Finally, the bishop of Jerusalem, after long contests with the metropolitan of Cassarea and the patriarch of Antioch, succeeded in advancing himself to the patriarchal dignity ; but his distinction remained chiefly a matter of honor, far below the other patriarchates in extent of real power. Had not tho ancient Jerusalem, in the year 70, been left with only a part of the city wall and thi'ee gates to mark it, it would doubtless, being the seat of the oldest Christian, congregation, have held, as in the time of James, a central position in the hierarchy. Yet as it was, a reflection of the original dignity of the mother city fell upon, the new settlement of ^lia Capitolina, which, after Adrian, rose upon the venerable ruins. The pilgrimage of the empress Helena, and the magnificent church edifices of her son on the holy places, gave Jerusalem a new importance as tho centre of devout pilgrimage from all quarters of Chris- tendom. Its bishop was subordinate, indeed, to the metro- politan of Caesarea, but presided with him (probably secundo loco) at the Palestinian councils,^ The council of Nice gave him an honorary precedence among the bishops, though with- out affecting his dependence on the metropolitan of Csesarea. * Harduin, torn. vii. 23 ; Schrockh, xvii. 43 ; and Hefele, ii. 544. * Comp. Eusebius, himself the metropolitan of Csesarea, H. E. v. 23. He givea the succession of the bishops of Jerusalem, as well as of Eome, Alexandria, and Antioch, while he omits those of Oaesarea. 284 THIRD PERIOD. A.D. 311-590. At least this seems to be the meaning of the short and some- what obscure seventh canon : " Since it is custom and old tradition, that the bishop of ^lia (Jerusalem) should be honored, he shall also enjoy the succession of honor/ while the metropolis (Cjesarea) preserves the dignity allotted to her." The legal relation of the two remained for a long time nntvei-- tain, till the fourth ecumenical council, at its seventh session, confirmed the bishop of Jerusalem in his patriarchal rank, and assigned to him the three provinces of Palestine as a diocese, without opposition. § 57. The Rival Patriarchs of Old and New Rome. Tims at the close of the fourth century we see the Catholic church of the Grseco-Roman empire under the oligarchy of five coordinate and independent patriarchs, four in the East and one in the West. But the analogy of the political consti- tution, and the tendency toward a visible, tangible representa- tion of the unity of the church, which had lain at the bottom of the development of the hierarchy from the very beginnings of the episcopate, pressed beyond oligarchy to monarchy ; especially in the West. I^ow that the empire was geographi- cally and politically severed into East and West, which, after the death of Theodosius, in 395, had their several emperors, and were never permanently reunited, we can but expect in like manner a double head in the hierarchy. This