The Early Modern Invention of Late Antique Rome: How Historiography Helped Create the Crypt of the Popes

At some point in late antiquity, most scholars believe, Christians reversed the powerful valence of death pollution and considered corpses and bones to be sacred. The rise of the ‘Cult of the Saints' or ‘cult of relics' is widely accepted as a curious social phenomenon that characterized l...

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主要作者: Denzey Lewis, Nicola 1966- (Author)
格式: 電子 Article
語言:English
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Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
出版: [2018]
In: Archiv für Religionsgeschichte
Year: 2018, 卷: 20, 發布: 1, Pages: 91-109
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Römisches Reich / 古典時代晚期 / 死亡 / 儀式上的潔淨 / 聖髑崇拜 / Peterskirche (羅馬)
IxTheo Classification:AG Religious life; material religion
BE Greco-Roman religions
CB Christian life; spirituality
NBQ Eschatology
在線閱讀: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Volltext (Publisher)
實物特徵
總結:At some point in late antiquity, most scholars believe, Christians reversed the powerful valence of death pollution and considered corpses and bones to be sacred. The rise of the ‘Cult of the Saints' or ‘cult of relics' is widely accepted as a curious social phenomenon that characterized late antiquity. This paper argues that although present elsewhere in the late Roman Empire, no such ‘corporeal turn' happened in Rome. The prevailing assumption that it did - fostered by the apologetic concerns of early modern Catholic historiography - has led us to gloss over important evidence to the contrary, to read our own assumptions into our extant textual, material, and archaeological sources. As a ‘case study', this paper considers the so-called ‘Crypt of the Popes' in the catacombs of Callixtus, which is universally presented unproblematically as an authentic burial chamber attesting to an age of persecution and the strength of Catholic apostolic succession. This paper argues, by contrast, that the chamber is not what it seems; it is, rather, a case of early modern historiographical artifice masquerading as late antique Roman Christianity.
ISSN:1868-8888
Contains:Enthalten in: Archiv für Religionsgeschichte
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1515/arege-2018-0007