136 FLORAL SYMBOLISM 



the rule of Julian the Apostate, kneeling with 

 eyes bound and hands tied behind their backs. 

 This may be considered as the first representa- 

 tion of a martyrdom. . . .' ' 



Sixtus III (432-440), as is shown by the in- 

 scription which is read above the principal door 

 of Santa Maria Maggiore, had had the instru- 

 ments of their martyrdom painted only beneath 

 the feet of the mart3n:s. 



• Ecce tui testes uteri sibi proemia portant 

 Sub pedibusque jacet passio cuique sua. 

 Ferrum, flamma, ferae, fluvius, saevumque venerium 

 Tot tamen has mortes una corona manet.' ^ 



Thus in the fourth century there were representa- 

 tions of martyrdoms, and in the fifth century 

 single figures of the martyrs more or less ideahzed, 

 but they apparently carried the crown of victory, 

 ' the crown of their high calling,' not the palm. 

 But though the crown was generally used, the 

 palm of the primitive Christian Church was not 

 forgotten, for, as Cassiodorus, writing at the 

 beginning of the sixth century, points out, it 

 was palms which, in the eyes of the people, 

 indicated those strong athletes who were vic- 



' A. Venturi, Storia dell' Arte Italiana. * Ibid. 



