Architecture of Late Antique/Medieval Rome

by

Gregor Kalas

• LAST MODIFIED: 24 July 2024
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780190922467-0098

Introduction

Investigations of architecture in the city of Rome during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages have examined the final phases of imperial patronage, the emergence of Christian basilicas, and the development of papal projects that displayed how the bishops competed with secular authorities. The maintenance of the ancient city remained significant in the incorporation of impressive architectural fragments into newer structures and the widespread adaptation and preservation of entire buildings, demonstrating that medieval Romans upheld the built environment they inherited. The architecture of Rome also encompasses urbanism, which can be understood through its infrastructure and the outdoor liturgical or ritual activities together with pilgrimage that provide insights into the urban network of streets. After about 1980, impressive excavations conducted by prominent archaeologists who carefully attended to post-classical phases have revealed unanticipated insights. Their discoveries indicate that the innovative repurposing of buildings and the protective repairs of much of the infrastructure helped medieval residents to act with resilience in the face of catastrophes and population decline after the fifth century CE. Recent investigations continually discuss papal sponsorship’s vital importance; yet scholars have challenged the pope-centered narratives due to the prominence of clerics, monks, lay patrons, and secular authorities who also shaped Rome’s architecture.

General Overviews

Accounts of Rome’s architecture covering the period from the reign of Constantine (r. 306–337) until the fourteenth century follow the lead of Krautheimer 1980, a book identifying periodic revivals of antiquity during the ninth and twelfth centuries. More recent revisionist accounts pay homage to Krautheimer while rethinking his emphasis on eras of renewal and also updating his demographic analysis and urbanistic paradigms. For a revised overview, see Dey 2021. Surveys of the significant archaeological discoveries pertaining to the early medieval period are available in Santangeli Valenzani and Meneghini 2004.

• Brandenberg, Hugo. The Ancient Churches of Rome from the Fourth to the Seventh Centuries: The Dawn of Christian Architecture in the West. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2005.

  Provides documentation of Rome’s churches from 300–600 CE, analyzed by categories and with material covering the suburban churches as well. The volume features excellent photography by Arnaldo Vescovo.

• Brentano, Robert. Rome before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth-Century Rome. 2d rev. ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.

  This social history of Rome’s leading families and monastic institutions who were provided leadership in specific neighborhoods frames the interpretations of architecture and urbanism. One theme presented here is the contrast between the physical city and the conceptual ideal of Rome. Another concerns the adaptation and reuse of antiquities during the thirteenth century.

• Dey, Hendrik. The Making of Medieval Rome: A New Profile of the City, 400–1400. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2021.

  DOI: 10.1017/9781108975162

  This publication includes insightful updates to the influential book, Krautheimer 1980. Dey’s book is critically important for drawing upon recent scholarship and surveying many of the dramatic archaeological discoveries that emerged after Krautheimer wrote. There are important discussions of demographics, urbanism, administrative structures, cultural exchanges with Byzantium, and the baronial families that shaped the medieval city.

• Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312–1308. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1980.

  While Krautheimer claimed to write an account of Rome “through” rather than “of” the city’s monuments, the narrative resulted from extensive research to provide an influential—if now partly contested—narrative. Dey 2021 provides updates. Some of the ideas that have been subjected to revision are the concentration of the population in the Campus Martius and the isolation of the Lateran from the population centers.

• Machado, Carlos. Urban Space and Aristocratic Power in Late Antique Rome, AD 270–535. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.

  DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198835073.001.0001

  The book argues that aristocrats used architectural projects and other urban interventions to take control of space in Rome, drawing upon archaeological, architectural, legal, and other textual evidence with a particularly strong grounding in the inscription evidence. In terms of its scope, the book analyzes churches, domestic architecture, religious foundations, and it places a great deal of emphasis on the patronage of civic monuments and public buildings.

• Santangeli Valenzani, Riccardo, and Roberto Meneghini. Roma nell’altomedioevo: Topografia e urbanistica della’città dal V al X secolo. Rome: Libreria dello Stato, 2004.

  This valuable book furnishes important insights into the archaeological evidence pertaining to urbanism and the topography of early medieval Rome (fifth-tenth centuries), featuring excellent documentation of the physical remains, and this is supplemented by archival, epigraphic, and textual sources with a particularly insightful account of building techniques.