDRE); its title is now (1911) held by Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. The church stands on the ruins of a temple of Minerva, one of those built by Pompey. In the eighth century there was a Greek monastery here. In 1280 Fra Sisto and Fra Ristoro, Dominicans, began the new church by order of Nicholas III, and with the aid of the Caetani, Savelli, and Orsini. It was completed in 1453. The pillars of the nave are clustered columns; the side chapels are in Renaissance or baroque style. Beneath the high altar rests the body of St. Catherine of Siena. The chapel of the Annunziata has a confraternity, founded by Cardinal Torquemada, which every year distributes dowries to 400 poor young women, and there is a picture by Antoniazzo Romano dealing with the subject. The Caraffa family chapel of St. Thomas contains frescoes by Filippo Lippi (1487-93); that of St. Dominic, pictures by Maratta; of the Rosary, by Venusti. There are also paintings by Baronio and others. The statue of the Risen Christ is by Michelangelo. Here also are the tombs of Giovanni Alberini (1490), Urlan VII, by Buonvicino, the Aldobrandini family by Giacomo della Porta, Paul IV, by Sigorio and Casignola, Gulielmus Durandus, by Giovanni di Cosma (1296), Cardinal Domenico Capranica (1458), Clement VII and Leo X, by Baccio Bandienelli, Blessed Angelico, of Fiesole, with an epitaph by Nicholas V, and Cardinal Schönberg (1537).

S. Martino ai Monti, Carmelites, probably dates from the time of Constantine, when the priest Equitius built an oratory on his own land. Symmachus rebuilt it, dedicating it to St. Silvester and St. Martin of Tours, and then again to St. Martin, Pope. In 1559 it was given to the Carmelites, who in 1650 remodelled it. It is notable for its landscapes by Poussin. Under the more modern church is the old church of St. Silvester, with remains of mosaics, frescoes, etc. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (formerly S. Giacomo degli Spagnuoli), in the Piazza Navona, belongs to the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, who have an apostolic school there. S. Onofrio on the Janiculum, Hieronymites, was built in 1439 by the de Cupis family and Nicolò da Forca Palena. The frescoes of the portico are by Domenichino, three scenes from the life of St. Jerome; within are frescoes by Baldassarre Peruzzi, and the tombs of Cardinal Mezzofanti and the poet Tasso, who died in the convent, where his cell contains a small museum of objects that belonged to him. S. Pancrazio fuori le Mura was built by Pope Symmachus (c. 504) near the Cœmeterium Calepodii; in 1849 it was wrecked by the Garibaldians; the government caused it to be freshly decorated. Near S. Pancrazio degli Scolopii is the generalate of the Piarists (Scolopii). S. Paolo alle Tre Fontane belongs to the Trappists, who have put the surrounding land under cultivation. The abbey contains three churches. The oldest, SS. Vincenzo e Anastasio, founded by Honorius I, came into the hands of Greek monks; Innocent II restored and assigned it, with the abbey, to the Cistercians. There is a fine cloister adjacent to this church, the earliest example of its kind. S. Maria Scala Cœli, ninth century, was rebuilt in 1590 by Giacomo della Porta, and contains a mosaic by Francesco Zucca. S. Paolo alle Tre Fontana was built by the same Giacomo della Porta (1599) on the three springs which appeared, as the legend says, on the three places successively touched by the head of St. Paul, who was beheaded here. The springs, however, existed before St. Paul’s martyrdom as the Aquæ Salviæ, and in 1869 some ancient mosaic pavements were dug up here. S. Pietro in Montorio, Friars Minor, was in earlier days known as S. Maria in Castro Aureo, and had connected with it a monastery which passed into the hands of various orders until, in 1472, it was given to the Franciscans for the training of subjects for the foreign missions. Ferdinand the Catholic had the church and convent rebuilt, and they were dedicated to St. Peter, following a belief which had gained acceptance owing to a somewhat unfortunate conjecture hazarded by Maffeo Vegio, and which is even yet keenly debated. The rose-window of the façade is very fine and there are frescoes and other paintings by Sebastiano del Piombo (the Flagellation), Vasari, Daniele da Volterra, Baluren. (the Entombment), and others; Raphael’s Transfiguration is on the high altar, and there is a beautiful balustrade. Here, too, are the tombs of Cardinals Fabiano and Antonio del Monte (Ammannati), and of Giuliano, Archbishop of Ragusa (Dosio). In the courtyard of the convent, on the spot where St. Peter is supposed by some to have been crucified, stands Bramante’s tempietto the most graceful work of that genius. A splendid view of Rome may be had from the piazza in front of the church. It was the titular church of Paul Cardinal Cullen Archbishop of Dublin.

S. Pietro in Vincoli, Canons Regular of St. John Lateran, existed as the titulus Apostolorum as early as 431. Sixtus III made alterations in the church with funds given him by the Empress Eudoxia, who also presented the Jerusalem chain of St. Peter together with his Roman chain. These relics had been venerated here long before Sixtus III, but the title, a vinculis S. Petri, occurs for the first time only in 530. Filings from the chains were given as relics — like those taken to Spoleto by Bishop Achilles in 419. The chains themselves are kept in a precious reliquary attributed to Pollaiulo. The church was restored by Sixtus IV and Julius II. Its twenty monolithic columns are antique, and it contains pictures by Guercino and Domenichino (The Deliverance of St. Peter) a mosaic (St. Sebastian) of about the year 680, and the tombs of Julius II, with the celebrated statue of Moses, and of Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, with a portrait in relief. In the adjoining monastery the scuola di applicazione of the Engineers is established. S. Prassede, Vallombrosans, was built by Paschal II (822) at some distance from the older S. Prassede which, then in ruins, was restored by Nicholas V and St. Charles Borromeo. Its twenty-two antique columns are still standing, and there are interesting mosaics of the ninth century (the chapel of St. Zeno and the apse) and the thirteenth century (the crypt). In the crypt are antique sarcophagi with the relics of Sts. Praxedes, Pudentiana, and others, and Paschal caused the bones of 2300 (?) martyrs, brought by him from the catacombs, to be laid in an enclosed cemetery. There are pictures by Giulio Romano, Federico Zuccaro, and the Cavaliere d’Arpino. Santi Quaranta in Trastevere belongs to the Spanish Franciscans. Santi Quattro Coronati, Capuchins, was the Titulus Æmilianœ as early as the fourth century, and is dedicated to four soldiers (cornicularii) who were martyred on the Via Labicana, with whom were afterwards associated five martyrs, stonecutters of Pannonia. Honorius built a vast basilica, which, however, Paschal II reduced to the proportions of what had been the nave. There are remains of the older basilica in the two atria and, in the church, frescoes by Giovanni Manozzi and a ciborium by Capponi (1493). Annexed to this church is the chapel of the Corporation of Stonecutters, with pictures of the thirteenth century. The Augustinian Sisters have a refuge for young women adjoining the church. S. Sabina all’ Aventino, Dominicans, built under Clement I by the Illyrian priest Petrus (424), is remarkable for a half-door decorated with wood-carving of the fifth century, while its columns of Parian marble were taken from the temple of Diana on the Aventine. In the apse and above the door are mosaics, and the picture by Sassoferrato (the Madonna of the Rosary) is famous. In the adjoining convent, formerly the Savelli palace, are shown the cells of St. Dominic and St. Pius V.

S. Salvatore della Scala Santa, Passionists, contains, according to the legend, the stairs of Pilate’s prætorium, which were bathed with the Blood of Christ, but of which there is no mention earlier than 845. By these stairs, which were restored by Nicholas III and by Cosmas II, pilgrims ascend on their knees (ginocchioni) to the Cappella Sancta Sanctorum, in which the most famous relics of the pontifical palace of the Lateran are preserved (see SCALA SANCTA). There is a ninth-century mosaic picture and a very ancient picture of the Saviour, on cedarwood, believed to have been made not by human hands. S. Silvestro in Capite, Pallottini (see PIOUS SOCIETY OF MISSIONS), built by Paul I (761) in his paternal home, was given to some Greek monks and subsequently passed into the possession of various orders. It was restored by Domenico de Rossi in 1681, and has a high altar by Rinaldo. This is, in a sense, the national church of the English Catholics. Its monastery has now become the Postal Department. S. Stefano degli Abissini, Trinitarians, with an interesting doorway, was erected by St. Leo the Great, and was one of the churches surrounding the Basilica of St. Peter’s. S. Stefano del Cacco, Sylvestrines, was erected by Honorius I (630) on the ruins of the temple of Isis, of which it contains twelve columns. S. Teresa, with the generalate of the Discalced Carmelites, in the Lombard style, is one of the recently erected churches (1900). Santissima Trinità in the Via Condotti, Dominicans of the Philippines Province, was erected in the sixteenth century, and has fine pictures on its altars. Santissima Trinità in the Via della Missione belongs to the Lazarists, who have a house of retreat for the clergy there. S. Venanzio, Minor Conventuals, is at the foot of the Capitol. Santi Vincenzo ed Atanasio, in the Piazza di Trevi, ministers of the sick, was built by Cardinal Mazarin (1650). Here are kept the urns containing the viscera of deceased popes.

Other notable churches are the following: S. Agata dei Goti, or in Suburra, built in 460 for the Arians (Goths and other Germans), by Ricimerus, who caused a mosaic to be made there (destroyed in 1633), and who was buried there. In 591 St. Gregory the Great dedicated it to Catholic worship, and it is connected with the Irish College. In it is the tomb of John Lascaris, the famous Greek humanist (1535). S. Agnese al Circo Agonale stands on a part of the site of Domitian’s stadium, where St. Agnes was exposed to shame (the vaults of the church), and where she was put to death. The older church is not mentioned in any records earlier than the ninth century; the present one, in baroque style, is the work of Carlo Rinaldi (1652); its turrets are by Borromini. On the high altar is a tabernacle of 1123; there is an antique statue transformed into a St. Sebastian by Paolo Campi and a monument of Innocent X. S. Alessio sull’ Aventino was originally dedicated to the Roman martyr Boniface. S. Anastasia, at the foot of the Palatine, built in the fourth century and modernized in 1721, contains the tomb of Cardinal Angelo Mai. Here is preserved a chalice which was probably used by St. Jerome. S. Appollinare, the church of the Roman Seminary, formerly of the German College, was restored by Benedict XIV and contains a picture of the school of Perugino. S. Balbina, on the Aventine, consecrated by St. Gregory the Great, has a house of correction for boys adjoining it. It was the titular church of Cardinal Kemp, Archbishop of Canterbury (see KEMP, JOHN). S. Benedetto in Piscinula (Trastevere) stands on the site of the mansion of the Anicii, St. Benedict’s family, and contains a picture of the saint. S. Caterina dei Funari, on the ruins of the Circus Flaminius, was begun in 1549. Its façade is by Giacomo della Porta, and it contains pictures by Caracci, Federico Zuccari, and others. Connected with it is a refuge for penitent women founded by St. Ignatius.

S. Cecilia, a very ancient church, stands on the site of that saint’s house. Paschal I, admonished by a vision, restored it and transferred the body of the saint thither from the Catacombs (821). Cardinal Rampolla had its ancient character partly restored. In the apse are some mosaics dating from Paschal. The tabernacle of the high altar is by Arnolfo di Cambio (1283); there are some ancient frescoes and some by Pietro Cavallini; in the confession is a recumbent statue of the saint by Maderno, showing her as she was found when the sarcophagus was opened in 1599; also the tomb of the English cardinal, Adam of Hertford (died 1398). It was the titular church of Cardinal Wolsey. S. Cesareo, on the Appian Way, erroneously identified with S. Cesareo in Palatio (which has recently been discovered on the Palatine), is older than the days of St. Gregory the Great, and has an interesting ambo of the thirteenth century and mosaics of about the year 1600. S. Cosimato in Trastevere, built in the ninth century and completely transformed under Sixtus IV, is notable for paintings by Pinturicchio and a tabernacle taken from S. Maria del Popolo. In the adjoining monastery, originally Benedictine and then Clarissan (1234), is a fine cloister with coupled columns (twelfth century). This monastery is now used as a home for old women. Santi Domenicho e Sisto, Dominican Sisters, thirteenth century, was restored in 1640, with a fine façade. S. Eligio dei Ferrari contains a fine picture by Sermoneta; S. Eusebio, frescoes by Mengs. S. Eustacchio is an ancient diaconate and possesses the relics of the saint. S. Giacomo in Augusta, in the Corso, is connected with the hospital for incurables (1338). S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini is the work of Sansovino (1521) and contains a picture by Salvator Rosa. S. Girolamo dei Shiavoni was built by Sixtus IV for the Dalmatians, Croatians, and Albanians who had fled from the Turks; Sixtus V restored it; it contains fine frescoes by Gagliardi (1852). S. Giuseppe a Capo le Case with its paintings by Andrea Sacchi (St. Teresa) and Domenichino (St. Joseph), has a convent of the Carmelite Sisters which is now used as a museum of the industrial arts. S. Giuseppe dei Falegnami is built upon the ancient Tullian Dungeon, where, according to tradition, St. Peter was imprisoned.

S. Lorenzo in Lucina preserves the gridiron on which St. Lawrence suffered martyrdom. It is believed that here was the house of the matron, Lucina, so often mentioned in the Acts of Roman martyrs; this house was transformed by Sixtus III into a basilica which was repeatedly restored. It has a fine campanile, a picture by Guido Reni (The Crucifixion), and the tomb of Poussin. S. Lorenzo in Miranda was built over the temple of Faustina (141) in the Forum. In S. Lorenzo in Fonte, it is believed, was the saint’s prison. S. Marco, enclosed within the Palazzo di Venezia, is attributed to the pope of that name (336). The Rogation procession (25 April), instituted by St. Leo the Great, used to set out from this church. It was restored in the ninth century, in the fifteenth century, and by Cardinal Quirini in 1727. In the tribune are mosaics of the time of Gregory IV; there are also pictures by Palma il Giovane and Melozzo da Forli; two ciboria, in the sacristy, one of the twelfth century, the other by Mino da Fiesole; the tombs of Pesaro, by Canova, and of Cardinal Gregorio Barbarigo. S. Maria degli Angeli was built by Michelangelo at the command of Pius IV, within the baths of Diocletian. The church was given to the Carthusians. Here are to be seen many of the original designs for the mosaics now in St. Peter’s; also Houdon’s famous statue of St. Bruno, and the tombs of Pius IV and Cardinal Serbelloni. The adjoining monastery now contains the Museo Nazionale delle Terme.

