The Early Global Vocation of Rome. Worship, Culture and Beyond
Abstract
:1. General Overview
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Materials and Methods
2. Results
3. Discussion
3.1. Urban Metabolism
3.1.1. Themes and Places
all mankind came under the rule of the City of Rome to see the entire world linked by a common bond in the name of Christ. Grant then, Christ, to your Romans, a Christian City, a capital Christian like the rest of the world. Peter and Paul shall drive out Jupiter.
3.1.2. Itineraria and Mirabilia: The First Inventories of Urban Assets
But though by Constantius II’s day Rome had long since ceased to be the political, administrative, and strategic heart of the Roman Empire, it undoubtedly remained its symbolic center, the revered mother city from which the empire had grown. For this reason, a visit to the city by an emperor was a significant event. It was designed to convey to his subjects the emperor’s power and lofty status.
city walls; gateways; the hills of Rome; bridges; buildings; triumphal arches; baths; theaters; cemeteries; memorial columns; the places of the passion of the Saints; the Vatican and the obelisk; the pine cone that was in Rome; temples; the temple of Mars; the Capitol; the Colosseum; the castle of Crescentius; the vision of the emperor Octavian and the response of the Sibyl; the marble castles in Rome; why the Pantheon was erected; why Octavian was called Augustus, which shrines are in Transtiberim.
3.1.3. Worship and Hospitality Assets
3.1.4. The Persistent Legacy of Rome Iconography
3.2. City of Worship or City of Culture?
3.2.1. The Cultural Shift
I would not take 100,000 florins not to have seen Rome, although I do not yet thoroughly know its great and scandalous abominations. When I first saw it, I fell to the ground, lifted up my hands and said–Hail, thou holy Rome, yes, truly holy, through the holy martyrs, and their blood that has been shed there. […] Nobody would believe, unless he saw with his own eyes the licentiousness, the vice and the shame that is in vogue in Rome. […] As was my case in Rome, where I too, was a mad saint, ran the round of all the churches and vaults, and believed every lie that was invented there.
Therefore, Holy Father, let it not be the lowest of Your Holiness’s priorities to ensure that–out of respect to those divine spirits, the remembrance of whom encourages and incites to virtue the intellects among us today–what little remains of this ancient mother of the glory and renown of Italy is not to be completely destroyed and ruined by the wicked and the ignorant. Unfortunately, even here these people have perpetrated evil deeds against those souls who, with their blood, brought so much glory to the word, to this state and to us. Rather, by preserving the example of the ancients, may Your Holiness seek to equal and better them, as indeed you have done through your magnificent buildings, by supporting and favoring the virtues, reawakening genius, rewarding virtuous endeavors, and by sowing that most holy seed of peace among Christian princes.
The soul gets continuous excitement to notice the Unknown and the New. I do not know better training to life than proposing relentlessly the diversity of so many other lives, imaginations and uses and offering a perpetual variety of forms of our nature. My body is neither idle nor worn, and such agitation rushes it. I ride a horse without being bored for eight and even ten hours a day.
3.2.2. Rome Narratives: ‘Official’ Accounts and Personal Insights
The emergence of the modern city would destabilize the quite neat separation between Roma Antica and what was initially thought of as Roma moderna (or Christian Rome) in the Mirabilia Urbis. […] The progressive emergence of contemporary Rome between the Christian and ancient city appeals to the interests of this category of visitors. Still, the permanence of the religious part of the guide until circa 1700, together with the fact that the contemporary city becomes present in the guidebook at the expense of ancient–not Christian–Rome, points to Rome’s uniqueness.
All in all, a lot of admiration combined with a lot of revulsion for the many beautiful things mingled with the sad ones arising everywhere. Such are the impressions that Rome inspires at first glance, combining with a feeling of indignation at the indolence, neglect, absolute inability of the inhabitants of Rome. Romans (are) brought up in idleness and leisure. Professions, trades, fine arts are left to foreign entrepreneurship. Every talent, every industry endeavor to deceive foreigners led by their curiosity to admire ancient and modern masterpieces within the City […]. Under other standpoints, Rome opens to an immense field of beauty and curiosity.
3.2.3. The Age of Enlightenment and Its Influence
Every city has its history, but in Rome, the past is felt to exist in the present to a higher extent than in other, less culturally encoded cities, both as a practice established by cultural tradition, and as visually manifested in the urban space.
The real Museum of Rome, the one I am speaking of, is made of statues, colossi, temples, obelisks, triumph columns, baths, circuses, amphitheaters, arches, tombs, stuccos, frescoes, bas-reliefs, inscriptions, fragments of ornaments, building materials, furniture, tools, etc. However, it is equally composed by places, sites, mountains, ancient roads, and their mutual relations within the ruined city, widespread memories, local traditions, still existing habits, connections and comparisons that can only be done on-site.
