Chap. XXXI. (Continuation of a Letter from Constantine to the Bishop Macarius.) "It will be well therefore for your sagacity to make such arrangements and provision of all things needful for the work, that not only the church itself as a whole may surpass all others whatsoever in beauty, but that the details of the building may be of such a kind that the fairest structures in any city of the empire may be excelled by this. And with respect to the erection and decoration of the walls, this is to inform you that our friend Dracilianus, the deputy of the Prætorian Prefects, and the governor of the province, have received a charge from us. For our pious directions to them are to the effect that artificers and labourers, ... shall forthwith be furnished by their care. And as to the columns and marbles, whatever you shall judge, after actual inspection of the plan, to be especially precious and serviceable, be diligent to send information to us in writing, in order that whatever materials, and in whatever quantity we shall esteem from your letter to be needful, may be procured from every quarter, as required. With respect to the roof of the church, I wish to know from you whether in your judgment it should be ceiled, or finished with any other kind of workmanship. If the ceiling be adopted, it may also be ornamented with gold."
Chap. XXXIII. "This was the emperor's letter; and his directions were at once carried into effect. Accordingly, on the very spot which witnessed the Saviour's sufferings, a new Jerusalem was constructed, over against the one so celebrated of old, which, since the foul stain of guilt brought upon it by the murder of the Lord, had experienced the last extremity of desolation, the effect of Divine judgment on its impious people. It was opposite this city that the emperor now began to rear a monument to the Saviour's victory over death."
Chap. XXXIV. &c. Description of the Holy Sepulchre. "This monument, therefore, first of all, as the chief part of the whole, the emperor's zealous magnificence beautified with rare columns, and profusely enriched with the most splendid decorations of every kind. The next object of his attention was a space of ground of great extent, and open to the pure air of heaven. This he adorned with a pavement of finely-polished stone, and enclosed it on three sides with porticoes of great length. For at the side opposite to the Sepulchre, which was the eastern side, the church itself was erected; a noble work rising to a vast height, and of great extent both in length and breadth. The interior of this structure was floored with marble slabs of various colours; while the external surface of the walls, which shone with polished stones, accurately fitted together, exhibited a degree of splendour in no respect inferior to that of marble. With regard to the roof, it was covered on the outside with lead, as a protection against the rains of winter. But the inner part of the roof, which was finished with sculptured fretwork, extended in a series of connected compartments, like a vast sea, over the whole church; and being overlaid throughout with the purest gold, caused the entire building to glitter as it were with rays of light.
"Besides this were two porticoes on each side, with upper and lower ranges of pillars, corresponding in length with the church itself; and these also had their roofs ornamented with gold. Of these porticoes, those which were exterior to the church were supported by columns of great size, while those within these rested on piles of stone beautifully adorned on the surface. Three gates, placed exactly east, were intended to receive those who entered the church.
"Opposite these gates the crowning part of the whole was the hemisphere," (apparently an altar of a hemicylindrical form,) "which rose to the very summit of the church. This was encircled by twelve columns, (according to the number of the apostles of our Saviour,) having their capitals embellished with silver bowls of great size, which the emperor himself presented as a splendid offering to his God.
"In the next place, he enclosed the atrium which occupied the space leading to the entrances in front of the church. This comprehended, first the court, then the porticoes on each side, and lastly the gates of the court. After these in the midst of the open market-place, the entrance gates of the whole work, which were of exquisite workmanship, afforded to passers by on the outside a view of the interior, which could not fail to inspire astonishment."
Such is Eusebius' account of the first Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem: he makes no mention of Calvary, and I make no doubt that, if its site had then been discovered, the historian of Constantine would not have passed it over without notice.
An eye-witness of the magnificence of Constantine's Church is found in the Pilgrim of Bordeaux, who visited Jerusalem about 333 or 334. He speaks of it in his description of the Holy City, quoted in the notes to the first chapter.
Note IV. Description of S. Arculf, who visited the Holy places in 680 (Acta Sanctorum ordinis S. Benedicti. Sæc. III. part 2, p. 504).