S. Maria della Pace, the titular church of Michael Cardinal Logue, Archbishop of Armagh, commemorates the peace concluded in 1482 between the pope, Florence, Milan, and Naples. It was built for Sixtus IV by Pietro da Cortona, who added a beautiful semicircular portico in front. In the Chigi chapel are the famous Sibyls of Raphael; there are also frescoes by Peruzzi. The adjoining monastery (Canons Regular of the Lateran) contains a courtyard by Bramante and the chapel of the St. Paul’s Association of the Clergy of Rome. S. Maria in Campo Marzio belongs to the Benedictine Sisters. S. Maria di Loreto, an octagonal church with a cupola, is the work of Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane (1507), and has a statue of St. Susanna by Duquesnoy. The Churches of S. Maria de’ Miracoli and S. Maria di Monte Santo were built in 1662 by Cardinal Gastaldo, and form the termination of three streets — the Ripetta, the Corso Umberto and the Babuino — which lead from the Piazza del Popolo. S. Maria dell’ Orto (1489) is the fruit-vendors’ church. S. Maria in Trivio, in the Piazza di Trevi, has a beautiful façade of the fifteenth century. S. Maria in Lata, a very ancient diaconate, stood near the Arch of Diocletian, but was destroyed rn 1485; its present subterranean form is due to Pietro da Cortona. Here, according to the legend, St. Paul and St. Mark were imprisoned, and here are the remains of the Sœpta Julia and of the ancient basilica, with some frescoes. Santi Martina e Luca, in the Forum, occupies the site of the Secretarium Senatus; it existed before the seventh century and contained the body of St. Martina the Roman martyr; in 1640 the new church was built above the old by Pietro da Cortona (who made a statue of St. Martina), and was dedicated to St. Luke, being the church of the Academy of St. Luke. Santi Nereo e Achilleo, on the Appian Way, a very ancient church, contains mosaics of the time of Leo III and an ambo of the thirteenth century. S. Nicola in Carcere stands on the ruins of the three temples of Pietas, Juno Sospita, and Spes. Santissimo Nome di Maria, in Trajan’s Forum, was built to commemorate the deliverance of Vienna from the Turks (1683). One Church of SS. Pietro e Marcellino stands in the Via Merulana; the other is outside the walls, on the Labicana, near the mausoleum of St. Helena. S. Prisca, on the Aventine, occupies the site of the temple of Diana Aventina. The legend has it that Priscilla, the wife of Aquila, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as entertaining St. Peter, lived here.

S. Pudenziana, again, is associated with memories of St. Peter: it was the mansion of the senator, Pudens, whose daughters, Pudentiana and Praxedes, gave it to St. Pius I, and from that time it became a church. Since the time of Siricius (384) it has had the form of a basilica, and its apse has been adorned with the most beautiful mosaics in Rome. It was restored in 1598, and a cupola was added with frescoes by Roncalli. At the altar of St. Peter is venerated the wooden table which St. Peter used for the celebration of the Eucharist. There is a marble group of Christ giving the keys to St. Peter, by Giacomo della Porta. The title of S. Pudenziana was borne by Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman, first Archbishop of Westminster. S. Saba, on the Aventine, existed in the time of St. Gregory, whose mother retired to a spot near by. To her were dedicated some ancient frescoes recently brought to light. That it was even then the abode of monks is indicated by the name cella and by an ancient burial-place of an earlier date (c. 649). Here a community of Greek monks was installed until the ninth century. After that it passed to the Benedictines, and then to the German College, which still possesses it. S. Salvatore in Lauro, the church of the Sodality of the Piceni, earlier than the thirteenth century, was restored in 1450 and in 1591. It has a fine cloister and the tombs of Maddalena Orsini and of Eugene IV (transferred hither from St. Peter’s), the work of Isaia da Pisa. S. Sisto Vecchio, earlier than the sixth century, has a fine campanile and frescoes of the fifteenth century. Here was the first house of the Dominicans in Rome. The title was borne by Cardinal Langham, Archbishop of Canterbury (see LANGHAM, SIMON). S. Spirito in Sassia is so called because in this quarter (the Borgo) an Anglo-Saxon colony led by King Ina, was established, with a church called S. Maria in Saxia. In 1201 Innocent III built a hospital and foundling institute which was entrusted to the Hospitallers of the Holy Ghost. Sixtus IV removed the hospital, and Paul III had the present church built by Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane (1544); but the campanile dates from Callistus III. The residence of the superior (Palazzo del Commendatore dello Spedale) is adjacent to the church, but about half of it has been pulled down for the construction of the Victor Emmanuel Bridge. S. Stefano Rotondo, built by Pope Simplicius on the foundations of an ancient building consisting of three, concentric circles divided by two rings of twenty columns in all, is decorated with frescoes by Pomarancio and Tempesta. It was the titular church of Cardinal Beaton, Archbishop of St. Andrews (see BEATON, DAVID), and now belongs to the German College. S. Susanna, dedicated to the Roman martyr of that name, dates back to the fourth century. In its restoration by Maderno (1600) the mosaics of 796 perished, and it was decorated with frescoes by Croce. It was the titular church of Cardinal Moran, Archbishop of Sydney. S. Teodoro, at the foot of the Palatine, also stands on a circular structurer an ancient diaconate. It has a mosaic of the time of Adrian I. Santissima Trinità dei Monti is said to have been built through the munificence of Charles VIII of France. Its great flight of stairs, leading from the Piazza di Spagna, was built by order of Louis XIV. It contains fine pictures of the school of Perugino, also by Raphael, Pierin del Vaga, Veit, Daniele da Volterra (Taking down from the Cross). The church belongs to the Ladies of the Sacred Heart who have an institution (1827) in the chapel of which is venerated the Ter Admirabilis (Thrice Admirable) Madonna. Of the churches outside the City special mention should be made of the sanctuary of the Madonna del Divino Amore (of the Divine Love) on the Via Ardeatina, near an old castle of the Orsini, which is visited by a great concourse of people ou Whit-Monday.

National Churches

S. Antonio (Portuguese); S. Luigi (French-1496); S. Maria dell’ Anima (German), with a hospice for pilgrims founded in 1399; the present church was built in 1500; pictures by Saraceni, Seitz, and Giulio Romano (high altar); tombs of Adrian VI and Duke Charles Frederick of Cleves by Lucas Holstenius (see ROMAN COLLEGES); S. Maria della Pietà, with the German Burial Ground, dating from the time of Charlemagne; S. Maria di Monserrato (Spanish). Also the churches of various cities — Florence, Naples, Siena, Venice, Bergamo, Bologna, the Marches — of Italy. — Churches of the Oriental rites. — Besides the churches of the various colleges (see ROMAN COLLEGES), the following should be mentioned: the Armenian Church of St. Mary of Egypt, occupying the site of the ancient temple of Fortuna Virilis; the Græco-Melchite Basilian Church of S. Maria in Domnica (mosaics of the eighth century); S. Lorenzo ai Monti, for Græco-Ruthenian Uniats. Moreover there are eight Protestant churches intended for propaganda work, each having one or two halls, known as –sale cristiane, connected with it while five others are principally for the benefit of foreigners, and the Germans have decided to build one more. The Orthodox Russians, too, have a church, where the Bishop of Kronstadt officiates. The Hebrews have a large new synagogue and an oratory, besides a school of religious learning and various benevolent organizations.

Non-religious Buildings

The Palace of the Cancelleria, by Bramante; the Curia of Innocent X now occupied by the Italian Parliament; the Quirinal Palace, the king’s residence, built by Gregory XIII and enlarged by Paul V and Pius VI, where the popes formerly resided, and the conclaves were held; the Palazzo di Giustizia, built by Calderari entirely of travertine; the Bank of Italy (Koch) and the Palazzo Buoncompagni, the residence of the queen-mother; the Palazzo Braschi (offices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs), Palazzi Capitolini (Michelangelo), Palazzo del Consulta (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Villa Medici (French Academy), Palazzo Venezia (Austrian Embassy), built by Paul II, Palazzo Corsini (Accademia dei Lincei), Palazzo Farnese (Michelangelo), now the property of France and occupied by the French Embassy. Among the private palaces are the Altieri (Clement X), Barberini (Bernini), Borghese (Paul V), Caetani (Ammannati), Pamfili, Esedra, Giraud (Bramante — now belonging to the Torlonia family), Massimo, Odescalchi, Farnesina (Sangallo), and Ruspoli. The chief private villas are the Doria Pamfili and the Massimo (frescoes by Overbeck). Of all the public monuments we need mention only that recently inaugurated to the memory of Victor Emmanuel II at the back of the Capitoline Hill, consisting of a gilded equestrian statue, with a semicircular colonnade behind it. The principal fountains are: the Acqua Paola, on the Janiculum (Paul V); the Piazza S. Pietro fountain, the Tartarughe (Raphael), the Fontana del Tritone (Bernini), and, most magnificent of all, the Trevi (Clement XII, Nicolà Salvi).

Principal ancient Edifices and Monuments

The Flavian Amphitheatre, or Colosseum, begun by Vespasian. Much of its material, particularly on the south side, has been pilfered, this destructive practice having been effectively stopped only in the eighteenth century. The Arch of Constantine was erected in 312 to commemorate the victory over Maxentius, the decorations being, in part, taken from the Arch of Trajan. That of Marcus Aurelius, on the Flaminian Way (Corso), was removed by Alexander VII; its decorations are preserved in the Capitol. That of Septimius Severus (203) is richly decorated with statues and bas-reliefs; that of Titus, commemorating his victory over the Jews, has the celebrated bas-relief representing objects taken from the Temple of Jerusalem; that of Drusus (Trajan?) is near the Porta S. Sebasstiano. The Arch of Dolabella (A. D. 10) is surmounted by three conduits taken from a branch of the Aqua Claudia. The Arch of Gallienus dates from A. D. 262. The secular basilicas are the Æmilian, or Fulvian (167 B. C.), the Julian (54 B. C.), the Basilica of Constantine (A. D. 306-10), and the Ulpian, on the Forum of Trajan, with which a library was once connected.

For Christian catacombs see CATACOMBS, ROMAN. The most important catacombs of the Hebrews are those of Vigna Randanini, on the Appian Way.

The Circuses are: that of Domitian, now the Piazza Navona; the Flaminian (the Palazzo Mattei); the Circus Maximus, the oldest of all, erected in the Murcian Valley, between the Palatine and the Aventine, where, even in the days of Romulus, races and other public amusements used to be held (as on the occasion of the Rape of the Sabines); that of Nero, near St. Peter’s, where the Apostle was martyred; that of Maxentius outside the city, near the Via Appia. Trajan’s Column on the forum of the same name, with a spiral design of the emperor’s warlike exploits, is 100 Roman feet (about 97 English feet) in height, erected by the senate and people A. D. 113. That of Marcus Aurelius, with reliefs showing the wars with the Marcomanni, Quadi, Sarmati, etc. (172-75), is interesting for its representation of the miraculous rainfall which, as early as Tertullian’s time, was attributed to the prayers of the Christian soldiers. This column bears a bronze statue of St. Paul, as Trajan’s is crowned with a statue of St. Peter (Sixtus V, 1589). That of Phocas was erected in 608 by the exarch Smaragdus. The Roman Forum was originally the swampy valley between the Palatine, Capitoline, and Esquiline, which became a market and a meeting-place for the transaction of public business. Soon it was surrounded with shops and public buildings — basilicas, the Curia Hostilia, the Rostra, or platform for public speakers, and various temples. Other forums were those of Augustus, of Peace, of Nero, the Julian, and Trajan’s, in the same neighbourhood.

The Mausoleum of Augustus, between the Corso and the Via Ripetta, is now a concert hall. The Mausoleum of Hadrian (Castle of S. Angelo) was used as a fortress by Goths and Romans as early as the sixth century; in the tenth and following centuries it often served as a prison, voluntary or compulsory, for the popes; Boniface IX, Alexander VI, and Urban VIII were the popes who did most to restore and transform it. The Tomb of Cæcilia Metella, on the Via Appia, still fairly well preserved, was a stronghold of the Caetani in the Middle Ages, and from them passed to the Savelli and the Colonna. The Pyramid of Caius Cæstius (time of Augustus) is more than 120 feet in height. The tomb of Eurysaces, outside the Porta Maggiore, has interesting bas-reliefs showing the various operations of baking bread. That of the Scipios, near the Gate of St. Sebastian, was discovered in 1780, with the sarcophagus of Scipio Barbatus, consul in 298 which is now in the Vatican Museum. The Appian Way was lined with numbers of sepulchral monuments; among these mention may be made here of the columbaria, or grottoes where a family or an association was wont to deposit in niches the cinerary urns of its members. The most important of these are in the Vigna Codini and near S. Giovanni in Oleo.

With Septimius Severus a new architectural period was inaugurated, which was continued by Heliogabalus and Alexander Severus. The house of Augustus, that of Tiberius, the hippodrome, the library, the house of Livia, the pœdagogium, or quarters of the imperial pages (where the celebrated drawing of a certain Alexamenos adoring a crucified ass was discovered) — all these are still clearly distinguishable. There were also a temple of the Great Mother (205 B. C.), one of Jupiter Victor (295 B. C.-commemorating the victory of Sentinum), and one of Apollo, surrounded by a great portico in the enclosure of which now stands the Church of S. Sebastiano in Palladio. In the substructures of the palace of Caligula was discovered some years ago the ancient basilica of S. Maria Antiqua, probably dating from the fourth century, in which frescoes of the eighth and ninth centuries (including a portrait of Pope St. Zacharias, then living) were found. It is evident at certain points, where the paintings have been broken, that two other layers of painting lie beneath. Other temples are those of Concordia, three columns of which are still standing in the Roman Forum, built in 388 B. C. for the peace between the Patricians and the Plebeians, and in which the Senate often assembled; of the Deus Rediculus, outside the city, near the Appian Way, on the spot where Hannibal, alarmed by a vision, resolved to retire without besieging Rome; of Castor and Pollux, built in 484 B. C. to cornmemorate the victory of Lake Regillus, over the Latins, and restored in 117 (three columns remaining); of Faustina and Antoninus (S. Lorenzo in Miranda); of Fortuna Virilis (second century B. C.; now the Church of St. Mary of Egypt); of Julius Cæsar, erected by Augustus in the Forum, on the spot where Cæsar’s body was burned; of Jupiter Capitolinus, now the German Embassy; of Mars Ultor (the Avenger) erected in the Forum of Augustus to fulfil his vow made at the battle of Philippi, where he avenged the assassination of Cæsar; of Minerva Medica, which is, indeed, rather a nymphæum, or reservoir for distributing the water supply; of Neptune, with its stone piazza, now the Exchange; of Peace, built by Vespasian after his victory over the Jews; of Romulus (the son of Maxentius) which now, like Sacræ Urbis temple (of the Holy City), forms part of Santi Cosmo e Damiano; of Saturn, in the Forum. The two temples of Venus and Rome have their apses touching each other, and were surrounded by a common peristyle, a plan designed by the Emperor Hadrian himself; to the temple of Vesta, below the Palatine, is annexed the house of the Vestals; the small round temple of the Mater Matuba, in the Forum Boarium, has been commonly called Vesta’s.

