Pope Urban VIII had the soil of the cemetery conveyed from Jerusalem. Pope Pius VI granted a PLENARY INDULGENCE to the faithful who visit it on the first Sunday of October.
The cemetery contains the bones of some 4000 Religious who died here between 1528 and 1870.
The three small skeletons that are seen in the sixth compartment, are those of two young princes and a princess of the Barberini family, grand-nephews and grand-niece of Urban VIII. On the right of the arch which serves as a Chapel, is prince Matteo Orsini clothed in the Franciscan habit; on the left is the princess Maria Peretti, grand-niece of Sixtus V; in the wall in front of the altar is the urn containing the remains of a Patriarch of Jerusalem; in the tomb in the center lie the bodies of the papal Zouaves who fell defending the Porta Pia in 1870.
The author of this artistic work, which probably belongs to the eighteenth century, is unknown. The tradition is that the work was executed by the Religious under the direction of a French Friar. Whoever the author may have been, he has succeeded in creating a marvelous work, unique in its kind which attracts numberless visitors without in any way taking from the religious character of the cemetery. The little crosses that mark the resting places of the dead and the mummified remains, in a standing or a recumbent position, remind the visitors of the drama of life which ends in death; while the fantastic designs worked out in human bones on the walls of the arches, invite to prayer and meditation.
Russell came to our class and told us about his trip to Italy during his spring break in 1997. Since we were reading about Ancient Rome and the Roman Empire, he showed us slides about what he saw.
First Stack:
The first slide he showed us was of Spanish steps. There were so many steps! Then we saw the slide with the Tiber River. It had boats on it. Then he showed us the sign for a pizza shop. Also, a restaurant named Crispie’s.
Then he showed us the coolest thing. It was the Capuchin crypts, and it was made of human bones from Jerusalem. He showed us the catacombs there which were made of skull art. Also, there was a full skeleton with a cloak on which were the saints. There was a beautiful lamp made out of bones. The art is very strange, but beautiful. On the ceiling there was a grim reaper holding a scythe and scales.
He showed us a slide of the Sistine Chapel, which has the paintings of Michelangelo. One was of God and Adam. Then one of Adam & Eve. Then one of just Adam. Then he showed the whole picture of the ceiling, which had all of Michelangelo’s biblical paintings.
The Colesseum was the next slide he showed us, and the rooms below the floor. It was so huge! He showed us the outside of the Colesseum. Did you ever wonder why there are gaps in the floor and top of the walls? It is from people who took the stone blocks to build their houses (I didn’t know that). Then under the Colesseum floor we saw where the gladiators gathered before they came on top to fight. Then we saw a picture of the entire Colesseum, then more walls that people took stones from.
Afterwards, Russell showed us an arch, but not just any arch. It was a triumphal arch, and it was made for winning a war. It had so many beautiful carvings covering it.
He showed us a monastery on the Tiber River. Then a big cathedral - it was beautiful. Then the Tiber River Bridge - it was long.
Pompeii was the next slide he showed us, and it was the old walls of Pompeii. Pompeii, the city, was 300 yards from the ocean. Howev er, when the volcano Vesuvius erupted in 79AD, the people were not able to escape to the ocean. He showed us a mosaic saying, “Cave Canem,” which means “beware of dog.” He showed us the pillars of Pompeii, which were covered in 40 feet of ash. The ash covered the entire city. We saw two people in a body cast covered with ash. We saw a picture of the volcano in the background, which looked like it was about 40 miles away. In the background we could also see a chapel of the new Pompeii.
2nd Stack of slides:
There are steps in the streets of Pompeii because that is their sewage system. There are spaces between the round raised steps because they need carriages to be able to go through the streets and between the steps. Then he showed us the walls of Pompeii. Also, the dog of Pompeii, he showed us it again.
In the background was Mt. Vesuvius. Then he showed us the walls of the stadium in Pompeii. We saw some ancient graffiti. Russell said the writing said “Augustus was here” or something like that. Then he showed us a marketplace.
He showed us the area for the gladiators under the stadium. He showed us a stone bed, and it actually looked comfortable. Then he showed us an old stone mural. He showed a passage way (road) with ruts in the stone. It shows how much they rode on it and how heavy the wagons were.
The coolest slide he showed us was of a Poseidon Mural. I loved it because it was so beautiful. The last thing he showed us was the bath house.
That concludes the slide show that Russel showed us.
NOTES ON RUSSELL’s Trip to Italy
by Courtney
- there are bones
- bones are from Jerusalem
- dead people hanging from walls
- there is a lamp of bone
- the whole place is made of pure bones
- name of the place: Capuchin Crypts
- Sistine Chapel
- Adam and Eve
- a ceiling full of art work
- Stadium (Coliseum)
- people would take marble seats & floor
- chapel in the middle of houses
- Pompeii: volcano’s eruption covers all of Pompeii.
- Archaeologists dig out Pompeii
- street was used as a sewer; steps to walk across
Assassins ended the career of Julius Caesar before he had finished his lifework. But what he accomplished made him one of the few men who changed the course of civilization. Some historians consider him Rome's greatest genius. He was a soldier of remarkable ability, an accomplished scholar and writer, and a statesman gifted with enormous insight. He changed the chaos of an outworn system of government into the foundations of a new order that produced the greatest of all ancient empires.