4. Conclusions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Battaglini, Elena. 2019. Urban heritage conservation and development. In Borges Barbosa et alii. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Cities and Communities. Berlin: Springer, vol. 11. [Google Scholar]
- Benevolo, Leonardo. 1971. Roma da ieri a Domani. Roma: Laterza. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Benevolo, Leonardo, and Francesco Scoppola, eds. 1988. Roma. L’area Archeologica Centrale e la Città Moderna. Roma: De Luca. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Blennow, Anna, and Stefano Fogelberg Rota, eds. 2019. Rome and the Guidebook Tradition: From the Middle Ages to the 20th Century. Berlin: De Gruyter, pp. 1–32. [Google Scholar]
- Boyer, Marie Christine. 1994. The City of Collective Memory. Cambridge: The MIT Press. [Google Scholar]
- Brilli, Attilio. 1995. Quando Viaggiare era un’arte. Il Romanzo del Grand Tour. Bologna: Il Mulino. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Brilli, Attilio. 2008. Il Viaggio in Italia. Storia di una Grande Tradizione Culturale. Bologna: Il Mulino. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Brizzi, Gian Paolo. 1976. La pratica del viaggio d’istruzione in Italia nel Sei-Settecento. Annali dell’Istituto Italo-Germanico in Trento 2: 203–91. (In Italian). [Google Scholar]
- Brumback, Robert. 1957. History of the Church through the Ages: From the Apostolic Age, Through the Apostasies, the Dark Ages, the Reformation, and the Restoration. London: Wipf & Stock Pub, pp. 138–39. [Google Scholar]
- Calabi, Donatella, and Paola Lanaro, eds. 1998. La Città in Italiana e i Luoghi Degli Stranieri XIV–XVIII Secolo. Roma: Laterza. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Casini, Lorenzo. 2017. Italian Contribution. In The Protection of Cultural Heritage: Rules, Practices, and Education. Paper presented at the G7 Meeting of Experts, Florence, Italy; March 30. [Google Scholar]
- Castagnoli, Ferdinando, Carlo Cecchelli, Gustavo Giovannoni, and Mario Zocca. 1958. Topografia e Urbanistica di Roma. Bologna: Cappelli. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Conti, Simonetta. 2003. Roma dal 1450 al 1870: Quattro Secoli di vita Della Città. Roma: L.S.D. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Curcio, Giovanna, and Mario Manieri Elia. 1982. Storia e uso dei Modelli Architettonici. Roma: Laterza. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- de Montaigne, Michel. 1965. Essais, Livre III (Texte établi par Pierre Villey et Verdun-Louis Saulnier). Paris: PUF, p. 430. First published 1592. (In French) [Google Scholar]
- De Seta, Cesare. 1992. L’Italia del Grand Tour da Montaigne a Goethe. Electa: Napoli. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Delbeke, Maarten, and Anne-Françoise Morel. 2012. Roma Antica, Sacra, Moderna. The Analogous Romes of the Travel Guide. Library Trends 61: 397–417. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Duby, Georges. 1966. Fondements d’un Nouvel Humanism. 1280–1440. Paris: Skira. [Google Scholar]
- Emiliani, Andrea. 1978. Leggi, Bandi e Provvedimenti per la Tutela dei Beni Artistici e Culturali Negli Antichi Stati in Italiani 1571–1860. Bologna: Nuova Alfa Editoriale. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Fehér, Ferenc. 1992. The French Revolution and the Birth of Modernity. Los Angeles: University of California Press. [Google Scholar]
- Fontana, Domenico. 2000. Della Trasportatione Dell’obelisco Vaticano et delle Fabriche di Nostro Signore Papa Sisto V. Napoli: NewsBank Readex. First published 1590. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Frutaz, Amato Pietro. 1962. Le piante di Roma. Roma: Istituto Nazionale di Studi Romani. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Germann, Georg, and Dieter Schnell. 2014. Conserver ou Démolir? Le Patrimoine bâti à l’aune de l’éthique. Clermond Ferrand: Infolio Gollion. (In French) [Google Scholar]
- Giedion, Sigfried. 1954. Space, Time, and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. [Google Scholar]
- Gross, Hannes, ed. 1990. Roma nel Settecento. Roma: Laterza. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Hart, Vaughan, and Peter Hicks. 2009. Palladio’s Rome. New Haven: Yale University Press. [Google Scholar]
- Huelsen, Christian. 2016. L’anonimo di Einsiedeln. Roma in epoca Carolingia. L’Itinerarium Urbis Romae. Roma: Arbor Sapientiae. First published 1907. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Insolera, Italo. 1980. Le Città nella Storia d’Italia. Roma. Roma: Laterza. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Insolera, Italo, and Francesco Perego. 1983. Storia Moderna dei Fori di Roma: Archeologia e Città. Roma: Laterza. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Keyvanian, Carla. 2019. Papal Urban Planning and Renewal: Real and Ideal. In A Companion to Early Modern Rome, 1492–1692. Edited by Pamela Jones, Barbara Wisch and Simon Ditchfield. Boston: Brill, pp. 305–23. [Google Scholar]
- Krautheimer, Richard. 1980. Rome: Profile of a City, 312–1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 49–50. [Google Scholar]
- Lanciani, Rodolfo. 1988. Forma Urbis Romae. Roma: Quasar. First published 1901. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Le Goff, Jacques. 1957. Les intellectuels au Moyen Age. Paris: Seuil. (In French) [Google Scholar]
- Le Goff, Jacques. 1974. L’Italia Fuori d’Italia. L’Italia nello Specchio del Medioevo. Einaudi: Torino, Storia d’Italia, vol. II. tomo 2. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Le Goff, Jacques. 1987. L’uomo Medievale. Roma: Laterza. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Leibetseder, Mathis. 2017. The Grand Tour: Educational Journeys from the 16th to the 18th Centuries. Translated by Christopher Reid. February 26, Available online: http://brewminate.com/the-grand-tour-educational-journeys-from-the-16th-to-18th-centuries (accessed on 20 August 2021).
