“At Rome, the most imperial of cities, emperors, consuls, and generals put all else aside and hurried to the tombs of the fisherman and the tentmaker [Peter and Paul]. And in Constantinople, those who were crowned with royal diadems did not wish their bodies buried close to the Apostles, but outside the church, alongside the entrance. In this way, emperors became doorkeepers for fishermen. Even in death, both the emperors themselves and their children feel no disgrace in this but even consider it an honor.”

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St. John Chrysostom, Demonstration Against the Pagans (Ch. 9, §6)