meter” in praise of the martyrs in the catacombs, which Dionysius Filocalus, the
editor of the calendar of 354, had chiseled in square lettering resembling classical
models (Hieronymus, De viris illustribus103.1). The verses elevate the martyrs to
“Roman citizens.” The authors of epic paraphrases of the Bible sought formal beauty,
and the epigrams likewise adopt the traditions of Virgilian poetry. Hieronymus had
already been inspired by Virgil’s verses during his visits to the martyrs’ tombs on a
Sunday (Commentarium in Ezechielem 9.5 –13). All these examples show the desire
for the church to become the pillar and agent of renewal for “classical” Latinity.
This conjured up the former greatness of Rome, which was now defined entirely in
terms of the church.FURTHER READINGThe research into Rome in the late classical period has made significant progress since World
War II, due to the intensive cooperation by those academic institutions participating in the
Unione internazionale degli Istituti di Archeologia, Storia e Storia dell’Arte in Roma (cf. its
Annuario). This progress is evident in the publication of numerous journals and conference
proceedings edited in Rome. The fertile connections between classical and Christian archae-
ology and historical research are a key characteristic. Charles Piétri’s Roma christiana(1976)
offers a first attempt to write a history of Rome in the late classical-early Christian period on
this basis (see also Inglebert 1996). Topographical inquiries inside and outside Rome are now
becoming ever more detailed. This means it becomes even more unlikely that a comprehens-
ive history of the city of Rome will be produced. A central concern in investigating the develop-
ment of Christian Rome, given what has been said above, is the establishment of the city
churches (tituli) and their patronages during the fifth to seventh century. Older research which
takes textual evidence on face value is now outdated. The hagiographic texts from Rome,
both Latin and Greek, have to be interpreted strictly as texts dating from the fifth to seventh
centuries and mined for evidence concerning the church. Jost (2000) is helpful in this. The
“Book of the Popes” (Liber Pontificalis), whose earliest version contains the biographies of
the bishops of Rome until the sixth century, repays renewed attention, particularly as an English
translation is now available for the first time (Davis 2000). Here, too, research so far has
not advanced beyond studies of detail (Mededelingen van het Nederlands Instituut te Rome
60/1, 2001/2).
426 Stefan Heid