0:00:03 > 0:00:06'Rome. Holy city.'
0:00:06 > 0:00:07'Blessed by Pagan gods.'
0:00:10 > 0:00:13'Earthly capital of a glorious empire
0:00:13 > 0:00:16'with a divine mission to conquer and rule.'
0:00:18 > 0:00:21But Rome was to cast aside its pantheon of idols
0:00:21 > 0:00:25to embrace a revolutionary new faith from the East
0:00:25 > 0:00:28that would change its classical skyline forever.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41'Personal salvation and the worship of one God
0:00:41 > 0:00:43'eclipsed the gods of old.'
0:00:44 > 0:00:49'Soon after the crucifixion of Jesus his message started to spread...
0:00:49 > 0:00:53'but there was nothing inevitable about its ultimate triumph.'
0:00:54 > 0:00:58'The followers of Christ were viciously persecuted.'
0:01:01 > 0:01:05'But the martyrdom of St Peter gave Rome a new founding story
0:01:07 > 0:01:10'and a divine mission for his successors, the Popes.'
0:01:14 > 0:01:19Rome became a vibrant centre of Christian devotion.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21But it was the necessities of power
0:01:21 > 0:01:24that really decided its sacred destiny.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34'I've come as both historian and tourist,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37'to examine how the decision of one emperor
0:01:37 > 0:01:42'changed the history of Western civilisation and Rome itself.'
0:01:48 > 0:01:50'Its impact on the fabric of the city
0:01:50 > 0:01:54'and on the lives of its citizens, nobles and high priests.'
0:01:57 > 0:02:01'Abandoning paganism risked everything that Rome stood for.'
0:02:02 > 0:02:06'Triggering confusion, violence, power struggles,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09'and setting Popes and Emperors on a collision course.'
0:02:15 > 0:02:19So what transformed the Holy City of Rome from the pagan heart
0:02:19 > 0:02:22of the Roman Empire to the capital of Christendom?
0:02:48 > 0:02:51'On the outskirts of Rome, a stadium once stood.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56'Horse-races were staged there to entertain Emperors and citizens.'
0:02:59 > 0:03:05But in 64 AD the imperial race-track became the site of a mass execution.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13'The centre of Rome had been devastated by fire.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17'Angry Romans wanted someone to blame.
0:03:17 > 0:03:22'So Emperor Nero offered them a new religious sect - the Christians.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34'Some were torn to pieces by wild dogs,
0:03:34 > 0:03:37'others set on fire as human torches,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39'and a few were crucified.'
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Amongst them was Peter, a leader of the Christian mission in Rome
0:03:47 > 0:03:50and one of the original 12 disciples.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53Tradition says that out of respect for Jesus,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56he asked to be crucified upside down.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04'In the centre of the race-track stood an obelisk.'
0:04:08 > 0:04:13This is that same obelisk, and 2,000 years later,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15it's still in roughly the same place.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19It was probably the last thing that Peter saw.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23And this is probably the last thing that he could have imagined.
0:04:23 > 0:04:28St Peter's, the magnificent basilica built in his honour
0:04:28 > 0:04:30and still towering over the city of Rome.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49'Ultimately, Peter's execution would transform Rome.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55'But when he died, Christianity was just one of many Eastern cults,
0:04:55 > 0:05:00'struggling to survive, in a city dominated by pagan gods.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13'For a thousand years, paganism had brought success and prosperity
0:05:13 > 0:05:15'to the Eternal City.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19'The will of the Gods decided every aspect of Roman society.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23'When it went to war. Who its rulers were.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29'Paganism had brought Rome domination of the ancient world.'
0:05:30 > 0:05:34The Roman Empire was flexible, embracing and co-opting
0:05:34 > 0:05:37foreign gods into its own state religion,
0:05:37 > 0:05:40but so far none had threatened the status quo.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48'But Christianity was radically different.'
0:05:50 > 0:05:53# Gloria
0:05:53 > 0:05:55# Gloria. #
0:05:55 > 0:05:58'Whereas paganism sought the goodwill and protection
0:05:58 > 0:05:59'of the Gods in this life,
0:06:00 > 0:06:06'Christianity held out the promise of eternal life in the next world.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09'But its rejection of pagan practice marked it out.'
0:06:14 > 0:06:18The Christian refusal to sacrifice to the ancestral Gods
0:06:18 > 0:06:19in honour of the Emperor
0:06:19 > 0:06:23made them a potential threat to the Roman state itself.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30'As Christianity took hold amongst Rome's under-classes,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33'the pagan establishment sought to discredit it.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41'The ritual of Holy Communion, the taking of Christ's body and blood,
0:06:41 > 0:06:43'was described as cannibalism.'
0:06:48 > 0:06:52'Yet, meeting in secret, the Christian community began to grow.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57'Historian Alexander Evers is taking me
0:06:57 > 0:07:01'to one of Rome's remaining house churches from the second century.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06'What took place in private dwellings like this
0:07:06 > 0:07:10'would sow the seeds of Rome's unique Christian future.'
0:07:13 > 0:07:16So what was the early church in Rome really like?
0:07:16 > 0:07:21Initially, you can safely say it was an unorganised heap of people.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Hardly any structure there. A large group. A growing group within Rome.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30But not united. There are differences of opinion
0:07:30 > 0:07:33about how to worship, where to worship.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38And eventually, gradually, you have those single figures of authority
0:07:38 > 0:07:40rising to the fore.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42The Bishop, who can pull it all together.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46So where did the early Bishops of Rome get their authority from?
