Christianity and Rome

Preface; I. Introduction: I.1 Prelude "To Imitate the Bees"; I.2 Towards an Interpretation of Spolia: Delimitations and Methods; I.3 Reuse The Development of a New Architectural Practice; II. Translatio of Materials: II.1 Fragments and Fragmentation. The Disposition of Spolia in Church Buildings; II.2 Translations and Transferences: Christian Versions of Roman Architecture; II.3 The Aesthetics of Appropriation Eclecticism, Variety, and Antithetical Harmonies; III. Translatio of Meanings: III.1 Breaking Down the Past Rejections of Rationality; III.2 "Seeing the invisible" Towards a New Metaphorical Architecture; III.3 To "Strip Error Bare" The Rhetoric of Transformation; IV. Translatio of Time: IV.1 "Novelty in the Old and Age in the New". The Rhetoric of Renovation; IV.2 Recollecting the Past Spolia and Historical Consciousness; IV.3 Inventing the Past: Spolia and the Ideology of Classicism; Bibliography; List of Illustrations; Photo Credits; Index.

As wealthy Roman aristocrats increasingly focussed their euergetic activities towards Christian building projects (monumental churches, monasteries) and Christian clients, this necessarily raised questions about the legal position of and legal relation between benefactors and beneficiaries. It is well known that the State tried to protect families and social structures by setting restrictions to the way in which inheritance was distributed (C.Th. 1.16.27, but repealed in C.Th. 1.16.28, see also C.Th. 12.1.59, C.Th. 12.1.17). However, in this paper I aim to look deeper into this issue by studying who is considered the legal entity and who carries legal liability in such transactions, especially when there is a conflict. Are churches or monasteries considered legal entities, or, if not, which individual is regarded as the legal person when a case is taken to court? Would the benefactor retain the right to decide what exactly happens with a gift, for what it is used, how it is used, or do beneficiaries have the freedom to decide how to use a gift once a transaction has been made? In my paper I will offer some examples from laws and letters from the late fourth and early fifth centuries CE to try answer these questions.

In the 6th century BCE, the Roman civilization flourished as a continuation of the perfect culture in Etruria (Truri, alb., = The Brain, eng.) and Latium (Albanum / Arbanum). In the 5th century, the book Mythologiæ or the Science of Untruth got published for the first time. Since the book would not have tilted the scale if it was alone, the creation of the poems Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid co-occurred. Iliad itself does not prove the Castle of Star (Illi, Ylli, Illion, alb.) or Troy as a place at the entrance of the Strait of Dardanelles.

Afin de voir plus clair dans le labyrinthe des archives religieuses vaticanes et de proposer des pistes de solution aux problèmes, le livre Le Saint-Siège, le Québec et l'Amérique française. Les archives vaticanes: pistes et défis vise à mesurer le chemin parcouru depuis une quinzaine d’années, en se fondant sur les fonds d’archives accessibles qui s’étendent de la fondation de l’Église catholique en Nouvelle-France à la fin du pontificat de Pie XI en 1939. Quels progrès ont été réalisés? À quels défis font encore face les chercheurs? Quelles sont les nouvelles priorités de la recherche? Quels sont les enjeux issus de l’accessibilité aux fonds nouveaux ? Comment se traduit le dialogue interdisciplinaire autour de l’objet de l’archive? Comment permettre, avec la progression fulgurante de la Toile, une accessibilité accrue des documents numériques par la mise en réseau et la consultation au plan international ?
Ces questions – et bien d’autres – ont été explorées toujours avec le souci de favoriser le dialogue et les échanges entre des chercheurs venus d’horizons variés sur la base d’un même intérêt pour les matériaux textuels et visuels offerts par la découverte des archives du Vatican.

Veronica and Nathan and the Avenging of the Saviour

A timid book for its name.

In this AD 80-90 document there are 2 legends, joined together-that of Nathan's embassy, and that of Veronica. The story is a Gospel of Nicodemus, featuring the disciple Titus, of the Roman house.

