In the year 69, during the chaotic Year of the Four Emperors, a large portion of the northern army that brought Vitellius to power camped in the unhealthy districts of the Vatican, resulting in many deaths among the common soldiery. The Tiber being close by, the inability of the Gauls and Germans to bear the heat and the consequent greed with which they drank from the stream weakened their bodies, which were already an easy prey to disease. This marshy area on the west bank of the Tiber, known to the Romans as the Ager Vaticanus, was originally considered dismal and ominous, situated between the Janiculum, the Vatican Hill, and Monte Mario. It was a place of bad wine and bad health, far removed from the grandeur that would eventually define it. The name Vatican itself was derived from an Etruscan settlement, and the area was subjected to the floods of the Tiber, making it a place of dread rather than a place of power. Yet, it was here, in this marshy expanse, that the seeds of the future Vatican City were sown, transforming a place of death into the spiritual heart of the world.
The Circus And The Cross
The transformation of the Vatican from a marsh to a place of worship began with the construction of a circus by the emperor Caligula in the year 40. Caligula built this circus for charioteers in the gardens of his mother, Agrippina the Elder, who had drained the area and laid out her gardens in the early first century AD. The circus was later completed by the emperor Nero and named the Circus of Nero, which became the site of martyrdom for many Christians after the Great Fire of Rome in the year 64. Tradition states that it was in this circus that Saint Peter was crucified upside-down, a pivotal moment that turned the site into a place of immense religious significance. The Vatican obelisk, the last visible remnant from the Circus of Nero, was brought from Heliopolis in Roman Egypt by Caligula and originally stood at the center of the spina of the Roman circus. In 1586, the obelisk was moved to its current position by Pope Sixtus V, using a method devised by the Italian architect Domenico Fontana. Opposite the circus was a cemetery separated by the Via Cornelia, where funeral monuments, mausoleums, small tombs, and altars to pagan gods were constructed before the building of the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter in the first half of the 4th century. The land mass became more populated in connection with activity at the basilica, and a palace was constructed nearby as early as the 5th century during the pontificate of Pope Symmachus.
The Prisoner In The Vatican
For most of its history, the popes did not live at the Vatican. The Lateran Palace, on the opposite side of Rome, was their habitual residence for about a thousand years. From 1309 to 1377, they lived in Avignon in France, and on their return to Rome, they chose to live at the Vatican. They moved to the Quirinal Palace in 1583, after work on it was completed under Pope Paul V. In 1870, after the capture of Rome, popes have lived in the Vatican. Their prior residence at the Quirinal Palace was taken over by the King of Italy. In 1870, the pope's holdings were left in an uncertain situation when Rome was annexed by Italian forces, bringing to completion the Italian unification, after a nominal resistance by the papal forces. Between 1861 and 1929, the status of the pope of Rome was referred to as the Roman Question. Italy made no attempt to interfere with the Holy See within the Vatican walls, but it confiscated church property in many places. In 1871, the Quirinal Palace was confiscated by the king of Italy and became the royal palace. Thereafter, the popes resided undisturbed within the Vatican walls, and certain papal prerogatives were recognized by the Law of Guarantees, including the right to send and receive ambassadors. The popes did not recognize the Italian king's right to rule in Rome, and they refused to leave the Vatican compound until the dispute was resolved in 1929. Pope Pius IX, the last ruler of the Papal States, was referred to as a prisoner in the Vatican. Forced to give up secular power, the popes focused on spiritual issues.
This situation was resolved on the 11th of February 1929, when the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy was signed by Prime Minister and Head of Government Benito Mussolini on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel III and by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri for Pope Pius XI. The treaty, which was ratified and took effect on the 7th of June 1929, established the independent state of Vatican City and reaffirmed the special status of Catholic Christianity in Italy. The Vatican City State, created in 1929 by the Lateran Pacts, provides the Holy See with a temporal jurisdiction and independence within a small territory. It is distinct from the Holy See. The state can thus be deemed a significant but not essential instrument of the Holy See. The Holy See itself has existed continuously as a juridical entity since Roman Imperial times and has been internationally recognized as a powerful and independent sovereign entity since Late Antiquity to the present, without interruption even at times when it was deprived of territory. The Vatican City is one of the few widely recognized independent states that has not become a member of the United Nations. The Holy See, which is distinct from Vatican City State, has permanent observer status, with all the rights of a full member except for a vote in the UN General Assembly. The territory of Vatican City is part of the Vatican Hill, and of the adjacent former Vatican Fields. It is in this territory that St Peter's Basilica, the Apostolic Palace, the Sistine Chapel, and museums were built, along with other buildings. The area was part of the Roman rione of Borgo until 1929. Being separated from Rome, on the west bank of the river Tiber, the area was an outcrop of Rome that was protected by being included within the walls of Leo IV, and later expanded by the current fortification walls, built under Paul III, Pius IV, and Urban VIII.
