The Formation of Papal Authority in Late Antique Italy: Roman Bishops and the Domestic Sphere by Kristina Sessa (review)

Sessa’s book is a welcome addition to scholarship on the role of the bishop in late antiquity. Unlike most studies that consider the role of the bishop in the civic sphere, Sessa focuses on “the attempts of bishops to anchor their authority in domestic life” (1). Hence Sessa discusses a range of domestic matters—marriage, sexual relations, slavery, and property management—that came to the attention of Rome’s bishops. By deciding to intervene and adjudicate in such matters, the bishops tried to assert their authority in the households of Roman lay elites as well as of Christian clergy. Though not always successful, such domestic interventions were most important for asserting the authority of the papacy in the period from ca. 440–600 in Italy.

The book begins with an excellent introduction to the methods, texts, and parameters of the argument. One of the strengths of this study is its deliberately regional focus. That said, the influence of the bishop of Rome extended well beyond the city. Though Sessa does not discuss the theological basis for the bishop of Rome’s claim to pre-eminence, his ecclesiastical jurisdiction in domestic matters extended to the central and southern territories of the Italian peninsula (Italia suburbicaria), including as well the agriculturally rich islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. This unusually large territory, and the growing wealth of the church of Rome, helps explain the Roman church’s influence and why bishops outside of Italy frequently contacted the bishop of Rome for advice.

Chapters one and two present the book’s central thesis: growing out of the classical model of household management in which the personal authority of the paterfamilias within the house was complete, there was a general cultural shift in late antiquity towards a model of household management “that was oriented around stewardship instead of ownership” (33). Sessa shows how the bishops of Rome contributed to this shift and worked to develop a discourse that was already associated with elite domesticity as they presented themselves as the stewards of the household.

Chapter three highlights the ways in which the Roman bishop used the discourse of estate management to advance his authority. Sessa discusses the bishop’s routine administrative practices and how they reveal emerging expectations as to how the bishop should act as “householder-steward.” Chapters four and five continue this theme, laying out the emerging role of the bishop in the context of lay and clerical households, respectively. Relying primarily on cases discussed in papal letters and the laws, Sessa builds a compelling image of the bishop’s claim to resolve domestic conflicts, even though he never fully displaced the Christian householder.

Conflicts over the authority of the bishop within lay and Christian households provide the subject for the last two chapters. Chapter six lays out the conflicts within the church over estate management that, in Sessa’s view, were at the heart of the Laurentian schism (498–506/7). Not all will accept this view of this rift, but Sessa adds an exciting dimension to our understanding of its meaning for ecclesiastical and elite circles in Rome. Chapter seven considers especially the gesta martyrum, a set of anonymous late Roman texts that include literary representations of fictional households and householders interacting with Roman bishops. Reading these stories for their recurring motifs (“tale type,” 247), Sessa proposes that the bishop’s attempted role as healer or ritual celebrant reflected attempts at advancing papal authority within certain domestic spheres in late antique society. Yet in the gesta the opposite motif appears as well, showing the greater importance of the householder even in conflict with the bishop. Obviously, any conclusions drawn from the gesta martyrum about papal authority can only be suggestive, and I found myself longing for the clearer narrative of change offered by Sessa’s analysis of the papal letters and legal cases. A brief conclusion...