The christianisation of the city

Ambrose consecrates the church of San Lorenzo

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In Late Antiquity, Florentia retained a strategic role in the connections between the northern provinces of the empire and Rome, and indeed probably became the seat or one of the seats of the governor – the corrector – of the province of Tuscia et Umbria, established with Diocletian’s administrative reform at the end of the third century. In addition, the first record of a Florentine bishop, Felix, dates to 313, which attests to the fact that Christianity was well rooted in the city, probably introduced by a Greek-Syriac community settled in Oltrarno, near the bridge crossing the river.

The progressive rise of Christianity also had its influence in the urban layout of the city, in which buildings associated with the new religion began to appear. The first basilicas arose in marginal locations: inside the city near the gates; or outside the city walls along the main roads, at cemetery sites.

The earliest known basilica is that of San Lorenzo, built at the end of the fourth century on a slight rise along the Via Cassia not far from the north gate, on the site where archaeological excavations have revealed some baths dating back to the second century AD and a row of tabernae, or shops, lining the road.

Between the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth century, again outside the walls, in the Oltrarno area where the Greek-Syriac community had settled, a second Christian basilica was erected, dedicated to St Felicity. It was erected in an area that was still sparsely urbanised, at the point where the direct route to Pisa, the direct route to Volterra and the Cassia Nuova converge, next to an early Christian cemetery. Similarly to what happened with San Lorenzo, it stimulated the development of the settlements that were appearing along those roads.

Two other basilicas stood within the walls. Near the southern gate, one was built between the end of the fourth and the beginning of the sixth century, perhaps with a small external baptistery. To the east of the northern gate, almost at the old colonial walls, a basilica was erected in the same period, perhaps initially dedicated to the Holy Saviour, and later rededicated to St Reparata. It is unclear whether the church was already part of a possible episcopal complex in Late Antiquity, or whether the first seat of the Florentine bishops was established in San Lorenzo. In any case, the first known episcopate, dating to the ninth century, is noted as being near the basilica of San Salvatore-Santa Reparata, and at the end of the thirteenth century, the construction of the present S. Maria del Fiore began, and so replaced the church.

The progressive Christianisation of Florentia’s urban structure is counterpointed by the abandonment of large public complexes. Pagan temples, buildings used for performances and baths began to fall into disuse as early as the mid-fourth century, in the face of condemnation by new Christian ethos. Now useless, these complexes were stripped of their valuable materials and used for other purposes. The theatre, for instance, suffered its first spoliation during the fifth century, later being used for burials, shelters and perhaps as a fortified garrison within the city’s defence system.

The decline in long-distance trade led to a reduction in production facilities and was reflected in the poorer quality of the urban fabric. It is also possible that Florentia experienced a difficulty in water supply, perhaps due to the interruption of the aqueduct. The abandonment of the thermal baths in fact coincided with the disappearance of the numerous fullonicae that dotted the urban fabric, which required enormous quantities of water. The new landscape of the late-antique city is well exemplified by the area near the southern gate, where the basilica overlaps with the remains of the fullonica found under Piazza della Signoria.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

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