Prudentius, Crowns of Martyrdom, XII, trans. H.J. Thomson (Loeb Classical Library, Prudentius, II, 323-327).

XII
THE PASSION OF THE APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL.

"PEOPLE are gathering more than is usual for rejoicings. Tell me, friend, what it means. All over Rome they are running about in exultation."

"Today we have the festival of the apostles' triumph coming round again, a day made famous by the blood of Paul and Peter. The same day, but recurring after a full year (Neither the day nor the year of the martyrdom of either apostle is certainly known. There were different traditions, the commonest saying that they suffered in the same year. Their festivals had come to be celebrated on the same day (June 29) perhaps because on that day, at the beginning of Valerian's persecution in 258, the remains of both were temporarily removed from their resting places for greater security.), saw each of them win the laurel by a splendid death. The marshland of Tiber, washed by the near-by river, knows that its turf was hallowed by two victories, for it was witness both of cross and sword, by which a rain of blood twice flowed over the same grass and soaked it (This may be taken as referring to a wide area in the vicinity of the Tiber, not implying that Prudentius' informant thought that both apostles actually suffered on the same spot. It is most probable that St. Peter was crucified at Nero's Circus on the Vatican Hill and there is an ancient tradition that St. Paul was beheaded at Aquae Salvias (now Tre Fontane) near the Via Ostieneis and at some distance from Rome. Cf. lines 45 £ and see Lanciani, Pagan and Christian Rome, pp. 127, 158.).

"First the sentence of doom carried off Peter, when under the orders of Nero it was commanded that he should hang on a high tree. But he, because he feared to court the glory of his great Master by emulating the honour of being lifted up to die, insisted that they should set his head down, his feet upwards, so that the top of his head should look towards the bottom of the post. So he had his hands fastened below and his feet towards the top, his spirit nobler in proportion to the humbling posture. He knew that heaven is wont to be attained more quickly from a lowly start, and lowered his face to give up his soul. When the round wheel of the turning year had run full circle and the rising sun brought again the same day, Nero disgorged his burning rage on the neck of Paul, ordering the teacher of the gentiles to be beheaded. He had himself foretold that his end was soon to come: "I must go to Christ, the time of my release is come," he said (CJ. II Timothy iv, 6.).

"With no reprieve he was taken forth, put to the penalty, slain with the sword; neither the hour nor the day belied his prophecy. Tiber separates the bones of the two and both its banks are consecrated as it flows between the hallowed tombs. The quarter on the right bank took Peter into its charge and keeps him in a golden dwelling (Constantine built a church over the tomb of St. Peter. It was replaced by the present St. Peter's in the 16th century. See Lanciani, op. cit., pp. 132–158.) where there is the grey of olive-trees and the sound of a stream; for water rising from the brow of a rock has revealed a perennial spring which makes them fruitful in the holy oil. Now it runs over costly marbles, gliding smoothly down the slope till it billows in a green basin. There is an inner part of the memorial where the stream falls with a loud sound and rolls along in a deep, cold pool (A baptistery was constructed by Pope Damasus in the course of his operations for draining the Vatican Hill. See his Epigrammata, ed. Ihm, no. 4, and Lanciani, p. 139.). Painting in diverse hues colours the glassy waves from above, so that mosses seem to glisten and the gold is tinged with green, while the water turns dark blue where it takes on the semblance of the overhanging purple, and one would think the ceiling was dancing on the waves. There the shepherd himself nurtures his sheep with the ice-cold water of the pool, for he sees them thirsting for the rivers of Christ.

"Elsewhere the Ostian Road keeps the memorial church of Paul, where the river grazes the land on its left bank. The splendour of the place is princely, for our good emperor (The church erected by Constantine was rebuilt on a grander scale under Theodosius and his son Honoriua. See Lanciani, pp. 150 ff.) dedicated this seat and decorated its whole extent with great wealth. He laid plates on the beams so as to make all the light within golden like the sun's radiance at its rising, and supported the gold-panelled ceiling on pillars of Parian marble set out there in four rows. Then he covered the curves of the arches with splendid glass of different hues, like meadows that are bright with flowers in the spring.

"There you have two dowers of the faith, the gift of the Father supreme, which He has given to the city of the toga to reverence. See, the people of Romulus goes for through the streets two separate ways, for the same day is busy with two festivals. But let us hasten with quickened step to both and in each get full enjoyment of the songs of praise. We shall go further on, where the way leads over Hadrian's bridge (The Pons Aelius, built by Hadrian, now Ponte S. Angelo.), and afterwards seek the left bank of the river. The sleepless bishop performs the sacred ceremonies first across the Tiber (At St. Peter's.), then hurries back to this side and repeats his offerings (At St. Paul's. Owing to the great distance this double service was afterwards given up and the commemoration of St. Paul transferred to the next day.). It is enough for you to have learned all this at Rome; when you return home, remember to keep this day of two festivals as you see it here."