LANCIANI'S NEW BOOK ON ROME.*
THE chief subject of this volume is the change of the Rome of the °mars into the Rome of the Popes ; but there is much that does not strictly belong to this topic. In fact, Signor Lanciani has collected here a number of details of discovery in the field of Roman archreology, some of the most interesting being experiences of his own. A separate chapter is given to the "Papal Tombs."
Beginning with the first-mentioned subject, we find Signor Lanciani declaring that "the experience gained in twenty- five years of active exploration in ancient Rome, both above and below ground, enables him to state that every pagan
• Pagan and Christian Rome. B Rodolfo Lanoiani. London, Macmillan and Co. 1892. building which was capable of giving shelter to a congregation, was transformed, at one time or another, into a church or chapel." Smaller buildings, such as temples, were converted bodily to their new use; the vast structures of the theatres, baths, and barracks had parts of them so transformed. Amidst the more ancient but more enduring ornaments in the pagan structures can be traced faint remains of the Christian symbols which, as it were, consecrated them to their new use. This transformation, of course, belongs to the later days when Christianity was dominant, and took forcible pos- session of what may be called its inheritance. But it also covers the earliest instances of buildings converted from other purposes to those of Christian worship. These were the " acholw," in which, as set forth in Professor Baldwin Brown's admirable monograph, From Schola to Cathedral, we find the germ of the Christian church. Still earlier meeting-places existed in private houses, but these had, of course, no dis- tinctive feature. Still, much interest attaches to what has been discovered about them. Tradition connects the earliest preaching of the Gospel in Rome with the houses of Pudens, and of Aquila and Priscilla (or Prisca). This couple, banished by Claudius, opened a domestic chapel on their return, and it was this that was discovered, so Signor Lanciani tells us, in 1776. Some curious links connect Aquila and Prism with Pudens, the disciple of Paul, and possibly a member of one of the noblest houses of the great Cornelian gens. The site of the house of Pudens, used for the same pious purpose, is still to be traced in the modern Church of St. Pudentiana. The " Behan" were commonly burial clubs, a form of association allowed by a government always fearful of secret societies. One of them, near the Catacombs of Callixtus, has a curious history. Built or enlarged by Pope Fabricianus (236-50 A.D.), it became the scene of the martyrdom of Sixtus IL, and was destroyed was rebuilt by Constantine, enlarged into a church, degraded to the secular use of a wine-cellar, and, finally, reopened for public worship in the beginning of last year. After the " schohe," come the sacred buildings erected over the tombs of Martyrs and Confessors. And here we have an interesting discussion on the question of St. Peter's presence at Rome. Signor Lanciani's opinion on the matter is very decided. "For the arch Ecologist, the presence and the execution of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome are facts established by purely monumental evidence." Even the keenest Protestant controversialists need not hesitate to concede it. The really doubtful thing is the episcopate of twenty-five years. And it is the locality of the episcopate, not of the martyrdom, that has an important bearing on the question of Papal supremacy. Among the monumental proofs is the very curious fact that children, even of pagan parents, were frequently named Petrus Paulus. In inscription, distinguished as heathen by the "D. M." with which it is prefaced, is figured in this book. This would seem to show that the personalities of the two Martyrs made a profound impression on the Roman people. But Christian names and symbols are proved by other remains to have penetrated heathen society. A potter of Ostia, living in the middle of the second century, is known to have executed lamps with the device of the Good Shepherd upon them, along with many of an unquestionably heathen type. The tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul are identified with at least much probability. It is likely, too, that they contain the remains of the Apostles. The doubt is whether they were not rifled when the Saracens, in 846, had possession of the churches, and plundered them. But it is allowable, at least, to hope that the Pope of the day, Sergius IL, who had bad warning of the danger, may have removed them in time. Of the genuineness of their likenesses, of which a constant tradition has been preserved in Rome, Signor Landau/ has no aoubt. Two medallions