The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-08-26
pilates TOMB
THE FATE OF HIM WHO CRUCI-
FLED THE SAVIOR.

The first time I drove down the fine
avenue of lime trees which led to what
was to be my happy home for long
time, a friend pointed out to me a
strange looking monument which stood
but few hundred yards from our front
gate. THAT" he said, els the tomb of
Pontius PLATE" At first I took this
to be merely a jest.
A short time afterward, however,
Catholic Press, came across a charm
ing book written by one of the most
brilliant of French Bishops and
authors, Monseigneur Gay; and I
learned that what I had thought a
legend is an authenticated historical
fact. When one comes to think of it,
there is nothing improbable about the
story; for Pontius PLATE was not
Jew, but Roman Governor of Judea;
and Gaul was, at that period, equally
a Roman province. The Emperors very
often sent their Governors from one
post to another, just as Viceroys and
other officials are changed about now
adays.
At that time some of the Roman
cities in Gaul were magnificent in their
beauty and opulence. One of the finest
stood on the present manufacturing
town of Vienne, between Lyons and
Avignon, just at a sharp bend of the
blue Rhone, the most rapid, capricious
and violent of European rivers. 1t
rises in the Swiss mountains, and, be-
fore entering France, flows through the
Lake of Geneva. So strong is it's cur
rent, however, that it's waters do not
mingle with those of the lake, but can
be distinguished like blue ribbon
crossing to the French frontier Thence
it rushes on, leaping over rocks and
water falls. twisting in and out along
a narrow valley, which winds through
a mountainous country.
The stream takes such sharp turns
that many portions of it appear like
long, narrow lakes This is especially
so at Vienne. The great semi-circle
around what seems the head of the wa
tiers was formerly occupied by the
stately Roman city. The marble steps
of its palaces led down to the rivers
brink, while behind them, rising like
an amphitheatre on the lower hills,
were the temples, theatres and homes
of the Gallo-Romans OF all this moth
ing remains but the tomb of the
Roman Governor, and very well pre-
served little temple said to have been
dedicated to Apollo.
A Stern Monument
The monument over the grave of
Pontius Plate is anything but beauti-
full. On the contrary, it is stern, al
most forbidding looking. The stone OF
which it is built was originally white,
but is now worn, stained and darkened
by twenty centuries of exposure to the
elements. The lower part of the tomb
is square, and forms four arches,
f1anked at the corners with groups OF
small columns, supporting the entabla-
ture. This part serves as pedestal
for tall, ugly, cone-shaped structure,
which the people of Vienne misname
the Pyramid. Though so lacking in
beauty, the monument is striking in
appearance, and unlike any other /
have seen elsewhere.
The temple now stands in the center
of the vegetable and poultry market,
in which numbers of peasant women
sit during the morning, under large red
or blue cotton umbrellas, while great
is the chattering and cackling that
goes on around this silent witness OF
the Roman occupation of the city,
hundreds of years ago. The building,
which is an open one, is still in very
good preservation, though its pretty,
fluted columns, with their Corfnthian