medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
There is a very useful article by Helen Saradu-Mendelovici, "Christian
Attitudes toward Pagan Monuments in Late Antiquity and their Legacy in Later
Byzantine Centuries," Dumbarton Oaks Papers 44 (1990).
DW
>
> With regard to the comments by Tom Izbicki and by John Howe quoted by
> Tom below, how do we know that at least some of the urban temples at
> Rome and elsewhere that were not converted to Christian cult use until
> long after they had ceased to house pagan cults remained unused for
> other purposes during the interim (Peter Llewellyn: "sit idle")? At
> first, these were imperial property and could have been used for storage
> (perhaps also leased for shops, etc.); later, they went into private
> ownership and in at least one instance -- the Temple of Venus and Rome
> -- we know that by the central Middle ages such a structure was being
> subdivided and rented (cf. the general discussion in Krautheimer, pp.
> 299-300). As was also the nearby Flavian Amphitheatre, another famous
> haunt of spooks. Given both the tendency of governments today to
> utilize their surplus buildings for storage and that of urban Catholic
> dioceses in today's Italy to utilize their deconsecrated churches for
> the same purpose, why is it so difficult to imagine that cult use is the
> only use to which these former temples could have been put?
>
> Best,
> John Dillon
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