in, and Vercelli. But, if the heavenly
apparition of the "sign of Christ" on Monte Mario is historically
without foundation, the existence of the oratory is not. Towards the
end of the twelfth century it was in a ruinous state, and converted
probably into a stable or a hay-loft. The last archaeologist who
mentions it is Seroux d'Agincourt. He describes the ruins "on the
slopes of the hill of the Villa Madama," and gives a sketch of the
paintings which appeared here and there on the broken walls. Armellini
and myself have explored the beautiful woods of the Villa Madama in
all directions without finding a trace of the building. It was
probably destroyed in the disturbances of 1849.

The noble house of the Millini, to whom the Mons Vaticanus owes its
present name of Monte Mario (from Mario Millini, son of Pietro and
grandson of Saba), while building their villa on the highest ridge, in
1470, raised a chapel in place of the one which had been profaned, and
called it Santa Croce a Monte Mario. It was held in great veneration
by the Romans, who made pilgrimages to it in times of public
calamities, such as the famous plague (_contagio-moria)_ of Alexander
VII. I well remember this interesting little church, before its
disappearance in 1880. Its pavement, according to the practice of the
time, was inlaid with inscriptions from the catacombs, whole or in
fragments, twenty-four of which are now preserved in the Lipsanotheca
(Palazzo del Vicario, Piazza di S. Agostino). They contain a curious
list of names, like _Putiolanus_ (so called from his birth-place,
Pozzuoli) or _Stercoria_, a name which seems to have been taken up by
devout people, as a sign of humility. Another inscription over the
door of the sacristy spoke of a restoration of the building in 1696; a
third, composed by Pietro and Mario Mellini in 1470, sang the praises
of the cross. The most important record, however, was engraved on a
slab of marble at the left of the entrance:--

"This oratory was first built in the year of the jubilee, MCCCL, by
Pontius, bishop of Orvieto and vicar of the city of Rome."

The inscription, besides proving that the removal of the oratory from
its original site to the summit of the mountain had been accomplished
before the age of the Millini, is the only historical record of the
jubilee of 1350, which attracted to Rome enormous multitudes, so that
pilgrims' camps had to be provided both inside and outside the walls.
Petrarca and king