"Nothing is equal to you, O Rome even in your almost complete ruin; | what you were, intact, your ruins reveal | [...] The city has fallen. As I look at its ruins | and considering her state I keep repeating: Rome was. | However, neither the succession of wars nor the fires | nor could the massacres completely erase | her beauty. Much still remains, as much as was ruined; | nor is there anything that could equal what remains | nor could one rebuild what was destroyed. (Hildebert of Lavardin)"