Commentary Purg VI 88-89

The language here clearly derives from Dante's earlier expression of these sentiments, as Andreoli (DDP Andreoli.Purg.VI.88-89) was perhaps the first to observe, in Conv.IV.ix.10.  For Justinian see Giustiniano.

      The empty chariot of the empire is reflected in the similarly empty chariot of the Church in the procession of the Church Militant, beset by all its external and internal enemies, in Purgatorio XXXII.