Characteristic of Rome are the lofty brick towers generally square with few windows, winch may still be seen here and there throughout the city. They were built, for the most part, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and are monuments of the discord between the most powerful families of Rome. The most important of them are: the Torre Anguillara in Trastevere, adjoining the palace of the Anguillara family, reconstructed and used as a medieval museum; the two Capocci towers, in the Via Giovanni Lanza; that of the Conti, once the largest and strongest, built by Riccardo, brother of Innocent III; that of the Scimmia, or of the Frangipani, near S. Antonio dei Portoghesi surmounted by a statue of the Madonna; the Torre Millina, in the Via dell’ Anima; the Torre Sanguigna. The Torre delle Milizie has been erroneously called “Nero’s Tower”, that emperor being supposed to have watched from it the burning of Rome; it was built, however, under Innocent III, by his sons Piero and Alessio, partisans of the senator Pandolfo, who opposed the pope’s brother Riccardo.

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Guida Commerciale di Roma e Provincia (annual); Monografia della città di Roma (publ. of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Rome, 1881). History. — MOMMSEN, tr. DICKSON, The History of Rome (London, 1886); DYER, A History of the City of Rome (London, 1865); GREGOROVIUS, History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages (London, 1894-1902); GRISAR, Geschichte Roms und der Päpste im Mittelalter (Freiburg im Br., 1901); REUMONT, Gesch. Roms im Mittelalter (Stuttgart, 1905); ADINOLFI, Roma nell’ età di mezzo (Rome, 1881); TOMMASSETTI, La Campagna di Roma 1879-1910; EHRLE, Roma prime di Sisto V (Rome, 1908); POMPILI-OLIVIERI, Il Senato Romano (1143-1870) (Rome, 1886); CALVI, Bibliografia di Roma nel Medio Evo (476-1499) (Rome, 1906); Appendix (more complete) (1908). Monuments, Antiquities, etc. — CHANDLERY, Pilgrim Walks in Rome (St. Louis and London, 1905); CRAWFORD, Ave, Roma Immortalis (London, 1905); DE WAAL, Roma Sacra (Munich, 1905); STETTINER, Roma nei suoi monumenti (Rome, 1911); ANGELI, Roma, in Italia Artistica, XXXVII, XL (Bergamo, 1908); PETERSEN, Das alte Rom (Leipzig, s. d.); STEINMANN, Rom in der Renaissance (Leipzig, 1902); LANCIANI, Pagan and Christian Rome (Boston, 1893); IDEM, Ancient Rome (New York, 1889); IDEM, Forum e Palatino; BOISSIER, Promenades archéologiques (Paris, 1881); RICHTER, Topographie der Stadt Rom (Nordlinger, 1889); NIBBY, Roma e suoi dintorni (Rome, 1829); HELBIG, Guide to the Public Collections of Classical Antiquities in Rome (Leipzig, 1895-96); ARMELLINI, Le chiese di Roma (Rome, 1891); ANGELI, Le chiese di Roma (milan, 1906). Archæological Reviews. — Bulletino d’Arch. Crist. (1863-): Nuovo Bulletino d’Arch. crist. (1895-); Bulletino della Comissione arch. comunale di Roma (1873-); Archivo della Società Romano di Storia Patria (Rome, 1877-); Notizie degli scavi di antichità (Rome, 1876-); Ann. Ecclesiastico (Rome, 1911).

U. BENIGNI. Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter and Deborah Tankersley Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIIICopyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia

Rome

( [in Greek, strength; but probably from Romulus, the founder], expressly mentioned in the Bible only in the books of the Maccabees, and in Act 18:2, etc.; Rom 1:7; Rom 1:15; 2Ti 1:17; see also Babylon, Revelations 14:8, etc.), the ancient capital of the Western world, and the present residence of the pope and capital of Italy. In the following brief account, we treat only of its ancient, and especially its Biblical, relations. SEE ROMAN EMPIRE.

I. General Description. Rome lies on the river Tiber, about fifteen miles from its mouth, in the plain of what is now called the Campagna (Felix illa Campania, Pliny, Hist. Nat. 3, 6), in lat. 41 54′ N., long. 12 28′ E. The country around the city, however, is not altogether a plain, but a sort of undulating table land, crossed by hills, while it sinks towards the southwest to the marshes of Maremma, which coast the Mediterranean. In ancient geography, the country in the midst of which Rome lay was termed Latium, which, in the earliest times, comprised within a space of about four geographical square miles the country lying between the Tiber and the Numicius, extending from the Alban Hills to the sea, having for its chief city Laurentum. The seven hills (Revelations 17:9) which formed the nucleus of the ancient city stand on the left (eastern) bank. On the opposite side of the river rises the far higher ridge of the Janiculum. Here from very early times was a fortress, with a suburb beneath it extending to the river. Modern Rome lies to the north of the ancient city, covering with its principal portion the plain to the north of the seven hills, once known as the Campus Martius, and on the opposite bank extending over the low ground beneath the Vatican to the north of the ancient Janiculum.

The city of Rome was founded (B.C. 753) by Romulus and Remus, grandsons of Numitor, and sons of Rhea Sylvia, to whom, as the originators of the city, mythology ascribed a divine parentage. At first the city had three gates, according to a sacred usage. Founded on the Palatine Hill, it was extended, by degrees, so as to take in six other hills, at the foot of which ran deep valleys that in early times were in part overflowed with water, while the hillsides were covered with trees. In the course of the many years during which Rome was acquiring to herself the empire of the world, the city underwent great, numerous, and important changes. Under its first kings it must have presented a very different aspect from what it did after it had been beautified by Tarquint. The destruction of the city by the Gauls (A.U.C. 365) caused a thorough alteration in it; nor could the troubled times which ensued have been favorable to its being well restored. It was not till riches and artistic skill came into the city on the conquest of Philip of Macedon and Antiochus of Syria (A.U.C. 565) that there arose in Rome large, handsome stone houses.

The capture of Corinth conduced much to the adorning of the city, many fine specimens of art being transferred thence to the abode of the conquerors. As the power of Rome extended over the world, and her chief citizens went into the colonies to enrich themselves, so did the masterpieces of Grecian art flow towards the capital, together with some of the taste and skill to which they owed their birth. Augustus, however, it was who did most for embellishing the capital of the world, though there may be some sacrifice of truth in the pointed saying that he found Rome built of brick and left it marble. Subsequent emperors followed his example, till the place became the greatest repository of architectural, pictorial, and sculptural skill that the world has ever seen a result to which even Nero’s incendiarism indirectly conduced, as affording an occasion for the city’s being rebuilt under the higher scientific influences of the times. The site occupied by modern Rome is not precisely the same as that which was at any period covered by the ancient city: the change of locality being towards the northwest, the city has partially retired from the celebrated hills. About two thirds of the area within the walls (traced by Aurelian) are now desolate, consisting of ruins, gardens, and fields, with some churches, convents, and other scattered habitations. Originally the city was four miles in circumference. In the time of Pliny the walls were nearly twenty miles in circuit; now they are from fourteen to fifteen miles around. Its original gates, three in number, had increased in the time of the elder Pliny to thirty-seven. Modern Rome has sixteen gates, some of which are, however, built up. Thirty-one great roads centered in Rome, which, issuing from the Forum, traversed Italy, ran through the provinces, and were terminated only by the boundary of the empire.

As a starting point, a gilt pillar (Milliarium Aureum) was set up by Augustus in the middle of the Forum. This curious monument, from which distances were reckoned, was discovered in 1823. Eight principal bridges led over the Tiber; of these three are still relics. The four districts into which Rome was divided in early times, Augustus increased to fourteen. Large open spaces were set apart in the city, called Campi, for assemblies of the people and martial exercises, as well as for games. Of nineteen which are mentioned, the Campus Martius was the principal. It was near the Tiber, whence it was called Tiberius. The epithet Martins was derived from the plain being consecrated to Mars, the god of war. In the later ages it was surrounded by several magnificent structures, and porticos were erected, under which, in bad weather, the citizens could go through their usual exercises. It was also adorned with statues and arches. The name of Forum was given to places where the people assembled for the transaction of business. The Fora were of two kinds fora venalia, markets; fora cicilia, law-courts, etc. Until the time of Julius Caesar there was but one of the latter kind, termed by way of distinction Forum Romanum, or simply Forum. It lay between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills; it was eight hundred feet wide, and adorned on all sides with porticos, shops, and other edifices, on the erection of which large sums had been expended, and the appearance of which was very imposing, especially as it was much enhanced by numerous statues. In the center of the Forum was the plain called the Curtian Lake, where Curtius is said to have cast himself into a chasm or gulf, which closed on him, and so he saved his country. On one side were the elevated seats, or suggestus, a sort of pulpit from which magistrates and orators addressed the people usually called rostra, because adorned with the beaks of ships which had been taken in a sea fight from the inhabitants of Antium. Near by was the part of the Forum called the Comitium, where were held the assemblies of the people called Comitia Curiata. The celebrated temple bearing the name of Capitol (of which there remain only a few vestiges) stood on the Capitoline Hill, the highest of the seven; it was square in form, each side extending about two hundred feet, and the ascent to it was by a flight of one hundred steps.

It was one of the oldest, largest, and grandest edifices in the city. Founded by Tarquinius Priscus, it was several times enlarged and embellished. Its gates were of brass, and it was adorned with costly gildings; whence it is termed golden and glittering, aurea, fulgens. It enclosed three structures, the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in the center, the Temple of Minerva on the right, and the Temple of Juno on the left. The Capitol also comprehended some minor temples or chapels, and the Casa Romuli, or cottage of Romulus, covered with straw. Near the ascent to the Capitol was the asylum. We also mention the Basilicae, since some of them were afterwards turned to the purposes of Christian worship. They were originally buildings of great splendor, being appropriated to meetings of the senate, and to judicial purposes. Here counselors received their clients, and bankers transacted their business. The earliest churches, bearing the name of Basilicae, were erected under Constantine. He gave his own palace on the Coelian Hill as a site for a Christian temple. Next in antiquity was the Church of St. Peter, on the Vatican Hill, built A.D. 324, on the site and with the ruins of temples consecrated to Apollo and Mars. It stood about twelve centuries, at the end of which it was superseded by the modern church bearing the same name. The Circi were buildings oblong in shape, used for public games, races, and beast fights. The Theatra were edifices designed for dramatic exhibitions; the Amphitheatra (double theaters, buildings in an oval form) served for gladiatorial shows and the fighting of wild animals. That which was erected by the emperor Titus, and of which there still exists a splendid ruin, was called the Coliseum, from a colossal statue of Nero that stood near it.. With an excess of luxury, perfumed liquids were conveyed in secret tubes around these immense structures, and diffused over the spectators, sometimes from the statues which adorned the interior. In the arena which formed the center of the amphitheaters, the early Christians often endured martyrdom by being exposed to ravenous beasts. See Smith, Dict. of Class. Geog. s.v.; Parker, Archoeology of Rome (Lond. 1877, 6 vols. 8vo); Wood, Guide to Rome (Lond. 1875); Cokesly, Map of Anc. Rome (Lond. 1852).

II. Judaism in Rome. The connection of the Romans with Palestine caused Jews to settle at Rome in considerable numbers. The Jewish king Aristobulus and his son formed part of Pompey’s triumph, and many Jewish captives and emigrants were brought to Rome at that time. A special district was assigned to them (Josephus, Ant. 14, 10, 8), not on the site of the modern Ghetto, between the Capitol and the island of the Tiber, but across the Tiber (Philo, Leg. ad Caium, p. 568, ed. Mangey). From Philo also it appears that the Jews in Rome were allowed the free use of their national worship, and generally the observance of their ancestral customs. With a zeal for which the nation had been some time distinguished, they applied themselves with success to proselytizing (Dion Cass. 37, 17). Many of these Jews were made freedmen (Philo, loc. cit.). Julius Caesar showed them some kindness (Josephus, Ant. 14, 10, 8; Sueton. Caesar, 84). They were favored also by Augustus, and by Tiberius during the latter part of his reign (Philo, loc. cit.). On one occasion, in the reign of Tiberius, when the Jews were banished from the city by the emperor for the misconduct of some members of their body, not fewer than four thousand enlisted in the Roman army which was then stationed in Sardinia (Sueton. Tib. 36; Josephus, Ant. 18, 3, 4). Claudius commanded all Jews to depart from Rome (Act 18:2), on account of tumults connected, possibly, with the preaching of Christianity at Rome (Sueton. Claud. 25, Judaeos impulsore Chresto assidue tumultuantes Roma expulit). This banishment cannot have been of long duration, for we find Jews residing at Rome apparently in considerable numbers at the time of Paul’s visit (Act 28:17). The Roman biographer does not give the date of the expulsion by Claudius, but Orosius (7:6) mentions the ninth year of that emperor’s reign (A.D. 50).

The precise occasion of this expulsion history does not afford us the means of determining. The cause here assigned for their expulsion is that they raised disturbances, an allegation which at first view does not seem to point to a religious, still less to a Christian, influence. Yet we must remember that the words bear the coloring of the mind of a heathen historian, who might easily be led to regard activity for the diffusion of Christian truth, and the debates to which that activity necessarily led, as a noxious disturbance of the peace of society. The Epicurean view of life could scarcely avoid describing religious agitations by terms ordinarily appropriated to martial pursuits. It must equally be borne in mind that the diffusion of the Gospel in Rome then the very center and citadel of idolatry was no holiday task, but would call forth on the part of the disciples all the fiery energy of the Jewish character, and on the part of the pagans all the vehemence of passion which ensues from pride, arrogance, and hatred. Had the ordinary name of our Lord been employed by Suetonius, we should, for ourselves, have found little difficulty in understanding the words as intended to be applied to Jewish Christians. But the biographer uses the word Chrestus. The us is a mere Latin termination; but what are we to make of the root of the word Chrest for Christ? Yet the change is in only one vowel, and Chrest might easily be used for Christ by a pagan writer. A slight difference in the pronunciation of the word as vocalized by a Roman and a Jew would easily cause the error.

