ROMAN ART

like Rom. literature, developed at a comparatively late date in the history of the State. Only when Rome had made herself mistre of Italy and had secured her position in the Mediterranean Sea did she turn her thoughts seriously to the cultivation of her artistic talents; and just as in her literature her first efforts were imitative rather than creative, so in her art she commenced by reproducing Gk. originals, But there was latent in the ancient Italian temperament an autochthonous artistic talent, which, though checked by the Philhellenic enthusiasts of the late Republic and early Empire, was never quite extinguished, and rea erted itself in all its strength in the IT. cent, A.D. Realism and detail were the distinguishing features of the decorative masterpieces of the ancient Etrusc an sarcophagi, and it was this realism and detail which combated Hellenistic ventions conin the Imperial age and conditioned the genuinely Rom. artist i c expre ion in the commemorative reliefs and portrait sculpture of the Flavian period. The most ancient works of art preserved at Rome were of Etruscan origin. The arch and yault, which persisted in Rom. architecture even during | the period when Hellenism exerted its most potent influence were derived from Etruria. The waves of Hellenistic influence in art reached Rome in 212 B.C., when Mar cell us transported from | Syracuse the finest specimens of GE. | statuary, and from that period the | triumphs of Rom. generals were embellh i gnificent works of Gk. art. In the age of Cicero it was the custom of the cultivated to adorn their palaces and villas with masterpieces of Gk. art, and the ardor of the connoi eurs is illustrated by the correspondence of Cicero. But Philhellenism rapidly ug j generated into dilettantism. ‘or j art’s sake was an ideal utterly alien to the Rom. mind; but the gift of moulding in marbles the busts of Rome’s valorous sons and representing in relief the story of her greatne was an art worthy of Rom, cultivation, in that it was art for power’s sake. August us, realizing the po ibilities of art in establishing the new order, extended his patronage to sculptors, painters, and architects. The new temples were adorned with reliefs | illustrating the great events of Rome’s history. In ‘these works the technical excellence reflects Gk. influences, but the motive ideal is purely Roman, A fine specimen of Rom, art in the August an age is the Ara Pacis Augustae. Under the Julio-Claudian dynasty the Helmeled the native genius. But there followed a _ genuinely Rom. artistic revival which culminated in the magnificent stone column and forum of Trajan. In the reign of Hadrian there was 2 revival of the Hellenistic tradition, which found expre ion in the ideal representations of Anti no us. But in the An to nine period the purity of the Gk. spirit and verisimilitude of the Rom. spirit alike failed before the influences of the East. thorities define the Church to be the society of the faithful, baptized in the profe ion of the same faith, united in the participation of the same sacraments and in the same worship, under one head, Christ in heaven and His vicar on earth, ~ who is Bishop of Rome and succe or of St. Peter. R.C. theologians make a clear dist i net i on between the visible and the invisib le Church—(i.e.) the body and the soul of the Church. By the body of the Church is meant a visible and extern al society; by the soul of the Church {s understood all who are po e ed of supernatural life—(7.e.) sanctifying grace. Hence the soul of the Church includes all Christians who are in good faith, and who have that indwelling of the Holy Ghost, without which no man can be saved. On the other hand, a R.C. who has lost the life of grace by grievous sin, although he still belongs to the external society or visible Church, is no longer in the soul of the Church, and should he die in that state will be lost. A non-Catholic dying in a state of grace will be saved. In the Nicene Creed these words appear, ‘One, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church,’ and they may be taken as representing what the Church claims. The Church of Rome maintains that Christ founded but one Church; moreover, He prayed for visible unity; as the resuit of this divine petition, absolute unity in doctrine, sacraments, and government is claimed. The Church claims also the prerogative of sanctity, because it is maintained that her doc-|}, trines regarding faith and morals emanate from God. The claim is also made to catholicity; the doctrines taught suit the needs of the human heart and are therefore intended for all parts of the world. And finally the ciaim to apostolicity is made by reason of her origin: her bishops, it is maintained, descend in an unbroken succe ion from the apostles; moreover, the Bishop of Rome in particular is the succe or of The magisterium is the teaching authority and office of the Church, and it is believed to be exercised under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is held that Christ instituted an authoritative pody of teachers for His people in His Church, which body is known as the ecclesia docens, and that this body of teachers was to be infallible alike in its dogmatic and moral teaching. The infallibility therefore, of the church is to be found in the dogmatic teaching of the collective body of the bishops (succe ors of the apostles) united to the Roman Pontiff (succe or of St. Peter). Moreover, it is the teaching of the Church of Rome, as promulgated by the Vatican Council in 1870, that infallibility is a ured by God to the Pope, under the conditions and limitations laid down in the same council. It is-also taught that the revelation of God to man was completed at Pentecost. Part of that revelation was committed to writing by inspired men, but the entire deposit (sometimes called ‘tradition’) was left to the guardianship of the Church, being received by the apostles from Christ, and by them delivered to their succe ors, the bishops. The distinctive doctrines of the Church of Rome are: the authority of apostolic and ecclesiastical traditions; the seven sacraments; the sacrificial aspect of the Ma ; transubstantiation; the sufficiency of communion in one kind; purgatory; the invocation of Saints; indulgences; the supremacy and infallibility of the Pope; the immaculate conception of the Ble ed Virgin. The Hierarchy, or governing body, consists of the Pope, a isted by the Sacred College of Cardinals, and by several Sacred Congregations or permanent ecclesiastical committees, of which cardinals are the chief members; by the patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops; by the apostolic delegates, vicars, and prefects; and by certain abbots and other prelates. The cardinals form the supreme council or senate of the Church. They are the advisers of the Pope, and at his death they elect a succe or, The College of Cardinals when complete numbers seventy memers. The Sacred Congregations carry on the central administration of the Church, There are about twenty of these. The principal are—of the Council, of Bishops and Regulars, of Propaganda, of Rites, of the Index, of the Holy Office, of Indulgences and Sacred Relics, of Ecclesiastical unity. The cardinalate, unlike the episcopate, is purely an ecclesiastical institution. The bishops of the Church are regarded as members of a hierarchy which is divinely constituted. ‘The Pope himself, as far as sacramental order goes, is simply a bishop. His position as Pope is concerned with jurisdiction. He can create or suppre sees, or change their boundaries, but he cannot do away throughout the Church with bishops governing their dioceses with what is called jure ordinario (ordinary jurisdiction), because such would involve a change in the divine constitution of the Church, which is unalterable. The Roman Catholics in the United States in 1922 numbered over 20,000,000.