ement is afforded by the church of the chief of the
apostles in the Vatican, which is rich in columns, bases, capitals,
architraves, cornices, doors and other incrustations and ornaments
which were all taken from various places and buildings, erected
before that time in very magnificent style. The same remarks apply to
S. Croce at Jerusalem, which Constantine erected at the entreaty of
his mother, Helena; of S. Lorenzo outside the wall, and of S. Agnesa,
built by the same emperor at the request of his daughter Constance.
Who also is not aware that the font which served for the baptism of
the latter and of one of her sisters, was ornamented with fragments
of great antiquity? as were the porphyry pillar carved with beautiful
figures and some marble candelabra exquisitely carved with leaves,
and some children in bas-relief of extraordinary beauty? In short, by
these and many other signs, it is clear that sculpture was in
decadence in the time of Constantine, and with it the other superior
arts. If anything was required to complete their ruin it was supplied
by the departure of Constantine from Rome when he transferred the
seat of government to Byzantium, as he took with him to Greece not
only all the best sculptors and other artists of the age, such as
they were, but also a quantity of statues and other beautiful works
of sculpture.

After the departure of Constantine, the Caesars whom he left in
Italy, were continually building in Rome and elsewhere, endeavouring
to make these works as good as possible, but as we see, sculpture,
painting and architecture were steadily going from bad to worse. This
arose perhaps from the fact that when human affairs begin to decline,
they grow steadily worse until the time comes when they can no longer
deteriorate any further. In the time of Pope Liberius the architects
of the day took considerable pains to produce a masterpiece when they
built S. Maria Maggiore, but they were not very happy in the result,
because although the building, which is also mostly constructed of
spoils, is of very fair proportions, it cannot be denied that, not to
speak of other defects, the decoration of the church with stucco and
painting above the columns is of very poor design, and that many
other things to be seen there leave no doubt as to the degradation of
the arts. Many years later, when the Christians were suffering
persecution under Julian the Apostate, a church was erected on the
Celian Hill to SS. J