AVENGING OF THE SAVIOR

1. Here beginneth the book of the Avenging of the Saviour. 2. In the days of the Emperor Tiberius Caesar, when Herod was tetrarch, Christ was delivered under Pontius Pilate by the Jews, and revealed by Tiberius. 3. In those days Titus was a prince under Tiberius in the region of Equitania, in a city of Libia which is called Burgidalla. 4. And Titus had a sore in his right nostril, on account of a canker, and he had his face torn even to the eye. 5. There went forth a certain man from Judaea, by name Nathan the son of Nahum; for he was an Ishmaelite who went from land to land, and from sea to sea, and in all the ends of the earth. 6. Now Nathan was sent from Judaea to the Emperor Tiberius, to carry their treaty to the city of Rome. 7. And Tiberius was ill, and full of ulcers and fevers, and had 9 kinds of leprosy. 8. And Nathan wished to go to the city of Rome. 9. Yet the north wind blew and hindered his sailing, and carried him down to the harbour of a city of Lybia. and another woman, named Veronica, who suffered 12 years from an issue of blood, and came up to Him behind, and touched the fringe of His garment, He healed; 20. and with 5 loaves and 2 fishes He satisfied 5,000 men, to say nothing of little ones and women, and there remained of the fragments 12 baskets. 21. All these things, and many others, were accomplished before His passion. 22. After His resurrection we saw Him in the flesh as He had been before. 23. And Titus said to Him: How did he rise again from the dead, seeing that he was dead? 24. And Nathan answered and said: He was manifestly dead, and hung up on the cross, and again taken down from the cross, and for three days He lay in the tomb: 25. thereafter He rose again from the dead, and went down to Hades, and freed the patriarchs and the prophets, and the whole human race; thereafter He appeared to His disciples, and ate with them; thereafter they saw Him going up into heaven. Veronica and Nathan and the Avenging of the Saviour CHAPTER TWO Divisions 26-50 AVENGING OF THE SAVIOR 26. And so it is the truth, all this that I tell you. For I saw it with my own eyes, and all the house of Israel. 27. And Titus said in his own words: Woe to thee, O Emperor Tiberius, full of ulcers, and enveloped in leprosy, because such a scandal has been committed in thy kingdom; because thou hast made such laws in Judaea, in the land of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and they have seized the King, and put to death the Ruler of the peoples; 28. and they have not made Him come to us to cure thee of thy leprosy, and cleanse me from mine infirmity: on which account, if they had been before my face, with my own hands I should have slain the carcases of those Jews, and hung them up on the cruel tree, because they have destroyed my Lord, and mine eyes have not been worthy to see His face. 29. And when he had thus spoken, immediately the wound fell from the face of Titus, and his flesh and his face were restored to health. 30. And all the sick who were in the same place were made whole in that hour.

This paper is concerned with finding evidence of Arab military development in defence of their territory and against the superstates on the periphery of desert-lands. This examination concerns the growth of cultural/political groups as a result of military pressure on Arabian territory from Yemen, Roman and Sasanian forces. The model searched for is that of the Germans and Slavs in Europe due to political developments directed by the Roman state and the pressure from other forms of foreign invasion (unlikely true on a largely desert land with few profitable urban centres). The Arab/Islamic invasions here are seen as products of events surrounding Arabia identified as an increase in Saracen activity (seen here as Arab raiders and mercenaries) and the identification of large group formation.

From Jesus to the Internet examines Christianity as a mediated phenomenon, paying particular attention to how various forms of media have influenced and developed the Christian tradition over the centuries. It is the first systematic survey of this topic and the author provides those studying or interested in the intersection of religion and media with a lively and engaging chronological narrative. With insights into some of Christianity s most hotly debated contemporary issues, this book provides a much-needed historical basis for this interdisciplinary field.