We know that the Romans often did make the mispronunciation, calling Christ Chrest (Tertull. Apol. c. 3; Lactant. Inst. 4, 17; Just. Mart. Apol. c. 2). The point is important, and we therefore give a few details, the rather that Lardner has, under Claudius (1, 259), left the question undetermined. Now, in Tacitus (Annal. 15, 44) Jesus is unquestionably called Chrest in a passage where his followers are termed Christians. Lucian, too, in his Philopatris, so designates our Lord, playing on the word Chrestus (), which, in Greek, signifies good. These are his words: since a Chrest [a good man] is found among the Gentiles also. Tertullian (ut sup.) treats the difference as a case of ignorant mispronunciation, Christianus being wrongly pronounced Chrestianus. The mistake may have been the more readily introduced from the fact that, while Christ was a foreign word, Chrest was customary. Lips that had been used to Chrest would, therefore, rather continue the sound than change the vocalization. The term Chrest occurs on inscriptions (Heumann, Sylloge. diss. 1. 536), and epigrams in which the name appears may be found in Martial (7, 55; 9, 28). In the same author (11, 91) a diminutive from the word, namely, Chrestillus, may be found. The word assumed, also, a feminine form, Chresta, as found in an ancient inscription. Comp. also Martial (7, 55). There can therefore be little risk in asserting that Suetonius intended to indicate Jesus Christ by Chrestus; and we have already seen that the terms which he employs to describe the cause of the expulsion, though peculiar, are not irreconcilable with a reference on the part of the writer to Christians. The terms which Suetonius employs are accounted for, though they may not be altogether justified, by those passages in the Acts of the Apostles in which the collision between the Jews who had become Christians and those who adhered to the national faith is found to have occasioned serious disturbances (Kuinol, Act 18:2; Rorsal, De Christoper Errorum in Chrest. Comm. [Groning. 1717]). Both Suetonius and Luke, in mentioning the expulsion of the Jews, seem to have used the official term employed in the decree. The Jews were know to the Roman magistrate; and Christians, as being at first Jewish converts, would be confounded under the general name of Jews. But that the Christians as well as the Jews strictly so called were banished by Claudius appears certain from the book of Acts; and, independently of this evidence, seems very probable from the other authorities of which mention has been made. SEE CHRESTUS; SEE ROME, JEWS IN.

III. Christianity at Rome. Nothing is known of the first founder of the Christian Church at Rome. Roman Catholics assign the honor to Peter, and on this ground an argument in favor of the claims of the papacy. There is, however, no sufficient reason for believing that Peter was ever even so much as within the walls of Rome (Ellendorf, Ist Petrus in Rom und Bischof der romischen Kirche gewesen? [Darmstadt, 1843]). SEE PETER. Christianity may, perhaps, have been introduced into the city, not long after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, by the strangers of Rome who were then at Jerusalem (Act 2:10). It is clear that there were many Christians at Rome before Paul visited the city (Rom 1:8; Rom 1:13; Rom 1:15; Rom 15:20). The names of twenty-four Christians at Rome are given in the salutations at the end of the Epistle to the Romans. For the difficult question whether the Roman Church consisted mainly of Jews or Gentiles, see Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. Paul, 2, 157; Alford, Proleg.; and especially Prof. Jowett, Epistles of St. Paul to the Romans, Galatians, and Thessalonians, 2:7-26. The view there adopted, that they were a Gentile Church, but with many Jewish converts, seems most in harmony with such passages as 1:5, 13; 11:13, and with the general tone of the epistle. SEE ROMANS, EPISTLE TO.

It may be useful to give some account of Rome in the time of Nero, the Caesar to whom Paul appealed, and in whose reign he suffered martyrdom (Eusebius, H.E. 2, 25).

1. The city at that time must be imagined as a large and irregular mass of buildings unprotected by an outer wall. It had long outgrown the old Servian wall (Dionys. Hal. Ant. Hom. 4, 13; ap. Merivale, Rom. Hist. 4, 497); but the limits of the suburbs cannot be exactly defined. Neither the nature of the buildings nor the configuration of the ground was such as to give a striking appearance to the city viewed from without. Ancient Rome had neither cupola nor campanile (Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. Paul, 2, 371; Merivale, Rom. Emp. 4, 512), and the hills, never lofty or imposing, would present, when covered with the buildings and streets of a huge city, a confused appearance like the hills of modern London, to which they have sometimes been compared. The visit of Paul lies between two famous epochs in the history of the city, viz. its restoration by Augustus and its restoration by Nero (Conybeare and Howson, 1, 13). Some parts of the city, especially the Forum and Campus Martius, must now have presented a magnificent appearance; but many of the principal buildings which attract the attention of modern travelers in ancient Rome were not vet built. The streets were generally narrow and winding, flanked by densely crowded lodging-houses (insuloe) of enormous height. Augustus found it necessary to limit their height to seventy feet (Strabo, 5, 235). Paul’s first visit to Rome took place before the Neronian conflagration, but even after the restoration of the city, which followed upon that event, many of the old evils continued (Tacitus, Hist. 3, 71; Juvenal, Sat. 3, 193, 269). One half of the population consisted, in all probability, of slaves. The larger part of the remainder consisted of pauper citizens supported in idleness by the miserable system of public gratuities. There appears to have been no middle class and no free industrial population. Side by side with the wretched classes just mentioned was the comparatively small body of the wealthy nobility, of whose luxury and profligacy we hear so much in the heathen writers of the time. (See for calculations and proofs the works cited.)

Such was the population which Paul would find at Rome at the time of his visit. We learn from the Acts of the Apostles that he was detained at Rome for two whole years, dwelling in his own hired house with a soldier that kept him (Act 28:16; Act 28:30), to whom apparently, according to Roman custom (Seneca, Ephesians 5; Act 12:6, quoted by Brotier, Ad Tac. Ann. 3, 22), he was bound with, a chain (Act 28:20; Eph 6:20; Php 1:13). Here he preached to all that came to him, no man forbidding him (Act 28:30-31). It is generally believed that on his appeal, to Caesar he was acquitted, and, after some time spent in freedom, was a second time imprisoned at Rome (for proofs, see Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. Paul, ch. 27, and Alford, Gr. Test. vol. 3, ch. 7). Five of his epistles, viz. those to the Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, that to Philemon, and the Second Epistle to Timothy, were, in all probability, written from Rome, the latter shortly before his death (2Ti 4:6), the others during his first imprisonment. SEE HEBREWS, EPISTLE TO THE. It is universally believed that he suffered martyrdom at Rome.

2. The localities in and about Rome especially connected with the life of Paul are

(1) The Appian Way, by which he approached Rome (Act 28:15). SEE APPII FORUM.

(2) The palace, or Cesar’s court ( , Php 1:13). This may mean either the great camp of the Praetorian guards which Tiberius established outside the walls on the northeast of the city (Tacitus, Ann. 4, 2; Suetonius, Tib. 37), or, as seems more probable, a barrack attached to the imperial residence on the Palatine (Wieseler, as quoted by Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. Paul, 2, 423). There is no sufficient proof that the word praetorium was ever used to designate the emperor’s palace, though it is used for the official residence of a Roman governor (Joh 18:28; Act 23:35). The mention of Caesar’s household (Php 4:22) confirms the notion that Paul’s residence was in the immediate neighborhood of the emperor’s house on the Palatine.

3. The connection of other localities at Rome with Paul’s name rests only on traditions of more or less probability. We may mention especially

(1) The Mamertine prison, or Tullianum, built by Ancus Marcius near the Forum (Liv. 1, 33), described by Sallust (Cat. 55). It still exists beneath the Church of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami. Here it is said that Peter and Paul were fellow prisoners for nine months. This is not the place to discuss the question whether Peter was ever at Rome. It may be sufficient to state that though there is no evidence of such a visit in the New Test., unless Babylon in 1Pe 5:13 be a mystical name for Rome, yet early testimony (Dionysius, ap. Euseb. 2, 25) and the universal belief of the early Church seem sufficient to establish the fact of his having suffered martyrdom there. The story, however, of the imprisonment in the Mamertine prison seems inconsistent with 2 Timothy, especially 4:11.

(2) The chapel on the Ostian Roan which marks the spot where the two apostles are said to have separated on their way to martyrdom.

(3) The supposed scene of Paul’s martyrdom, viz. the Church of San Paolo alle tre Fontane, on the Ostian Road. (See the notice of the Ostian Road in Caius, ap. Enseb. H.E. 2, 25.) To these may be added,

(4) The supposed scene of Peter’s martyrdom, viz. the Church of San Pietro in Montorio, on the Janiculum.

(5) The chapel Domine quo Vadis, on the Appian Road, the scene of the beautiful legend of our Lord’s appearance to Peter as he was escaping from martyrdom (Ambrose, Ep. 33).

(6) The places where the bodies of the two apostles, after having been deposited first in the Catacombs () (Euseb. H.E. 2, 25), are supposed to have been finally buried that of Paul by the Ostian Road, that of Peter beneath the dome of the famous basilica which bears his name (see Caius, ap. Euseb. H.E. 2, 25). All these and many other traditions will be found in the Annals of Baronius, under the last year of Nero. Valueless as may be the historical testimony of each of these traditions singly, yet collectively they are of some importance as expressing the consciousness of the 3d and 4th centuries that there had been an early contest, or at least contrast, between the two apostles, which in the end was completely reconciled; and it is this feeling which gives a real interest to the outward forms in which it is brought before us more or less, indeed, in all the south of Europe, but especially in Rome itself (Stanley, Sermons and Essays, p. 101).

4. We must add, as sites unquestionably connected with the Roman Christians of the apostolic age

(1) The gardens of Nero in the Vatican, not far from the spot where St. Peter’s now stands. Here Christians, wrapped in the skins of beasts, were

serve as torches during the midnight games. Others were crucified (Tacitus, 15, 44).

(2) The Catacombs. These subterranean galleries, commonly from eight to ten feet in height, and from four to six in width, and extending for miles, especially in the neighborhood of the old Appian and Nomentan ways, were unquestionably used as places of refuge, of worship, and of burial by the early Christians. It is impossible here to enter upon the difficult question of their origin, and their possible connection with the deep sand pits and subterranean works at Rome mentioned by classical writers. See the story of the murder of Asinius (Cicero, Pro Cluent. 13), and the account of the concealment offered to Nero before his death (Suetonius, Nero, 48). A more complete account of the Catacombs than any previously given may be found in G.B. de Rossi’s Roma Sotteriana Christiana (1864 sq.). Some very interesting notices of this work, and descriptions of the Roman Catacombs, are given in Burgon’s Letters from Rome, p. 120-258. De Rossi finds his earliest dated inscription A.D. 71. From that date to A.D. 300 there are not known to exist so many as thirty Christian inscriptions bearing dates. Of undated inscriptions, however, about 4000 are referable to the period antecedent to the emperor Constantine (Burgon, p. 148). SEE CATACOMBS. The lately exhumed foundations of the Church of St. Clement are confidently claimed as relics of the same age (Mullooly, Clement’s Basilicta in Rome [Rome, 1873, 8vo]). SEE CLEMENT.

Linus (who is mentioned in 2Ti 4:21) and Clement (Php 4:3) are supposed to have succeeded Peter as bishops of Rome. SEE LINUS.

IV. Mystical Titles. Rome, as being their tyrannical mistress, was an object of special hatred to the Jews, who therefore denominated her by the name of Babylon the state in whose dominions they had endured a long and heavy servitude (Schottgel, Hot. Heb. 1, 1125; Eisenmenger, Entdeckt. Judenth. 1, 1800). Accordingly Rome, under the name of Babylon, is set forth in the Apocalypse (Rev 14:8; Rev 16:19; Rev 17:5; Rev 18:2) as the center and representative of heathenism; while Jerusalem appears as the symbol of Judaism. In Rev 17:9 allusion is clearly made to the Septicollis, the seven-hilled city seven mountains on which the woman sitteth. The description of this woman, in whom the profligacy of Rome is vividly personified, may be seen in Revelation 17. In ch. 13 Rome is pictured as a huge, unnatural beast, whose name or number is the number of a man, and his number is , 666, not improbably Latinos, , Latin, Roman. This beast has been most variously interpreted. The several theories serve scarcely more than to display the ingenuity or the bigotry of their originators, and to destroy each other. Minter (De Occulto Urbis Romoe Nomine [Hafn. 1811]) thinks there is a reference to the secret name of Rome, the disclosure of which, it was thought, would be destructive to the state (Pliny, list. Nat. 3, 9; Macrobius, Sat. 3, 5; Plutarch, Quoest. Rom. c. 61; Servius, Ad AEn. 2, 293). Pliny’s words occur in the midst of a long and picturesque account of Italy. Coming in the course of it to speak of Rome, he says, the uttering of whose other name is accounted impious, and when it had been spoken by Valerius Soranus, who immediately suffered the penalty, it was blotted out with a faith no less excellent than beneficial. He then proceeds to speak of the rites observed on the first of January, in connection with this belief, in honor of Diva Angerona, whose image appeared with her mouth bound and sealed up. This mystic name tradition reports to have been Valencia.

One of the most recent views of the name of the beast, from the pen of a Christian writer, we find in Hyponoia, or Thoughts on a Spiritual Understanding of the Apocalypse (Lond. 1844). The number in question (666) is expressed in Greek by three letters of the alphabet: , six hundred; 10, sixty; , six. Let us suppose these letters to be the initials of certain names, as it was common with the ancients in their inscriptions to indicate names of distinguished characters by initial letters, and sometimes by an additional letter, as C. Caius, Cn. Cneus. The Greek letter (ch) is the initial of (Christ); the letter is the initial of (wood or tree); sometimes figuratively put in the New Test. for the cross. The last letter, is equivalent to and , but whether an s or an st, it is the initial of the word Satanas, Satan, or the adversary. Taking the first two names in the genitive, and the last in the nominative, we have the following appellation, name, or title: , the adversary of the cross of Christ,’ a character corresponding with that of certain enemies of the truth described by Paul (Php 3:19). SEE NUMBER OF THE BEAST.

Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Rome

the most celebrated city in the world at the time of Christ. It is said to have been founded B.C. 753. When the New Testament was written, Rome was enriched and adorned with the spoils of the world, and contained a population estimated at 1,200,000, of which the half were slaves, and including representatives of nearly every nation then known. It was distinguished for its wealth and luxury and profligacy. The empire of which it was the capital had then reached its greatest prosperity.

On the day of Pentecost there were in Jerusalem “strangers from Rome,” who doubtless carried with them back to Rome tidings of that great day, and were instrumental in founding the church there. Paul was brought to this city a prisoner, where he remained for two years (Acts 28:30, 31) “in his own hired house.” While here, Paul wrote his epistles to the Philippians, to the Ephesians, to the Colossians, to Philemon, and probably also to the Hebrews. He had during these years for companions Luke and Aristarchus (Acts 27:2), Timothy (Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:1), Tychicus (Eph. 6: 21), Epaphroditus (Phil. 4:18), and John Mark (Col. 4:10). (See PAUL)

Beneath this city are extensive galleries, called “catacombs,” which were used from about the time of the apostles (one of the inscriptions found in them bears the date A.D. 71) for some three hundred years as places of refuge in the time of persecution, and also of worship and burial. About four thousand inscriptions have been found in the catacombs. These give an interesting insight into the history of the church at Rome down to the time of Constantine.

Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary

Rome

Paul’s first visit was between the restoration by Augustus, whose boast was “he had found the city of brick and left it of marble” (Suet., Aug. 28), and that by Nero after its conflagration. His residence was near the “barrack” (praetorium) attached to the imperial palace on the Palatine (Phi 1:13). (See PALACE.) Modern Rome lies N. of ancient Rome, covering the Campus Martius, or “plain” to the N. of the seven hills; the latter (Rev 17:9), the nucleus of the old city, stand on the left bank. On the opposite side of the Tiber is the higher ridge, Janiculum, also the Vatican. The Mamertine prison where legend makes Peter and Paul to have been fellow prisoners for nine months is still under the church of Giuseppe dei Falegnani; but see 2Ti 4:11. (See PETER.)

