484 Lizzi Testa
the Council of Milan in 451. In the middle of the 4th century, Annonarian Italy
was studded with a few dioceses: in the east, Aquileia, Padua, Verona, Brescia,
and Ravenna; at the centre, Milan; and in the west, Vercelli, which became a
point of reference for the Christians of western Regio XI, a portion of Regio IX,
and those living beyond the Alps, near the border with Narbonensis.21 Quite
different is the picture that we can trace in the middle of the 5th century.
When Eusebius gathered the council requested by Leo I at Milan, the bish
ops of Tortona, Asti, Alba, Genoa, and Albenga (from Regio IX) attended; as
well as those of Bergamo, Lodi, Pavia, Como, Novara, Vercelli, Turin, Ivrea, and
Aosta (from Regio XI); those of Brescia and Cremona (the only churches of
Regio X dependent on Milan); and those of Piacenza, Reggio, and Brescello
(from Regio VIII). In view of the absent sees, which were dependent on the
new metropoles of Aquileia and Ravenna, the dioceses of northern Italy must
have numbered around fifty at this time. Despite the vicissitudes of war and
pestilence that struck the region in the second half of the 5th century, this
number probably remained unchanged during the Ostrogothic era.
Much higher was the number of ecclesiastical sites in Suburbicarian Italy.
The councils held in Rome from 465 attest to the participation of many bish
ops from south—central and insular Italy (with the exception of Sardinia),
with numerically relevant peaks from Tuscany, Umbria, Campania, Puglia, and
Lazio. Among those present in 465 were the bishops of Aveia (from Abruzzo),
Capua, Atella, Cuma, Naples, Telese (from Campania), Salapia, Siponto,
Canosa, Bari (from Apulia), and Squillace (from Calabria). At the Symmachan
councils of Rome (499, 501, and 502) on the other hand, a greater participation
of southern bishops is recorded, with the almost total exclusion of Abruzzi and
Sardinia. Bishops hailing from Sardinia, however, are attested at the Council
of Carthage in 484, confirming the presence of at least five episcopal sees
on the island: Cagliari, Forum Traiani, Sulcis, Turris, and Senafer.22 Although
the data fluctuate, by the 5th century nearly 200 dioceses can be identified in
Suburbicarian Italy, with the highest density in central Italy, where the proxim
ity of Rome, richer lines of communication, and the dense network of muni-
cipia favoured the establishment of an almost similar number of dioceses.
In the Ostrogothic kingdom, the situation probably remained unchanged.
Although Lanzoni dates the establishment of some dioceses to the late
6th century,23 it seems more likely that the diocesan network was complete
before the outbreak of the Gothic War (535–53) and included some of those
21 Eus. Verc., Ep. 2.1–4, ed. Bulhart, p. 104.
22 Otranto, Italia meridionale, pp. 55; 79–93; Penco, Storia della Chiesa, p. 86.
23 Lanzoni, Le Diocesi d’Italia, 2 vols.