p. 161. Arch of Severus, Column of Phocas and S. Martinadetails

“The great Pontiff [Pope Gregory the Great] died in 604. Four years later a fine Corinthian pillar, taken froms ome ancient building, was erected in the Forum [in Rome] to commemorate the worst of all the emperors, Phocas, the favourite of Gregory, the greatest of all the Popes. The degraded condition of Rome is revealed by the event. The ability to construct true columns no longer remained. The difference between the age of the Antonines and of Gregory is fittingly represented by the columns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius, and that of Phocas.” (pp. 160, 163)