The Passio of St Sebastian and his companions published by Migne in PG 116 (cols. 793-816) under the name of Symeon Metaphrastes is in reality an abridgment of the text found in Metaphrastic December meno¬logia.  The source used by Metaphrastes has apparently not survived.  Some elements of it are, how¬ever, found in the canon composed in the previous century by Joseph the Hymnographer (probably † 860) in honour of St Sebastian and his companions.  The text of the Metaphrastic Passio is edited here for the first time on the basis of eight witnesses of the 11th century, while a new edition of the abridgment is given at the foot of the pages which contains a much improved transcription of the sole witness (MS. Paris. gr. 1195, 14th century, ff. 11r-17v) published by Migne.

Il restauro della facciata della basilica di San Pietro in Roma nel progetto del prof. Sandro Benedetti, dirigente tecnico della Fabbrica di San Pietro, è illustrato in un'intervista a Giovanni Carbonara nella quale s'evidenziano la profonda conoscenza del monumento e la precisa intenzionalità storico-critica alla base del progetto di restauro.

The essay aims at reconstructing the cultural reception of the sacred vocal repertoire by J.S. Bach in Italy during the second half of the twentieth century. The investigation moves from a close exam of performances of Passions, Cantatas and the Mass in B minor in two cardinal institutions in the Italian musical world: the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and the Società del Quartetto in Milan (including its special experience efficaciously called Settimane Bach). The results emerge from diverse dimensions of the phenomenon: on the one side, the different identity of the two institutions in terms of artistical interest and public of election are intertwined with the broader economic and cultural contexts of Rome and Milan. On the other side, discourses coming from the musicological debate and arguments aroused within music criticism permits to clarify how speeches around Bach and his sacred music were developed and popularized. Finally, the reception of Bach’s sacred works has been deeply influenced by the progressive involvement of music in the liturgy and the ecumenical openings of Catholic legislation towards the Lutheran world. Two appendices provide a list all the performances of Bach’s sacred vocal repertoire in the two institutions under exam, with reference to the performers and the concert venues.

This study is the first examination of Jesuit prison ministry in the Holy Roman Empire during the period of witch trials. It provides new insights into the prisons where the persons detained for witchcraft were incarcerated, as well as into their trials, including their torture and executions — as seen through Jesuit eyes. In this context, the Cautio Criminalis appeared, written by Friedrich Spee SJ (1591–1635), dealing with the question of the legality of these trials and the related prison ministry, and printed pseudonymously in 1631 and again in 1632. For the first time, the book offers a complete biography of Spee, who was nearly forced to leave the Society of Jesus; it outlines the book’s publication, and provides a detailed analysis of the Jesuit prison visits. The book also details Spee’s criticism of prison ministers, as well as his arguments about the guilt or innocence of the imprisoned, tortured and executed women and men of this tragic period in European history.

