Rome

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, ii, 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 Domitien, 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.

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.