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John II the Roman
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fore death comes, let there be no evil report of us, since thus your holy preachers taught, and with them this great bishop Peter, in whose reign these things were done. However, he died in good old age on August , and was buried, as some say, in the narthex of St. Probus the confessor in the former city of Classe. There he was placed in a great stone sarcophagus , next to the church of St. Euphemia which is called By the Sea, which Bishop Maximian decorated wonderfully with various mosaics , which is now demolished. Thence this sarcophagus was removed and placed in another location. He sat eight years, two months, nineteen days.16 CONCERNING HOLY JOHN II THE ROMAN, 578–95 . John the Roman, the twenty-ninth bishop. John means “grace of God.”1 He was not of this flock, but from the Roman people.2 He was middling in stature, neither tall nor short; optimal in body, not thin, nor very fat; curly, with the hairs of his head mixed with grey. After the loss of blessed Peter, this one finished the incomplete work which he had left, that is, the church of St. Severus, and brought it to completion, and he dedicated the body of St. Severus confessor in the middle of the temple.l.l.l. He decorated it in appearance with wonderful size.3 The holy body was taken up by him from the monasterium of St. Rophilius, which is attached to the side .There seems to be an error in either the date of death or the length of reign, or possibly both; see Deliyannis, CCCM edition of LPR, appendix. z . Cf. Isidore, Etymologiarum ..: “John, received his name by merit of his prophecies; for it means ‘in whom there is grace,’ or ‘grace of the Lord.’” . John II was a contemporary of Pope Gregory I, and several of the letters between the two survive, dated between March and November ; see Registrum .; ., ., .; .; ., ., ., .. . Part of the text seems to be missing in this sentence, although there is no gap in the manuscript. of this church, on the men’s side, and he placed it in the middle of the church.4 In his reign in the month of January a comet appeared morning and evening, and in that month the said bishop died, and the star receded. He, as I said, was born in Rome, sent here from that see, at once preached the doctrine of the apostle, that all might turn away from sin. However after he died this most blessed John was buried on the eleventh day of the month of January in the church of St. Apollinaris in the city of Classe outside the walls, in the monasterium of Sts. Mark, Marcellus, and Felicula, which he built from the foundations and decorated with mosaics, and finished it all. And over the doors of the said monasterium you will find metrical verses containing the following: The celebrated thresholds gleam in the temple of Sts. Mark, Marcellus and Felicula. Rome had the former as bishops, the latter is considered a martyr. Pope Gregory gives their relics, which John sought, bishop by merits and spirit [], he is ready to return these small gifts for the highest. Full of such virtue, he established the oratory whose structure exists thanks to his authority. In the fourteenth year of [his] holy crown, in which he rules the church with watchful management [], he also added this ruling5 stronghold of the venerable building and carried it to its final conclusion. Suddenly suspending the roof with wondrous skill, he repairs the curved wall on each side.6 Fortunate Smaragdus, inspired forever by these merits [], whose wealth participated in this foundation. He sat sixteen years, one month, nineteen days. .The church of St. Severus has been excavated, and the complex of small chambers to the south of the west end of the church has been identified as the monasterium of St. Rophilius. See esp. Bovini, “Il recente rinvenimento.” . In other words, the sanctuary governs the rest of the building as John governs the church; see Pierpaoli, Il libro di Agnello istorico, , n. . . The architectural implication of these two lines is unclear; perhaps some spe- ...