The chapel on the Ostian road marks the legendary site of the two parting for martyrdom. The church of Paolo alle Tre Fontane on the Ostian road is the alleged site of Paul’s martyrdom. The church of Pietro in Montorio on the Janiculum is that of Peter’s martyrdom. The chapel “Domine quo Vadis?” on the Appian road marks where Peter in the legend met the Lord, as he was fleeing from martyrdom. (See PETER.) The bodies of the two apostles first lay in the catacombs (“cemeteries” or sleeping places: Eusebius, H. E. ii. 25); then Paul’s body was buried by the Ostian road, Peter’s beneath the dome of the famous basilica called after him (Caius, in Eusebius, H. E. ii. 25). All this is mere tradition.

Real sites are the Colosseum and Nero’s gardens in the Vatican near to Peter’s; in them Christians wrapped in beasts’ skins were torn by dogs, or clothed in inflammable stuffs were burnt as torches during the midnight games! Others were crucified (Tacitus, Annals xv. 44). The catacombs, “subterranean galleries” (whether sand pits or excavations originally is uncertain), from eight to ten feet, high, and four to six wide extending for miles, near the Appian and Nomentane ways, were used by the early Christians as places of refuge, worship, and burial. The oldest inscription is A.D. 71; thence to A.D. 300 less than thirty Christian inscriptions are known bearing dates, 4,000 undated are considered anterior to Constantine.

Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary

ROME

Within a hundred years of the rise of Greek power under Alexander the Great (334-331 BC), Rome had begun to overrun colonies of the Greek Empire and form them into outlying provinces of Rome. Rome first came into prominence in the affairs of Palestine when the Roman general Pompey seized control of Jerusalem and brought Judea under Roman control (63 BC).

The Roman Empire

After the assassination of Julius Caesar (44 BC), Rome went through a disastrous time of civil war, political confusion and social turmoil. Thousands of people were poor and unable to find work. There was little law and order, corruption was widespread, and ambitious army commanders were constantly plotting for more power.

Out of this instability and tension there arose a leader who was able firstly to control and then to correct the disorders. In 27 BC he took the name Caesar Augustus and became the first ruler of what became known as the Roman Empire (Luk 2:1). The people held him in such honour that rulers of the Roman Empire after him took his name Caesar as the title of the Emperor (Luk 3:1; Luk 20:22; Act 17:7; Act 25:11; Act 25:25).

There was a widespread feeling of gratitude to Augustus for the peace and order that he brought, and people began praising him as if he were a god. This marked the beginning of Emperor worship, which developed into the official religion of the Empire. The Romans tolerated other religions, provided they had first been registered with the government. But the law still required all people to carry out acts of worship to the Emperors image, even though they may have belonged to some other (registered) religion.

The Romans did not force Jews to obey this law, as they knew that Jews would not bow to any idol. Christians also refused to worship before the Emperors image, but as long as the Roman officials thought that Christianity was merely a sect within the Jewish religion, they took no action against the Christians. However, once they knew that Christianity was a new religion, different from Judaism and therefore outside Roman law, they persecuted the Christians cruelly.

One of the severest outbreaks of persecution occurred after the great fire of Rome (AD 64), which the Emperor Nero blamed on the Christians. At the same time the Romans were becoming increasingly impatient with the Jews, particularly the Jerusalem Jews, who were angry at Romes mismanagement of their affairs. A Jewish political group known as the Zealots (or Patriots) were so opposed to Roman rule that they were prepared to fight against it (see ZEALOT). The outcome was that the Romans came and, after overcoming stubborn Jewish resistance, destroyed Jerusalem without mercy (AD 70). The fall of Jerusalem marked not only the downfall of the Jewish nation, but also the end of Judaisms dominance as a religious force.

By this time the Roman Empire extended over much of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. It lasted for at least another three hundred years, but then began to fall apart. Finally, in AD 476, Rome itself was overthrown by the Germans.

Provinces of the Empire

From the days of the Empires beginnings, Romes plan was to place a Roman governor in charge of each province of the territory it seized. A series of events in AD 37 resulted in a different arrangement for the province of Judea (which included the region commonly known as Samaria). The ruler over Judea was not a Roman but a Palestinian (Herod the Great) who had persuaded Rome to appoint him king of Judea. He was not a sovereign king, for he was under the overall control of Rome (see HEROD).

In BC 4, Herod the Great died and his son Archelaus succeeded him. Archelaus was so cruel and unjust that in AD 6 the Jews of Judea asked Rome to remove him and rule them directly through their own officials. From that time on, Judea was ruled by Roman governors (or procurators). The only exception to this was a period of about three years from AD 41 to 44, when Herod Agrippa I was governor over almost the entire region once ruled by his grandfather, Herod the Great (Act 12:1-4; Act 12:20-23).

Roman governors of Judea mentioned in the Bible are Pontius Pilate (AD 26-36; Luk 3:1; Luk 13:1; Luk 23:1; Luk 23:6; Luk 23:24; Joh 18:29-38; Joh 19:38), Felix (AD 52-59; Act 23:26; Act 23:33; Act 24:25) and Porcius Festus (AD 59-62; Act 25:1-5; Act 25:13-14; Act 26:24). Caesarea, a city built on the Mediterranean coast by Herod the Great, was the administrative centre for the province of Judea. The governor usually went to Jerusalem during Jewish festivals to help maintain law and order in the city (Act 23:33; Act 25:1-6; cf. Mat 27:1-2; Mar 14:1-2).

Since the possibility always existed that riots could break out in the provinces, governors were ready to act as soon as any sign of rebellion appeared (Joh 11:48-50; Act 17:6-9; Act 19:40; Act 21:31-36). They were also responsible for the administration of justice and the collection of taxes (Luk 2:1; Act 19:38; Act 25:9-10; Rom 13:1-7). Administrators in some of the provinces were called proconsuls (Act 13:7; Act 18:12; Act 19:38).

There was widespread travel throughout the Roman Empire. Government officials, businessmen and soldiers moved to all parts of the Empire, often settling in places that the Romans called colonies. These were towns established as centres of Roman life in the non-Roman world of the provinces, and their citizens had the privileges of Roman citizenship and self-government. Pisidian Antioch, Lystra, Troas, Corinth and Philippi were all Roman colonies (Act 16:12). The Romans built an extensive system of roads to link these and other major towns to Rome and to each other.

Paul appreciated the stability that Roman rule produced and the advantages that the governments development programs provided for the spread of Christianity (Rom 13:1-7; cf. 1Pe 2:13-17). Like the Romans he had a spirit of enterprise, a mind for planning and a vision for the world (Rom 15:19-20; 2Co 10:16; Col 1:6). He moved from province to province along the Roman roads, aiming to establish churches in the major towns. Once strong churches were established in these towns, the gospel would spread quickly into the regions round about (Act 13:14; Act 13:49; Act 14:1; Act 14:6-7; Act 14:20-21; Act 14:24; see MISSION). In particular, Paul saw the importance of having a strong church at the centre of the Empire (Act 19:21; Rom 1:9-13; Rom 15:14-15; Rom 15:23-24).

Roman citizenship

Originally a Roman citizen was a person who lived in Rome, where citizens enjoyed special privileges given them by the Emperor. Later, the Roman government extended this citizenship to people of other cities and provinces. They extended it also to people who had given outstanding service to the Empire, and even to those who could afford to buy it (Act 22:28 a). This citizenship passed on to the persons children (Act 22:28 b). People did not have to be of Roman blood to be Roman citizens (Act 16:37; Php 3:5).

Those who were Roman citizens had rights not enjoyed by other citizens. They could not be beaten by local officials (Act 16:36-39; Act 22:25-29) and could not be executed without a verdict from a general meeting of the people. If they were not satisfied with the standard of justice they received, they could appeal direct to the Emperor (Act 25:10-12; Act 25:25-27; Act 26:32; Act 27:1-2; Act 28:16).

The city of Rome

Built on the famous seven hills in 753 BC, Rome was one of the worlds great cities. In the era of the New Testament it had a population of more than one million. Included in this population were people of many nationalities, some of whom the Romans expelled if they thought they were going to become troublemakers (Act 18:2).

The Bible does not say how the church in Rome began. The church may have been formed partly by Romans who were converted in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost and who took their new-found faith back to Rome (cf. Act 2:10; Act 2:14; Act 2:41). In addition, Christians from other parts of the Empire no doubt travelled to and from Rome or went there to live, and these might have had some part in founding the church there (Rom 16:1-16). Pauls letter to the church in Rome makes it clear that at the time of writing he had not yet visited Rome (Rom 1:10-15; Rom 15:20-22; see ROMANS, LETTER TO THE).

Paul was at one time held prisoner in Rome for two years (Act 28:16; Act 28:20; Act 28:30). This was most likely the time during which he wrote the letters known to us as Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians and Philippians (Eph 6:20; Php 1:13; Col 4:10; Philem 23). At the end of his two years imprisonment Paul almost certainly was released, though we cannot be sure of the details of his later movements.

After further travels Paul was arrested and taken to Rome as a prisoner once again, but this time he knew he had little chance of being released (2Ti 1:17; 2Ti 2:9; 2Ti 4:6-8). From Rome he wrote his last letter, a personal note to Timothy known to us as 2 Timothy. It seems that soon after writing the letter he was beheaded (about AD 62).

Possibly about this time Peter arrived in Rome, along with Silas (or Silvanus), his fellow worker. Using Silas as his secretary, Peter wrote a letter to the churches of the northern part of Asia Minor that he had helped to evangelize. In this letter (known to us as 1 Peter) he referred to Rome symbolically as Babylon (1Pe 5:12-13).

The reason for this use of Babylon as a name for Rome was that Rome, like Babylon of Old Testament times, was the clear expression of human rebellion against God. It was the embodiment of that spirit by which arrogant human beings, in the pride of their power and achievements, defy God and persecute his people (Revelation 17). The downfall of Babylon pictures more than the downfall of Rome. It pictures the final overthrow of the entire world system that people have built and organized in opposition to God and his people (Revelation 18).

Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

Rome

ROME.The beginnings of Rome are shrouded in obscurity. The city was situated on the left bank of the Tiber, about 18 miles from its mouth. The original Rome was built on one hill only, the Palatine, but the neighbouring hills were successively included, and about the middle of the sixth century b.c., according to tradition, a wall was built to enclose the enlarged city. The whole circuit of this wall was about 5 miles, and it was pierced by nineteen gates. Within these was a large area of vacant spaces, which were gradually built on later, and at the beginning of the Empire (roughly middle of 1st cent. b.c.) not only was the city congested with buildings, but large areas without the wall were also covered with houses. The Roman Forum, an open space measuring over 300 ft. in length, and about 150 ft. in breadth, was the centre of political, legal, and commercial life. At one end was the rostra or platform, from which speeches were delivered to the public; at the other end were shops. It was flanked by the senate-house and law-courts. On the top of the Capitoline Hill was the Capitolium, or great temple dedicated to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, and on the Palatine Hill the principal residence of the Emperor, and the Temple of Apollo, containing the public libraries, Greek and Latin. In the Imperial period four additional fora were built, devoted entirely to legal, literary, and religious purposesthe Forum Iulium begun by Julius Csar, the Forum Augustum built by Augustus, the Forum Transitorium completed by Nerva, and the Forum Traiani built by Trajanthe most splendid work of Imperial times. Various estimates of the population of Rome in the time of Christ have been given: 2,000,000 seems not unlikely. All nationalities in the Empire were representedamong them many Jews, who were expelled by Claudius in a.d. 50, but returned at his death four years later. The slave population was very large.

The Romans began as one of the members of the Latin league, of which, having become presidents, they eventually became masters. After conquering Latium they were inevitably brought into conflict with the other races of Italy, over most of which they were sovereign about the middle of the 3rd cent. b.c. The extension of Roman territory steadily continued until, in the time of Christ, it included, roughly, Europe (except the British Isles, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Russia), the whole of Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and the north-west of Africa.

The Roman State was at first ruled by kings, but these gave place to two rulers, known later as consuls. Their powers were gradually circumscribed by the devolution of some of their duties on other magistrates. The period of steady accession of territory was coincident with a bitter struggle between the patrician and the plebeian classes, both of which comprised free citizens. The contest between the orders lasted for about two centuries, and at the end of that period all the offices of State were equally open to both. This was not, however, the establishment of a real democracy, but the beginning of a struggle between the governing class and the mass of the people, which eventually brought the Republic to an end. The civil wars, which during the last century of its existence had almost destroyed it, had shown clearly that peace could be reached only under the rule of one man. The need of the time was satisfied by Augustus, who ruled as autocrat under constitutional forms: the appearance of a republic was retained, but the reality was gone, and the appearance itself gradually disappeared also. For the city of Rome the Empire was a time of luxury and idleness, but the provinces entered upon an era of progressive prosperity. The Emperor was responsible for the government of all provinces where an army was necessary (for instance, Syria), and governed these by paid deputies of his own. The older and more settled provinces were governed by officials appointed by the senate, but the Emperor had his financial interests attended to by procurators of his own even in these. Under the Empire the provinces were much more protected against the rapacity and cruelty of governors than in Republican times. The Emperors themselves stood for just as well as efficient administration, and most of them gave a noble example by strenuous devotion to administrative business.

The resident Romans in any province consisted of (1) the officials connected with the Government, who were generally changed annually; (2) members of the great financial companies and lesser business men, whose interests kept them there; (3) citizens of coloni (or military settlements), which were really parts of Rome itself set down in the provinces; (4) soldiers of the garrison and their officers; (5) distinguished natives of the province, who, for services rendered to the Roman State, were individually gifted with the citizenship. Such must have been one of the ancestors of St. Paul. The honour was not conferred on all the inhabitants of the Empire till 212 a.d., and in NT times those who possessed it constituted the aristocracy of the communities in which they lived.

The Romans have left a great legacy to the world. As administrators, lawyers, soldiers, engineers, architects, and builders they have never been surpassed. In literature they depended mainly on the Greeks, as in sculpture, music, painting, and medicine. In the arts they never attained more than a respectable standard.

A. Souter.

Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible

Rome

rom.

I.DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLICAN CONSTITUTION

1.Original Roman State

2.The Struggle between Patricians and Plebeians

3.The Senate and Magistrates

4.Underlying Principles

II.EXTENSION OF ROMAN SOVEREIGNTY

III.THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT

1.Imperial Authority

2.Three Classes of Citizens

IV.ROMAN RELIGION

1.Deities

2.Religious Decay

V.ROME AND THE JEWS

1.Judea under Roman Procurators and Governors

2.Jewish Proselytism

VI.ROME AND THE CHRISTIANS

1.Introduction of Christianity

2.Tolerance and Proscription

3.Persecution

LITERATURE

Rome (Latin and Italian, Roma; , Rhome): The capital of the Roman republic and empire, later the center of Lot Christendom, and since 1871 capital of the kingdom of Italy, is situated mainly on the left bank of the Tiber about 15 miles from the Mediterranean Sea in 41 degrees 53′ 54 inches North latitude and 12 degrees 0′ 12 inches longitude East of Greenwich.

