Urban Life And Culture 239
According to all these sources, the categories of structures patronized by
Theoderic divide almost equally between monumental (porticos, palaces)
and functionally useful (baths, aqueducts, city walls). Saitta has noted that
even works that seem purely commemorative contributed nevertheless to the
development of industries that benefited the infrastructure of his kingdom.30
All of the items described in the sources are secular constructions; Theoderic’s
church patronage is not listed, nor is he said to have supported church construc-
tion by others. This is perhaps not surprising, given that Theoderic’s churches
were built for Arian worship and all of our authors were Nicene; nevertheless,
it skews our image of what was going on, since undoubtedly churches were
being built in the cities of Italy at this time.31
Infrastructure of Ostrogothic Cities
Despite Theoderic’s reputation as a great patron and the rhetoric about Roman
cities that appears in writings from his reign, his government contributed rela-
tively little to most of the cities of Italy.32 Many of these urban centres had
existed throughout the Roman imperial period, and still contained the build-
ings, infrastructure, and works of art erected in the first two centuries. However,
they were in far from pristine condition. We have already seen that letters in
the Variae repeatedly talk about the need to eliminate ruined buildings from
cities, and archaeology has largely confirmed that a general shrinkage of urban
infrastructures had taken place by the 5th century.33
Even at Rome, excavations at the Crypta Balbi have shown that public build-
ings such as the theatre, portico, and temples of the Largo Argentina had lost
their functions and were becoming filled with debris. Some of the buildings
were enclosed and reduced, and this can be seen at other places in Rome also.34
mirum fuisset.” See La Rocca, “Una prudente maschera ‘Antiqua’ ”, and Bjornlie, Politics,
pp. 157–8.
30 Saitta, La civilitas di Teoderico, p. 105.
31 Bavant, “Cadre de vie”, pp. 478–87, notes that at the same time, new churches were being
built. La Rocca, “Una prudente maschera ‘Antiqua’ ”, pp. 464–5 and 484–5, suggests that
the omission of churches is because that kind of activity did not distinguish the king
from his aristocratic subjects; secular patronage, however, by this time was viewed as the
proper sphere of rulers.
32 Brogiolo, “Ideas”.
33 See Marazzi in this volume; also Marazzi, “The Last Rome” and Liebeschuetz, Decline and
Fall.
34 Marazzi, “The Last Rome”, pp. 286–9.