Rome, city of: 9. Fourth century

Abstract

Abstract In the fourth century CE , Rome experienced profound political and religious change. Most importantly, it ceased to be the functional capital of the Roman Empire. The city of Rome was no longer directly run by the emperors but by an imperially appointed official, the urban prefect. At the same time, the bishops of Rome were gaining political influence. As a result, Rome's cityscape underwent significant transformations. The city gradually changed from a major political center with grand public buildings into a place of pilgrimage with important churches. Rome's pre‐Christian cityscape was preserved throughout the fourth century CE , but neither the emperors nor the urban prefects added any secular buildings of note. Rome effectively turned into a museum of the old empire that coexisted with an emerging Christian topography which heralded the age of the Roman papacy (for map see the previous entry).