Superb Corinthian columns bad been chiseled into images of the saints.

Magnificent Egyptian obelisks had been dishonored by papal inscriptions.

The Septizonium of Severus had been demolished to furnish materials for the building of St.
Peter's; the bronze roof of the Pantheon had been melted into columns to ornament the apostle's tomb.
The great bell of Viterbo, in the tower of the Capitol, had announced the death of many a pope, and still desecration of the buildings and demoralization of the people went on.

Papal Rome manifested no consideration, but rather hatred, for classical Rome, The pontiffs had been subordinates of the Byzantine sovereigns, then lieutenants of the Frankish kings, then arbiters of Europe; their government had changed as much as those of any of the surrounding nations; there had been complete metamorphoses in its maxims, objects, claims.

In one point only it had never changed--intolerance.