Recalling Rome

Abstract The chapter reviews the evidence for collections of verse inscriptions from Rome, known as syllogae, that circulated in Anglo-Saxon England and in Francia in the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, and discusses the ways in which these collections could act as itineraries for readers who had never travelled to Rome. It discusses the importance of inscriptions for imparting knowledge of the city of Rome and its churches, and as exemplars for verses for local buildings, and for reinforcing the importance of Rome in the minds of the faithful in distant places. Sylloges found in a manuscript written in Francia in the second quarter of the ninth century and later associated with Lorsch are analysed, especially the fourth Lorsch sylloge that records numerous inscriptions from St Peter’s, including one quoted by Hadrian in a letter to Charlemagne written in 793. Two epigrams in that collection are shown to have special resonance for Charlemagne and his queen, Hildegard, and can probably be dated to the king’s visits to Rome in 774 and 781. Another closely contemporary Frankish manuscript, made for Archbishop Arn of Salzburg, c.800, contains an itinerary of St Peter’s basilica concentrating on the oratories and transept on the south side. The itineraries contained in a similarly dated manuscript from Einseideln likewise reveal a contemporary Frankish vision of Rome.