Una predicazione alla presenza dei principi: la Chiesa di Ravenna nella prima metà del sec. V

Abstract

In the corpus of homilies ascribed to Peter Chrysologos are to be found sermons which imply, unusually, that the emperors were present, or which refer to their power and authority in a direct and explicit manner. The present study deals with this very particular group of homilies. The analysis of the texts is prefaced by an examination of the policy of the Theodosian emperors in dealing with the Church of Ravenna. 1. The prudent politics of Honorius vis à vis the Church of Ravenna The fact that the Church of Ravenna came under the suburbicarian diocese, directly dependent on Rome, had an extensive influence on the ecclesiatical policy of the emperors of the Theodosian house in their dealings with the church of their last capital in the West. The Church developed in its own way, only partly similar to that of the other western cities which became imperial residences. Its history in the first half of the fifth century reflects the difficult and gradual balance developed by the various rulers between their wish to intervene and exert control in religious controversies, and the opportunity to support the ever stronger aspirations of the Church of Rome to expand its authority over areas not directly under its control. These background tensions help to explain the careful policy of Honorius in dealing with the Church of Ravenna. 2 The return of the legitimate emperors to Ravenna Tradition associates late antique imperial Ravenna with the splendour of the rule of Galla Placidia. This simplifed view reflects the atmosphere of renewal when the Theodosian house regained power after the brief interruption by the usurpation of John, which found an appropriate space for expression in the imperial city of residence. The Basilica of St. John the Evangelist which the Augusta had constructed in Ravenna served, in this respect, as a political manifesto, since the rulers expressed through its mosaics and its inscriptions the political and religious framework of their power. The episcopate of Ravenna, for its part, did not fail to benefit from the new situation. A joint imperial and papal decree sanctioned the elevation of the Church of Ravenna to metropolitan status. It was not in fact freed from Roman jurisdiction, but this link did not undermine the new metropolitan powers, which enabled Ravenna to become in every sense an ecclesiastical metropolis. Part II (to appear in the next volume) will consider the homilies which Peter Chrysologos delivered in the presence of the emperors.