It would be impossible in the limited space assigned to this article to give even a comprehensive outline of the ancient history of the Eternal City. It will suit the general purpose of the work to consider the relations of the Roman government and society with the Jews and Christians, and, in addition, to present a rapid survey of the earlier development of Roman institutions and power, so as to provide the necessary historical setting for the appreciation of the more essential subjects.

I. Development of the Republican Constitution.

1. Original Roman State:

The traditional chronology for the earliest period of Roman history is altogether unreliable, partly because the Gauls, in ravaging the city in 390 BC, destroyed the monuments which might have offered faithful testimony of the earlier period (Livy vi. 1). It is known that there was a settlement on the site of Rome before the traditional date of the founding (753 BC). The original Roman state was the product of the coalition of a number of adjacent clan-communities, whose names were perpetuated in the Roman genres, or groups of imaginary kindred, a historical survival which had lost all significance in the period of authentic history. The chieftains of the associated clans composed the primitive senate or council of elders, which exercised sovereign authority. But as is customary in the development of human society a military or monarchical regime succeeded the looser patriarchal or sacerdotal organs of authority. This second stage may be identified with the legendary rule of the Tarquins, which was probably a period of Etruscan domination. The confederacy of clans was welded into a homogeneous political entity, and society was organized for civic ends, upon a timocratic basis. The forum was drained and became a social, industrial and political center, and the Capitoline temple of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva (Etruscan pseudo-Hellenic deities) was erected as a common shrine for all the people. But above all the Romans are indebted to these foreign kings for a training in discipline and obedience which was exemplified in the later conception of magisterial authority signified by the term imperium.

The prerogatives of the kings passed over to the consuls. The reduction of the tenure of power to a single year and the institution of the principle of colleagueship were the earliest checks to the abuse of unlimited authority. But the true cornerstone of Roman liberty was thought to be the lexicon Valeria, which provided that no citizen should be put to death by a magistrate without being allowed the right of appeal to the decision of the assembly of the people.

2. The Struggle Between Patricians and Plebeians:

A period of more than 150 years after the establishment of the republic was consumed chiefly by the struggle between the two classes or orders, the patricians and plebeians. The former were the descendants of the original clans and constituted the populus, or body-politic, in a more particular sense. The plebeians were descendants of former slaves and dependents, or of strangers who had been attracted to Rome by the obvious advantages for industry and trade. They enjoyed the franchise as members of the military assembly (comitia centuriata), but had no share in the magistracies or other civic honors and emoluments, and were excluded from the knowledge of the civil law which was handed down in the patrician families as an oral tradition.

The first step in the progress of the plebeians toward political equality was taken when they wrested from the patricians the privilege of choosing representatives from among themselves, the tribunes, whose function of bearing aid to oppressed plebeians was rendered effective by the right of veto (intercessio), by virtue of which any act of a magistrate could be arrested. The codification of the law in the Twelve Tables was a distinct advantage to the lower classes, because the evils which they had suffered were largely due to a harsh and abusive interpretation of legal institutions, the nature of which had been obscure (see ROMAN LAW). The abrogation, directly thereafter, of the prohibition of intermarriage between the classes resulted in their gradual intermingling.

3. The Senate and Magistrates:

The kings had reduced the senate to the position of a mere advising body. But under the republican regime it recovered in fact the authority of which it was deprived in theory. The controlling power of the senate is the most significant feature of the republican government, although it was recognized by no statute or other constitutional document. It was due in part to the diminution of the power of the magistrates, and in part to the manner in which the senators were chosen. The lessening of the authority of the magistrates was the result of the increase in their number, which led not only to the curtailment of the actual prerogative of each, but also to the contraction of their aggregate independent influence. The augmentation of the number of magistrates was made necessary by the territorial expansion of the state and the elaboration of administration. But it was partly the result of plebeian agitation. The events of 367 BC may serve as a suitable example to illustrate the action of these influences. For when the plebeians carried by storm the citadel of patrician exclusiveness in gaining admission to the consulship, the highest regular magistracy, the necessity for another magistrate with general competency afforded an opportunity for making a compensating concession to the patricians, and the praetorship was created, to which at first members of the old aristocracy were alone eligible. Under the fully developed constitution the regular magistracies were five in number, consulship, praetorship, aedileship, tribunate, and quaestorship, all of which were filled by annual elections.

Mention has been made of the manner of choosing the members of the senate as a factor in the development of the authority of the supreme council. At first the highest executive officers of the state exercised the right of selecting new members to maintain the senators at the normal number of three hundred. Later this function was transferred to the censors who were elected at intervals of five years. But custom and later statute ordained that the most distinguished citizens should be chosen, and in the Roman community the highest standard of distinction was service to the state, in other words, the holding of public magistracies. It followed, therefore, that the senate was in reality an assembly of all living ex-magistrates. The senate included, moreover, all the political wisdom and experience of the community, and so great was its prestige for these reasons, that, although the expression of its opinion (senatus consultum) was endowed by law with no compelling force, it inevitably guided the conduct of the consulting magistrate, who was practically its minister, rather than its president.

When the plebeians gained admission to the magistracies, the patriciate lost its political significance. But only the wealthier plebeian families were able to profit by this extension of privilege, inasmuch as a political career required freedom from gainful pursuits and also personal influence. These plebeian families readily coalesced with the patricians and formed a new aristocracy, which is called the nobilitas for the sake of distinction. It rested ultimately upon the foundation of wealth. The dignity conferred by the holding of public magistracies was its title to distinction. The senate was its organ. Rome was never a true democracy except in theory. During the whole period embraced between the final levelling of the old distinctions based upon blood (287 BC) and the beginning of the period of revolution (133 BC), the magistracies were occupied almost exclusively by the representatives of the comparatively limited number of families which constituted the aristocracy. These alone entered the senate through the doorway of the magistracies, and the data would almost justify us in asserting that the republican and senatorial government were substantially and chronologically identical.

The seeds of the political and social revolution were sown during the Second Punic War and the period which followed it. The prorogation of military authority established a dangerous precedent in violation of the spirit of the republic, so that Pub. Cornelius Scipio was really the forerunner of Marius, Julius Caesar, and Augustus. The stream of gold which found its way from the provinces to Rome was a bait to attract the cupidity of the less scrupulous senators, and led to the growth of the worst kind of professionalism in politics. The middle class of small farmers decayed for various reasons; the allurement of service in the rich but effete countries of the Orient attracted many. The cheapness of slaves made independent farming unprofitable and led to the increase in large estates; the cultivation of grain was partly displaced by that of the vine and olive, which were less suited to the habits and ability of the older class of farmers.

The more immediate cause of the revolution was the inability of the senate as a whole to control the conduct of its more radical or violent members. For as political ambition became more ardent with the increase in the material prizes to be gained, aspiring leaders turned their attention to the people, and sought to attain the fulfillment o.f their purposes by popular legislation setting at nought the concurrence of the senate, which custom had consecrated as a requisite preliminary for popular action. The loss of initiative by the senate meant the subversion of senatorial government. The senate possessed in the veto power of the tribunes a weapon for coercing unruly magistrates, for one of the ten tribunes could always be induced to interpose his veto to prohibit the passage of popular legislation. But this weapon was broken when Tib. Gracchus declared in 133 BC that a tribune who opposed the wishes of the people was no longer their representative, and sustained this assertion.

4. Underlying Principles:

It would be foreign to the purpose of the present article to trace the vicissitudes of the civil strife of the last century of the republic. A few words will suffice to suggest the general principles which lay beneath the surface of political and social phenomena. Attention has been called to the ominous development of the influence of military commanders and the increasing emphasis of popular favor. These were the most important tendencies throughout this period, and the coalition of the two was fatal to the supremacy of the senatorial government. Marius after winning unparalleled military glory formed a political alliance with Glaucia and Saturninus, the leaders of the popular faction in the city in 100 BC. This was a turning-point in the course of the revolution. But the importance of the sword soon outweighed that of the populace in the combination which was thus constituted. In the civil wars of Marius and Sulla constitutional questions were decided for the first time by superiority of military strength exclusively. Repeated appeals to brute force dulled the perception for constitutional restraints and the rights of minorities. The senate had already displayed signs of partial paralysis at the time of the Gracchi. How rapidly its debility must have increased as the sword cut off its most stalwart members! Its power expired in the proscriptions, or organized murder of political opponents. The popular party was nominally triumphant, but in theory the Roman state was still an urban commonwealth with a single political center. The franchise could be exercised only at Rome. It followed from this that the actual political assemblies were made up largely of the worthless element which was so numerous in the city, whose irrational instincts were guided and controlled by shrewd political leaders, particularly those who united in themselves military ability and the wiles of the demagogue. Sulla, Crassus, Julius Caesar, Antony, and lastly Octavian were in effect the ancient counterpart of the modern political boss. When such men realized their ultimate power and inevitable rivalry, the ensuing struggle for supremacy and for the survival of the fittest formed the necessary process of elimination leading naturally to the establishment of the monarchy, which was in this case the rule of the last survivor. When Octavian received the title Augustus and the proconsular power (27 BC), the transformation was accomplished.

Literature.

The standard work on Roman political institutions is Mommsen and Marquardt, Handbuch der klassischen Altertumer. Abbott, Roman Political Institutions, Boston and London, 1901, offers a useful summary treatment of the subject.

II. Extension of Roman Sovereignty.

See ROMAN EMPIRE AND CHRISTIANITY, I.

Literature.

Only the most important general works on Roman history can be mentioned: Ihne, Romische Geschichte (2nd edition), Leipzig, 1893-96, English translation, Longmans, London, 1871-82; Mommsen, History of Rome, English translation by Dickson, New York, 1874; Niebuhr, History of Rome, English translation by Hare and Thirlwall, Cambridge, 1831-32; Pais, Storia di Roma, Turin, 1898-99; Ferrero, Greatness and Decline of Rome, English translation by Zimmern, New York, 1909.

III. The Imperial Government.

1. Imperial Authority:

Augustus displayed considerable tact in blending his own mastery in the state with the old institutions of the republican constitution. His authority, legally, rested mainly upon the tribunician power, which he had probably received as early as 36 BC, but which was established on a better basis in 23 BC, and the proconsular prerogative (imperiurn proconsulare), conferred in 27 BC. By virtue of the first he was empowered to summon the senate or assemblies and could veto the action of almost any magistrate. The second title of authority conferred upon him the command of the military forces of the state and consequently the administration of the provinces where troops were stationed, besides a general supervision over the government of the other provinces. It follows that a distinction was made (27 BC) between the imperial provinces which were administered by the emperor’s representatives (legati Augusti pro praetore) and the senatorial provinces where the republican machinery of administration was retained. The governors of the latter were called generally proconsuls (see PROVINCE). Mention is made of two proconsuls in the New Testament, Gallio in Achaia (Act 18:12) and Sergius Paulus in Cyprus (Act 13:7). It is instructive to compare the lenient and common-sense attitude of these trained Roman aristocrats with that of the turbulent local mobs who dealt with Paul in Asia Minor, Judea, or Greece (Tucker, Life in the Roman World of Nero and Paul, New York, 1910, 95).

2. Three Classes of Citizens:

Roman citizens were still divided into three classes socially, senatorial, equestrian, and plebeian, and the whole system of government harmonized with this triple division. The senatorial class was composed of descendants of senators and those upon whom the emperors conferred the latus clavus, or privilege of wearing the tunic with broad purple border, the sign of membership in this order. The quaestorship was still the door of admission to the senate. The qualifications for membership in the senate were the possession of senatorial rank and property of the value of not less than 1,000,000 sesterces ($45,000). Tiberius transferred the election of magistrates from the people to the senate, which was already practically a closed body. Under the empire senatus consulta received the force of law. Likewise the senate acquired judicial functions, sitting as a court of justice for trying important criminal cases and hearing appeals in civil cases from the senatorial provinces. The equestrian class was made up of those who possessed property of the value of 400,000 sesterces or more, and the privilege of wearing the narrow purple band on the tunic. With the knights the emperors filled many important financial and administrative positions in Italy and the provinces which were under their control.

IV. Roman Religion.

1. Deities:

(1) The Roman religion was originally more consistent than the Greek, because the deities as conceived by the unimaginative Latin genius were entirely without human character. They were the influences or forces which directed the visible phenomena of the physical world, whose favor was necessary to the material prosperity of mankind. It would be incongruous to assume the existence of a system of theological doctrines in the primitive period. Ethical considerations entered to only a limited extent into the attitude of the Romans toward their gods. Religion partook of the nature of a contract by which men pledged themselves to the scrupulous observance of certain sacrifices and other ceremonies, and in return deemed themselves entitled to expect the active support of the gods in bringing their projects to a fortunate conclusion. The Romans were naturally polytheists as a result of their conception of divinity. Since before the dawn of science there was no semblance of unity in the natural world, there could be no unity in heaven. There must be a controlling spirit over every important object or class of objects, every person, and every process of nature. The gods, therefore, were more numerous than mankind itself.

(2) At an early period the government became distinctly secular. The priests were the servants of the community for preserving the venerable aggregation of formulas and ceremonies, many of which lost at an early period such spirit as they once possessed. The magistrates were the true representatives of the community in its relationship with the deities both in seeking the divine will in the auspices and in performing the more important sacrifices.

(3) The Romans at first did not make statues of their gods. This was partly due to lack of skill, but mainly to the vagueness of their conceptions of the higher beings. Symbols sufficed to signify their existence, a spear, for instance, standing for Mars. The process of reducing the gods to human form was inaugurated when they came into contact with the Etruscans and Greeks. The Tarquins summoned Etruscan artisans and artists to Rome, who made from terra cotta cult statues and a pediment group for the Capitoline temple.

The types of the Greek deities had already been definitely established when the Hellenic influence in molding Roman culture became predominant. When the form of the Greek gods became familiar to the Romans in works of sculpture, they gradually supplanted those Roman deities with which they were nominally identified as a result of a real or fancied resemblance. See GREECE, RELIGION IN.

(4) The importation of new gods was a comparatively easy matter. Polytheism is by its nature tolerant because of its indefiniteness. The Romans could no more presume to have exhaustive knowledge of the gods than they could pretend to possess a comprehensive acquaintance with the universe. The number of their gods increased of necessity as human consciousness of natural phenomena expanded. Besides, it was customary to invite the gods of conquered cities to transfer their abode to Rome and favor the Romans in their undertakings. But the most productive source for religious expansion was the Sibylline Books. See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, V. This oracular work was brought to Rome from Cumae, a center of the cult of Apollo. It was consulted at times of crisis with a view to discover what special ceremonies would secure adequate divine aid. The forms of worship recommended by the Sibylline Books were exclusively Greek As early as the 5th century BC the cult of Apollo was introduced at Rome. Heracles and the Dioscuri found their way thither about the same time. Later Italian Diana was merged with Artemis, and the group of Ceres, Liber, and Libera were identified with foreign Demeter, Dionysus, and Persephone. Thus Roman religion became progressively Hellenized. By the close of the Second Punic War the greater gods of Greece had all found a home by the Tiber, and the myriad of petty local deities who found no counterpart in the celestial beings of Mt. Olympus fell into oblivion. Their memory was retained by the antiquarian lore of the priests alone. See ROMAN EMPIRE AND CHRISTIANITY, III, 1.

