DA'MASUS I., the son of a presbyter, was elected Bishop of Rome after the death of Liberiva, A.D. 366. A party among the clergy elected the deacon Ursinus in opposition to Damasus, and the people, who had then a share in the elections, being equally divided, the two parties fought iu the streets and in the churches for several days. Ammianus Marcellious (xxvii. 3), who gives an account of these disorders, states that 137 bodies of the slain were found in one day in the basilica of Sicininua alone. The same author draws a sad picture of the corruption of the clergy of Rome in that age, of their cupidity and luxury, which he contrasts with the modest bearing of some of the provincial clergy. In the Theodosian Code (b. xx.) there is an imperial constitution, which was issued about that time for the better discipline of the clergy, in . which they are forbidden receiving legacies from widows and minors, frequenting the houses of matrons, cohabiting with women under the pretence of religion, &c. Damasus being acknowledged by the bishops of Italy, was confirmed by the Emperor Valentinian, who sent Ursinus into exile. The party of Ursinus however kept up disturbances in Italy for several years. Ursinus himself returned to Italy. A Jew having brought a charge of adultery against Damasus, the affair was tried by a council of bishops at Rome in 378, and Damasus was acquitted. The Emperor Gratian being appealed to, sent the Jew into exile, as well as Urainus and several of his party.
Damases held several councils for the purpose of condemning heretics, I and especially the Arians, the Apollivarians, and the Luelferiens. lie also was requested by the ea-tern churches to decide disputes which arisen among thorn, particularly on the subject of the election of Flavianue to the see of Antioch. Among the eastern bishops who repaired to Rome on that occasion was Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, accompanied by St. Jerome. who had acquired during his reaideuce in Syria and Palestine a great reputation for theological learning. Jerome became Intimate with Damasus, and in said to have acted as hie secretary. It was not until the death of Damasus, which happened in 384, that Jerome finally returned to the east, where ho died.
There are a few letters of Damasus which have been preserved by Theodoretua and St. Jerome. Other letters and verses, as wall as a Liber Pootificalie, which have been publieh• d under his name, are now considered apocryphal. The church of San Lorenzo in Damaeo at Rome has derived its name from him, as he is believed to have been the founder of *church on the spot where the present structure stands, and where he was buried. Damasue was one of the most learned and influential among the earlier bishops of Rome. He was succeeded by Syriciu s.