The Space of “Paganism” in the Early Medieval City: Rome’s Polytheistic Past along the Real and Imaginary Topography of the Pilgrims’ Paths

The article deals with the perception of areas and buildings associated with the Pre-Christian religions within the urban fabric of Early Medieval Rome. The majority of the Early Medieval sources tend to put the emphasis on Christian elements, presented as pivotal points of the landscape, downplaying civic buildings and the former “Pagan” temples. Neverthless, as agreed upon by the scientific community, the presence of such elements was still prominent within the city fabric, and several areas were still associated with the memory of the religious past of the city. The paper follows the path n. 8 of the Einsiedeln Itinerary, one of the main Early Medieval “guidebooks” for Christian pilgrims visiting the city, that connected the Vatican Basilica on NW to the Lateran Palace and Basilica on SE. The aim is to show how the actual religious/cultural perception of the cityscape along its route could have been defined not just by the new Christian buildings, but prominently also by Classical temples. Hence, to be addressed will be the mentioned Polytheistic religious sites and, most importantly, the unmentioned ones located in proximity of the toponyms listed by the Itinerary. Such sites will be approached taking into consideration the archaeological record and the contemporary sources, trying to get a glimpse at the different ways (whether connected to still relevant public roles or as framed within a new Christian symbology) they could have been perceived by people coming from diverse social and cultural backgrounds (Rome’s citizens, Northern pilgrims, etc…).