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Conference Report: Early Mediaeval Rome and the Christian West This conference, held in honour of Donald Bullough on his 70th birthday at the University of St. Andrews, 11-15 June 1998, drew speakers and delegates from a wide range of fields in Roman, Byzantine and Carolingian history, covering a period from the fourth to the end of the tenth centuries.
The opening lecture was given by Giles Constable on 'The Cult of the Dead from the Early Middle Ages', especially commemorative masses and prayers up to the Carolingian period. Federico Marazzi followed with a paper on 'Rome in Transition: Recent Approaches to the Study of Economic and Political Changes in Rome, 4th to 5th Centuries'. Thomas Noble presented a paper on 'Papal Sources and Roman Society in the Ninth Century' looking at what the Liber Pontificalis can tell us about economic organisation and trade activity in early medieval Rome. Paolo Delogu spoke on 'Rome as the Centre of a Microchristianity, 7th to 8th Centuries', in which he considered Rome's treatment of the issue of papal primacy in its correspondence with Eastern and Western churches in this period. Chris Wickam's paper, entitled 'Romani secundum consuetudinem malignam: Rome in Italy in the late 9th and 10th centuries' looked at the turbulent succession to Italian rule, and the various parties and dynasties which held power in these lesser known centuries, arguing that the political chaos operated against a continuity of institutions, such as the law courts and the papal bureaucracy.
Three Italian archaeologists presented their recent findings in the next session: Andrea Augenti spoke on 'Continuity and Discontinuity of a Seat of Power: the Palatine Hill in the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th century)'; Alessia Rovelli, on 'Coin Production and Monetary Circulation in Early Mediaeval Rome'; and Riccardo Santangeli, on 'Residential Building in Early mediaeval Rome' concentrating on recent excavations at Foro di Nerva. The evening lecture was given by the art historian Per-Jonas Nordhagen, on 'Constantinople on the Tiber: the Byzantine Greeks in Rome and their Images'. This lecture focused on the freschi of S. Maria Antiqua, discovered this century in the Roman Forum, and commissioned by Popes Martin (mid 7th century) and John VII (early 8th century).
On Saturday 13 June, the first session treated contact between cultures in early mediaeval Rome. Rudolf Schieffer spoke on 'Charles the Great and Rome', in which he considered the religious and political significance of the papal city for the Carolingian ruler. Tom Brown's paper, 'Between Franks and Byzantines: Rome c. 840-962' presented evidence for considerable contact (social, political and cultural) between the papacy and the Byzantine and Frankish rulers in this period. The idea of cultural nostalgia felt by the Byzantines for Rome emerged as an important concept for understanding Roman relations with Byzantium in this period. The next three papers concerned Rome and Francia. David Ganz spoke on 'Roman Books revisited', recalling Donald Bullough's 1977 paper on 'Roman Books and Carolingian renovatio', and arguing for Roman influence on display capitals in Carolingian manuscripts. Herbert Schneider spoke on 'Roman liturgy and Frankish Allegory', exploring the Roman influence on the allegorical interpretation of scripture by Amalar of Metz. Julia Smith's paper, 'Old Saints, New Cults: Roman relics in Carolingian Francia' looked at the translation of relics, gifts and thefts from Rome to Francia in 750-900. In two papers on Rome and the British Isles, Nicholas Brooks considered 'Canterbury, Rome and the Construction of English Identity' and Alan Thacker presented a paper entitled 'In search of saints: Roman Martyrs and the Insular Churches in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries'.
As a whole, the papers presented gave evidence for greater continuity than has hitherto been recognised between the structures - both institutional and material - of Late Antiquity and those of early mediaeval Rome, with Rome's struggle for regional autonomy and ecclesiastical primacy shaping its variable relations with Rome and Francia. Even the relative newcomers to Christianity, the Franks, felt a nostalgia for the past glory of the Eternal City, and between Rome and Constantinople reciprocal influences remained strong up until the end of the tenth century. The proceeds of the conference will be published shortly, including the paper of A. Peroni, who could not be present, on 'The Reliquary Altar of S. Maria del Priorato, Rome'.
Bronwen Neil, Australian Catholic University