2. Religious Decay:

Roman religion received with the engrafted branches of Greek religion the germs of rapid decay, for its Hellenization made Roman religion peculiarly susceptible to the attack of philosophy. The cultivated class in Greek society was already permeated with skepticism. The philosophers made the gods appear ridiculous. Greek philosophy gained a firm foothold in Rome in the 2nd century BC, and it became customary a little later to look upon Athens as a sort of university town where the sons of the aristocracy should be sent for the completion of their education in the schools of the philosophers. Thus at the termination of the republican era religious faith had departed from the upper classes largely, and during the turmoil of the civil wars even the external ceremonies were often abandoned and many temples fell into ruins. There had never been any intimate connection between formal religion and conduct, except when the faith of the gods was invoked to insure the fulfillment of sworn promises.

Augustus tried in every way to restore the old religion, rebuilding no fewer than 82 temples which lay in ruins at Rome. A revival of religious faith did occur under the empire, although its spirit was largely alien to that which had been displayed in the performance of the official cult. The people remained superstitious, even when the cultivated classes adopted a skeptical philosophy. The formal religion of the state no longer appealed to them, since it offered nothing to the emotions or hopes. On the other hand the sacramental, mysterious character of oriental religions inevitably attracted them. This is the reason why the religions of Egypt and Syria spread over the empire and exercised an immeasurable influence in the moral life of the people. The partial success of Judaism and the ultimate triumph of Christianity may be ascribed in part to the same causes.

In concluding we should bear in mind that the state dictated no system of theology, that the empire in the beginning presented the spectacle of a sort of religious chaos where all national cults were guaranteed protection, that Roman polytheism was naturally tolerant, and that the only form of religion which the state could not endure was one which was equivalent to an attack upon the system of polytheism as a whole, since this would imperil the welfare of the community by depriving the deities of the offerings and other services in return for which their favor could be expected.

Literature.

Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung, III, 3, Das Sacralwesen; Wissowa, Religion u. Kultus der Romer, Munich, 1902; Boissier, La religion romaine, Paris, 1884.

V. Rome and the Jews.

1. Judea Under Roman Procurators and Governors:

Judaea became a part of the province of Syria in 63 BC (Josephus, BJ, vii, 7), and Hyrcanus, brother of the last king, remained as high priest (archiereus kai ethnarches; Josephus, Ant., XIV, iv, 4) invested with judicial as well as sacerdotal functions. But Antony and Octavius gave Palestine (40 BC) as a kingdom to Herod, surnamed the Great, although his rule did not become effective until 3 years later. His sovereignty was upheld by a Roman legion stationed at Jerusalem (Josephus, Ant., XV, iii, 7), and he was obliged to pay tribute to the Roman government and provide auxiliaries for the Roman army (Appian, Bell. Civ., v. 75). Herod built Caesarea in honor of Augustus (Josephus, Ant., XV, ix, 6), and the Roman procurators later made it the seat of government. At his death in 4 BC the kingdom was divided between his three surviving sons, the largest portion falling to Archelaus, who ruled Judea, Samaria and Idumaea with the title ethnarches (Josephus, Ant., XVII, xi, 4) until 6 AD, when he was deposed and his realm reduced to the position of a province. The administration by Roman procurators (see PROCURATOR), which was now established, was interrupted during the period 41-44 AD, when royal authority was exercised by Herod Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great, over the lands which had been embraced in the kingdom of his grandfather (Josephus, Ant., XIX, viii, 2), and, after 53 AD, Agrippa II ruled a considerable part of Palestine (Josephus, Ant., XX, vii, 1; viii, 4).

After the fall of Jerusalem and the termination of the great revolt in 70 AD, Palestine remained a separate province. Henceforth a legion (legio X Fretensis) was added to the military forces stationed in the land, which was encamped at the ruins of Jerusalem. Consequently, imperial governors of praetorian rank (legati Augusti pro praetore) took the place of the former procurators (Josephus, BJ, VII, i, 2, 3; Dio Cassius lv. 23).

Several treaties are recorded between the Romans and Jews as early as the time of the Maccabees (Josephus, Ant., XII, x, 6; XIII, ix, 2; viii, 5), and Jews are known to have been at Rome as early as 138 BC. They became very numerous in the capital after the return of Pompey who brought back many captives (see LIBERTINES). Cicero speaks of multitudes of Jews at Rome in 58 BC (Pro Flacco 28), and Caesar was very friendly toward them (Suetonius Caesar 84). Held in favor by Augustus, they recovered the privilege of collecting sums to send to the temple (Philo Legatio ad Caium 40). Agrippa offered 100 oxen in the temple when visiting Herod (Josephus, Ant., XVI, ii, 1), and Augustus established a daily offering of a bull and two lambs. Upon the whole the Roman government displayed noticeable consideration for the religious scruples of the Jews. They were exempted from military service and the duty of appearing in court on the Sabbath. Yet Tiberius repressed Jewish rites in Rome in 19 AD (Suetonius Tiberius 36) and Claudius expelled the Jews from the city in 49 AD (Suetonius Claudius 25); but in both instances repression was not of long duration.

2. Jewish Proselytism:

The Jews made themselves notorious in Rome in propagating their religion by means of proselytizing (Horace Satires i. 4, 142; i. 9, 69; Juvenal xiv. 96; Tacitus Hist. v. 5), and the literature of the Augustan age contains several references to the observation of the Sabbath (Tibullus i. 3; Ovid Ars amatoria i. 67, 415; Remedium amoris 219). Proselytes from among the Gentiles were not always required to observe all the prescriptions of the Law. The proselytes of the Gate (sebomenoi), as they were called, renounced idolatry and serious moral abuses and abstained from the blood and meat of suffocated animals. Among such proselytes may be included the centurion of Capernaum (Luk 7:5), the centurion Cornelius (Act 10:1), and the empress Poppea (Josephus, Ant., XX, viii, 11; Tacitus Ann. xvi. 6).

On proselytes of the Gate, GJV4, III, 177, very properly corrects the error in HJP. These Gate people were not proselytes at all; they refused to take the final step that carried them into Judaism – namely, circumcision (Ramsay, The Expositor, 1896, p. 200; Harnack, Expansion of Christianity, I, 11). See DEVOUT; PROSELYTES.

Notwithstanding the diffusion of Judaism by means of proselytism, the Jews themselves lived for the most part in isolation in the poorest parts of the city or suburbs, across the Tiber, near the Circus Maximus, or outside the Porta Capena. Inscriptions show that there were seven communities, each with its synagogue and council of elders presided over by a gerusiarch. Five cemeteries have been discovered with many Greek, a few Latin, but no Hebrew inscriptions.

Literature.

Ewald, The Hist of Israel, English translation by Smith, London, 1885; Renan, Hist of the People of Israel, English translation, Boston, 1896; Schurer, The Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, English translation by MacPherson, New York.

VI. Rome and the Christians.

1. Introduction of Christianity:

The date of the introduction of Christianity into Rome cannot be determined. A Christian community existed at the time of the arrival of Paul (Act 28:15), to which he had addressed his Epistle a few years before (58 AD). It is commonly thought that the statement regarding the expulsion of the Jews from Rome under Claudius on account of the commotion excited among them by the agitation of Chrestus (Suetonius Claudius 25: Iudaeos impulsore Chresto assidue tumultuantis Roma expulit), probably in 49 AD, is proof of the diffusion of Christian teaching in Rome, on the ground that Chrestus is a colloquial, or mistaken, form of Christus. It has been suggested that the Christian faith was brought to the capital of the empire by some of the Romans who were converted at the time of Pentecost (Act 2:10, Act 2:41). It would be out of place to discuss here the grounds for the traditional belief that Peter was twice in Rome, once before 50 AD and again subsequent to the arrival of Paul, and that together the two apostles established the church there. Our present concern is with the attitude of the government and society toward Christianity, when once established. It may suffice, therefore, to remind the reader that Paul was permitted to preach freely while nominally in custody (Phi 1:13), and that as early as 64 AD the Christians were very numerous (Tacitus Ann. xv. 44: multitudo ingens).

2. Tolerance and Proscription:

At first the Christians were not distinguished from the Jews, but shared in the toleration, or even protection, which was usually conceded to Judaism as the national religion of one of the peoples embraced within the empire. Christianity was not legally proscribed until after its distinction from Judaism was clearly perceived. Two questions demand our attention: (1) When was Christianity recognized as distinct from Judaism? (2) When was the profession of Christianity declared a crime? These problems are of fundamental importance in the history of the church under the Roman empire.

(1) If we may accept the passage in Suetonius cited above (Claudius 25) as testimony on the vicissitudes of Christianity, we infer that at that time the Christians were confused with the Jews. The account of Pomponia Graecina, who was committed to the jurisdiction of her husband (Tacitus Ann. xiii. 32) for adherence to a foreign belief (superstitionis externae rea), is frequently cited as proof that as early as 57 AD Christianity had secured a convert in the aristocracy. The characterization of the evidence in this case by the contemporary authority from whom Tacitus has gleaned this incident would apply appropriately to the adherence to Judaism or several oriental religions from the point of view of Romans of that time; for Pomponia had lived in a very austere manner since 44 AD. Since there is some other evidence that Pomponia was a Christian, the indefinite account of the accusation against her as mentioned by Tacitus is partial proof that Christianity had not as yet been commonly recognized as a distinct religion (Marucchi, Elements d’archeologie chretienne I, 13). At the time of the great conflagration in 64 AD the populace knew of the Christians, and Nero charged them collectively with a plot to destroy the city (Tacitus Ann. xv. 44). The recognition of the distinctive character of Christianity had already taken place at this time. This was probably due in large measure to the circumstances of Paul’s sojourn and trial in Rome and to the unprecedented number of converts made at that time. The empress Poppea, who was probably an adherent of Judaism (Josephus, Ant., XX, viii), may have enlightened the imperial court regarding the heresy of the Christians and their separation from the parent stock.

(2) In attempting to determine approximately the time at which Christianity was placed under the official ban of the imperial government, it will be convenient to adopt as starting-points certain incontestable dates between which the act of prosecution must have been issued. It is clear that at the time of the great conflagration (64 AD), the profession of Christianity was not a ground for criminal action. Paul had just been set at liberty by decree of the imperial court (compare 2Ti 4:17). Moreover, the charge against the Christians was a plot to burn the city, not adherence to a proscribed religion, and they were condemned, as it appears, for an attitude of hostility toward the human race (Tacitus Ann. xv. 44). While governor of Bithynia (circa 112 AD), Pliny the younger addressed Trajan in a celebrated letter (x.96) asking advice to guide his conduct in the trial of many persons who were accused as Christians, and inquiring particularly whether Christianity in itself was culpable, or only the faults which usually accompanied adherence to the new faith. The reply of the emperor makes quite plain the fundamental guilt at that time of adherence to Christianity, and it supposes a law already existing against it (x.97). It follows, therefore, that the law against Christianity which was the legal basis for persecution must have been issued between the conflagration in 64 AD and Pliny’s administration of Bithynia.

We cannot define the time of this important act of legislation more closely with absolute certainty, although evidence is not wanting for the support of theories of more or less apparent probability. Tradition ascribes a general persecution to the reign of Domitian, which would imply that Christianity was already a forbidden religion at that time. Allusions in Revelation (as Rev 6:9), the references to recent calamities in Rome by Clement in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Ad Cor.), the condemnation of Acilius Glabrio (Dio Cassius lxvii. 13), a man of consular rank, together with the emperor’s cousin Flavius Clemens (Dio Cassius, xiii) and Flavia Domitilla and many others on the charge of atheism and Jewish customs (95 AD), are cited as evidence for this persecution. The fact that a number of persons in Bithynia abandoned Christianity 20 years before the judicial investigation of Pliny (Pliny x. 96) is of some importance as corroborative evidence.

But there are grounds worthy of consideration for carrying the point of departure back of Domitian. The letter of Peter from Babylon (Rome ?) to the Christians in Asia Minor implies an impending persecution (1Pe 4:12-16). This was probably in the closing years of the reign of Nero. Allard cleverly observes (Histoire des persecutions, 61) that the mention of the Neronian persecution of the Christians apart from the description of the great fire in the work of Suetonius (Ner. 16), amid a number of acts of legislation, is evidence of a general enactment, which must have been adopted at the time of, or soon after, the proceedings which were instituted on the basis of the charge of arson. Upon the whole theory that the policy of the imperial government was definitely established under Nero carries with it considerable probability (compare Sulpitius Severus, Chron., ii. 41).

3. Persecution:

Although the original enactment has been lost the correspondence of Pliny and Trajan enables us to formulate the imperial policy in dealing with the Christians during the 2nd century. Adherence to Christianity was in itself culpable. But proceedings were not to be undertaken by magistrates on their own initiative; they were to proceed only from charges brought by voluntary accusers legally responsible for establishing the proof of their assertions. Informal and anonymous information must be rejected. Penitence shown in abjuring Christianity absolved the accused from the legal penalty of former guilt. The act of adoring the gods and the living emperor before their statues was sufficient proof of non-adherence to Christianity or of repentance.

The attitude of the imperial authorities in the 3rd century was less coherent. The problem became more complicated as Christianity grew. Persecution was directed more especially against the church as an organization, since it was believed to exert a dangerous power. About 202 AD, Septimius Severus issued a decree forbidding specifically conversion to Judaism or Christianity (Spartianus, Severus, 17), in which he departed from the method of procedure prescribed by Trajan (conquirendi non sunt), and commissioned the magistrates to proceed directly against suspected converts. At this time the Christians organized funerary associations for the possession of their cemeteries, substituting corporative for individual ownership, and it would appear that under Alexander Severus they openly held places of worship in Rome (Lampridius, Alexander Severus, 22, 49). The emperor Philip (244-49) is thought to have been a Christian at heart (Eusebius, HE, VI, 34). A period of comparative calm was interrupted by the persecution under Decius (250-51 AD), when the act of sacrifice was required as proof of non-adherence to Christianity. Several certificates testifying to the due performance of this rite have been preserved.

