h the circus, such as driving a chariot drawn by four
camels, or letting loose thousands of poisonous snakes among the
spectators, Lampridius mentions a race of four quadrigae drawn by
elephants, which was to be run in the Vatican; and as the track inside
the circus was obviously too narrow for such an attempt, another was
prepared outside by removing or destroying those tombs of the Via
Cornelia which stood in the way.[77] It is more than probable that the
body of S. Peter was at that time transferred to a temporary place of
shelter at the third milestone of the Via Appia, which I shall have
opportunity to describe in the seventh chapter.[78]

After the defeat of Maxentius in the plains of Torre di Quinto,
Constantine "raised a basilica over the tomb of the blessed Peter,
which he enclosed in a bronze case. The altar above was decorated with
spiral columns carved with vines which he had brought over from
Greece."[79]

The basilica was erected hurriedly at the expense of the adjoining
circus. Constantine took advantage of its three northern walls, which
supported the seats of the spectators on the side of the Via Cornelia,
to rest upon them the left wing of the church, and built new
foundations for the right wing only. His architect seems to have been
rather negligent in his measurements, because the tomb of S. Peter did
not correspond exactly with the axis of the nave, and was not in the
centre of the apse, being some inches to the left.

The columns were collected from everywhere. I have discovered in one
of the note-books of Antonio da Sangallo the younger a memorandum of
the quality, quantity, size, color, etc., of one hundred and
thirty-six shafts. Nearly all the ancient quarries are represented in
the collection, not to speak of styles and ages. An exception must be
made in favor of the twelve columns of the Confession, mentioned
above, which, according to the "Liber Pontificalis," were brought over
from Greece (_columnae vitineae quas de Graecia perduxit_: i. 176). I
doubt the correctness of the statement; they appear to me a fantastic
Roman work of the third century.

At all events the surmise of the "Liber Pontificalis" shows how little
credit is to be attached to the tradition that they once belonged to
the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem.[80] There are eleven left: of which
eight ornament the balconies under the dome; two, the altar of S.
Mauritius, and one (reproduced in our illustration) the Cappella del