Rome became known as the eternal city; the New Jerusalem of
the Promised Land with St. Peter’s Basicala as the new temple; and Rome the
head of the world, Roma caput mudi. From reading the above articles, at one time
the Roman Empire was in shambles with a small population living amongst the
ruins and for seventy years; the papacy lived in Avignon, France, which they called
“Babylonian Captivity”.
During the Renaissance, the papacy returns to Rome and
fosters relationships with the humanists, artists and entrepreneurs to rebuild
Rome as one of the greatest cultural centers in Europe in art, architecture,
oratory, music, and writing. In
addition, the papacy builds an extensive library that holds ancient and modern
thought and served as the brain of Renaissance Rome in its articulate memory
and its nerve center.
Even though, every fragment of Rome’s past had its story to
tell and a spell to enchant through its richness in beauty, there was and still
is a boundless power in religion in doing what is right and good for the
benefit of all and in doing what is corrupt to gain personal power and
indulgence as it was documented during the reign of various popes, especially
Julius II, who considered himself to be Julius Caesar. In addition, the humanists held power as they
reemphasizing the power of the word in persuasive and eloquence speech. Success in law and statesmanship could be
measured by the extent that the speaker could convince judges, juries, senates,
assemblies and crowds of his position.
Consequently, the language could be so focused with ruthless precision
in presenting a believable cause that oftentimes it was not in the best
interest of the people and it was for personal gain or an ulterior motive.
Nevertheless, Rome is considered the eternal city with a beautiful
and rich culture in history, art and architecture as well as the Christian
capital and the papacy’s divinely sanctioned home.
