Storia della città di Roma nel medio evo, vol. 2/8 : dal secolo V al XVI

In the early centuries after the Gothic kingdom collapses, Rome slips from the grandeur of empire into a landscape of shattered columns and silent forums. The author follows how the dwindling civic life gives way to the burgeoning power of the Roman Church, highlighting figures like Benedict of Monte Cassino who shape Western monasticism. Ruins of the imperial palace, the Circus Maximus, and the grand baths are slowly repurposed as cloisters, bishops’ seats, and humble baptisteries, creating a stark contrast between past splendor and present austerity.

Amid the desolation, the narrative captures the uneasy presence of Byzantine authority, the isolated dukes and eunuchs who try to govern a city more ghost than capital. Monastic communities sprout on the deserted hills, turning the once‑loud streets into quiet chants and liturgical prayers. The volume paints a vivid picture of a Rome in transition, where decay coexists with the first seeds of a new religious and cultural order.