- Leveritt, Will. 2017. April 28, This day in AD 357 Marked Constantius II’s Entry into Rome. Available online: http://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/mintimperials/2017/04/28/day-ad-357-marked-constantius-iis-entry-rome/ (accessed on 20 April 2021).
- Lugli, Piero Maria. 1997. Urbanistica di Roma. Trenta Planimetrie per Trenta Secoli di Storia. Roma: Bardi. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Manieri Elia, Mario. 1989. Architettura e mentalità dal Classico al Neoclassico. Roma: Laterza. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Manieri Elia, Mario. 1998. Topos e Progetto. Roma: Gangemi. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Palazzo, Anna Laura. 1993. Governo Dell’ambiente e Memoria dei Luoghi. Roma: Gangemi. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Palazzo, Anna Laura, and Antonio Pugliano. 2015. The burden of history: Living heritage and everyday life in Rome. In Theory and Practice in Heritage and Sustainability. Edited by Elisabeth Auclair and Graham Fairclough. London: Taylor and Francis, pp. 54–69. [Google Scholar]
- Pinelli, Antonio, and Michela Scolaro, eds. 1989. Lo Studio delle arti e il genio dell’Europa. A. C. Quatrémère de Quincy, Pio VII Chiaromonti. Bologna: Nuova Alfa Editoriale. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Quaroni, Ludovico. 1959. Una città eterna. Quattro lezioni da 27 secoli. Urbanistica 27: 3–73. (In Italian). [Google Scholar]
- Quaroni, Ludovico. 1976. Immagine di Roma. Roma: Laterza. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Roncayolo, Marcel. 2006. Plaidoyer pour une histoire de l’histoire urbaine. Città e Storia 1: 5–11. (In French). [Google Scholar]
- Smith, Gregory, and Jan Gadeyne, eds. 2013. Perspectives on Public Space in Rome, from Antiquity to the Present Day. Farnham: Ashgate. [Google Scholar]
- Starobinski, Jean. 1964. L’invention de la Liberté. Paris: Skira. (In French) [Google Scholar]
- Tafuri, Manfredo. 1980. La Sfera e il Labirinto. Torino: Einaudi. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Tintori, Silvano. 1985. Piano e Pianificatori dall’età Napoleonica al Fascismo. Milano: FrancoAngeli. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Van Acker, Wouter, and Pieter Uyttenhove, eds. 2012. Information and Space: Analogies and Metaphors. Urbana: University of Illinois, pp. 397–417. [Google Scholar]
- Vauchez, André, ed. 2001. Roma Medievale. Roma: Laterza. (In Italian) [Google Scholar]
- Zumthor, Paul. 1993. La Mesure du Monde. Représentation de l’espace au Moyen Âge. Paris: Seuil. (In French) [Google Scholar]
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. |
© 2021 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Palazzo, A.L. The Early Global Vocation of Rome. Worship, Culture and Beyond. Humanities 2021, 10, 103. https://doi.org/10.3390/h10030103
Palazzo AL. The Early Global Vocation of Rome. Worship, Culture and Beyond. Humanities. 2021; 10(3):103. https://doi.org/10.3390/h10030103
Chicago/Turabian StylePalazzo, Anna Laura. 2021. "The Early Global Vocation of Rome. Worship, Culture and Beyond" Humanities 10, no. 3: 103. https://doi.org/10.3390/h10030103