ddleton himself in his _Remains
of Ancient Rome_, vol. i. p. 275, fig. 35, from a heliogravure of the
original.

[57] In the _Cod. Vat._, 3,439, f. 46.

[58] See Dressel: _Bullettino dell' Instituto_, 1881, p.
38.--Lanciani: _Bullettino Comunale_, 1881, p. 4.--Visconti: _Un
simulacro di Semo Sancus_, Roma, 1881.--Preller: _Roemische
Mythologie_, p. 637.

[59] _Apolog._ 26.

CHAPTER III.

CHRISTIAN CHURCHES.

The large number of churches in Rome.--The six classes of the
earliest of these.--I. Private oratories.--The houses of Pudens
and Prisca.--The evolution of the church from the private
house.--II. Scholae.--The memorial services and banquets of the
pagans.--Two extant specimens of early Christian scholae.--That in
the Cemetery of Callixtus.--III. Oratories and churches built
over the tombs of martyrs and confessors.--How they came to be
built.--These the originals of the greatest sanctuaries of modern
Rome.--S. Peter's.--The origin of the church.--The question of S.
Peter's residence and execution in Rome.--The place of his
execution and burial.--The remarkable discovery of graves under
the _baldacchino_ of Urban VIII.--The basilica erected by
Constantine.--Some of its monuments.--The chair and statue of S.
Peter.--The destruction of the old basilica and the building of
the new.--The vast dimensions of the latter.--Is S. Peter's body
really still under the church?--The basilica of S. Paul's outside
the walls.--The obstacles to its construction.--The fortified
settlement of Johannipolis which grew up around it.--The grave of
S. Paul.--IV. Houses of confessors and martyrs.--The discoveries
of padre Germano on the Caelian.--The house of the martyrs John
and Paul.--V. Pagan monuments converted into churches.--Every
pagan building capable of holding a congregation was thus
transformed at one time or another.--Examples of these in and
near the Coliseum.--VI. Memorials of historical events.--The
chapel erected to commemorate the victory of Constantine over
Maxentius.--That of Santa Croce a Monte Mario.

Rome, according to an old saying, contains as many churches as there
are days in the year. This statement is too modest; the "great
catalogue" published by cardinal Mai[60] mentions over a thousand
places of worship, while nine hundred and eighteen are registered in
Professor Ar