of the second century have been preserved, and reproductions of the same type, which, we are told, never varies, continually occur in the Catacombs. Of the Chair, we are told that "the framework and a few panels of the relic may possibly date from apostolic times ; " but it was evidently largely restored after the peace of the Church. As to the statue, Signor Lanciani rejects the theory, advanced by some sceptical archesologists, that it is "the Capitoline Jupiter transformed into an apostle." On the contrary, it was meant, he is sure, to be what it is called. But the age is doubtful. The " Keys " are unquestionably modern in pattern. If they can be supposed to be a later addition, the statue itself may be assigned to the age of Con- stantine. Otherwise it is of much later date. Some details of the building of the great cathedral given in connection with this subject are very interesting. Its glories were dearly purchased by the demolition of the old church, and of tombs, monuments, and remains of inestimable value. The vandalism shown on this and on many other occasions is shocking in the extreme. Possibly, it worst example is to be found in the treatment of the tombs of the family of Constantine. Anastasius IV. turned, the body of St. Helena out of the sarcophagus to make room for himself. Callixtus III. remorselessly melted down the gold and silver found in what was supposed to be the tomb of Constantine. The sepulchres of Honorius and of Maria, daughter of Stilicho, were rifled with equal unscrupulousness. The whole story is revolting in the extreme; while it makes an archteologist gnash his teeth to think that such treasures were consigned to the melting- pot. A common burglar could not have done worse than did those Vicars of Christ, Among the multitude of other interesting things, we may mention the discovery of a museum of Egyptian antiquities by the excavations on the site of the Temple of Isis and Serapis. Many curiosities of the kind had been found in the neighbourhood as far back as 1327, when two obelisks were discovered, and this fact suggested to Signor Lanciani a regular search. On the third day of the excavations, which began June 11th, 1883, a magnificent sphinx of black basalt, with the portrait of King Amasis, was discovered. The eartouches had been erased, and the nose and the uraeue (tail- piece), the symbol of royalty, had been destroyed. Here we see the work of the Persian conqueror. Other works of art were discovered, and last of all the temple itself, which bad been transported piece by piece from the banks of the Nile, was revealed. All these treasures had been seen before ; and if they had been of marble, would have been burnt into lime. Because they were of granite or basalt, they were saved.
But none of Signor Lanciani's experiences appeal more strongly to the reader's interest than two which concern quite obscure individuals. In 1870, the tomb of a certain Q. Sulpidus Maximus was discovered. It dates from the end of the first century. In A.D. 95, Domitian, who, for all his atrocities, had some taste for literature, instituted a contest for young poets. The subject was Jupiter rebuking Apollo for trusting his chariot to Phaeton. There were fifty-two com- petitors, and the young Sulpiclus carried off the prize for forty-three versus extemporales. It was a fatal victory ; very shortly after, the precocious boy—he was only eleven and a half—expired. His parents erected a monument to his memory, engraving on it the successful poem, as affectibus suis indulsisse videantur. Signor Lanciani says that the verses are really good. It is a pity that he did not print them.
The coffin of Cupereia, Tryphama, discovered in 1889, probably belongs to the third century. She was the daughter of a Greek freedman, who had been emancipated by one of the Cupereii, and seems to have died on the eve of her marriage. Her jewellery was buried with her. A necklace of gold with jasper pendants; a brooch with an amethyst gem ; her rings, among them one with the hand of her future husband, and another with two hands clasped (dextrae, con- cordim eignum) ; articles of her toilet, such as combs, a mirror, an amber hair-pin, and fragments of a sponge, were among the articles. Most touching relic of all was the doll which had been put in. This, in the usual course, she would have offered to Venus. Dying as she did, it was buried with her. A bridal-wreath of myrtle-leaves, with a clasp of silver, was round her forehead. "The preservation of the leaves was truly remarkable."
We have given but a few specimens of a most remarkably Interesting book. If it has a fault, it is in a defect of arrange- ment, caused, it may well be, by the excessive wealth of material.
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