Background: The mathematical idea of Jesus Christ is ­ ~ ≤ X ≤ ~ and X = Y. Other mathematical ideas are the Cartesian coordinate system, n⁰ = 1 and ~, and n⁰ = 1 (X for the Lord ‘s day) and n ^n + 2 (Y for human’s day). Mathematically, it is scholarly that Christ came from heaven to earth and the dead people, and then came back to heaven through the earth. The gospel does not introduce a new Lord. There is no other Lord in Christianity, except Christ. The mathematical idea of - ~ ≤ X1 < ~ and X1 = Y1 is for Satan and the false prophet.
Objectives: To show mathematically that Jesus Christ is Lord and journey of Jesus Christ from heaven to earth and the world of the dead, then returned to heaven through this world. This journey is scholarly.
Methods: The n⁰ (X) and 10 ^2+n is mathematical ideas of days in God and human. The n⁰ = 1 and ~ in which -~≤ n ≤ ~ is for mathematical idea for one God. The ­ ~ ≤ X ≤ ~ and X = Y is mathematical idea for the spiritual journey of Jesus Christ. For the false prophet and Satan are - ~ ≤ X1 < ~ and X1 = Y1, and Cartesian coordinate systems were described.  Searched verses in the Bible manually and via the internet. Keywords included such as Christ, and the false prophet. 
Results: God in the Old Testament is the same as God in the New Testament. In mathematics, God is the same as one and ~. Mathematics can show who is God. Christ is the same as God. There is no other Christ. God became man in Jesus Christ to preach the gospel to humans. He went to the earth of the dead to preach the gospel 3 days, returned to the earth, and then to the heaven. This is the spiritual journey. Emmanuel is God with us.  A Christian could catch up into paradise as Paul’s vision. It was from the earth. It was not from heaven. It is different with Jesus Christ’s journey. Paul’s vision shows that the man catch up from the world to heaven, returned to the earth and died. He needed to wait the advent of Christ to rise up him from the death. Christ is eternal forever. The man in Paul’s vision still needs to be rise by Christ on the day of the Lord. The - ~ ≤ X ≤ ~ and X = Y fills Quadrant 1, Quadrant 2, Quadrant 3, and Quadrant 4 in the Cartesian coordinate system. Mathematical idea of -~ ≤ X=Y ≤ ~ is first the evidence as spiritual journey of Jesus Christ as the Father, Son, and the Spirit. The Cartesian coordinate system is the second evidence of the journey. Another evidence in mathematical idea, the third evidence, of the Father, Son and the Spirit is n⁰ = 1, ~. For example, if n is 1, 2, 3, the result is 1⁰ = 2⁰ = 3⁰ = 1. It shows that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is one. The forth evidence is day in the Lord and day in human. Its mathematical idea is n⁰ = 1 (the Lord’s day) and n^n+2 (human’s day). Satan was from heaven and was thrown into the earth. It was not a spiritual journey. Satan, his angels and the false prophet have been thrown into the hell.  The mathematical model of the false prophet is - ~ ≤ X1 < ~ and X1 = Y1.
Conclusions: Jesus Christ is the Lord and scholarly. There is only one Lord Jesus Christ. The ­ ~ ≤ X ≤ ~ and X = Y shows that Jesus Christ is the Lord. Ten mathematical ideas or evidences can demonstrate the relationship between God, Jesus Christ, and the Spirit. This relationship also shows the Spiritual Journey of Jesus Christ. These include n⁰ = 1and~ , n0⁰ (X) and n^2+n, -~ ≤ X=Y ≤ ~, and the Cartesian coordinate systems. The false prophet has mathematic idea as - ~ ≤ X1 < ~ and X1 = Y1.

Caracalla. A Military Biography is now available as a hardcover, Kindle and e-book an from the website of its publisher Pen & Sword Publishing and from most of the major booksellers.  It is not only the first published biography in English of this remarkable individual, but also the first that reassess the evidence from the point of view of military history.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the choice of the axis directions of the early Christian and medieval churches of Rome was determined by random reasons only or, instead, by the intention of obtaining a specific direction, as the studies related to the churches of this period, in other geographical contexts, seem to indicate. A first phase of the survey consisted in compiling a list of all the churches still existing in Rome and built between the beginning of the 4th century and the end of the 13th century. Our research produced a total of 92 churches: geographic coordinates and azimuth were measured using satellite images from Google Earth. In cases where the original arrangement of the parts was not evident, inspections in situ and checks from the plants reported in the literature concerning the considered church were carried out. From this analysis, two distinct distributions of the azimuth of the ancient churches of Rome are clearly distinguished: one with azimuth from 30° to 150°, the other from 210° to 360°. Seven churches only, which is the 8% of the population, have in fact an azimuth value consistent with the meridian. Furthermore, statistically significant peaks are observed around 90°, 120°, 240°, 270°, which are directions with an evident astronomical significance. Obviously, the existence of two populations with a substantially opposite orientation, suggested by the statistics, must find its justification in hypotheses based on other objective elements: the first hypothesis that can be advanced is a paradigm shift with the passing of the centuries. Wanting to verify if this hypothesis has a foundation, the considered churches were analyzed by subdividing them by century of construction. From this analysis, it is clear that in the construction of the oldest churches the most established tendency is to orient the axis with the entrance towards East and the apse towards West, even if the opposite orientation is noticeably frequent. In the following centuries there is a settling phase in which all the orientations have more or less the same importance. From the ninth century onwards the habit of orientating the buildings of worship 296 The orientation of the early Christian and medieval churches of Rome with the apse towards East and the entrance towards West was definitively affirmed. This work will present the possible historical motivations of this evolution.

