Archives, books and sacred space in Rome

Neudecker, Richard

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511998386.020

Cited by 26 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The imperial libraries of the ancient world had been opulent and dramatic symbols of wealth, power and prestige, as well as storehouses of contemporary and older learning and literary masterpieces, with an extra element at times of being a repository of approved authors (Neudecker, 2013). If such a display is translated into papal terms, the papal library maintains a comparable status of wealth, power and prestige, but it is also a repository for orthodox and authoritative texts on all aspects of the Christian religion.…”

Section: Conclusion: the Function Of The Papal Librarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Roman Books and the Papal Library in the Early Middle Ages

McKitterick¹

2023

Pap. Br. Sch. Rome

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper offers a fresh appraisal of the problems of the existence, location and contents of the papal library, and the associated problems of Roman script and Roman book production in the early Middle Ages. The palaeography and codicology of books from Rome, and books possibly produced in Rome, between the sixth and the ninth centuries, are reassessed in the light of current scholarship. This includes a discussion of the possible loss of Roman books originally written on papyrus, and of books in both Latin and Greek. The current archaeological evidence relating to a Lateran library and its location is considered. The implications of the evidence relating to the papal scrinium, archive and library are discussed, with particular reference to the proceedings of the Lateran Council of 649. It is argued that these records actually provide important evidence for the contents and use of the Lateran library in the early Middle Ages. The paper proposes that the papal library had a crucial function as well as a symbolic role in the early Middle Ages as a repository of orthodox and authoritative texts.

show abstract

Section: Conclusion: the Function Of The Papal Librarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Roman Books and the Papal Library in the Early Middle Ages

McKitterick¹

2023

Pap. Br. Sch. Rome

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Literature and Culture in the Roman Empire, 96–235

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This chapter looks at two interconnected texts which were published within two or three decades of each other. I begin with Aelianus Tacticus' Tactical Theory, a treatise which harks back to a bygone age in Greek military history. 1 It draws on works which themselves looked back to Polybius and earlier, 2 and thus sets out prescriptions for the organisation and formation of troops which derive from the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Consciously archaising, it is also heavily derivative: much of it appears to be a reproduction of a lost treatise by the Stoic philosopher Posidonius, the same text which Arrian seems to have drawn on in his Tactics two or three decades later. 3 Arrian must have been aware of Aelian's treatise (the texts were presumably written and read within similar circles), which means that he compiled his own rewrite of Posidonius' original in conscious relation to Aelian's version, and perhaps in the expectation that readers would compare the two. There is no direct interaction, but the differences between the texts-and their respective interactions with other texts and authorityfigures-offer an opportunity to explore different models of literary and cross-cultural interaction, occurring across language barriers, between different levels of social and political authority, and between different kinds of writing. Aelian's interactions with Frontinus Aelian begins the preface to his Tactical Theory in time-honoured fashion by explaining his reasons for writing. He anchors his efforts in a long-established Greek military writing tradition * I am grateful to Rebecca Langlands, James Uden and CUP's anonymous readers for their feedback on various drafts of this chapter. 1 On its date (sometime between 106 and 113), see Dain 1946: 18-19; Devine 1989: 31. Hereafter, I will refer to Aelianus Tacticus simply as Aelian, not to be confused with Steven Smith's Aelian later in this volume. 2 Devine 1995. 3 The exact relationship between these texts remains a matter of debate (for run-down of views, see Devine 1989: 32-3; Stadter 1978), with Asclepiodotus' Tactics also part of the picture. Arrian notes at Tact. 44 that he was writing in the twentieth year of Hadrian's reign, thus around 136-137.

show abstract

Preface

2020

Literature and Culture in the Roman Empire, 96–235

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Archives, books and sacred space in Rome

Cited by 26 publications

References 0 publications

Roman Books and the Papal Library in the Early Middle Ages

Roman Books and the Papal Library in the Early Middle Ages

Literature and Culture in the Roman Empire, 96–235

Preface

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About