0:07:46 > 0:07:48From a fairly early point onwards,
0:07:48 > 0:07:51they're beginning to place themselves in one line
0:07:51 > 0:07:54with the apostle, Peter, who was the right hand of Christ,
0:07:54 > 0:07:58who supposedly was the first Bishop of Rome.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Where that tradition comes from is not entirely clear,
0:08:01 > 0:08:05but that tradition, "I'm the successor to Peter",
0:08:05 > 0:08:09gives them an enormous source of authority.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12# Sanctus
0:08:12 > 0:08:14# Sanctus. #
0:08:14 > 0:08:16'The lineage of Bishops from St Peter
0:08:16 > 0:08:19'is known as the apostolic succession.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22'It's the bedrock of the Bishop of Rome's authority
0:08:22 > 0:08:25'and papal power to this day.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28'But in the third century, the Bishops were leaders
0:08:28 > 0:08:30'of a religion on the margins.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35'And that's why I'm heading to the outskirts of Rome,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38'and the catacombs of San Callisto.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47'Deep within its maze of underground corridors,
0:08:47 > 0:08:51'there is something hard to find, and yet very important.
0:08:52 > 0:08:57'Early evidence of how the Bishops of Rome got their unique title.'
0:09:00 > 0:09:03This reads PP, which stands for Papa or Pope,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07and it's the first example we have of an inscription
0:09:07 > 0:09:10that refers to the Bishops of Rome by that title.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14At the time, any charismatic bishop anywhere in Christendom
0:09:14 > 0:09:18might have been known as Pope, but gradually, the Bishops of Rome
0:09:18 > 0:09:22came to be known by that name, though, surprisingly,
0:09:22 > 0:09:26it wasn't for almost 800 years, until the 11th century,
0:09:26 > 0:09:27that it became official.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34'But there is something else down here that I really want to see.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40'Some of Rome's very first Popes
0:09:40 > 0:09:44'were buried in these subterranean tombs.'
0:09:49 > 0:09:53What an extraordinary room this is. This is the crypt of the Popes,
0:09:53 > 0:09:57and nine of the Bishops of Rome are buried here,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59dating all the way back to the early 3rd century.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08It's an extraordinary thought that these men
0:10:08 > 0:10:13were the leaders of Christianity, right at the very beginning,
0:10:13 > 0:10:17long before the Papacy became the office of power,
0:10:17 > 0:10:19magnificence and wealth that we know today.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27'But some of these Bishops, just like St Peter,
0:10:27 > 0:10:29'were to die for their faith.'
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Sixtus II was celebrating mass right here at the altar,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45when Roman soldiers burst in.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49When they drew their swords, the entire congregation competed
0:10:49 > 0:10:52to offer themselves for the honour of martyrdom,
0:10:52 > 0:10:55at which Sixtus pushed himself forwards, bared his neck,
0:10:55 > 0:10:57and begged them to take his head.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00The soldiers were happy to take him up on his offer.
0:11:03 > 0:11:04They beheaded him on the spot.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14'The persecution of the Christians wasn't constant.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16'When the Roman Empire prospered,
0:11:16 > 0:11:18'the church was reluctantly tolerated.
0:11:21 > 0:11:22'But in the mid 3rd century,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25'the empire tottered on the edge of catastrophe.'
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Rome faced 50 years of disaster.
0:11:34 > 0:11:39Civil wars, invasions, and a bewildering succession of emperors.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43The cracks in the imperial edifice seemed terminal.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52'Some emperors believed that Rome was being punished
0:11:52 > 0:11:55'for turning a blind eye to the Christians.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58'The unity of city and empire was at stake.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00'Something had to be done.'
0:12:04 > 0:12:06In 303, the Emperor Diocletian
0:12:06 > 0:12:09launched the bloodiest persecution to date.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16'Churches were destroyed, bishops decapitated.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19'The streets were awash with the blood of the faithful.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29But the killings failed.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32The persecutions merely served to promote and advertise
0:12:32 > 0:12:35the faith of the martyrs.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37The flame of Christianity could not be extinguished.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45'Diocletian's victims would forever leave their mark on Rome.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51'And remarkably, one has been preserved to this day.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55'This figure, one of the city's least known
0:12:55 > 0:12:58'but macabre sights, appears to be a statue.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04'But closer inspection reveals something far more spine-chilling.'
0:13:07 > 0:13:11When at first you look at this, you think it must be a waxwork.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15But when you look a little closer into the slightly open mouth,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18you see through the open lips of the skeleton.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23And if you look at the hands, on the outside, they appear to be wax,
0:13:23 > 0:13:28but look inside, you can see not just the skeletal bones
0:13:28 > 0:13:29of the real hand and the body,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33but actually the dried skin there, too.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37This is the body of Saint Vittoria.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46'The cruel deaths of the martyrs didn't destroy Christianity.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48'Their stories kept it alive.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53'But it was still just one of many religious sects
0:13:53 > 0:13:54'on the edges of Roman society.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59'Only the whim or faith of an emperor
0:13:59 > 0:14:01'could change the course of history.'
0:14:15 > 0:14:18'Emperor Constantine was a ruthless general
0:14:18 > 0:14:19'who slashed his way to power.'
0:14:21 > 0:14:26He was a harsh warlord, capable of terrifying violence.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29He even executed his own wife and son.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33But he was also a visionary, who in one decision
0:14:33 > 0:14:36changed the entire course of Western civilization.
0:14:41 > 0:14:42'No-one knows for sure
0:14:42 > 0:14:45'why Constantine chose to embrace Christianity.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50'But the decisive revelation took place here at Milvian Bridge
0:14:50 > 0:14:52'on the outskirts of Rome.'
0:14:58 > 0:15:02'The over-extended empire had been split in two - East and West.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06'Rome was no longer the imperial capital.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11'Each region was ruled by an Emperor and his deputy.'
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Constantine shared the West with Maxentius,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19but they soon became bitter rivals.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28'In 312, Constantine had cornered Maxentius' forces
0:15:28 > 0:15:30'on the banks of the Tiber.'
0:15:36 > 0:15:40Before battle commenced, Constantine had a vision.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43He saw the sign of the cross superimposed on the sun
0:15:43 > 0:15:47with the words "By this sign, thou shalt conquer".