Nicolas Poussin meurt à Rome le 19 novembre 1665. Il demande à être enterré avec la plus complète humilité et de manière anonyme. Cela n’empêche pas ceux qui l’admirent de chercher à fonder et transmettre la mémoire du peintre par un tombeau digne de son génie et une épitaphe. L’article cherche à comprendre les motifs de cette demande que Chateaubriand put enfin satisfaire en faisant élever un cénotaphe dans l’église de San Lorenzo in Lucina à Rome.

The Funeral Memory of Nicolas Poussin
Will of the artist and Rival Initiatives
Nicolas Poussin dies in Rome on November 19, 1665. He asks to be buried with humility and anonymously. This does not prevent those who admire him to try to establish and to transmit the memory of the painter by a grave worthy of his genius and an epitaph. The article seeks to understand the motives for this request which Chateaubriand was finally able to satisfy by a cenotaph in the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina in Rome.

Plan de l'article

Les traces littéraires et l’épitaphe
Les dernières volontés de Poussin
Lettres d’artistes et une nouvelle information apportée par Félibien
L’épitaphe de l’abbé Nicaise
Une autre épitaphe pour Poussin

https://www.cairn.info/revue-histoire-monde-et-cultures-religieuses-2016-4-p-123.htm

This course presents a broad survey of historical forces at work over the past 6,000 years, examining the manners in which human societies have organized themselves along categories of race, ethnicity, class, and gender to meet the challenges of the increasing human population and its demands on natural resources: thus, it examines continuity and change in societies over time, in different places, and among various peoples.

Matheus, Michael; Nesselrath, Arnold und Wallraff, Martin: Einleitung. In: Martin Luther in Rom. Die Ewige Stadt als kosmopolitisches Zentrum und ihre Wahrnehmung, hrsg. v. Michael Matheus, Arnold Nesselrath, Martin Wallraff, Berlin 2017 (Bibliothek des Deutschen Historischen Instituts in Rom 134), S. XIII - XVII.

The German scholar Barthold Nihusius, a famous convert om Lutheranism to Catholicism, wrote forty letters om Amsterdam, where he worked in Blaeu's printing office, to Athanasius Kircher in Rome. These reveal how Dutch collections of antiquities and related publications contributed substantially to Kircher's interest in Egypt. The view that the hieroglyphs expressed the original language in which God had spoken to Adam attracted him in particular. In addition, the exchange resulted in detailed images of Egyptian antiquities. The transfer of knowledge from the Middle East through the Low Countries to the Eternal City appears as an essential route in the rise of Egyptian studies as a new discipline.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo ilustrar os principais motivos do declínio e eventual queda de um dos maiores e talvez o mais importante império do mundo ocidental. Com origem ao remoto ano de 735 a.C., ano em que se credita a fundação da cidade de Roma e sua dissolução em 476 d.C. a historia de Roma é repartida em três grandes fases, Monarquia, República e Império, que se estenderam por mais de 1200 anos, um período sem duvida bastante extenso e marcado por alterações por vezes lentas e graduais e por outras surpreendentemente abruptas.

