Bridging the Gap

San Marcello ranks right up there with Santa Maria in Via Lata in distance. Right across the street from yesterday's church, it was technically even closer, since it was on our side of the street. Yay for . . . closeification.

Pope Saint Marcellus I didn't quite make it to 'In Hoc Signo Vinces' (In this sign, conquer). That came three years after his death in 312, when Constantine heard those words in a dream with the image of a Chi Rho (Christ's initials) or cross, being told to paint the sign on his soldiers' shields. The timing for Constantine was significant, because he was on the banks of the Tiber with a bridge in front of him today called Milvio--the Milvian Bridge. Constantine had been up in England (Britain) hanging out in Eboracum (York), when his dad Constantius had died. His dad had been with him up in Britain fighting those troublesome Picts (You could say they pickt their battles . . . ), but his dad also happened to be the emperor. As in, guy in charge of the Western World.

Maybe there's something in the air in York (There sure is in New York, but we call that pollution . . . ). Constantius' troops thought it was a good call to nominate Constantine emperor number next. The guy who had some say in that sort of thing, Galerius, gave it the thumbs up, or more technically, sent Constantine a 'purple vestment' (Lent, anyone?) recognizing C as the E of the West.

Fine and dandy, except emperors tended to do their emperorizing from the little hamlet called Rome, and another guy named Maxentius who happened to be localized in that locality decided to start up the emperor gig when he heard Constantius had died.

Cue Milvian Bridge.

Constantine recognized the whole Rome thing and so headed south from Pict-sburgh, coincidentally with 100,000 guys they call Roman soldiers.

Maxentius, besides having the nifty things they call walls around his city, also had a hundred thousand men or more besides, so he was in good shape.

Then Constantine has his In Hoc dream, and Maxentius simultaneously decides to forget about the protective value of walls, and marches across that aforementioned Milvian Bridge.

Big battle.

Constantine's Chi Rho guys were able to push Maxentius' guys back, who discover that a river behind you is problematic for continued backing up.

Maxentius meanwhile discovers it's hard to swim with armor on, so that last retreat becomes the end of his emperoring.

That was October 28, 312. Maxentius had been running Rome since 306, when Constantius had died.

Thus the problem for Pope Saint Marcellus I, of today's station church. He had set up a church on today's site, in the home of Lucina. Maxentius showed his opinion of the matter by making the church a stable, and the elderly Marcellus stable boy. To old to be horsing around, Marcellus died there in 309. It would be after Constantine's victory that Christianity would no longer be harassed by the emperors and Co.









Today's church seems quite stable, though no longer a stable.



At no extra charge, we provide this complementary photo from our jaunt after Mass to get coffee:





















The column of Marcus Aurelius. They call 'im Marcus Aurelius.