114 Marazzi
between the late 4th and the first half of the 5th century.43 Giorgio Otranto
has calculated that by 450 some 250 episcopal bishoprics were active, with a
remarkable disproportion between the Italia Suburbicaria (central—southern
Italy), which contained about 75 per cent of Italian bishoprics, and the Italia
Annonaria (the Po Valley and the Alpine region).44 It is well known that the
Italian peninsula had been more densely urbanized from earliest antiquity,
with Greek and Phoenician colonies and the rise of Etruscan urban centres
pre-dating the rise of Rome and its municipia. By contrast, nearly all towns
of northern Italy had been created by the Romans from the 2nd century BC
with Rome’s expansion beyond the Apennines. Since most late antique dio-
ceses in Italy are attested only incidentally in the sources, it is impossible to say
whether Otranto’s estimation can be considered representative of steady dioc-
esan development or whether these bishoprics were only intermittently active.
The signatures of bishops from the three synods at Rome between 499
and 502, although presumably not representing the entire body of the Italian
Nicene church, provide a good indication for the territorial distribution of
episcopal sees. With some exceptions, the signatures name bishops coming
from central and southern Italy, which vary between 65 and 76 bishops for
each meeting. Not every bishopric is attested consistently, although it is pos-
sible to enumerate a total of 120 attested bishoprics. The survey of sources dat-
ing between Theoderic’s conquest and the end of the Gothic Wars made by
Tabata increases this figure to 171 bishoprics.45
The diffusion of bishoprics in late antique Italy clearly demonstrates that
cities had not lost their central function as administrative centres. Comparing
this picture with evidence for problems faced by cities in this period reveals
the transformation process experienced by the Italian urban network from
another perspective. It is quite apparent that every episcopal see (even the
smaller ones) was an entity dependent on a firm economic foundation. Money
was required to support the bishop and clergy, for the maintenance of churches
and other functional buildings, and for the management of all the charitable
activities in the urban setting. This distribution of church resources to four
types of expenditure—bishop, clergy, buildings, and charity—the so-called
quadripartitus, is commonly attributed to Gelasius I, whose episcopacy at
Rome (492–96) corresponded with the early years of Theoderic’s reign. In ear-
lier years there had been much contention (mainly in Rome) about whether
43 Lizzi Testa, Chapter 17 in this volume, presents an extensive discussion of the diocesean
networks in Ostrogothic Italy.
44 Otranto, Per una storia dell’Italia tardoantica Cristiana, pp. 93–6.
45 Tabata, Città dell’Italia, pp. 339–59.