PAGANS, CHRISTIANS, SCHISMATICS: SEGREGATION AND ASSIMILATION IN FOURTH-CENTURY ROME
Marianne Sághy (Paris/Budapest)
The presence of the dead within the walls is one of the most salient differences which distinguishes the medieval town from the classical city. The cult of the saints, introduced in the fourth century in cities throughout the Roman world, took a different form and meaning in each community conforming not only to local traditions, but also to everyday political needs.
How and why did Rome become a Christian city in the late antique period? Did this transformation take place at all? This paper examines the topography of the cult of the martyrs in Rome and the role cemeteries played in urban politics and urban violence during the pontificate of Pope Damasus (366-384), the "impresario" of the cult of the martyrs and of apostolic shrines in the Urbs.