City of Echoes: A New History of Rome, Its Popes, and Its People

Historian Wärnberg debuts with an insightful study of the papacy and its influence over the city of Rome. Chronicling Christianity’s rise in the latter years of the Roman Empire, Wärnberg describes how the Roman church gained eventual supremacy among Christian sects. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE, the Roman church lost influence to the new capital of the Eastern Empire at Constantinople, but gained significance as a pilgrimage site. Pagan symbolism was diminished and eventually outlawed as the church exerted control over the city’s appearance, while the Bishops of Rome filled the vacuum in municipal secular authority left in the Western Empire’s wake, most notably in 590, when Pope Gregory served as de facto head of city government during a period of flooding and plague. As Roman pontiffs gained political influence in Europe, they exercised increasing authority over all aspects of life in Rome, including religion, justice, architecture, and city planning. Over time, the papacy faced challenges to its authority, such as during the Renaissance, when careerism and decadence at the heart of the church eroded its moral authority abroad. Throughout this accessible and scrupulous account, Wärnberg demonstrates how the legacy of the papacy has become inextricably linked with the city of Rome. The result is a valuable contribution to the history of both Rome and Catholicism. (Sept.)