0:15:50 > 0:15:53At the very last moment, he ordered his soldiers' shields
0:15:53 > 0:15:55to be emblazoned with the cross.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57Fighting under Christian banners,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00he won the greatest victory of his life.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08'Constantine now saw Christ not as the crucified lamb of God,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11'but as a potent God of victory.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16'He was about to turn his back on everything that had made Rome.'
0:16:18 > 0:16:21'Exchange the protection of many gods for just one.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26'Overturn a thousand years of Roman history,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29'and embrace the faith of persecuted radicals.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34'But could Rome withstand this revolution?
0:16:34 > 0:16:37'Constantine was willing to take that gamble.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45'But while an Emperor could change his religion overnight,
0:16:45 > 0:16:47'Rome's pagan citizens would take longer.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52'The arch built to mark Constantine's victory
0:16:52 > 0:16:55'shows how controversial this change of policy was.'
0:16:57 > 0:17:00This arch contains a surprise.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04If you look up here on line three, you'll see the divinity
0:17:04 > 0:17:09that Constantine thanks for his victory is subtly ambiguous.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11It could be either Christian or pagan.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17'Constantine doesn't give thanks to the pagan god of war,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20'but neither does he reveal his new faith.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24'He uses a general term for divinity - divinitas,
0:17:24 > 0:17:27'which was acceptable to both pagans and Christians.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34'Promoting Christianity in a world where the majority was still pagan
0:17:34 > 0:17:40'would need tact and diplomacy, even from an all-conquering emperor.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48'Constantine's cautious approach to conversion is reflected
0:17:48 > 0:17:51'in the 4th century church of Santa Pudenziana.'
0:17:56 > 0:17:58The facade of this church wouldn't have looked
0:17:58 > 0:18:00at all out of place in pagan Rome.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03It's a basilica, literally, a king's hall,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07and this was the typical rectangular building of Roman public life,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09where emperors and governors held court.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18'The need to fit in is further revealed when you step inside.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25'The image of a humble saviour has received a grand Roman makeover.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36'Jesus isn't nailed to the cross like a common criminal.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42'He's depicted ostentatiously on a throne, like a king or an emperor,
0:18:43 > 0:18:46'and his disciples are dressed in the togas of the aristocracy,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50'like senators holding court in a classical city.'
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Pagan Romans coming in here wouldn't have been shocked
0:19:00 > 0:19:02or put off by anything they saw.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05But this wasn't the lower-class, radical religion
0:19:05 > 0:19:07of the early church.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11This was imperial Christianity, designed to attract and impress
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Romans high and low.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21'Christianity was becoming Roman.
0:19:23 > 0:19:24'Rome was becoming Christian.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31'But Rome's rebirth as a sacred city of Christendom
0:19:31 > 0:19:34'required a transfer of holiness
0:19:34 > 0:19:36'from Christianity's first holy city.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40'Constantine dispatched his mother, Helena,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43'on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50'Helena returned with a precious collection of Christian relics.
0:19:51 > 0:19:52'And I'm just about to witness
0:19:52 > 0:19:55'the most monumental treasure of them all.'
0:20:01 > 0:20:04This is one of Empress Helena's most extraordinary finds.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06The Scala Sancta.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08This staircase is believed to be
0:20:08 > 0:20:13from the palace of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Jesus walked down these steps after he was sentenced to death.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24'Unlike the remote pagan Gods,
0:20:24 > 0:20:29'the Christian God had a son whom he had sacrificed for humanity.
0:20:30 > 0:20:35'And what Christ had touched, his followers also wanted to touch.'
0:20:37 > 0:20:41For centuries, pilgrims have climbed these steps on their knees
0:20:41 > 0:20:46as an act of piety, to get closer to Christ and honour his suffering.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54It's not often, in our secular age,
0:20:54 > 0:21:00that you see a place of such intense, passionate devotion,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02but this tells you something about Rome as a holy city.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05A holy city is a place where God meets man.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08And that is exactly what these pilgrims are doing.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23While Helena was importing holiness from Jerusalem,
0:21:23 > 0:21:28Constantine was keen to promote the city's home-grown Christian sites.
0:21:28 > 0:21:29But he had to be careful.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Rome was still overwhelmingly pagan,
0:21:32 > 0:21:36and that's why he built his first churches away from the centre.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45'Constantine built seven churches in Rome.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49'But one took on supreme importance.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55'Nero's Circus had become a holy place for Rome's Christians,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58'as the location of Peter's crucifixion and burial.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03'A simple shrine had been erected over his grave.'
0:22:05 > 0:22:09Constantine recognised the importance of the site.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13A direct link between Rome and Jesus Christ himself,
0:22:13 > 0:22:15through his right-hand man, Peter.
0:22:15 > 0:22:20So Constantine decided to build his biggest basilica over Peter's tomb.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35'Constantine's basilica gave Rome's Christians
0:22:35 > 0:22:37'a new focus for devotion.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44'It stood for over a thousand years,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47'until it was rebuilt during the Renaissance.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55'Jesus said that Peter would be the rock
0:22:55 > 0:22:57'on which his church was built.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03'Constantine's basilica literally fulfilled that prophecy.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12'Over the centuries, St Peter's was to become the cornerstone
0:23:12 > 0:23:14'of the Catholic Church
0:23:14 > 0:23:18'and the headquarters for an empire of Christian souls.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22'But when Constantine commissioned it,
0:23:22 > 0:23:24'it was still an act of wishful thinking.'
0:23:33 > 0:23:38Constantine's St Peter's promoted Rome as a Christian centre.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41But he died leaving a hybrid holy city,
0:23:41 > 0:23:43part Christian, but part pagan.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50'The temples of the old Gods still dominated the skyline.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53'Pagans still dominated the city.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58'Constantine's divine gamble now lay in the hands
0:23:58 > 0:24:00'of Rome's new high priests.'
