Page 4 - monument

THE ARCH OF JANUS
Let's say first of all that the name is wrong: in fact, only a few years ago and thanks to an inscription not seen previously, it was discovered that it had been erected in honor of Constantine. The millenary tradition, however, has prevailed and has continued to be called "di Giano"!
The arch was erected in the 4th century AD. and originally had a pyramid roof. The covering marble was taken from other monuments and the figures at the top of the arches are: seated - Goddess Roma and Juno, standing - Ceres and Minerva.
The use that the Romans made of it is uncertain: who says it was to protect the ox market, who says it was placed at a crossroads and finally, in light of the discovery of the dedication to Constantine, who says it was a triumphal arch.
Around the year 1000, the Frangipane family appropriated it and built a crenellated tower above it. This family had occupied all the territories of the Velabro, the Palatine and the Colosseum, which they had transformed into a fortress. They were eternal rivals of the Pierleoni family with whom the Popes com- peted in the true sense of the word.
Ferdinand Gregorovius, medieval historian, points to the Arch of Janus as the bleak of many more or less questionable actions, of which the Frangipane family became the protagonist.
The first took place on Christmas Eve 1075: they took Pope Gregory VII by force while he was saying
Mass and locked him up here. But the next day the people
were furious and therefore they had to bring him back, again in Santa Maria Maggiore, to continue the mass he had inter- rupted. On that occasion the Frangipane were pardoned.
The second was during 1118 when, having received news that Gelasius II (the candidate of the Pierleoni) had been elec- ted during the conclave, they went to the Lateran, broke into the Conclave, always took him by force and locked him in the tower. However, this time too, however, the imprisonment did not last long, the people opposed it once more and made him free. And this time too the Frangipane were pardoned for political expediency.
The third and last one took place on the night between 13 and 14 February 1130, immediately after the death of Pope Honorius II. This time they thought it best to hold a conclave in their home. They "invited" 16 Cardinals to their faithful in the Tower and elected Pope Innocent II. The Church, however, did not accept this situation and, gathering the remaining 14 cardinals, they elected Anacleto II.
After the election, however, some of the cardinals who participated in the "abusive" conclave repented and supported the officially elected Pope: discrediting the new Pope of Frangipane in the eyes of the people.
The two Popes were consecrated on February 23: Anacleto II to San Pietro with the favor of the people, Innocent II to the Lateran fleeing to the tower immediately after the mass.
Innocent II, however, did not resign and indeed went to Northern Europe making alliances with France and Germany. Strong of these he attacked Rome in 1137 and settled in the city. The people, this time, remained very undecided bet- ween the two Popes but, the sudden death of Anacleto resolved the situation.
A few years later Pope Callixtus II had the castle destroyed by reducing it to those few ruins that we will see in all the drawings and prints until the mid-1800s. one of their candidates, on the death of Callisto II.
In 1588 Sixtus V ordered Domenico Fontana to demolish the Arch of Janus but then, fortunately, nothing more was done. As we have said, since 1400 the area around the arch becomes unsuitable and the walls of its ruins become a refuge for criminals and vagabonds, so much so that, in 1768, they were driven out and the entrance closed with a gate.
The ruins above the arch were demolished only in 1.827 and unfortunately they also demolished the original Roman structures above the crown, considering them medieval.