Para os objetivos propostos no trabalho vamos focar-nos na ultima fase do Império (baixo império ou antiguidade tardia) nomeadamente a partir do período da Anarquia Militar (235-284 d.C), que costuma ser amalgamado sob o rótulo de "Crise do Século III", e que representa um ponto de viragem e momento de transformação do mundo antigo, onde as estruturas clássicas vão sendo gradualmente substituídas por outras, culminando na “queda” do então Império no ano de 476 d.C.

A abordagem feita ao tema “declínio e queda” neste trabalho é apenas superficial, sendo que qualquer dos pontos focados pode ser extensamente aprofundado, o objetivo é dar uma panorâmica geral do que se passou no Império Romano do Ocidente a partir do Sec. III e acima de tudo mostrar que a “queda” de Roma não foi um acontecimento abrupto, mas sim o resultado de seculos de transformações sociais, políticas, militares e religiosas que ocorreram em todo o Império.

Para isto, e em vez de amalgamarmos todos os acontecimentos tidos como relevantes ao longo de três séculos num texto único e contínuo o trabalho foi dividido por épocas, nomeadamente a crise do Sec. III, o Sec. IV e o Sec. V seguido de uma breve conclusão, de modo a melhor entendermos a progressão dos acontecimentos que em ultima instância levaram á dissolução do Império Romano do Ocidente.

Paper exposes and details the usage of rhetoric & propaganda. Knowing this also exposes the purposes and motives involved in the creation of such texts. Which, in turn, leads us to information about the true authorship of these texts. Emphasis is upon the importance of recognizing literary devices.

From at least 1716 until its formal closure in 1822, non-Catholic foreigners dying in Rome were usually buried adjacent to the Pyramid of Gaius Cestius in Testaccio. Some 80 stone monuments in the Old Cemetery were systematically recorded in the 1980s; to these can be added a similar number of burials known from travel accounts and archival sources. This new, combined inventory provides notes on the life and death in Rome for each individual, where identifiable. Its information modifies current perceptions that the Old Cemetery burials reflect mainly an elite, male population of Grand Tourists and aristocrats. Women are better represented, as are a wide range of professions, crafts and domestic roles. A reassessment of the cemetery’s layout leads to conclusions about its original extent, the first appearance of stone memorials in the 1760s, and the deliberate planning of graves in a burial-ground usually considered as lacking any organizing principle.

The Seven Hills of Rome are on the east of the Tiber in the heart of the Ancient City and are said to be the origins of the empire. Back in the day (there is proof of civilization on the hills from as early as 1,000BC) the seven hills were inhabited separately, each with its own independent tribe mixed with Giants. Eventually, the tribes came together to compete in sports, strengthening their bonds and uniting their villages. And thus, began the great Roman Empire.

This publication demonstrates the important link between the history of Rome and its geologic setting in a lively, fact-filled narrative sure to interest geology and history buff. The author point out that Rome possessed many geographic advantages over surrounding areas: proximity to a major river with access to the sea, plateaus for protection, nearby sources of building materials, and most significantly, clean drinking water from springs in the Apennines. Even the resiliency of Rome's architecture and the stability of life on its hills are underscored by the city's geologic framework. If carried along with a good city map, this book will expand the understanding of travelers who explore the eternal city's streets. Chapters are arranged geographically, based on each of the seven hills, the Tiber floodplain, ancient creeks that dissected the plateau, and ridges that rise above the right bank. As an added bonus, the last chapter consists of three field trips around the center of Rome, which can be enjoyed on foot or by using public transportation.

In his early work, De inventione rhetorica, Cicero casually defines religion as the part of justice “which offers care and ceremony to a certain superior nature, which they call divine" (De inventione rhetorica 2.53).  In Latin medieval philosophy, this Ciceronian definition of the virtue of ‘religion’ (religio) acquired monumental importance.  A few key authors, such as Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas, cite this definition as an auctoritas, and get much philosophical and theological mileage out of it. 