Under Valerian (257 AD) the Christian organizations were declared illegal and the cemeteries were sequestrated. But an edict in 260 AD restored this property (Eusebius, VII, 13). A short persecution under Aurelian (274 AD) broke the long period of calm which extended to the first edict of persecution of Diocletian (February 24, 303). The Christians seem to have gained a sort of prescriptive claim to exist, for Diocletian did not at first consider them guilty of a capital crime. He sought to crush their organization by ordering the cessation of assemblies, the destruction of churches and sacred books, and abjuration under pain of political and social degradation. (Lactantius, De Morte Persecutorum, x.11, 12, 13; Eusebius, VIII, 2; IX, 10). Later he ordered the arrest of all the clergy, who were to be put to death unless they renounced the faith (Eusebius, VIII, 6). Finally the requirement of an act of conformity in sacrificing to the gods was made general. This final persecution, continuing in an irregular way with varying degrees of severity, terminated with the defeat of Maxentius by Constantine (October 29, 312). The Edict of Milan issued by Constantine and Licinius the following year established toleration, the restoration of ecclesiastical property and the peace of the church. See ROMAN EMPIRE AND CHRISTIANITY, III., IV., V.

Literature.

Allard, Histoire des persecutions, Paris, 1903; Le christianisme et l’empire romain, Paris, 1903; Duchesne, Histoire ancienne de l’eglise, Paris, 1907 (English translation); Marucchi, Elements d’archeologie chretienne, Paris, 1899-1902; Hardy, Christianity and the Roman Government, London, 1894; Renan, L’eglise chretienne, Paris, 1879; Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, London, 1893.

Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

Rome

Rome, the famous capital of the Western World, and the present residence of the Pope, stands on the River Tiber, about fifteen miles from, its mouth, in the plain of what is now called the Campagna, in lat. 41 54 N., long. 12 28 E. The country around the city is not a plain, but a sort of undulating table-land, crossed by hills, while it sinks towards the south-west to the marshes of Maremma, which coast the Mediterranean. In ancient geography the country, in the midst of which Rome lay, was termed Latium, which, in the earliest times, comprised within a space of about four geographical square miles the country lying between the Tiber and the Numicius, extending from the Alban Hills to the sea, having for its chief city Laurentum. Here, on the Palatine Hill, was the city of Rome founded, but it was extended, by degrees, so as to take in six other hills, at the foot of which ran deep valleys that, in early times, were in part overflowed with water, while the hill sides were covered with trees. The site occupied by modern Rome is not precisely the same as that which was at any period covered by the ancient city: the change of locality being towards the north-west, the city has partially retired from the celebrated hills. About two-thirds of the area within the walls (traced by Aurelian) are now desolate, consisting of ruins, gardens, and fields, with some churches, convents, and other scattered habitations. Originally the city was a square mile in circumference. The ground on which the modern city is built covers about one thousand acres, or one mile and a half square; its walls form a circuit of fifteen miles, and embrace an area of three thousand acres. Three of the seven hills are covered with buildings, but are only thinly inhabited. The greatest part of the population is now comprised within the limits of the Campus Martius. The ancient city, however, was more than treble the size of the modern, for it had very extensive suburbs beyond the walls. The population in 1836 consisted of 153,078, exclusive of Jews, who amount to 3700.

The connection of the Romans with Palestine caused Jews to settle at Rome in considerable numbers. On one occasion, in the reign of Tiberius, when the Jews were banished from the city by the emperor, for the misconduct of some members of their body, not fewer than four thousand enlisted in the Roman army which was then stationed in Sardinia. From Philo also it appears that the Jews in Rome were allowed the free use of their national worship, and generally the observance of their ancestral customs. Then, as now, the Jews lived in a part of the city appropriated to themselves, where with a zeal for which the nation had been sometime distinguished, they applied themselves with success to proselytizing. They appear, however, to have been a restless colony; for when, after their expulsion under Tiberius, numbers had returned to Rome, they were again expelled from the city by Claudius. It is probable that the Christians, as well as the Jews, properly so called, were included in this expulsion.

The question, Who founded the church at Rome? is one of some interest as between Catholic and Protestant. The former assigns the honor to Peter, and on this grounds an argument in favor of the claims of the papacy. There is, however, no sufficient reason for believing that Peter was ever even so much as within the walls of Rome.

Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature

Rome

The well-known capital of Italy and the metropolis of the Roman empire. There were ‘strangers’ from Rome at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, where they would doubtless hear the gospel, some may have been converted, and carried the gospel back with them. Act 2:10. Paul wrote his epistle to the saints at Rome about A.D. 58. He was a prisoner there in his own hired house for two years, about A.D. 61, 62, being, as was usual, chained to a soldier. But the gospel spread thereby, and entered Caesar’s household. Php 1:13; Php 4:22.

PAPAL ROME is clearly spoken of, and its doom announced in Rev 17 and Rev 18: “the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth.” See under REVELATION.

Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary

Rome

G4516

The capital of the Roman empire.

Jews excluded from, by Claudius

Act 18:2

Paul’s visit to

Paul

Visited by Onesiphorus

2Ti 1:16-17

Paul desires to preach in

Rom 1:15

Abominations in

Rom 1:18-32

Christians in:

Rom 16:5-17; Phi 1:12-18; Phi 4:22; 2Ti 4:21

Paul’s letter to the Christians in

– General references

Rom 1:7

– The gospel of Christ

Rom 1:16

– The condemnation of the Gentiles

Rom 1:18

– The condemnation of the Jews

Rom 2

– God’s judgment against all sin

Rom 2:6; Rom 3

– Justification by faith in Jesus Christ

Rom 3:24; Rom 4

– The faith of Abraham

Rom 4

– The fruits of faith

Rom 5

– The works of the flesh and the Spirit

Rom 8

– God’s supreme power over all

Rom 9; Rom 11

– The righteousness of the law and of faith

Rom 10

– Exhorted to humility, love and good works

Rom 12

– Exhorted to obey magistrates

Rom 13:1-14

– Exhorted to mutual forbearance

Rom 14

– Requested to greet various brethren

Rom 16

Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible

Rome

Rome (rme). In the New Testament times Rome was the capital of the empire in its greatest prosperity. Among its inhabitants were many Jews. Act 28:17. They had received the liberty of worship and other privileges from Csar, and lived in the district across the Tiber. We know that as early as a.d. 64, eight or ten years after a church was established there and addressed by Paul, Rom 1:8; Rom 16:19, the emperor Nero commenced a furious persecution against its members, which the emperor Domitian renewed a.d. 81, and the emperor Trajan carried out with implacable malice, a.d. 97-117. Seasons of suffering and repose succeeded each other alternately until the reign of Constantine, a.d. 325, when Christianity was established as the religion of the empire. Within the gardens of Nero in the Neronian persecution, a.d. 64, after the great conflagration, Christians, wrapped in skins of beasts, were torn by dogs, or, clothed in inflammable stuffs, were burnt as torches during the midnight games; others were crucified. In the colosseum, a vast theatre, games of various sorts and gladiatorial shows were held, and within its arena many Christians, during the ages of persecution, fought with wild beasts, and many were slain tor their faith. The catacombs are vast subterranean galleries (whether originally sand-pits or excavations is uncertain). Their usual height is from eight to ten feet, and their width from four to six feet, and they extend for miles, especially in the region of the Appian and Nomentane Ways. The catacombs were early used by the Christians as places of refuge, worship, and burial. More than four thousand inscriptions have been found in these subterranean passages, which are considered as belonging to the period between the reign of Tiberius and that of the emperor Constantine. Among the oldest of the inscriptions in the catacombs is one dated a.d. 71. Rome, as a persecuting power, is referred to by the “seven heads” and “seven mountains” in Rev 17:9, and is probably described under the name of “Babylon” elsewhere in the same hook. Rev 14:8; Rev 16:19; Rev 17:5; Rev 18:2; Rev 18:21.

Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible

Rome

Rome. The famous capital of the ancient world, is situated on the Tiber, at a distance of about 15 miles from its mouth. The “seven hills,” Rev 17:9, which formed the nucleus of the ancient city, stand on the left bank. On the opposite side of the river rises the far higher side of the Janiculum. Here, from very early times, was a fortress, with a suburb beneath it, extending to the river. Modern Rome lies to the north of the ancient city, covering, with its principal portion, the plain to the north of the seven hills, once known as the Campus Martius, and on the opposite bank, extending over the low ground beneath the Vatican, to the north of the ancient Janiculum. Rome is not mentioned in the Bible except in the books of Maccabees and in three books of the New Testament, namely, the Acts, the Epistle to the Romans, and the Second Epistle to Timothy.

Jewish inhabitants. — The conquests of Pompey seem to have given rise to the first settlement of Jews at Rome. The Jewish king, Aristobulus, and his son formed part of Pompey’s triumph, and many Jewish captives and immigrants were brought to Rome at that time. A special district was assigned to them, not on the site of the modern Ghetto, between the Capitol and the island of the Tiber, but across the Tiber. Many of these Jews were made freedmen. Julius Caesar showed them some kindness; they were favored also by Augustus, and by Tiberius, during the latter part of his reign. It is chiefly in connection with St. Paul’s history that Rome comes before us in the Bible. In illustration of that history, it may be useful to give some account of Rome in the time of Nero, the “Caesar” to whom St. Paul appealed, and in whose reign, he suffered martyrdom.

The city in Paul’s time. — The city at that time must be imagined as a large and irregular mass of buildings unprotected by an outer wall. It had long outgrown the old Servian wall; but the limits of the suburbs cannot be exactly defined. Neither the nature of the buildings nor the configuration of the ground was such as to give a striking appearance to the city viewed from without. “Ancient Rome had neither cupola nor camyanile,” and the hills, never lofty or imposing, would present, when covered with the buildings and streets of a huge city, a confused appearance, like the hills of modern London, to which they have sometimes been compared.

The visit of St. Paul lies between two famous epochs in the history of the city, namely, its restoration by Augustus and its restoration by Nero. The boast of Augustus is well known, “that he found the city of brick, and left it of marble.” Some parts of the city, especially the Forum and Campus Martius, must have presented a magnificent appearance, of which Niebur’s “Lectures on Roman History,” ii. 177, will give a general idea; but many of the principal buildings which attract the attention of modern travellers in ancient Rome were not yet built. The streets were generally narrow and winding, flanked by densely crowded lodging-houses, (insulae), of enormous height. Augustus found it necessary to limit their height to 70 feet.

St. Paul’s first visit to Rome took place before the Neronian conflagration, but even after the restoration of the city which followed upon that event, many of the old evils continued. The population of the city has been variously estimated. Probably, Gibbon’s estimate of 1,200,000 is nearest to the truth. One half of the population consisted, in all probability, of slaves. The larger part of the remainder consisted of pauper citizens supported, in idleness, by the miserable system of public gratuities. There appears to have been no middle class, and no free industrial population. Side by side with the wretched classes just mentioned was the comparatively small body of the wealthy nobility, of whose luxury and profligacy, we learn so much from the heathen writers of the time.

Such was the population which St. Paul would find at Rome at the time of his visit. We learn from the Acts of the Apostles that he was detained at Rome for “two whole years,” “dwelling in his own hired house with a soldier that kept him,” Act 28:16; Act 28:30, to whom apparently, according to Roman custom, he was bound with a chain. Act 28:20; Eph 6:20; Phm 1:13. Here he preached to all that came to him, no man forbidding him. Act 28:30-31. It is generally believed that on his “appeal to Caesar” he was acquitted, and after some time spent in freedom, was a second time imprisoned at Rome.

Five of Paul’s Epistles, namely, those to the Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, that to Philemon, and the Second Epistle to Timothy, were, in all probability, written from Rome, the latter, shortly before his death; 2Ti 4:6; the others during his first imprisonment. It is universally believed that he suffered martyrdom at Rome.

The localities in and about Rome especially connected with the life of Paul are —

(1) The Appian Way, by which he approached Rome. Act 28:15. See Appii Forum.

(2) “The palace,” or “Caesar’s court.” (praetorium). Phm 1:13. This may mean either the great camp of the Praetorian guards, which Tiberius established outside the walls on the northeast of the city, or, as seems more probable, a barrack attached to the imperial residence on the Palatine. There is no sufficient proof that the word “praetorium” was ever used to designate the emperors palace, though it is used for the official residence of a Roman governor. Joh 18:28; Act 23:35. The mention of “Caesar’s household,” Phi 4:22, confirms the notion that St. Paul’s residence was in the immediate neighborhood of the emperor’s house on the Palatine.

(3) The connection of other localities at home with St. Paul’s name rests only on traditions of more or less probability. We may mention especially —

(4) The Mamertine prison, of Tullianum, built by Ancus Martius near the Forum. It still exists beneath the church of St. Giuseppe dei Falegnami. It is said that St. Peter and St. Paul were fellow prisoners here for nine months. This is not the place to discuss the question whether St. Peter was ever at Rome. It may be sufficient to state that though there is no evidence of such a visit in the New Testament, unless Babylon in 1Pe 5:13 is a mystical name for Rome, yet early testimony and the universal belief of the early Church seems sufficient to establish the fact of his having suffered martyrdom there. See Peter. The story, however, of the imprisonment in the Mamertine prison seems inconsistent with 2Ti 4:11.

(5) The chapel on the Ostian road which marks the spot where the two apostles are said to, have separated on their way to martyrdom.

(6)The supposed scene of St. Paul’s martyrdom, namely, the church of St. Paolo alle tre fontane on the Ostian road. To these may be added —

(7) The supposed scene of St. Peter’s martyrdom, namely, the church of St. Pietro in Montorio, on the Janiculum.

(8) The chapel Domine que Vadis, on the Aypian road; the scene of the beautiful legend of our Lord’s appearance to St. Peter, as he was escaping from martyrdom.

(9) The places where the bodies of the two apostles, after having been deposited first in the catacombs, are supposed to have been finally buried — that of St. Paul by the Ostian road, that of St. Peter beneath the dome of the famous Basilica which bears his name. We may add, as sites unquestionably connected with the Roman Christians of the apostolic age —

(10) The gardens of Nero in the Vatican. Not far from the spot where St. Peter’s now stands. Here Christians, wrapped in the skins of beasts, were torn to pieces by dogs, or, clothed in inflammable robes, were burnt to serve as torches, during the midnight games. Others were crucified.

(11) The Catacombs. These subterranean galleries, commonly from 8 to 10 feet in height and from 4 to 6 in width, and extending for miles, especially in the neighborhood of the old Appian and Nomentan Ways, were unquestionably used as places of refuge, of worship and of burial by the early Christians. The earliest dated inscription in the catacombs is A.D. 71.

Nothing is known of the first founder of the Christian Church at Rome. Christianity may, perhaps, have been introduced into the city not long after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, by the “strangers of Rome, who were then at Jerusalem, Act 2:10. It is clear that there were many Christians at Rome before St. Paul visited the city. Rom 1:8; Rom 1:13; Rom 1:15; Rom 15:20. The names of twenty-four Christians at Rome are given in the salutations at the end of the Epistle to the Romans. Linus, who is mentioned 2Ti 4:21, and Clement, Phi 4:3, are supposed to have succeeded St. Peter as bishops of Rome.

Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary

ROME

capital of the Roman empire

Act 2:10; Act 18:2; Act 19:21; Act 23:11; Act 28:16; Rom 1:7; 2Ti 1:17

Fuente: Thompson Chain-Reference Bible