[Illustration: Tombstone of S. Paul.]

The "Liber Pontificalis," i. 178, asserts that Constantine placed the
body of S. Paul in a coffin of solid bronze; but no visible trace of
it is left. I had the privilege of examining the actual grave December
1, 1891, lowering myself from the _fenestella_ under the altar. I
found myself on a flat surface, paved with slabs of marble, on one of
which (placed negligently in a slanting direction) are engraved the
words: PAVLO APOSTOLO MART...

The inscription belongs to the fourth century. It has been illustrated
since by my kind and learned friend, Prof. H. Grisar, to whom I am
indebted for much valuable information on subjects which do not come
exactly within my line of studies.[90]

IV. HOUSES OF CONFESSORS AND MARTYRS. This class of sacred buildings
has been splendidly illustrated by the discoveries made by Padre
Germano dei Passionisti under the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo on
the Caelian. The good work of Padre Germano is not unknown in America,
thanks to Prof. A. L. Frothingham, who has described it in the
"American Journal of Archaeology." The discoverer himself will shortly
publish a voluminous account with the title: _La casa dei SS. Giovanni
e Paolo sul monte celio_.

The church has the place of honor in early itineraries of pilgrims,
because of its peculiarity in containing a martyr's tomb _within_ the
walls of the city. William of Malmesbury says: "Inside the city, on
the Caelian hill, John and Paul, martyrs, lay in their own house, which
was made into a church after their death." The Salzburg Itinerary
describes the church as "very large and beautiful." The account of the
lives of the two brothers, and of their execution under Julian the
apostate, is apocryphal; but no one who has seen Padre Germano's
excavations will deny the essential fact, that in this noble Roman
house of the Caelian some one was put to death for his faith, and that
over the room in which the event took place a church was built at a
later age.

Tradition attributes its construction to Pammachius, son of Bizantes,
the charitable senator, and friend of S. Jerome, who built an hospice
at Porto for the use of pilgrims landing from countries beyond the
sea. The church, according to the rule, was not named from the martyrs
to whose memory it was sacred, but from the founders; and it became
known first as the _Titulus Bizantis_, later as the _Titulus
Pammachii._

Strictly speaking, there was