Leo the Great and the spiritual rebuilding of a universal Rome / / by Susan Wessel.

• Superior document: Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae, v. 93
• Author: Wessel, Susan.
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae ; v. 93.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (434 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Leo the Great was a major figure of the late Roman world whose life and work were profoundly intertwined with the political crisis of his day. As the western empire gradually succumbed to the advancing barbarian kingdoms, Leo understood that the papacy needed to expand its authority in order for the church to survive the demise of the political system. This book argues that his achievement was to transform the church not only in the practical level of administrative organization, but in the more fluid realm of thought and idea. The secular Rome that was crumbling was replaced with a Christian, universal Rome that he fashioned by infusing his theology with humanitarian ideals.

Table of Contents

Introduction to Leo the Great and the late Roman world that was his stage -- The study of Leo the Great -- Imperial regimes and the Roman Senate -- Structure of the empire in Italy and the West -- Ecclesiastical administration -- Advance of the barbarian kingdoms -- Survey of the life of Leo the Great -- The relationship between Rome and the western churches -- A controversy develops with the See of Arles in Southern Gaul -- Eclesiastical law is debated and settled in North Africa -- Priscillianis misconfronted in Spain -- The Vicariate of Illyricum -- Persecution and discipline in Italy -- The idea ofjustice and its bearing upon law and mercy -- Justice and its human failings -- Ecclesiastical law as the expression of justice -- The practical manifestation ofjustice in the application of mercy -- Suffering, compassion, and the care of the poor -- The theology of poverty, charity, and altruism -- The humanity of Christ as a model for compassion -- Assembling a christology -- Polemics shape the development of Christ's human nature -- The quality of Christ's humanity -- Christ as example -- The symmetry of justice -- Overturning the Robber Synod and preserving Christ's human nature -- Negotiating with the Imperial Court -- Enlisting the help of the bishops -- Elaboration of the Roman Primacy -- The idea of Apostolic succession and the Primacy of Rome -- The controversy over the 28th Canon -- The focus shifts to Anatolius -- Striving for unity after Chalcedon -- Eliciting the support of the eastern Imperial Court -- The apocrisiarius in Constantinople -- Arenewed correspondence with Anatolius -- The'City of God' unfolds in history -- Christian intellectuals respond to the sack of Rome in 410 -- Anewidea of his Tory emerges.