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Rome: the eternal city. Today it is a place dominated by Christianity. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Rome: A History of the Eternal City I, BBC 2012
Its origin as a sacred site owes everything to its pre-Christian past. ibid.
Every sacred city needs a creation story, and Rome is no different. ibid.
The Temple of Jupiter was a declaration of the astonishing religious and political confidence of Rome. ibid.
A multinational pantheon of deities. ibid.
With Caesar’s successors Rome would no longer be ruled by the Senate as a republic but by a single ruler as an autocracy. ibid.
Augustus subtly adopted new powers. ibid.
Augustus set the tone for emperors who came after him. ibid.
A new generation of foreign sects was starting to gain popularity in the city. ibid.
In the earliest Christian art the cross doesn’t appear at all. ibid.
This was a holy city blessed by the gods to rule the world. ibid.
Rome: Holy City blessed by pagan gods. Earthly capital of a glorious empire with a divine mission to conquer and rule. But Rome was to cast aside its pantheon of idols to embrace a revolutionary new faith from the east. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Rome: A History of the Eternal City II: Divine Gamble
The centre of Rome had been devastated by fire. ibid.
Constantine built seven churches in Rome. ibid.
Justinian ousted the old pope and installed Virgilius. ibid.
At Christmas 597, 10,000 angels were baptised as Christians. ibid.
Popes became power-hungry players in the savage scheming of Italian politics. ibid.
The popes played a vicious game of power and pleasure. ibid.
The papacy and Rome sank to ever greater depths of moral depravity. ibid.
A Holy City driven more by power than piety. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Rome: A History of the Eternal City III: The Rebirth of God’s City
A new Jerusalem – but the men leading the city would be far from saintly. ibid.
The most notorious family in the entire history of the papacy – the Borgias. ibid.
Cesare Borgia was the Pope’s flamboyant enforcer and henchman. ibid.
An artist so revered that even his rival Raphael painted him – Michelangelo. ibid.
In 1512 a heavenly vision was unveiled – the Creation narrative of Genesis has never been so sublimely rendered. ibid.
The rebuilding of St Peter’s would last a hundred and twenty years. ibid.
The papacy had turned sin into a business … the selling of Indulgences would prove one step too far. ibid.
The Inquisition was set up to enforce the doctrines of the Church. ibid.
St Peter’s – the largest church in the world. ibid.
The papacy and the kingdom would be in a standoff for sixty years. ibid.
The Vatican state became the world’s smallest nation. ibid.
Here they make helmets and swords from chalices, and by the handful sell the blood of Christ; his cross and thorns are made into lances and shields. Michelangelo, letter to friend October 1512, cited Seamus Cashman
Oh Rome! my country! city of the soul! Lord Byron
While stand the Coliseum, Rome shall stand;
When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall;
And when Rome falls – the World. Lord Byron
The story of Rome is the story of the world. Napoleon Bonaparte
Rome’s readiest champions, repose you here in rest,
Secure from worldly chances and mishaps.
Here lurks no treason, here no envy swells,
Here grow no damned drugs, here are no storms,
No noise, but silence and eternal sleep.
In peace and honour rest you here, my sons. William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus I i 151-156
Why, foolish Lucius, dost thou not perceive
That Rome is but a wilderness of tigers? William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus III i 52-53
All roads lead to Rome. Late 14th century proverb
Rome was not built in a day. Mid-16th century proverb
Rome wasn’t built in a day. But I wasn’t on that particular job. Brian Clough
Rome ... A city of weight. The city that is like a huge compost heap. A city of human hopes and ambitions. A wilderness of imperial splendour despoiled of its ornament almost indecipherable. Kenneth Clark, Civilisation 5/13: The Hero as Artist, BBC 1969
By the 1620s the rich Roman families, who were in fact the families of successive popes, had begun to compete as patrons and collectors. Kenneth Clark, Civilisation 7/13: Grandeur & Obedience
Rome is basically a Baroque creation. Waldemar Januszczak, Baroque! – From St Peter’s to St Paul’s I, BBC 2013
Borromini in my opinion was the single most exciting architect there has ever been … The Picasso of architecture. ibid.
In 1496 Michelangelo decided to try his luck here in Rome. Great Artists with Tim Marlow
His first commission in Rome: Bacchus. It’s a garden statue. ibid.
Bernini arrived in Rome in 1605 just at the time Caravaggio’s punchy street dramas were electrifying the Church. Giving it a new vision of how to move the flock. Simon Schama’s Power of Art: Bernini
This was Caravaggio’s Rome: cheap rooms and drunken nights ... Make something sacred out of the lives of the sordid. Simon Schama’s Power of Art: Caravaggio
Today’s world has already been divided into ten regions by the Club of Rome. Dave Hunt, A Woman Rides the Beast, 2004
Babylon was also known as Rome. ibid.
There is one other city in the world – and only one – which is a spiritual entity and could therefore commit spiritual fornication with the kings of the Earth and it’s built on seven hills. That city is Rome, the headquarters of Roman Catholicism. ibid.
From John’s vision these four criteria: being a city, known as Babylon, built on seven hills, that committed spiritual fornication with Earth rulers. ibid.
Rome is the city of echoes, the city of illusions, and the city of yearning. Giotto di Bondone
Who can we trust in this charnel house called Rome? The Borgias s1e7: Death on a Pale Horse, Rodrigo to mistress, Showtime 2011