0:24:03 > 0:24:06It was now down to the Popes, Rome's Bishops,
0:24:06 > 0:24:07to really make Rome Christian.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14BELL TOLLS
0:24:24 > 0:24:28Before Constantine, Rome's Bishops had been persecuted leaders.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Now they were important officials with real influence.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39One Pope, Damasus I, revelled in this new status.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Nearly 70 when he came to power,
0:24:47 > 0:24:51Damasus didn't allow old age to dampen his pleasures.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54Corrupt and egotistical, his enemies described him
0:24:54 > 0:24:57as a smooth-talking adulterer, or as they put it,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00"A tickler of the ears of middle-aged women."
0:25:04 > 0:25:07'But Damasus was also a poet
0:25:07 > 0:25:11'who used his literary gifts to win Christian souls.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13'He took Rome's earliest sites of martyrdom
0:25:13 > 0:25:16'and celebrated them in poetry.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22'This poetical propaganda has been studied by Marianne Saghy,
0:25:22 > 0:25:26'an historian who I'm meeting at the Church of Sant' Agnese.'
0:25:29 > 0:25:35Pope Damasus went into every single catacomb, more than sixty catacombs,
0:25:35 > 0:25:41placing poetic inscriptions above the holy graves.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46Damasus' inscriptions were like huge billboards in the labyrinthine
0:25:46 > 0:25:48darkness of the catacombs.
0:25:48 > 0:25:55And it attracted huge throngs, huge crowds to the graves of the martyrs.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57What was Damasus' impact on the church?
0:25:57 > 0:26:03Damasus understood and saw the power radiating from the holy ashes
0:26:03 > 0:26:08and holy relics, and therefore he wanted to put the stamp
0:26:08 > 0:26:12of the Church on the tombs of the martyrs.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20'Damasus had created a ring of holy sites around the city.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25'But Christianity faced a stiffer challenge in the centre of Rome.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33'Culturally, Romans were still attached to the rhythms
0:26:33 > 0:26:35'and festivals of the pagan calendar,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37'which promised feasting and fun.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43'Christianity had to compete on a social level, too.'
0:26:45 > 0:26:48By a mixture of accident and design,
0:26:48 > 0:26:52the Christian calendar began to overlap with the pagan.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55St Peter's birthday coincided with Caristia,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58a pagan festival of banqueting and gift giving.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05'By the end of the 4th century, Romans could have two parties,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08'one pagan, one Christian, on fourteen days of the year.'
0:27:10 > 0:27:14Some Christians even continued to participate in the shameless
0:27:14 > 0:27:18immodesty of the Lupercalia fertility festival,
0:27:18 > 0:27:20running half naked through the streets
0:27:20 > 0:27:23while whipping girls with strips of goat hide.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29'To persuade Rome's citizens to fully embrace Christianity,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32'Damasus turned his gift for propaganda
0:27:32 > 0:27:35'to the city's greatest spiritual asset.'
0:27:38 > 0:27:40Damasus had claimed Rome for St Peter.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45Now, cleverly, he claimed St Peter for Rome.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47St Peter had been martyred in Rome,
0:27:47 > 0:27:49and therefore, he was a Roman citizen,
0:27:49 > 0:27:55and this gave his direct heirs, the Bishops of Rome, special authority.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02'By commandeering St Peter's legacy for the city,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05'Damasus asserted Rome's primacy in the wider church,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08'and enhanced the status of Christianity at home.'
0:28:19 > 0:28:22'Meanwhile, events beyond the reaches of the Empire
0:28:22 > 0:28:25'were to have a devastating effect on Rome,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28'changing the Holy City forever.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38'By the beginning of 5th century, barbarian tribes were on the move.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43'The Huns migrated into central Europe,
0:28:43 > 0:28:45'displacing the Germanic Goths,
0:28:45 > 0:28:49'who became refugees on the borders of the Roman Empire.'
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Defenceless and hungry, the Goths were forced to trade
0:28:56 > 0:29:00their own children for food, but the Romans sold them dog meat.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04Tensions reached boiling point and the barbarians mobilised.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11'With the Western Empire weakened by dynastic infighting,
0:29:11 > 0:29:15'the Goths, under their King, Alaric, made a bold move.'
0:29:18 > 0:29:20Rome was no longer the Imperial capital,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23but it was the symbol of Empire.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25Bewitched by its faded glories,
0:29:25 > 0:29:27Alaric wanted to share in its majesty.
0:29:27 > 0:29:32But what he really wanted, like every barbarian, was to be a Roman.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39'Alaric besieged Rome and tried to cut a deal.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45'He wanted land for the Goths to settle.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50'Rome's elite, inheritors of an illustrious past,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53'refused to meet the demands of impertinent barbarians.'
0:29:56 > 0:29:58Alaric's response was chilling.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02"The thicker the grass," he said, "the easier to scythe it down."
0:30:02 > 0:30:05His dagger was at the throat of the Western Empire,
0:30:05 > 0:30:07but still no compromise could be found.
0:30:16 > 0:30:17'Starvation set in.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21'The Romans couldn't bury their dead inside the city walls
0:30:21 > 0:30:24'so putrefying bodies littered the streets.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32'Desperate to put the population out of its misery,
0:30:32 > 0:30:34'a noblewoman opened the city gates.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40'Alaric's 40,000 Goths burst in.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46'Mansions were plundered, the rich were tortured
0:30:46 > 0:30:48'to give up their treasure.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52'And those who couldn't flee were terrorized or killed.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55'Their women, raped.'
