"rome" a Rome Travel Page by doug48

the following is a quick look at constantinian rome. first a little back ground on the emperor constantine. constantine was the first christian emperor of rome and his conversion to christianity had a huge impact on the roman empire and europe as a whole. when constantine came to power in 312AD the roman empire still controled england, france, spain, southern germany, the balkans, greece, turkey, palestine, egypt and north africa. constantine's influence turned a little known "cult" religion into a major international religion. constantine understood that the conversion of pagan rome would be a difficult task, so he started an aggressive church building program. he comissioned the construction of eight basilicas all around rome. the most famous was the basilica beato petro apostolo, or today's st. peters in the vatican. the purpose of this post is to guide the visitor to a couple of his lesser known basilicas. first let's visit the basilica of san giovanni in laterno. built by constantine in the early 4 th century it rivaled st. peters in splendor. the bascilia was destroyed twice by fire and was rebuilt several times. the adjoining lantern palace was the official papal residence until 1309. all popes up to 1870 were crowned in this basilica. the interior of the basilica was renovated by borromini in 1646 and the main facade was added in the 18th century. the lantern place was destroyed by fire in 1309. it was rebuilt by pope sixtus V in 1586. only the pope can celebrate mass at the gothic main altar. it is believed that the heads of st. peter and st. paul are entombed under this altar. this beautiful church is certainly worth a visit when in rome.

across the square from san giovanni is a building that houses the scala santa and the sancta sanctorum. the scala santa is a marble staircase from pontius pilate's house in jerusalem. these are the steps that Christ ascended during his trial. this relic was brought to rome by constantine's mother st. helena. these steps are covered with wood boards so that no human foot can touch them. the steps can only be climbed by the faithful on their knees. the sancta sanctorum or also known as the chapel of st. lawrence, was built by pope nicholas III in 1278. it was moved to it's present location by pope sixtus V from the ruins of the lantern palace. another important relic in the sancta sanctorum is the aclieiropoeton. it is a picture of Jesus said to be painted by st. luke.

st. helena founded this church in 320AD on the grounds of her palace. on a visit to jerusalem she brought back to rome a piece of the cross. many religious historians believe if a piece of the true cross does exist this might be it. next to the cross is a plaque with the inscription in latin, hebrew, and greek "jesus of nazareth king of the jews". this plaque also gives credibility to the authenticity of this relic. the relic has never been carbon dated so no one really knows for sure. santa croce is located several blocks south of san giovanni. also near by is the aqueduct of nero and the porta maggiore, part of the aqueduct built by emperor claudius in 52AD.

the following is a list of the eight constantine basilicas in rome. basilica beato petro apostolo, (st. peter's), basilica constantiniana, (san giovanni in laterno), basilica in palatio sessoriano, (santa croce in gerusalmme), basilica beato paulo apostolo, (san paolo fuori le mura), basilica apostolorum, (san sebastiano fuori le mura), basilica beatis martyibus marcellino et petro et mausoleum helenae, (ss marcellino e pietro fuori le mura e mausoleo helenae), basilica beato laurentio martyri, (san lorenzo fuori le mura), basilica sanctae martyris agnae et mausoleum constantinae, ( sant' agnese fuori le mura e mausoleo di costanza).

to learn more about constantinian rome i suggest this book, "constantine and the christian empire" by charles matson odahl. pub, routledge.
also an excellent travel guide is, rome dk eyewitness travel guides, (www.dk.com.)