And if the Roman
Empire had not existed by right, Tiberius Caesar, whose vicar was Pontius
Pilate, would not have had jurisdiction over all mankind." To us both
the argument and its conclusion are wholly indefensible. It seems indeed
a mockery and a blasphemy to attribute to such a monster as Tiberius
Caesar glory because Christ was crucified in his reign. Dante's words,
however, as spoken by Justinian, leave no room for doubt that the poet
was convinced that all the ancient celebrity of Rome was insignificant
as compared to the glory that would come to it because it would carry
out the crucifixion of Christ.
"But what the standard that has made me speak
Achieved before, and after should achieve
Throughout the mortal realm that lies beneath,
Becometh in appearance mean and dim
If in the hand of the third Caesar seen
With an eye unclouded and affection pure
Because the living Justice that inspires me
Granted it, in the hand of him I speak of
The glory of doing vengence for its wrath."
(VI, 82.)
Shining among the splendors of Mercury is a spirit who, though he was
not a lawmaker like Justinian, attained earthly renown by arranging the
marriages of four Kings. Known by the name of Romeo, a word meaning a
pilgrim of Rome, this man came a stranger to the Court of Raymond
Berenger, Court of Provence, multiplied the income without lessening the
grandeur of his master and brought about the marriages to royalty of the
four daughters of the household--Margaret to St.
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