Constantine and Rome

"Constantine the Great (285-337) played a crucial role in mediating between the pagan, imperial past of the city of Rome, which he conquered in 312, and its future as a Christian capital. In this book, R. Ross Holloway draws on archaeological evidence to examine Constantine's remarkable building program in Rome, describing a cityscape that was at once Christian and pagan, mirroring the personality of its ruler." "Holloway begins by examining the Christian Church in the period before the Peace of 313, when Constantine and his coemperor Licinius ended persecution of the Christians. He then focuses on the structure, style, and significance of important monuments. He discusses the Arch of Constantine, suggesting that it was begun by Constantine's predecessor Maxentius but finished, with modifications, for the new emperor. He looks at the basilicas of the Constantinian period, including St. John's in the Lateran and St. Peter's, and the imperial mausoleum and basilica at Tor Pignatara on the Via Labicana, which he contends is one of the most innovative complexes in the history of Western architecture. Holloway next surveys the Christian cemeteries of the period and reviews evidence for adaptation of pagan buildings to Christian worship. In a final chapter Holloway advances a new interpretation of the archaeology of the Tomb of St. Peter under the high altar of St. Peter's basilica. The tomb, he concludes, was not the original resting place of the remains venerated as those of the apostle but was created only in 251 by Pope Cornelius."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.