bishop of Zara (Felix) is mentioned for the first
time. S. Donatus is reckoned the fourth bishop, Andrew and Sabinianus
(who are shown on a reliquary with Felix) traditionally preceding him.
As his episcopate lasted into the ninth century it is evident that the
list is not complete. His diplomatic mission took him either to
Diedenhofen or Aachen and then to Constantinople, where he had the
relics of S. Anastasia given him. It is probable that the sight of the
great churches which he saw during his journeys suggested the plan of S.
Donato, which was originally dedicated to the Holy Trinity.
Porphyrogenitus compares it to S. Sophia, Constantinople, which seems
strange in a Byzantine. It is circular in plan, about 60 ft. in
diameter. Six gigantic piers, wider than the arches which rest upon
them, placed ten feet from the wall, sustain a barrel vault, about 28
ft. high, over the ambulatory, which has strengthening arches. The piers
of the upper story sustained the drum of a cupola which no longer
exists. Opposite the entrance are three vaulted apses, the central one
larger and deeper than the others and with four windows, the others
having but one each; and these apses are repeated above, without the
windows. In front of them are two smooth columns of Oriental yellow
marble 7 ft. round, in place of piers, and thinner columns cut short
occupy the same relative place above. The caps are antique and a good
deal damaged. Three are composite like the arch of Septimius Severus,
and one is Corinthian. The roof is now tiled. A Roman inscription on the
fourth pilaster seems to indicate that there was a great temple to
Augusta Livia, wife of Augustus, here; and when the floor level was
lowered in 1888 a number of inscriptions were found, and portions of
carved friezes and pillars used as foundation material and simply laid
on the pavement of the Roman forum. Among these were portions of columns
resembling both of the two still upright. Part of a flight of steps was
also found, which may have been part of the sub-structure of the temple.
Fragments of four different buildings have been recognised. Two stairs
have served the upper story of the church--an early one with carved hood
mould of the ninth century to the external door, now blocked up, and a
second from the interior, which lands in a vestibule where some early
mediaeval carvings are arranged. The upper portion is a double flight,
arranged, perhaps, to use when this stair was a "