The Neutrality Of The Holy See
The Holy See, which governed the Vatican City, pursued a policy of neutrality during World War II under the leadership of Pope Pius XII. German troops occupied Rome after the September 1943 Armistice of Cassibile, with Allied forces pushing them out in 1944. Both sides respected the Vatican City's status as neutral territory. One of the main diplomatic priorities of Pius XII was to prevent the bombing of Rome. A high level of sensitivity led him to protest even the dropping of pamphlets over Rome by the Royal Air Force, claiming that the few which landed within the Vatican City violated its neutrality. The British government's policy towards the Vatican, as expressed in the minutes of a Cabinet meeting, was that we should on no account molest the Vatican City, but that our action as regards the rest of Rome would depend upon how far the Italian government observed the rules of war. After the United States entered into the war, US officials were against bombing the Vatican City, fearful of offending Catholic members of the American military, but said that they could not stop the British from bombing Rome if the British so decided. The US military even exempted Catholic servicemembers from air raids on Rome and other areas with a significant Catholic presence, unless they voluntarily agreed to participate. Notably, with the exception of Rome, and presumably the possibility of the Vatican, no Catholic US servicemember refused a mission within German-held Italy. On the other hand, the British insisted they would bomb Rome whenever the needs of the war demanded. In December 1942, the British envoy to the Holy See suggested that Rome be declared an open city, a suggestion that the Holy See took more seriously than was probably meant by the envoy, who did not want Rome to be an open city. Mussolini rejected the suggestion when the Holy See put it to him. In connection with the Allied invasion of Sicily, 500 United States Army Air Forces aircraft bombed Rome on the 19th of July 1943, targeting Rome's railway hub in particular. Approximately 1,500 people were killed, and Pius XII, who had been described in the previous month as worried sick about the possibility of Rome being bombed, toured the affected areas. Another Allied bombing raid took place on the 13th of August 1943, after Mussolini had been ousted from power. The following day, the new Italian government declared Rome an open city, after consulting the Holy See on the wording of the declaration.
The Economy Of A Microstate
The Vatican City State budget includes the Vatican Museums and post office and is supported financially by the sale of stamps, coins, medals and tourist mementos; by fees for admission to museums; and by publications sales. The incomes and living standards of lay workers are comparable to those of counterparts who work in the city of Rome. Other industries include printing, the production of mosaics, and the manufacture of staff uniforms. The Institute for Works of Religion, also known as the Vatican Bank, is a financial agency situated in the Vatican that conducts worldwide financial activities. It has multilingual ATMs with instructions in Latin, possibly the only ATM in the world with this feature. Vatican City issues its own coins and stamps. It has used the Euro as its currency since January 1999, owing to a special agreement with the European Union. Euro coins and notes were introduced on the 1st of January 2002, and the Vatican City does not issue euro banknotes. Issuance of euro-denominated coins is strictly limited by treaty. More coins than usual are allowed in a year with a new papacy. Because of their rarity, Vatican euro coins are highly sought by collectors. Until the adoption of the Euro, Vatican coinage and stamps were denominated in their own Vatican lira currency, which was on par with the Italian lira. In 2012, the US Department of State's International Narcotics Control Strategy Report listed Vatican City for the first time among the nations of concern for money-laundering, placing it in the middle category, which includes countries such as Ireland, but not among the most vulnerable countries, which include the United States itself, Germany, Italy, and Russia. In February 2014, the Vatican announced it was establishing a secretariat for the economy, to be responsible for all economic, financial, and administrative activities of the Holy See and the Vatican City State, headed by Cardinal George Pell. This followed the charging of two senior clerics including a monsignor with money-laundering offences. Pope Francis appointed an auditor-general authorized to carry out audits of any agency at any time and engaged a US financial services company to review the Vatican's 19,000 accounts, to ensure compliance with international money-laundering practices. The pontiff appointed the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See as the Vatican's central bank, with responsibilities similar to other central banks around the world. In 2022, the Vatican planned to release NFTs of its museum collection.
