San Clemente - Home to Rome's Ancient Comics and Much More

San Clemente's Basilica,only a few hundred meters away from the Coliseum, halfway between the famous Amphitheathre and S. Giovanni in Laterano, is one of those paleo-christian basilicas built upon one of the ancient temples dedicated to Mithra: an Oriental deity of very ancient origins, whose worship became widespread in Rome between the 1 and the IV Century AD (mysteric cults).

Mithra has some incredible coincidences with Christianity: in fact he was:
- Born on the night between the 24th and the 25th of December;  
- Lived 33 years;
- Resurrected to Eternal Life.

Besides the beautiful church, filled with marvelous mosaics, and the ancient Mithraeum, San Clemente features a fresco which, if not for its strictly artistic significance, has a quite important cultural and lingustic one.

In the inferior Basilica, in the lower part of a larger fresco, there is a depiction of the Miracle of St. Clemente. The tradition tells us that when the Saint was arrested, while he was dragged by the soldiers  he was turned miraculously into a marble pillar. The fresco depicts this moment, with the soldiers struggling to move their heavy prisoner, with the prefect Sisinnius cursing them. 

The officer shouts: "Pull, sons of the prostitutes!" while another soldier says "Push from the back with the help of a pole". The Saint instead says: "Owing to the hardness of your heart, you deserve carrying nothing but stones."

Despite the low interest of the dialogue itself, this fresco is remarkable: firstly because it's one of the most ancient examples of "comic", with words written around the speaker, and because it's an example of "transition" language, between Latin and the Vulgar, which later evolved into the Italian language. Another interesting aspect, is that St. Clemente speaks Latin, probably to remark the Saint's superiority as opposed to the soldiers who captured him.   

San Clemente is a typical place of interest in Rome: slightly off the most beaten path, containing real gems for the art and history lovers, and with a curious and unusual side, making it unique.


P.S.: Special thanks to my bro Claudio for lending me the pictures for this post! :)





Related post: http://viewsofrome.blogspot.it/2011/12/sol-invictus-festivity-before-christmas.html

"Domine, Quo Vadis?" - A small Church for a Miracle Encounter

On the Appian Way, less than half a kilometer away from Porta San Sebastiano (the main gate in Rome walls on Appian Way) and just metres away from the Catacombs of St. Callisto, there is a small church with a very simple façade, that can easily go unnoticed both by visitors and by Romans, often more concentrated on the nearby road intersection than on what surrounds them.

The little church, as stated also by the sentence written in Latin above the entrance door, was, according to tradition, the stage for a very special encounter: it is believed that St. Peter, fleeing Rome to escape the prosecutions by Emperor Nero, met Christ in this place, and asked him in Latin: "Domine, Quo Vadis?" meaning "Lord, where are you going?" and Christ, who was heading towards Rome, replied: "Eo Romam Iterum Crucifigi", which means "I'm going to Rome to be crucifixed again." From this sentence, Peter understood he should not run away, so he went back to Rome to meet his destiny or martyrdom.

Inside the church, on the floor, we can see a slab of white marble, on which there are engraved 2 footprints, believed to be the footprints of Christ himself (this can be seen from the sentences engraved on the edges of the slab). Historical and archaeological researches showed that the slab is indeed ancient, but in reality it was an "ex voto" made by travellers, probablyleft in the temple as a thanking to the Gods for the successful trip, or maybe as an offer before the trip to invoke their protection.

The little church can be a nice stop for the visitor on the Appian way en route to bigger attractions such as: the Catacombs, the Appian Way, or the ancient city walls, that can be visited in the section around the nearby gate of Porta San Sebastiano.