0:30:56 > 0:30:59The Goths were Arians, a sect of heretical Christians,
0:30:59 > 0:31:02so they showed some restraint.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04They respected the sanctity of the holy sites.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06St Peter's was left unscathed,
0:31:06 > 0:31:09and by the standards of barbarian sackings,
0:31:09 > 0:31:12this one was less barbaric than expected.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22'Nevertheless, the psychological effect
0:31:22 > 0:31:24'of the sacking was shattering.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27'The city that had conquered the whole world
0:31:27 > 0:31:29'was believed to have been murdered.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33'A sense of instability pervaded Rome.'
0:31:36 > 0:31:39The great theologian of the day, St Augustine, believed the reason
0:31:39 > 0:31:43Rome had fallen because it was still essentially pagan,
0:31:43 > 0:31:45and steeped in sin.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48The kingdom of heaven was the only salvation.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50The Imperial City was doomed.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59'Rome's mythological past -
0:31:59 > 0:32:04'its founding fathers, Romulus and Remus - couldn't be erased.
0:32:04 > 0:32:06'Paganism was still deeply ingrained.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13'But one Pope who witnessed the sacking, Leo the Great,
0:32:13 > 0:32:17'saw a way of channelling the prestige of the pagan world
0:32:17 > 0:32:20'into the magnificence of the Christian.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29'To find out how Leo shaped the Christian identity of Rome,
0:32:29 > 0:32:32'I'm meeting historian Michele Renee Salzman.'
0:32:35 > 0:32:38Michele, how did pope Leo promote Christianity in a city that still
0:32:38 > 0:32:41had such a strong classical Roman tradition?
0:32:43 > 0:32:45Leo was very proud of the
0:32:45 > 0:32:47Roman tradition in the Pagan past,
0:32:47 > 0:32:48he is the first Pope to
0:32:48 > 0:32:51actually mention Romulus and Remus,
0:32:51 > 0:32:55and to take pride in the Roman Empire in one of his sermons,
0:32:55 > 0:32:57but a better empire, a stronger empire,
0:32:57 > 0:33:00a greater empire resides with Christ.
0:33:00 > 0:33:06So he is very involved in maintaining the physical fabric
0:33:06 > 0:33:08of the city, but as a Christian centre.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13So what was Leo's personal relationship with St Peter?
0:33:14 > 0:33:18Leo felt very intimately connected to St Peter.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21Of course, every bishop could claim that their authority
0:33:21 > 0:33:24comes from Peter, the very first Bishop of Rome,
0:33:24 > 0:33:29but Leo makes it a very intimate tie in his ordination sermons.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32He talks about Peter's spirit almost living through him,
0:33:32 > 0:33:36and I think it's very telling that when Leo is buried,
0:33:36 > 0:33:39he is the first Pope buried in St Peter's,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42so that tie, that intimate tie, lives on forever.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51'Leo had exploited the unique link between Rome and St Peter
0:33:51 > 0:33:54'to mobilize the Christian spirit of the city.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58'But it was also a reminder, to the wider church,
0:33:58 > 0:34:02'that Bishops of Rome were the ultimate authority in Christendom.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06'And this new confidence was reflected
0:34:06 > 0:34:07'in the centre of the city.'
0:34:10 > 0:34:13In just over a century since the time of Constantine,
0:34:13 > 0:34:17the pagan city was now infused with the spirit of St Peter.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22Pristine, lavishly-decorated churches overshadowed
0:34:22 > 0:34:24the temples to the old Gods.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32'Rome now had the skyline of a Christian capital.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34'One God, one credo, one Pope.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41'But with spiritual authority concentrated in one figure,
0:34:41 > 0:34:43'Rome's fate was now bound to one man.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48'A good Pope could lead the Holy City to further glory.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53'A bad Pope would spell disaster.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03'By 536, Rome and all of Italy was controlled
0:35:03 > 0:35:05'by barbarian Christian kings.
0:35:07 > 0:35:12'Emperor Justinian ruled the entire Eastern Empire from Constantinople.'
0:35:14 > 0:35:17He had a vision of reuniting the old Roman empire,
0:35:17 > 0:35:20with himself as Christ's sacred emperor.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27The jewel of Italy was, of course, the old imperial capital,
0:35:27 > 0:35:31but to control Rome, Justinian needed a puppet Pope.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38'So he cut a deal with Vigilius,
0:35:38 > 0:35:41'the greedy papal ambassador to the East.'
0:35:44 > 0:35:48Vigilius agreed to be Justinian's Pope
0:35:48 > 0:35:52in return for the sum of 700 pounds of gold.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04But first, Justinian had to take Italy from the Goths.
0:36:04 > 0:36:05He dispatched an expedition
0:36:05 > 0:36:09under his brilliant general, Count Belisarius.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13In a remarkable display of military virtuosity, Belisarius,
0:36:13 > 0:36:17with just a few thousand men, captured Rome.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28'Justinian ousted the old Pope and installed Vigilius.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30'Everything seemed to be going according to plan.'
0:36:32 > 0:36:36Vigilius now regarded himself as the direct heir of St Peter.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39Justinian, Christ's vice-regent on earth,
0:36:39 > 0:36:42had little time for self-promoting bishops.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44The two were on collision course.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50Vigilius tried to assert Rome's authority.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53But he was ineffectual, pleasing nobody.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56Eventually, Justinian's patience snapped.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00He kidnapped the Pope and sent him back to the East.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05As the Pope's boat left the Tiber wharf, his reputation
0:37:05 > 0:37:09was in tatters. The crowd threw stones and yelled insults.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16Vigilius was even more humiliated in Constantinople.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19He called a council of bishops, but it descended into a brawl.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24Vigilius sought refuge in the palace church.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28He clung to the altar, but was dragged out by his beard
0:37:28 > 0:37:32and forced to sign a document recognising Justinian's supremacy.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41'Justinian's attempt to harness Rome's holy authority
0:37:41 > 0:37:43'had all but destroyed it.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50'The Papacy had hit it's lowest point, and the city would follow.'
