century, that by which the Parcæ were usually distinguished. We shall later find that in the eighth century it was generally used to designate a district in the ancient Forum, and that down to the twelfth century the bronze Temple of Janus still existed as the so-called Templum Fatale. The last dying movement of Paganism in Rome exercises a sort of spell on the imagination, and we cannot here deny ourselves the pleasure of quoting a Latin song, one of the last utterances of the ancient faith. It is impossible to translate the verses. O admirabile Veneris idolum Cujus materiæ nihil est frivolum ; Saluto puerum, non per hypotesim, coin of Nero, which bears the inscription: S.C. Pace Terra Marique Parta Janum Clausit. The ancient custom reappears in altered form in Roman Christianity; in the opening and closing of the sacred doors of certain basilicas during the Jubilee. 1 The proof of this assertion is to be found in a Roman mythographer of the fifth century. (Tom. iii., Classicor. Auctor. of Cardinal Mai, Mythographus, i. p. 40.) After having given the explanation, "de tribus furiis vel Eumenidibus," he proceeds : 110. de tribus fatis. Tria fata etiam Plutoni destinant. Hæc quoque destinant. Нӕс quoque Parcæ dictæ per antiphrasin, quod nulli parcant. Clotho colum bajulat, Lachesis trahit, Atropos occat. Clotho græce, latine dicitur evocatio; Lachesis, sors; Atropos, sine ordine. Quo fugis, amabo, cum te dilexerim? Dura materies ex matris ossibus In answer to this enigmatical song, in which Venus and Love mysteriously appear in the company of the three Parcæ or Tria Fata, may have been written another song in honour of SS. Peter and Paul :— O Roma nobilis, orbis et domina, O Paule, suscipe nostra peccamina! 1 Niebuhr found both songs in the Vatican and published them in Rhein. Mus., iii. pp. 7 and 8. (See also Daniel, Thesaur. hymnologicus, iv. 96.) He attributes them to the last days of the Empire. The Belisarius meanwhile required some more powerful support in Rome than that of prophecies. He sent letters to the Emperor Justinian, informing him of the attack so successfully repulsed, and, explaining the difficulty of his position, he earnestly begged for fresh troops. His forces, after the withdrawal of the garrisons left behind in Campania and Sicily, only numbered 5000 men, and of these the siege had already carried away a part. No mention is made of any Roman civic militia; rather would it appear that Rome, which had formerly conquered the world, had already become incapable of providing armed citizens. Procopius only informs us that Belisarius had taken artisans out of work, or day-labourers, into his pay, and divided the duty of watching amongst them. In divisions, or Symmoriæ, they had to supply the ranks of the night watches. Great caution, however, was required to guard against treachery. Belisarius changed the stations on the walls twice a month, and twice in the same time had new keys above quoted gloss de tribus fatis is curiously connected with the first song, where we find a repetition of the same phrase: Clotho colum bajulat. In it we recognise the time of the mythographer, namely, the fifth century. The secular song seems to refer to a statue of Venus, and the line furis ingenio non sentias dolum evidently express dread of the robbers of statues. It is possible that some Roman here laments the loss, and takes leave, of a favourite statue. The last verse is very obscure. Pagans still existed in numbers in the days of Theodoric (Edictum Theodorici Regis CVIII. in the Op. Cassiod.), and we can scarcely doubt may have been found even in Rome; although the opening of the doors of the Temple of Janus may probably have been the work of young people, to whose minds the terrible struggle recalled superstitions of the past. 1 Procop., i. 24: στρατιώτας τε καὶ ἰδιώτας ξυνέμιξε. forged for the gates. The captains were obliged to make the rounds at night, to call the watches by name, and point out the missing to the generals in the morning. Music played at night time to arouse the sleepy, and the Moorish soldiers who stood before the gates at their posts in the trenches had their shaggy watch-dogs by them to aid their own sharp hearing.1 4. EXILE OF POPE SILVERIUS FAMINE IN ROMEHUMANITY OF THE GOTHS-VITIGES OCCUPIES THE ROMAN HARBOURS, PORTUS AND OSTIA-Arrival of REINFORCEMENTS IN ROME-THE GOTHS REPULSE A SORTIE-INCREASING DISTRESS IN THE CITY-THE GOTHIC AND HUNNISH ENTRENCHMENTS. Belisarius undoubtedly had reason to suspect the fidelity of the Senate, and can scarcely be accused of harshness in having sentenced some of the patricians to banishment. His treatment of Pope Silverius cannot, however, be justified on the same grounds. To Silverius he owed his admission into Rome, and the Pope, who had persuaded the people to open 1 Songs with allusions to the past must assuredly have been in vogue among the sentinels. When, in 924, the people of Modena defended their walls against the Hungarians, the citizens sang the following:O tu, qui servas armis ista mænia, Noli dormire, moneo, sed vigila. Dum Hector vigil extitit in Troja Non eam cepit fraudulenta Græcia, &c. Muratori, Dissert. 40, and Ozanam, Docum. inédits, &c., pp. 68 and 69. The goodness of the Latin seems to refer the song to an earlier date, the verses both in rhythm and metre being on a level with those published by Niebuhr. their gates to the Greek general, could scarcely be suspected of a treasonable correspondence with the Goths. The painful incident is dismissed by Procopius in a few words: "because it was suspected that Silverius, the chief priest of the city, had plotted treason with the Goths, he sent him forthwith to Hellas, and afterwards appointed another bishop named Vigilius." The fall of Silverius was, however, the result of intrigues with the Empress Theodora, who, with the advent of a new Pope, hoped for the revocation of the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon and the restoration of the condemned patriarch Anthimus to Constantinople. To both of these measures Silverius had steadfastly refused his assent. Taking advantage of existing difficulties, Theodora carried on negotiations with the deacon Vigilius, an ambitious Roman and a favourite of her own, who had filled the office of Apocrisiarius, or Representative of the Church, in Constantinople. She wrote letters commanding Belisarius to find some plausible pretext for removing Silverius, and having Vigilius elected to the vacant chair,-Vigilius promising, in return for the Papacy, the restoration of Anthimus and the condemnation of the Council of Chalcedon. The great Belisarius basely yielded to the orders of two infamous women, the all-powerful Theodora and the crafty Antonina, his own wife; women whom a similarity in lowly birth and licentious life had made confidantes, although each feared and hated the other. Belisarius, who had not the courage to incur their ill-will, forced himself to become the executor of their designs. Antonina and Vigilius procured |