A Companion Roman Religion - Spiritual Minds

Other Aspects of Romanization

My argument has focused on the veneration of the martyrs and the lasting influence
which Constantine exerted on it. His initiative in erecting buildings and establish-
ing celebrations was crucial in initiating the Romanization of Roman Christianity.
A second wave of a very different kind was caused by Pope Damasus (366 – 84). This
is the high point of the Latinization of the church, whose most significant precursor
had been Hieronymus (d. 419/20), who had been completely imbued with Roman
literature. The church switched from Greek to Latin as the language for the liturgy,
which found its expression in the elevated Latinity of the Canon Romanus.
Hieronymus revised the existing Latin renditions of the Bible for the most part accord-
ing to linguistic criteria (Vulgata). Damasus placed splendid inscriptions in “heroic

The Romanness of Roman Christianity 425

N

METERS 0 250 1000

to S

t. Paul’s

St. Balbina (Tigridae)

St. Peter’s

Mausoleum of Hadrian

Tiber River St. Lawrence in Lucina

St. Marcellus

Holy Ap(Iulia)ostles

St. Mark

ad MartyresSt. Mary

St. Lawrence in Damaso

St. Chrysogonus

St. Cecilia

in Trastevere St. Mary

(Bas. Iulii, Callisil)

St. Sabina

St. Prisca

and Achilleus Sts. Nereus

(Faselölae)

(Crescentianae)St. Xystus

St. John Lateran

Holy Cross in Jerusalem

St. Bibiana

St. Eusebius

St. Mary Major

St. Praxed

St. Peter Sts. Sylvester and Martin (Aequitii)

(Apostolorum)in Chains

St. Clement

Quattuor Coronati

Sts. John and (Aemilianae)

Paul (Bizantis)

St. Caesarius

St. Anastasia Colosseum

Sts. Cosmas and Damian

Circus

Maximus

St. Susanna (Gali)

(Vestinae)St. Vitalis

St. Pudenziana (Pudentis)

Figure 28.4 Stational churches of Rome during the sixth century (Baldovin 1987: 274).