Near this is a curious Columbarium of the Arruntia Family, and a brick-lined hollow, supposed to be part of the Naumachia which Dion Cassius says that Augustus constructed "in the grove of Caius and Lucius."
Just where the lane turns off to Sta. Bibiana is the entrance to the courtyard of the Church and Monastery of S. Eusebio, built upon the site of the house of the saint, a priest of noble family, martyred by starvation under Constantius, A.D. 357. His body rests under the high altar, with that of St. Orosus, a Spanish priest, who suffered at the same time. The ceiling of the church is painted by Mengs, and represents the apotheosis of the patron saint. The campanile dates from 1220. In this convent (which was conceded to the Jesuits in 1825 by Leo XII.) English clergymen about to join the Roman Catholic Church frequently "make a retreat" before their reception; Archdeacon Wilberforce is one of many converts who have been received here.
Turning towards Sta. Maria Maggiore, on the left is a Cross on a pedestal formed by a cannon reversed, and inscribed "In hoc signo vinces,"—a memorial of the absolution given by Clement VIII. in 1595 to Henry IV. of France on his being received into the Roman Catholic Church.
Opposite this is a peculiar round arched doorway—unique in Rome—forming the entrance to the Church of S. Antonio Abbate, said to occupy the site of a temple of Diana. The church is decorated with very coarsely-executed frescoes of the life of the saint,—his birth, his confirmation by a bishop who predicted his future saintship, and his temptation by the devil in various forms.
"S. Antonio, called 'the patriarch of monks,' became a hermit in his twentieth year, and lived alone in the Egyptian desert till his fifty-fifth year, when he founded his monastery of Phaim, where he died at the age of 105, having passed his life in perpetual prayer, and often tasting no food for three days at a time. In the desert Satan was permitted to assault him in a visible manner, to terrify him with dismal noises; and once he so grievously beat him that he lay almost dead, covered with bruises and wounds. At other times the fiends attacked him with terrible clamours, and a variety of spectres, in hideous shapes of the most frightful wild beasts, which they assumed to dismay and terrify him; till a ray of heavenly light breaking in upon him, chased them away, and caused him to cry out, 'Where wast thou, my Lord and Master? Why wast thou not with me?' And a voice answered, 'Anthony, I was here the whole time; I stood by thee, and beheld thy combat: and because thou hast manfully withstood thy enemies I will always protect thee, and will render thy name famous throughout the earth.'"—Butler's Lives of the Saints.
"Surely the imagery painted on the inner walls of Egyptian tombs, and probably believed by Anthony and his compeers to be connected with devil-worship, explains his visions. In the 'Words of the Elders' a monk complains of being troubled with 'pictures, old and new.' Probably, again, the pain which Anthony felt was the agony of a fever, and the visions which he saw its delirium."—Kingsley's Hermits.
In the chapel of S. Antonio is a very ancient mosaic, representing a tiger tearing a bull.
"Le tigre en mosaïque conservé dans l'église de St. Antoine, patron des animaux, est, selon toute apparence, le portrait d'un acteur renommé."—Ampère, Hist. Rom. iv. 28.
Hither, on the week following the feast of St. Anthony (January 17), horses, mules, and cows are brought to be blest as a preservative against accidents for the year to come. On the 23rd, the horses of the pope, Prince Borghese, and other Roman grandees (about 2½ P.M.) are sent for this purpose. All the animals are sprinkled with holy water by a priest, who receives a gift in proportion to the wealth of their master, and recites over each group the formula,—
"Per intercessionem beati Antonii Abbatis, hæc animalia liberantur a malis, in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen!"