religion. He is reminded of the varied fortunes of the reigning family, of the piety of Helena, the crowning victory of Constantine, and the tragic fate of Crispus. His thoughts are carried away by the subject to lands and times alike remote; but they will revert to our own countryman," the greatest of all historians, who has used so happily the coins and medals, as well as every other monument within his reach; who has woven the discordant statements of ancient writers into one harmonious narrative, who has shed the light of learning and genius on a period previously as obscure as it was interesting to the philosophical inquirer.7 THE HOUSE OF PUDENS IN ROME. By J. H. PARKER, F.S.A. It is well known that the early history of the Bishops of Rome, afterwards called popes, is very obscure and of doubtful authenticity. The earliest historian is Damasus, who lived in the latter part of the fourth century, and must have relied on tradition for the history of the three previous centuries. He states that Pius I., who was bishop from 154 to 162, "made a church in the therma of Novatus, and dedicated it in honour of his sister Pudentiana, the martyr.' The authenticity of this statement, which is printed in Anastasius, is disputed by Protestant historians, and warmly contended for by Roman Catholics. Pius I. is said to have been a brother of the Pastor Hermas, who wrote the celebrated treatise called by his name, the genuineness of which is also a matter of dispute. If the Roman Catholic historians can be accepted, Pius was the brother of this Pastor Hermas, and the grandson of Pudeus, the Roman senator, and the friend of St. Paul. The coincidences are very great respecting the family of Pudens as being among the earliest Christians, and the most important family of Christians in Rome. The legends of the Greek Church and those of the ancient British Church, now called the Welsh, agree substantially with the Roman legends respecting this family. The connection of Pudens with the British royal family, and his marriage with Gladys, the daughter of Caractacus, is a staunch matter of belief in Wales. These legends have been collected by a Welsh clergyman of the name of Morgan, now an archdeacon. Some of the leading facts are confirmed by Tacitus,2 and by Martial in his epigrams. 3 1 Morgan's St. Paul in Britain, 12mo. Oxford, 1861, p. 114 to 129. 2 Annals of Tacitus, Book xii. c. 33 to 38. 3 Martialis Epigram. lib. i. 32; lib. iv. 13: AD RUFUM DE NUPTIIS PUDENTIS ET CLAUDIA PEREGRINE. 1 Ibid. lib. iv. 29, "AD PUDENTEM;" Edita, quam Latiæ pectore plebis habet! Another incidental confirmation of the connection of the family of Pudens with Britain is afforded by the well-known inscription found at Chichester, and preserved in the park of Goodwood, near to that city. This inscription records the grant of land for building a temple by Pudens in his capacity of governor of the southern province of Britain. It is now generally acknowledged that the Acts of the Martyrs and the Roman Martyrology were compiled in the eighth or ninth century, and are in themselves of no historical authority. They are compiled from various sources of very different authenticity, but the Acts of Justin Martyr have generally been allowed to be genuine, and in these we have strong testimony in favour of the history of the house of Pudens. When S. Justin is being examined by the Prefect he is asked "in what place the Christians were accustomed to assemble in Rome?" At first he evades the question, saying that they do not all assemble at the same place; but, as the Prefect presses the question again as to where he himself has resided in Rome, he replies, in the house of a certain Martin, in the baths of Timotheus, which is another name for the baths or therma of Novatus, made in the house of Pudens. Timotheus was another member of the same family. According to the traditions of the Roman Church, this senator's large family palace, in a part of which hot-air baths, called by the Greek name of therma, had been made, and afterwards abandoned, was the usual abode of all foreign Christians coming to Rome, a sort of gratuitous hostel open to all fellow-Christians coming with proper certificates. The archæological evidence is strongly in favour of the truth of these traditions; the existing remains of some great palace of the first century, with alterations of the second, are very distinct. It was built against the southern cliff of the Viminal Hill. The cellars under the houses in the Via di S. Pudentiana (originally called the Vicus Patricius) consist of a series of long, narrow, vaulted chambers, the arches of which are built of the fine brick-work of the first century, several of which are supported by other arches under them, and these lower arches are of the character of the second century. The subterranean church is formed out of three of these long, narrow, vaulted chambers, with arches pierced through the walls, and with clerestory windows made over them. These windows must have opened into an area, and so |