In his time Constantine Augustus built the following basilicas and adorned them:
the Constantinian basilica1 where he offered the following gifts: a ciborium of hammered silver, which has upon the front the Savior seated upon a chair, in height 5 feet, weighing 120 lbs., and also the 12 apostles, who weigh each ninety pounds and are 5 feet in height and wear crowns of purest silver; further, on the back, looking toward the apse are the Savior seated upon a throne2 in height 5 feet, of purest silver, weighing 140 lbs., and 4 angels of silver, which weigh each 105 lbs. and are 5 feet in height and have jewels from Alabanda3 in their eyes and carry spears; [or: which are each 5 feet in height uopn the sides and carry crosses and weifgh each 105 lbs. and have jewels from Alavanda in their eyes;] the ciborium itself weighs 2025 lbs. of wrought silver; a vaulted ceiling of purest gold4; [or: the ciborium itself weighs 2025 lbs.; -- the ciborium itself, where stand the angels and the apostles, weighs 2025 lbs. of wrought silver;] and a lamp of purest gold5, which hangs beneath the ciborium, with 50 dolphins of purest gold, weighing each 50 lbs., and chains which weigh 25 lbs.; [a lamp of purest gold beneath the ciborium with 50 dolphins and a chain which weighs 25 lbs.;--a lamp of purest gold which hangs beneath the ciborium, with 50 dolphins, which weighs with its chain 25 lbs.;]
4 crowns6 of purest gold with 20 dolphins, weighing each fifteen lbs.;
a vaulting for the basilica of polished gold7, in length and in breadth 500 lbs.;
7 altars of purest silver, weighing each 200 lbs.;
7 golden patens, weighing each thirty lbs.;
16 silver patens, weighing each thirty lbs.;
7 goblets of purest gold, weighing each 10 lbs.;
A single goblet of coral set all about with prases and jacinths and overlaid with gold, which weighs in all 20 lbs. and 3 ounces;
20 silver goblets, weighing each fifteen lbs.;
2 pitchers of purest gold, weighing each fifty lbs. and holding each 3 medimni8;
20 silver pitchers, weighing each ten lbs. and holding each one medimnus;
40 smaller chalices of purest gold, weighing each one lb.;
50 smaller chalices for service, weighing each 2 lbs.;
For ornament in the basilica:
a chandelier of purest gold before the altar, wherein burns pure oil of nard, with 80 dolphins, weighing 30 lbs.;
a silver chandelier with 20 dolphins, which weighs 50 lbs., wherein burns pure oil of nard;
45 silver chandeliers in the body of the basilica9, weighing each 30 lbs., wherein burns the aforesaid oil;
on the right side of the basilica 40 silver lamps, weighing each 20 lbs.;
25 silver chandeliers on the left side of the basilica, weighing each 20 lbs.;
50 silver candelabra in the body of the basilica, weighing each 20 lbs.;
3 jars of purest silver, weighing each 300 lbs., holding 10 medimni;
7 brass candlesticks before the altars, 10 feet in height, adorned with figures of the prophets overlaid with silver, weighing each 300 lbs.;
and for maintenance of the lights there he granted:
the Gargilian estate in the region of Suessa10 yielding every year 400 sol.;
the Bauronican estate in the region of Suessa, yielding 360 sol.;
the Aurian estate in the region of Laurentum11, yielding 500 sol.;
the Urban estate in the region of Antium12, yielding 240 sol.;
the Sentilian estate in the region of Ardea13, yielding 240 sol.;
the estate of Castis in the region of 14Catina1 yielding 1000 sol.;
the estate of Trapeae in the region of Catina, yielding 1650 sol.;
2 censers of purest gold, weighing 30 lbs.;
a gift of spices before the altar, every year 150 lbs.
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1. San Giovanni in Laterano. As early as 313 a council called to try the case of the Donatist heretics under Pope Miltiades met "in the house of Fausta in the Lateran." Jaffè, Regesta, vol. I, p. 28, 313. Fausta was the wife of Constantine. The basilica erected on the site was first called Constantinian in the record of the Roman synod of 487. Mommsen, op. cit., p. xxvii and n. 4. Needless to say no vestiges of this first basilica are visible in the present structure. The former fell to the ground in 877 and was rebuilt once in the tenth century, twice in the fourteenth and thoroughly "restored" in the seventeenth and nineteenth. For a description of the several basilicas ascribed in our text to Constantine see Gregorovius, History of Rome, vol. I, pp. 88-112.
2. The figure of Christ seated in the midst of his apostles was represented often in the catacombs and on the sarcophagi of the fourth century. The mosaic of the apse of the church of Santa Pudenziana dates from the end of that century. Christ enthroned between angels was, for some reason, a subject less frequently chosen. A nave mosaic of San Apollinare Nuovo at Ravenna, built for Theodoric about the year 500, shows the latter scene, the attendant angels carrying spears, as here. This ciborium of Constantine was destroyed by Alaric's Gauls and replaced by one given by the emperor Valentinian in the pontificate of Xystus III. See infra, p. 95, n.1.
3. A city in Caria, now Arab-Hissar.
4. I.e. the vault of the ciborium from which depended the great lamp next described.
5. An ornament of lamps or chandeliers, shaped like a dolphin; probably each dolphin held a light.
6. I.e. circular chandeliers with pendant lights.
7. The readings of this clause vary a little but none are quite intelligible. The vaulting is that of the half dome of the apse.
8. The medimnus or [Greek word] was the Greek bushel, comprising about twelve gallons or one and one half English bushels.
9. I.e. the central nave. The right side mentioned next would be the right aisle, reserved at this time for women communicants, the left side the left aisle reserved for men.
10. The modem Sessa in Latium. There is a village of Garigliano in that region now.
11. The modem Torre Patemo in Latium. From the opening of the second century to the close of the fourth the ancient villages of Laurentum and Lavinium united to form one municipality.
12. The modern Porto d'Anzio in Latium. Antium was a city in the fifth century and its bishop attended the synods at Rome. It suffered severely and dwindled in size during the later disorders.
13. The colony of Ardea is mentioned as late as 223 A.D., but it sent no bishops to the Roman councils of the fifth century. It was evidently declining in population in the interval. Duchesne, op. cit., p. 192, n. 39.
14. The modern Poggio Catino southwest of Rieti.
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