0:38:00 > 0:38:03The Eastern Empire struggled to hold Italy.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06Within less than a generation
0:38:06 > 0:38:10another Germanic tribe had its sights on Rome.
0:38:12 > 0:38:17The Lombards marched south. First plundering, then settling.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19By 590, Rome was desperate and battled-scarred.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27Rome's aqueducts, the embodiment of imperial might,
0:38:27 > 0:38:33were left to crumble, the city's vital water supplies seeping away.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40Impoverished and starving, its population reduced to 90,000,
0:38:40 > 0:38:42the once-glorious capital
0:38:42 > 0:38:45was now just a beleaguered outpost on the fringes of Empire.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48Rome needed a new hero,
0:38:48 > 0:38:52and the Pope was the only and last person who could save the city.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01Cometh the hour, cometh the man.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09Gregory was a super-rich aristocrat
0:39:09 > 0:39:14who had already served as city prefect - in effect, Mayor of Rome.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17But the messy business of politics disgusted him
0:39:17 > 0:39:19and he suffered an existential crisis.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22He craved a life of quiet contemplation.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32'Resigning his city post, he withdrew to the family mansion
0:39:32 > 0:39:34'here on the Caelian hill,
0:39:34 > 0:39:36'which he converted into a monastic community.'
0:39:38 > 0:39:41A church dedicated to Gregory, Gregorio Magno,
0:39:41 > 0:39:44now stands on the same site.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48And his spirit lives on in the custodians of the church,
0:39:48 > 0:39:50the monks of the Camaldolese order.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57Freed from the stresses of public office, the years spent in prayer
0:39:57 > 0:40:01and reflection here were the happiest of Gregory's life.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09This is said to be Gregory's monastic cell,
0:40:09 > 0:40:13but there's a feature of this room that a lot of visitors miss.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15That's behind this grille.
0:40:15 > 0:40:20If you open it and look inside, there's just room in there
0:40:20 > 0:40:23for a small man to sleep.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27This is a very serene place, and it must have seemed as if
0:40:27 > 0:40:32Gregory would never return to the dirty world of power and intrigue.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40But Gregory's seclusion was short lived.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49Rome was cut off from Constantinople by Lombard forces,
0:40:49 > 0:40:52and all but abandoned by imperial officials.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56In a city on the verge of collapse,
0:40:56 > 0:41:00only one organization was left standing - the Church.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04Reluctantly, Gregory was drawn back into civil affairs.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09Ordained against his will, he ran a section of the city,
0:41:09 > 0:41:11and when Pope Pelagius died of plague,
0:41:11 > 0:41:13he was elected his successor.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20Gregory took charge of the running of the city
0:41:20 > 0:41:25and he proved to be brilliant at finance, planning and diplomacy.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31He bought a truce with the Lombards and paid the wages of the military.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37He donated his estates in Southern Italy and Sicily to the Church
0:41:37 > 0:41:40and used them to feed the hungry Romans.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Gregory set up welfare centres across the city,
0:41:46 > 0:41:50and he himself dined with 12 poor people every day.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59Gregory had expanded his religious power
0:41:59 > 0:42:02into the realm of political authority.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04But he had set his sights much further afield.
0:42:06 > 0:42:11'No pope before had seriously thought about taking Christianity
0:42:11 > 0:42:13'into faraway pagan lands.'
0:42:15 > 0:42:19When he was a young deacon, Gregory had seen some fair-haired
0:42:19 > 0:42:22Anglo-Saxon boys at a Roman slave market.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24When he was told they were Anglo-Saxon,
0:42:24 > 0:42:28he said, "They're not Angles, they're Angels."
0:42:28 > 0:42:33Now he was keen to expand papal powers and convert new peoples.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37He dispatched a mission to England that was remarkably successful.
0:42:37 > 0:42:43At Christmas 597, 10,000 Angles were baptised as Christians.
0:42:47 > 0:42:52'Gregory's missionary success made Rome the Holy City of the West.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55'Pilgrims from Europe's northern territories
0:42:55 > 0:42:57'came in their thousands.'
0:43:00 > 0:43:04The religious gold-rush was intensified by the ever-stronger
0:43:04 > 0:43:08belief in the sacred power of martyrs' tombs and relics.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15'Guidebooks from the period ignore Rome's classical monuments,
0:43:15 > 0:43:18'directing visitors instead to Christian sites
0:43:18 > 0:43:20'associated with lives of the martyrs.'
0:43:23 > 0:43:27At the church of St Lorenzo, pilgrims could see the actual grill
0:43:27 > 0:43:30on which St Lawrence was roasted.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33At the church of St Sebastiano, they could see the arrows
0:43:33 > 0:43:36that had pierced the side of the great martyr.
0:43:38 > 0:43:42'Gruesome stories of the sadistic torments suffered
0:43:42 > 0:43:46'by early Christians were complied and repeated,
0:43:46 > 0:43:49'stories that horrified and enthralled
0:43:49 > 0:43:51'Rome's new spiritual tourists.'
0:43:53 > 0:43:56But there was a darker side to the pilgrim boom.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00Everybody literally wanted a piece of the martyrs.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04Soon there was a macabre black market in the wizened body parts
0:44:04 > 0:44:08of the saints - sometimes they just snatched the entire body.
0:44:10 > 0:44:15'The trafficking in body parts appalled Pope Gregory, who believed
0:44:15 > 0:44:18'that contact with the supernaturally powerful bones
0:44:18 > 0:44:20'brought instant death.'
0:44:22 > 0:44:25But Gregory understood the value of relics.
0:44:25 > 0:44:29He had special boxes made, containing filings from the chains
0:44:29 > 0:44:33of St Peter, and by sending them to bishops in faraway territories,
0:44:33 > 0:44:36he strengthened their loyalty to the Pope.
0:44:39 > 0:44:44'Pilgrimage to the Holy City paid rich dividends for the papacy.'