Their intention with this auctoritas was to classify religious worship as a natural virtue, as opposed to a theological virtue, that is, as a virtue that naturally inclines man to give to the deity what is due to it on the basis of the natural law, without any dependence on Christian doctrine or revelation.  Despite being conscious that the source of this definition of religion was a pagan (Roman) philosopher, and that his religious background was very different from their own, they sought to ground their view on the nature of religion firmly on the classical understanding of the cardinal virtue of justice.  Thus, Cicero went down in history as the official source for the medieval conception of religious worship. What these medieval thinkers did not know—because they did not have access to Plato’s Euthyphro—is that Cicero’s own source for this doctrine was Plato.  Plato’s Euthyphro truly represents the first Western philosophical text to relate religion to justice, and in fact it is the first instance in the history of philosophy where religious worship is discussed as a thoroughly philosophical issue. The dialogue hinges on the nature of “piety” (eusebeia) or “the holy” (to hosion). After a few unsuccessful attempts at defining piety, Euthyphro, with Socrates’ help, formulates the hypothesis that piety can be defined as “the part of the just that is concerned with the ‘care’ (therapeia) of the gods” (Euthyphro 11e-12e). Although Socrates will question how it is possible for mere mortal men to give “care” or “service” to the gods—for the gods are assumed to be self-sufficient—nevertheless, the claim that piety is a part or species of justice will remain unchallenged throughout the dialogue.  The dialogue, therefore, approaches a definition of piety: it strongly suggests that the genus of piety is justice and, in the second place, that its specific difference has to do with the “care” or “service” of the gods, a definition that almost perfectly resembles that offered by Cicero centuries later. The discussion on piety in the Euthyphro is undoubtedly inconclusive, and this has led most modern interpreters to focus on the aporetic nature of the dialogue, emphasizing its lack of a definitive doctrine on piety.  A few Plato scholars, however, such as McPherran and Vlastos, have proposed what they call a constructivist reading of the Euthyphro, noting that, while the dialogue is inconclusive, this is only partially so: after an aporetic interlude, a somewhat constructive discussion on the nature of piety is offered. 

The aim of this paper is to show through internal evidence, by means of a constructivist reading of the Euthyphro, that with such a reading Cicero was able to draw out and synthesize a positive doctrine on piety, or in Cicero’s language, religio.  The conclusion emerges, then, that Cicero is only the second-hand source of this important medieval idea, and that Cicero himself was heavily influenced by Plato on this issue, probably through the Academy.  Hence, although the text of the Euthyphro was not available to the medieval philosophers, it nevertheless exercised a great deal of indirect influence on them by way of Cicero.  It was really Plato, then, and only secondarily Cicero, whose religious thought the medieval philosophers inherited.

Doubtlessly, Callistus, Bishop of Rome (217?−222?), was added to the
list of honored martyrs of the City of Rome (Depositio martyrum). But whether or not he actually was martyred, as the Acta Callisti suggest, is controversially debated. The author of the Refutatio omnium haeresium (Elenchos), an opponent of the bishop, does not at all refer to his death. He does mention, however, that Callistus was sentenced to the mines of Sardinia. After his return, Bishop Victor (189?−199?), and implicitly the author as well, acknowledges him as a confessor. Because the terminology is not definite at this point in time, the confessor Callistus is described as a martyr and added to the list of martyrs after his death. The missing narrative of his violent death that is implicated by the title martyr is
invented by the Acta. The efforts to underscore the reliability of the Acta through the similarly novelesque Historia Augusta are unconvincing. Therefore the Acta are of no importance for the determination of the facts about the life and death of Bishop Callistus. However, they provide insights on the development of the tradition of Callistus in Trastevere, the Catacombs of Calepodius as well as the topography of Rome at the end of the 5th century.

Virginio Vespignani 1808-1882 was city architect of Rome. His architecture was inspired by Valadier, Poletti and by roman middle age and renaissance not only formaly but also materialy. He well gave form to Pio IX's will to renew and complete the work of his predecessors but also make Rome a modern capital. In religious buildings he looked back at the origin ok Christianity.