• Augustus closed the gates of the temple of Janus as a sign of universal peace, in the year of Christ’s birth. ↩
• Tiberius Caesar. ↩
• The crucifixion of Christ, in which the Romans took part in the person of Pontius Pilate. ↩
• The destruction of Jerusalem under Titus, which avenged the crucifixion. ↩
• When the Church was assailed by the Lombards, who were subdued by Charlemagne. ↩
• Referring back to line 31:⁠— “In order that thou see with how great reason Men move against the standard sacrosanct, Both who appropriate and who oppose it.” ↩
• The Golden Lily, or Fleur-de-lis of France. The Guelfs, uniting with the French, opposed the Ghibellines, who had appropriated the imperial standard to their own party purposes. ↩
• Charles II of Apulia, son of Charles of Anjou. ↩
• Change the imperial eagle for the lilies of France. ↩
• Mercury is the smallest of the planets, with the exception of the Asteroids, being sixteen times smaller than the Earth. ↩