0:44:44 > 0:44:47'Holy travellers returned home with relics
0:44:47 > 0:44:51'but also with Roman practices, which allowed Gregory to become
0:44:51 > 0:44:54'the arbiter and leader of Christianity across Europe.'
0:44:55 > 0:44:59'When Gregory died in 604 he was buried in St Peter's,
0:44:59 > 0:45:03'where his epitaph read, "God's consul".'
0:45:03 > 0:45:06He'd enriched and empowered the papacy,
0:45:06 > 0:45:08combining the old with the new.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11He was truly the high priest of city and church.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22'The Pope now headed the most influential organisation
0:45:22 > 0:45:24'in Western Europe.
0:45:24 > 0:45:25'And Rome was its power base.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31'The modern papacy, as we know it, was taking shape.'
0:45:39 > 0:45:42But Rome now faced a completely new threat.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47A new religious revelation was on the march.
0:45:47 > 0:45:48Islam.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55In a few decades, the Arabs had conquered a vast empire.
0:45:58 > 0:45:59They captured Jerusalem,
0:45:59 > 0:46:04leaving Rome the one and only Holy City of Christendom.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08'Rome feared it would be next.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11'The city needed an ally.
0:46:16 > 0:46:21'Charlemagne, King of the Franks, was a gifted soldier-statesman
0:46:21 > 0:46:24'who had conquered much of western and central Europe.
0:46:25 > 0:46:31'But he aspired to the highest crown of all - Roman Emperor.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35'As a devout Christian, he craved Rome's stamp of approval.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39'But he didn't need to conquer Rome, Rome would come to him.'
0:46:41 > 0:46:46On 25th April 799, Pope Leo III was near here,
0:46:46 > 0:46:49on his way to the Church of San Lorenzo in Lucina,
0:46:49 > 0:46:52when he was ambushed by armed retainers of the previous Pope.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57They tried to gouge out his eyes and slice off his tongue.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06Pope Leo needed Charlemagne's protection from his rivals,
0:47:06 > 0:47:09and from the threat of Arab and Lombard invasion.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13'And Leo could offer Charlemagne
0:47:13 > 0:47:15'the one thing he didn't already have.'
0:47:19 > 0:47:21There was a story, told in this fresco,
0:47:21 > 0:47:27that Pope Sylvester had healed Constantine the Great of leprosy.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31Sylvester's reward was Constantine's conversion to Christianity.
0:47:34 > 0:47:35But that wasn't the only thing
0:47:35 > 0:47:38that Constantine was said to have given the Pope.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42Pope Sylvester is in firm control.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46He's sitting on his throne and there's the Emperor Constantine,
0:47:46 > 0:47:50kneeling and compliantly surrendering his crown
0:47:50 > 0:47:51to the dominant Pope.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57This account was a complete fabrication,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00but it allowed Leo to invent a new tradition.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03The power of Popes to anoint Emperors.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07On Christmas day 800,
0:48:07 > 0:48:11Charlemagne arrived to celebrate mass in St Peter's.
0:48:11 > 0:48:13He knelt down before the tomb.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26As he bent down, the Pope placed a crown on his head
0:48:26 > 0:48:29and anointed him Holy Roman Emperor.
0:48:36 > 0:48:41The new imperial alliance seemed to increase papal authority
0:48:41 > 0:48:42and protect Rome.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46But actually, it was flawed from the start.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52The Popes believed that they were the ultimate source of political
0:48:52 > 0:48:56and religious authority, so only a Pope could crown an Emperor.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01But the Emperors believed that they were the supreme power,
0:49:01 > 0:49:05so an Emperor could appoint the Pope whose job it was to crown him.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10'The deal didn't live up to its promise.'
0:49:16 > 0:49:19In 846, Arab forces attacked the city.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24For the first time, St Peter's Basilica,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27the essence of Rome's sanctity, was wrecked and looted.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36When the raiders had gone,
0:49:36 > 0:49:38Pope Leo IV put his faith in something more solid.
0:49:42 > 0:49:47It's easy to forget that St Peter's was still outside the city walls,
0:49:47 > 0:49:50and therefore vulnerable to attack.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54Now Pope Leo embarked on building these massive fortifications.
0:49:55 > 0:50:00The Leonine Walls were 40 feet high and 12 feet deep,
0:50:00 > 0:50:03and they forever changed the shape of Rome.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13The source of Rome's divine power was now not just sanctified,
0:50:13 > 0:50:15but fortified.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22Rome's holiness was protected.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27Only for it to be poisoned from the inside.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32As the political power of the Popes had grown,
0:50:32 > 0:50:34their position became highly sought-after.
0:50:42 > 0:50:47The papacy became the prize and plaything in the blood-splattered
0:50:47 > 0:50:50power struggle between competing Italian families.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54Several popes were murdered here at the Castel St Angelo.
0:50:54 > 0:50:59Once the mausoleum of the Emperor Hadrian, and now the fortress,
0:50:59 > 0:51:02prison and torture chamber of the papacy.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10'The Popes became power-hungry players
0:51:10 > 0:51:14'in the savage scheming of Italian politics.'
0:51:16 > 0:51:20'And their abuse of papal authority dragged the Holy City
0:51:20 > 0:51:22'into its darkest period yet.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37'In 897, Pope Stephen VI gave an order
0:51:37 > 0:51:40'of the most twisted and malicious kind.'
0:51:42 > 0:51:46'He ordered the digging up of the corpse of a former Pope
0:51:46 > 0:51:47'whom he hated.'
0:51:50 > 0:51:54Pope Formosus' mummified body was dressed up in papal robes,
0:51:54 > 0:51:59propped up on a mock throne and put on trial before the Holy Synod.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02His crime, violation of canon law.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06'The charges were read out,
0:52:06 > 0:52:09'and a deacon assigned to defend the accused Pope.'
