soldier named Orestes are said to have had tached to their necks before going to their A single example of the entx commisscL, ^, k ^a- served, of the date A.D. 870. On tombs, do ea^ of any kind is found before the same (entuy. S. crux immissa, f , or Greek croae, ^, is fovotd ^ than the fifth century. As far as y«fc no cross is found of very eariy date In the those existing there having been traced by centuries later. Such signs of the cross as belong to the monogram of Christ (q. t.) date back their origin to the time of Constantiiie. texts have often spoken of this monogram name of cross, giving rise to many In the more distant provinces of the Roman cs^oa. as in Carthage, marbles marked by the cress fera been found of the fourth oentuiy. Zeno at Ttn^ made bishop in 862, states that he placed a ^ cn» on a basilica which he built. This same cross appesE^ on the coins and medals of the emperor VahmtiiBSB I (died 876), and on bronzes struck by Conatantiae e Aquileia and at Treves, although many cooaider the these were Egyptian in origin, thoogh adopted liy &^ Christians. Constantine is stated to hare placed ^ cross of gold on the tomb of St. Peter in the Vataeaa. Our Lord resting on a cross is seen on the tmahaUint of Probus and Proba (A.D. 855). Paolinos cf Kcb (died 482) had in his church paintings of crosses ^- rounded by crowns. Other similar ones are fnad k old mosaics, as in those of San Vitale of Rarcsa& (A.D. 547). Over the summit of an arch are tvo aa- gels holding a crown, in the midst of which is a otoi adorned with gems. Some diptychs of the fifth cea- tury also contain such crosses. The cross <» toa*^ stones was an attribute of a martyr, and on the earir sarcophagi is specially used to designate St. Pels, u he died on the cross. After his vision of the cross ia the heavens, Constantine (q. v.) changed the ftaa^ri of the Roman empire to a cross. See Lababdl From the sixth century the consuls began to have i cross on their sceptres. Valentinlan III and ha queen Endoxia wero the first (A.D. 445) to wear i cross on their crown. About A.D. 400 the cross cs£- ed crux staHonalis was first borne at the head of pro- cessions. A number of Christian cities and viBages in the neighborhood of Antloch, Aleppo, and Apaaica. which wero suddenly deserted on the invmsion of Srrift by the Saracens, and which remain in the ftni ia which they were left by their inhshitanta, show kr* extremely general had became the costom at thst time — in the early part of the sixth centary — to paiit the cross and the monogram of Christ, ^(», over tbe doors, windows, posts, and on the walls of the ttoase^ It was also used on all domestic objects, as weigMi. vases, chairs, and all articles of ftimitore, and ^m put on ships to keep off disaster and the evil eye. A^ ter the fall of the Roman empire, when the lahsnus ceased to be used, the ensign of many cities l>eca]De s real cross. The cross-bearer often held two lighted torches, under which were suspended by a chain tba letters A and Q. These cross-sUmdards were soon dec- orated with great magnificence, containing scenes ftt>m the Old and New Testament, or busts of saoni or patriotic persons, either painted or scniptnred, ee adorned with gold and precious stones. This enciga was then borne into the thickest of the battie, being tbe rallying-point for the army, while a priest on the art on which the ensign or gonfSalone was placed, cheered on the soldiers to fight, or declared ahsolutioo to tbe dying. Many Christian kings on the eve of battle, or of any great enterprise, erected a crosa, and, bowii^ before it, oflfered up prayer to God for success. 0^ wald had a wooden cross erected before he fongfat v%k Cadwallon, his soldiers all kneeling devontir, wiiilebt himself held the cross as the earth was stamped don around it. The stones that formed the cromlechs (^
CROSS
679
CROSS
) were sometimes placed in tlie form of a cross, it is t kno^vn -whether originaUy with any significance. it after the introdaction of Christianity m England d Ireland these crosses were appropriated as Cliris- m monam^iits, and, like other crosses erected for the irpoae, served as marks of the boundaty of property, parishes, and sanctuaries ; as monuments of battles, urder or other crimes, or disastrous events ; to indi- te places of public gathering to hear proclamations, Tinoi&8, and prayers; to marie the spot where the >rp6e of any famous person rested on its way to inter- ient, ''that passers-by might pray for his soul;" to tarlL the spot where some person had been delivered ■cm great danger ; to line the way to a cemetery or a buTch ; and at cross-roads in the country, or in a mrket-place, to furnish protection from a passing term. (Beggars often took their station at these rosses, askhig alms in the name of Jesus, giving rise o the expression, ** He begs like a cripple at a cross.") >o8aes were sometimes erected on the tops of houses, enants thus claiming the privileges of templars-hos- ;>\taUer8, of being mb from the claims of their lords »r landlords. Many of these crosses were very costly, tnd built in the highest architectural taste of the age. Political and religious upheavals have removed many of these crosses ; time has destroyed others. Of the 360 cross^ formerly existing in the small but historic island of lona, but one now remains. Of the numer- ous series by the road leading from Paris to St. Denis, where the kings of France were buried, all are de- stroyed. Of the fifteen famous crosses that marked the resting-places of the corpse of queen Eleanor (died A.D. 1290), on its removal from Grantham to West- minster, but three now remain. Among the most fa^ mons preaching^^rosses were those of St. Paul's in London and of Spitalfields, London, where the noted Spital Easter sermons were preached. Crosses are used freely on the vestments of priests, and on all parts of the interior and exterior of Greek, Armenian, and Romish houses of worship, and other ecclesiastical establishments. The Church of England and the Lu- ^eran Church use them to crown their houses of wor- siiip ; some other Protestant denominations use them thus at the discretion of the individual society ; while others stiU, especially those who hold the views of the original Puritans, reject the use of the visible and ma- terial cross in any form or place. Those Christian bodies, that use the cross fireely, place it upon the tombs of the dead. The cross we have hitherto spoken of is the passion cross — ^the representative of Christ's suffering. In the Catacombs, Clirist is represented as coming forth from his tomb bearing a cross, the sym- bol of his triumph ov^ death, and of the ultimate tri- mnph of his doctrines. This triumphal cross, also called Cross of the Resurrection, never bearing Christ upon it as a crucifix, is used as a symbol of the au- thority and jurisdiction of difibrent officials in certain branches of the Church. See Cbosier.