Cooper Kate, Hillner Julia. Religion, Dynasty and Patronage in Early Christian Rome

Cambridge University Press 2007. — 345 p.This collection of essays traces the central role played by aristocratic patronage in the transformation of the city of Rome at the end of antiquity. Rather than privileging the administrative and institutional developments related to the rise of papal authority as the paramount theme in the post-classical history of the city, as previous studies have tended to do, here the focus shifts to the networks of reciprocity between patrons and their dependants. Usingmaterial culture and social theory to challenge traditional readings of the textual sources, the volume undermines the teleological picture of ecclesiastical sources such as the Liber Pontificalis, and presents the lay, clerical and ascetic populations of the city of Rome at the end of antiquity as interacting in a fluid environment of alliance-building and status negotiation. Drawing on work by members of the Centre for Late Antiquity at the University of Manchester over the last decade, the collection focuses on a wide range of topics, from imperial policy, to the inheritance strategies of aristocratic households, to the rise of monastic foundations. By bringing the city whose aristocracy is the best documented of any ancient population squarely into the centre of discussion, the volume makes an important contribution to our understanding of the role played by elites across the end of antiquity.