0:52:11 > 0:52:16Found guilty as charged, Formosus was stripped and mutilated.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20The three fingers he'd used for papal blessings were chopped off.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26'He was dragged and tossed into the Tiber.'
0:52:28 > 0:52:32But this grisly masquerade was only the start.
0:52:32 > 0:52:34From now on, nothing was sacred.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38The Popes played a vicious game of power and pleasure.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42No crime was too diabolical for these heirs of St Peter.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55'In the early tenth century, the papacy became dominated
0:52:55 > 0:52:58'by one aristocratic family,
0:52:58 > 0:53:02'the debauched and merciless house of Theophylact.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07'The scurrilous chronicler of their rise to power
0:53:07 > 0:53:09'was bishop Liudprand of Cremona.'
0:53:11 > 0:53:14Liudprand doesn't exactly hold back,
0:53:14 > 0:53:16especially with the women of the family,
0:53:16 > 0:53:18who are described, without exception,
0:53:18 > 0:53:21as a tribe of sex-mad megalomaniacs.
0:53:21 > 0:53:26He says Count Theophylact's wife Theodora was a "shameless harlot",
0:53:26 > 0:53:29and that her two daughters were, if anything,
0:53:29 > 0:53:33"faster in the exercise of Venus".
0:53:35 > 0:53:37The most infamous was Marozia.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43A wily politician and murderous man-eater, Marozia must have been
0:53:43 > 0:53:48as gorgeously depraved as she was dynastically effective.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51She seduced or married an entire apostolic succession
0:53:51 > 0:53:56of popes and kings, and managed to dominate Rome for years.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03'Drawn deeper into the mire, Rome's once-mighty Popes
0:54:03 > 0:54:07'became pawns in the cesspit of local politics.'
0:54:09 > 0:54:14'At just 15, Marozia had a "wicked affair" with Pope Sergius III,
0:54:14 > 0:54:15'producing a son.'
0:54:18 > 0:54:22'Later, Marozia became mistress of another Pope, John X,
0:54:22 > 0:54:27'but she turned against him and married his enemy, Guy of Tuscany.'
0:54:29 > 0:54:33In 928, they successfully carried out a coup d'etat
0:54:33 > 0:54:35in the Lateran palace, the papal residence.
0:54:35 > 0:54:40Marozia had John X arrested, imprisoned and then strangled
0:54:40 > 0:54:44in the Castel St Angelo, leaving her as de facto ruler of the city.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52'The papacy and Rome sank to ever greater depths of moral depravity.
0:54:54 > 0:54:59'Marozia even raised her own bastard son to the throne of St Peter.'
0:55:02 > 0:55:05But things began to fall apart for Marozia.
0:55:05 > 0:55:09Her other son, Alberic, invaded Rome, arrested John XI
0:55:09 > 0:55:13and imprisoned his mother in the Castel St Angelo.
0:55:13 > 0:55:18Marozia died in there, probably murdered by her own son.
0:55:18 > 0:55:23As for Alberic, he ruled Rome for 20 years with the majestic title
0:55:23 > 0:55:26Prince and Senator of all the Romans.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32'The Holy City was on its knees.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38'The Emperors, once Rome's protectors,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41'were now in the ascendant, dominating Italy.'
0:55:44 > 0:55:48The Holy Roman Emperors, successors of Charlemagne and, in effect,
0:55:48 > 0:55:50Kings of Germany,
0:55:50 > 0:55:54repeatedly marched south to attack Rome and terrorise its Popes.
0:56:01 > 0:56:05'Only a few Popes had the strength to fight back by reinvigorating
0:56:05 > 0:56:08'papal authority and the sanctity of the city.'
0:56:11 > 0:56:15In 1075, Pope Gregory VII took a stand.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18He published the Dicatatus Papae,
0:56:18 > 0:56:22that declared the absolute supremacy of the papacy and Rome.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25From now on, Emperors would bow to Popes.
0:56:30 > 0:56:35Gregory's posturing infuriated the German Emperor, Henry IV.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37He deposed the Pope.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43But Gregory hit back, ex-communicating Henry -
0:56:43 > 0:56:46in effect, stripping him of all his powers.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55The toxic relationship between Pope and Emperor had ignited,
0:56:55 > 0:56:56and Rome was its victim.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08Gregory allied himself with the Normans,
0:57:08 > 0:57:13but when they occupied the city in 1084, things turned violent.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18Rome became a blazing inferno.
0:57:35 > 0:57:40A thousand years earlier, a pagan emperor had burnt Christians alive
0:57:40 > 0:57:41and crucified St Peter.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43But their martyrdom had helped keep
0:57:43 > 0:57:47the flame of Christianity alive in Rome.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56Constantine had taken an underground religion
0:57:56 > 0:57:59and staked all of Rome's glory on its success.
0:58:01 > 0:58:05Now the ambitions of a Pope had brought ruin on the Holy City.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12'The Popes were to abandon Rome altogether,
0:58:12 > 0:58:16'and seek the protection of the Kings of France.'
0:58:19 > 0:58:20It seemed like the end.
0:58:20 > 0:58:24After 2000 years as head of the world,
0:58:24 > 0:58:26the capital of Emperors and Popes,
0:58:26 > 0:58:29the very definition of sacred power,
0:58:29 > 0:58:34the city blessed by God was now cursed by invasion,
0:58:34 > 0:58:36intrigue and depravity.
0:58:38 > 0:58:40Its sanctity, debased.
0:58:40 > 0:58:44Holy no more, time had run out for the Eternal City.
0:58:55 > 0:58:59'Next time, Rome rises from the ashes.'
0:58:59 > 0:59:02'How the debauchery and avarice of the Renaissance
0:59:02 > 0:59:06'transformed Rome into the city we see today.'
0:59:22 > 0:59:25Subtitles by Red Bee Media