The foundation of the Lateran basilica goes back to the time of Constantine, on the morrow of the last persecutions. The palace of the Laterani on the Coelian Hill belonged then to Constantine’s wife Fausta. After his conversion the Emperor gave it to the Pope as his private residence and founded in it the church of the Lateran which became the mother and mistress of all the churches of Rome and the world. It was dedicated to Christ our Savior by Pope St. Silvester in 324. In the twelfth century it was given as its second title St. John the Baptist whose name was also that of the ancient baptistery connected with the church; hence the present name of the basilica, St. John Lateran.