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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



the coast to be safe from maritime inva- 

 sion ; the stronghold impregnable to as- 

 sault by medieval armies ; the retiring and 

 unostentatious, peace-seeking character 

 of the inhabitants ; the comparative pov- 

 erty of the country — all contributed to 

 San Marino's being left alone. But ex- 

 ternal reasons were not sufficient — there 

 was an internal cause which existed in 

 its institutions and its morality. 



In the most disrupting centuries of Ital- 

 ian history San Marino had no factions, 

 no strife between feudal lords and peo- 

 ple, no domineering insolence of con- 

 querors, no lost rights to vindicate. In- 

 stead, the people lived simply, changing 

 their constitutions slowly, according to 

 the needs of the times, always adopting 

 changes which were best for the develop- 

 ment and conservation of liberty. 



In the life of the Republic today the in- 

 fluence of the Dalmatian saint is strongly 

 reflected. For a country to maintain the 

 characteristics of its primitive founder 

 is a social phenomenon of which possibly 

 San Marino alone can boast. 



THE ARRIVAL OE MARINO AND LEO 



During the days of Christian persecu- 

 tions, in the middle of the fourth century, 

 Marino and Leo, two stone-cutters of 

 Arbe, Dalmatia, crossed the Adriatic and 

 came to Rimini. Their reason, says tra- 

 dition, was to aid Christians, condemned 

 by pagan rulers, to reconstruct the walls 

 of that city. Realizing that the labors of 

 those who were compelled to hew the 

 rocks from the mountains and transport 

 them along the Marrechia to the mouth 

 of the river were the most oppressive, 

 they ascended the river and stopped be- 

 fore those two abruptly rising mountains, 

 commanding sentinels of the landscape. 



Their experience as stone-cutters soon 

 placed them in charge of large numbers 

 of slaves, to whom they brought not only 

 material but spiritual help. Legends of 

 those far-away days tell how both pro- 

 cured donkeys to aid them, and one day 

 a bear devoured that of Marino. The 

 saintly man immediately bridled and sad- 

 dled the bear, and the wild beast submis- 

 sively performed the labor of the donkey 

 it had eaten ! 



The walls of Rimini having been fin- 



ished, Leo and Marino looked longingly 

 upon the solitude of the two mountains. 

 As the hermits of the Thebaid, who 

 flourished at this same period, they sought 

 peace and solitude in those impenetrable 

 heights. Hewing a bed from the rock 

 and cultivating a little garden, Marino 

 found all his material wants supplied. 

 This rough bed and site of the garden 

 are pointed out today by reverent peas- 

 ants. 



A few slaves followed their former 

 overseers in order to practice, undis- 

 turbed, their Christian faith. Leo and 

 Marino, overthrowing all pagan idols, 

 each built a little church. Fine remains 

 of the Roman temple of Jove, once domi- 

 nating the height of San Leo, are seen in 

 the columns of the cathedral and La 

 Pieve today, while small bits of sculpture 

 also have been found at San Marino, 

 where the cathedral now rises on the an- 

 cient site of the fourth century chapel of 

 the saintly founder. 



WEALTHY MATRON GIVES MOUNT TO THE 

 HERMIT 



From neighboring fields and pastures 

 and little settlements, came the weary and 

 oppressed, seeking peace and the Chris- 

 tian faith upon the two mounts. Poor 

 and simple people, their wants were easily 

 satisfied. Soon two small villages or 

 colonies sprang up about the little 

 churches, taking the names of the two 

 apostles. Legend adds that in those early 

 days, when hewing and quarrying was 

 the industry, even as it is today, the two 

 saintly stone-cutters exchanged their im- 

 plements, tossing them back and forth 

 from the two mountains ! 



The fame of the saintly hermit of Mt. 

 Titanus spread abroad. Felicissima, a 

 wealthy Roman matron of Rimini, im- 

 pressed by the pious man, who had been 

 bidden to come to that city, and grateful 

 for receiving the light of Christianity and 

 for the salvation of her sons, gave him 

 the mountain, which she owned, as abso- 

 lute and perpetual property. 



The influence of San Leo has been 

 wiped out by the centuries, while that of 

 San Marino exists today, with a signifi- 

 cantly simple appeal in these warring- 

 times. 



