15 VI 2022, 5.30 p.m. (Warsaw time), Ian Wood (University of Leeds), Constantius II and Christian Rome

The Liber Pontificalis presents Constantine as the key figure in the endowment and development of the great churches of Rome.  There are numerous reasons for rejecting this presentation of the first Christian Emperor.  Indeed there are good reasons for thinking that his son Constantius was a major benefactor of the shrines of the city, and for associating some of his benefactions with his visit to Rome in 357, which is usually understood as an almost entirely secular affair.  That Constantius’ contribution was forgotten can be assigned to his relations with two bishops of Rome, and also to the need of a third pope, Damasus, to rewrite the past.