When Caesar was a young man, he was captured by pirates in the eastern Mediterranean. When they demanded 20 talents (units of weight) of gold for ransom or they would kill him, he said: "What! Only 20 talents? I will give you 50 talents for my life!"
While messengers were sent to Miletus for the money, Caesar joked with his captors and vowed to hang them all someday. The pirates were greatly amused at his high spirits. They had no idea that he would come back to carry out his threat. But within a few weeks after his release the whole pirate band was captured and put to death.
Hiding his serious character under a mask of light-hearted gaiety, Caesar made himself a favorite with the people of Rome. When he was overseer of public games (66 BC), he increased his popularity by preparing magnificent spectacles in the Circus Maximus for the pleasure-loving Romans at the cost of a crushing burden of debt for himself. The dignified Roman senators would have scorned any suggestion that this careless young fop would someday be the conqueror of the world. No one realized that his smiling manner covered a shrewd penetration and purpose. He saw the rottenness of the existing government and the need of a strong central power to save Rome from decay. He felt that he was the one person to bring this change about. This was his determined aim, and as a part of his plan he formed a political alliance with the two most powerful men in Rome, the wealthy Crassus and the popular general Pompey (see Pompey the Great). As a result Caesar was elected consul in 59 BC. After his year of office, he decided to leave Rome to govern Gaul, the country that is now France.
Gaul gave Caesar the opportunity to show his great qualities as a leader, an organizer, and a general. He so endeared himself to his soldiers that they would follow him anywhere. He worked with them, fought with them, and suffered the same hardships.
He conquered tribe after tribe of barbarians. In 55 BC Caesar crossed the Rhine in an attempt to stop the Germanic invasions. Twice he landed in Britain. In 52 BC he put down the last great Gallic uprising.
Meanwhile Crassus had been killed. Pompey, who had sided with Caesar's enemies, was sole consul, with enormous powers. The Senate declared Caesar a public enemy and ordered him to disband his army.
The river Rubicon marked the boundary between Caesar's province and Italy. Crossing it with an army meant declaring war on Rome. When Caesar reached the river (Jan. 10, 49 BC), he plunged his horse into its shallow water and exclaimed, Alea jacta est ("The die is cast"). The expression "crossing the Rubicon" is still used to describe an irreversible decision.
Pompey fled across the sea to Greece, keeping command of the fleet. Caesar seized the treasury in Rome and set up a temporary government, with himself as dictator. Five years of civil war followed.
After a successful campaign in Spain, Caesar sailed for Greece and decisively defeated Pompey at Pharsalus (48 BC). Pompey fled to Egypt and was murdered there before Caesar could catch up with him. Caesar placed Cleopatra on Egypt's throne and remained with her through the winter (see Cleopatra). Then he went to Asia Minor. It was after an easy victory there, in Pontus, that he sent his famous message to the Senate, "Veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered).
In the autumn of 47 BC Caesar was back in Rome. Cato and others went to Africa to raise forces against him. Caesar crossed over to Africa in 46 BC and crushed them. The next year he went again to Spain to destroy the last of the Pompeian forces, led by Pompey's sons. He was then master of the Roman world.
In 44 BC Caesar was powerful enough to have himself made dictator for life. He planned to use his power to put through many far-reaching and much-needed reforms. He thought of himself as a person of high destiny and lived with pomp and ceremony. He offended the republicans--those who opposed the establishment of a monarchy--by having his statue set up alongside the statues of the early kings of Rome. However, he rejected a crown Mark Antony set on his head.
Sixty senators joined in a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar at a meeting of the Senate on the 15th, or the Ides, of March in 44 BC. In the group was Caesar's friend Brutus, an impractical young republican.
Caesar disregarded the warning of his wife, Calpurnia, and went to the Senate chamber. As he entered, he was surrounded by the conspirators. At a signal they drew their daggers and attacked. At first Caesar tried to defend himself. When he saw Brutus with a dagger, he gave up the struggle, saying, "Et tu, Brute?" (You too, Brutus?). He fell dead at the foot of Pompey's statue.
The murder of Caesar deprived Rome of perhaps its greatest statesman and soldier. Caesar's social and political reforms as well as his military victories were notable. He instituted the Julian calendar, which became the basis for the calendar now used in most parts of the world. Shortly before his death Caesar drew up a blueprint for the constitutions of the municipia, units of local self-government for Roman citizens. He also increased the size of the Senate and made its composition more representative of the Roman population. Caesar's murderers failed to save the republic, for, 14 years later, Caesar's nephew Octavian became emperor of Rome. The next four emperors also belonged to the family of the Caesars. The imperial name became a title of honor. It survived to World War I as the title of the German and Austrian rulers, kaiser.
Julius Caesar was as able a writer as he was a ruler. He recorded the events of his military campaigns. The straightforward prose of his history of the Gallic wars is familiar to students of Latin.