
The Making of Medieval Rome
A New Profile of the City, 400 - 1420
Hendrik Dey(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 10. July 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
348 pages
978-1-108-97156-0 (ISBN)
Description
Integrating the written sources with Rome's surviving remains and, most importantly, with the results of the past half-century's worth of medieval archaeology in the city, The Making of Medieval Rome is the first in-depth profile of Rome's transformation over a millennium to appear in any language in over forty years. Though the main focus rests on Rome's urban trajectory in topographical, architectural, and archaeological terms, Hendrik folds aspects of ecclesiastical, political, social, military, economic, and intellectual history into the narrative in order to illustrate how and why the cityscape evolved as it did during the thousand years between the end of the Roman Empire and the start of the Renaissance. A wide-ranging synthesis of decades' worth of specialized research and remarkable archaeological discoveries, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in how and why the ancient imperial capital transformed into the spiritual heart of Western Christendom.
Reviews / Votes
'Through this refined and thorough research, Dey conveys an image of Rome which is not just a shallow background in the portrait of the pope (or of a few aristocratic families): quite the opposite, Medieval Rome is a composite mosaic of diverse social entities, each of them contributing with their individual stories to breathe its never-ending life in the lungs of the eternal city.' Paolo Tedesco, H-Soz-Kult 'Clear, organized, and enlivened by the occasional vivid rhetorical flourish, Dey's writing is a pleasure to read. ... [The book] offers an excellent overview of Rome's history and physical transformation over a millennium that provides important correctives to Richard Krautheimer's influential account. It should serve us well for many years to come.' Ann van Dijk, Speculum: A Journal of Medieval StudiesMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 280 mm
Width: 216 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
881 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-108-97156-0 (9781108971560)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
10/2021
Cambridge University Press
€78.19
Article not available at the moment

E-Book
09/2021
Cambridge University Press
€41.99
Available for download
Person
Hendrik Dey has spent years living and teaching in Rome, where he also held a two-year Rome Prize at the American Academy. His books include The Aurelian Wall and the Refashioning of Imperial Rome, AD 271-855 (2011), and The Afterlife of the Roman City: Architecture and Ceremony in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (2015).
Content
Introduction; 1. The eternal city on the brink: Rome in 400 AD; 2. 401-552: from imperial metropolis to provincial town; 3. 552-705: Byzantine Rome; 4. 705-882: a papal 'republic of the Romans'; 5. 882-1046: the long twilight of the early middle ages; 6. 1046-1230: church reformed, senate reborn, Rome renascent; 7. 1230-1420: Barons, babylonian captivity, and black death. The apogee and agony of late medieval Rome.