The Last Hurrah: John VIII (872–82)

A significant victory by the Byzantine imperial fleet at the mouth of the Tiber in 880 marked a rare success for papal efforts to counter the physical threat posed to Rome, particularly by Muslim marauders from North Africa. The study examines John VIII's pontificate (872–882), highlighting his construction of fortifications around San Paolo fuori le mura to prevent a repeat of the 846 sack. While the papal court was intellectually vibrant, little material culture survives except for the conversion of the temple of Portunus into Santa Maria de Secundicerio, whose mural fragments reveal influences from apocryphal texts and Byzantine hagiographic literature. These findings provide insight into the stylistic origins of contemporaneous Byzantine manuscripts, such as the Paris Sacra Parallela (BnF gr. 923), linking visual art to textual traditions.

(Ed.). (2023). The Last Hurrah: John VIII (872–82). Rome in the Ninth Century, 196–234. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009415422.008