But though Jews were so rigorously excluded from Rome, Christians of Gentile descent were allowed to reside there ; and consequently we find that the return of the Christian church of Jerusa lem from Pella—where, according to our Lord's forewarning, it had taken refuge before the siege by Titus--and the appointment of the first Gentile bishop, were contemporaneous with the foundation of the new Roman colony of iElia Capitolina. From St. James, the first bishop, to Jude H., who died A. D. 136, there had been a series of fif teen bishops of Jewish descent ; and from Marcus, who succeeded Simeon, to Macarius, who presided over the church of Jerusalem under Constantine, there was a series of twenty-three bishops of Gentile descent, but beyond a hare list of their names, little is known of the church or of the city of Jerusalem during the whole of this latter period.
The adoption of Christianity as the religion of the empire, which dates from the edict of Milan, A.D. 313 (the year in which Macarius began his episcopate), produced a great change in the cir cumstances of Jerusalem. Pilgrimages had already been made to the holy places in the previous cen turies. In the year 326 they were visited by the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, then in her eightieth year. At this visit the true cross is said to have been discovered under the temple dedicated to Astarte, during the progress of its demolition. It is certain that noble Christian churches now took the place of the heathen temples by which the holy city had previously been defiled ; and, A.D. 335, a council was held at Jerusalem for their dedication. It was at this council that Arius, abetted by Eusebius of Nico media, had a temporary triumph over Athanasius. Twenty-seven years later an attempt was made by the Emperor Julian, the apostate, to falsify the pre dictions of our Lord by rebuilding the Temple and re-establishing the Mosaic ritual. The plan was adopted with enthusiasm by the Jews, who thought no sacrifice too costly to promote the work. It was, however, interrupted, tradition says by whirlwind, earthquake, and fire, which destroyed the work men and consumed their tools. After the death of Julian, the Jews were again rigorously excluded from Jerusalem. except on the anniversary of its capture, when they were allowed to enter the city and weep over it. Their appointed wailing-place remains, and their practice of wailing there con tinues to the present day.
During the two following centuries little is known of Jerusalem beyond the part taken by its bishops in councils, which determined various ecclesiastical and theological questions. At the council of Chalcedon, A. D. 451, Jerusalem was
made an independent patriarchate ; and a synod held at Jerusalem, A. D. 536, affirmed the twofold nature of our Lord. In A.D. 529, Justinian built a church in honour of the Virgin Mary on the site of the ancient temple, founded several convents in or near Jerusalem and Jericho, and at least one hospital for pilgrims. But the peace of Jerusalem was to be interrupted by a fresh storm of invasion. The Persian dynasty, which had originated in Ardechyr, the son of Sassan, A.D. 226, had long struggled, first with the Roman, and afterwards with the Greek empire, for the dominion of the East, and now its reigning monarch Chosroes II. conducts a victorious army—swelled by 24,000 Jews eager to emerge from their state of subjec tion and to be avenged on their oppressors—from Syria to Palestine. The combined forces stormed Jerusalem, A.D. 614. The churches were sacked and plundered, the Christian inhabitants put to the sword without mercy, and the supposed true cross carried away. But as Chosroes advanced towards Constantinople, he was met by the Emperor Heraclius, who defeated him, and after further triumphs came to Jerusalem as a pilgrim, bearing the true cross on his shoulders, rebuilt the churches which had been destroyed, and re-enacted Ha drian's law, forbidding the Jews to come within three miles of the city.
But a new power, and one more formidable than that of Persia, was now springing up—the religion and rule of the imposter Mohammed. He died A.D. 632, and then the work- of spreading his system through the world was taken up with ardour by his followers, whose successive leaders received the title of khalif or vicegerent of the pro phet. Omar, the second of the khalifs, a man of singular austerity, enthusiasm, and elevation of character, having conquered Arabia, Syria, and Egypt, sent his forces against Jerusalem. The valour with which they were met won the admira tion of the besiegers, but the inhabitants were at length obliged to yield, and Omar himself, at the request of the patriarch Sophronius, proceeded there on a red camel, which also carried his simple provisions—a bag of corn, a bag of dates, a wooden dish, and a bottle of water—to ratify the terms of capitulation, which secured to the Christians the.r liberty to worship in the churches they already possessed. This done, he entered the city, con versed freely with the patriarch on its antiquities, and knelt for prayer on the steps of the church built by Constantine. The Mosque of Omar is an existing record of his conquest, and of his desire to raise a temple to the honour of God in a place regarded so sacred both by Jews and Christians.