The Population Of A Kingdom
Vatican City has a population of 882 residents, regardless of citizenship. There are 372 Vatican citizens residing elsewhere, consisting of diplomats of the Holy See to other countries and cardinals residing in Rome. The population is composed of clergy, other religious members, laypeople serving the state, such as the Swiss Guard, and their family members. In 2013, there were 13 families of the employees of the Holy See living in Vatican City. In 2019, there were 20 children of the Swiss Guards living at the Vatican. All citizens, residents, and places of worship in the city are Catholic. The city receives thousands of tourists and workers every day. Unlike citizenship of other states, which is based either on jus sanguinis or on jus soli, citizenship of Vatican City is granted on jus officii, namely on the grounds of appointment to work in a certain capacity in the service of the Holy See. This includes Cardinals resident either within Vatican City or elsewhere in Rome, diplomats of the Holy See, and any other person resident in Vatican City due to their occupation. It usually ceases upon the cessation of the appointment. Citizenship is extended to the spouse and children of a citizen, provided that they are living together in the city. Some individuals are authorized to reside in the city but do not qualify or choose not to request citizenship. Anyone who loses Vatican citizenship and does not possess other citizenship automatically becomes an Italian citizen, as provided in the Lateran Treaty. The Holy See, not being a country, issues only diplomatic and service passports, whereas Vatican City issues ordinary passports for its citizens. In statistics comparing countries in per capita or per area metrics, Vatican City is often an outlier, these stem from the state's small size and ecclesiastical function. For example, as most of the roles which would confer citizenship are reserved for men, the gender ratio of Vatican City citizenship is several men per woman. Further oddities are petty crimes against tourists, resulting in a very high per-capita crime rate, and the city-state leading the world in per-capita wine consumption due to its sacramental use. A jocular illustration of these anomalies is sometimes made by calculating a popes per km2 statistic, which is greater than two because Vatican City is less than half a square kilometre in area.
The Art And The Science
The Vatican City is home to some of the most famous art in the world. St Peter's Basilica, designed by a succession of architects including Bramante, Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, is a renowned work of Renaissance architecture. The Sistine Chapel is famous for its frescos, which include works by Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Sandro Botticelli, as well as the ceiling and Last Judgment by Michelangelo. The interiors of the Vatican were decorated by artists including Raphael and Fra Angelico. The Vatican Apostolic Library and the collections of the Vatican Museums are of the highest historical, scientific and cultural importance. Added by UNESCO to the List of World Heritage Sites in 1984, the Vatican is the only site to consist of an entire state. It is the only UNESCO site registered as a centre containing monuments in the International Register of Cultural Property under Special Protection according to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Following in the footsteps of the Pontifical Academy of New Lincei founded by Pope Pius IX in 1847, Pope Pius XI founded the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1936. Located in the Casina Pio IV, it brings together scientists who made contributions to mathematical, physical and natural sciences, and medicine. It also focuses on epistemological issues and the history of science. Among the academicians, there are or were the astrophysicist Martin John Rees, the mathematician Cédric Villani, the theoretical physicist Edward Witten, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureates Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, and Ernest Rutherford, the geneticists Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza and Francis Collins, the head transplant pioneer Robert J. White, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Alexander Fleming. The Vatican Observatory, whose origins date back to the 16th century, continues to contribute to astronomical research, especially through a partnership with the University of Arizona and the infrared and optical Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope in Arizona, and to astronomical education and popular science projects. As a member of the International Astronomical Union and the International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, it deals with research on cosmological models, stellar classification, binary stars, and nebulae. It has contributed to philosophical interdisciplinary studies at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley, California and research on the history of astronomy thanks to its extensive library, which includes a meteorite collection.