The Liber Pontificalis and the Transformation of Rome from Pagan to Christian City in the Early Middle Ages

Abstract

This chapter offers a new perspective on the familiar topic of the transformation of Rome from pagan to Christian city in the Early Middle Ages. With the papal history known as the Liber pontificalis as its main focus, it considers the peculiarities of this 6th-century text’s representation of Rome during the period of the pagan emperors before the beginning of the 4th century, as well as in the aftermath of the conversion of the emperor Constantine during the pontificates of Pope Silvester I and his immediate successors. The chapter argues that the text’s portrait of early Christian Rome is essentially an early 6th-century one and can be interpreted as an attempt to convince readers of the dominance of the pope and the steady triumph of orthodox Christianity. Yet excellent recent work on late antique Rome has replaced the old view of a smooth and rapid transition from a pagan to a Christian city at the beginning of the 4th century. The Liber pontificalis was once assumed to support this neat picture, but careful reading exposes a small, impoverished, vulnerable and diverse community in Rome. At the same time, the text makes claims about the popes’ unwavering leadership. The Liber pontificalis, in short, not only contains important information about the process of Rome’s becoming a Christian city but shapes the perception that the bishops of Rome contributed substantially to the city’s development as a holy and Christian city.