The Two Cities

Abstract This chapter details developments within and between Rome and Constantinople between the years 450 and 750. It argues that Rome and Constantinople shared essentially the same worldview on matters of politics and religion. Competition for the throne in Constantinople drove increasingly elaborate attempts by emperors to stress their Christian credentials: Justinian’s reign strikingly exemplifies this process of ‘hyper-sacralization’ and deeply influenced the West, not least by drawing the papacy back into the empire after a period of independence. The political ideas of a pope like Gregory the Great were deeply shaped by his status as a citizen of the empire. When the Islamic conquests reduced the empire’s religious diversity, the political community was increasingly conflated with the religious community, reducing the space for the secular. Throughout the seventh century, theological disputes threatened relations between the papacy and Constantinople but did not reflect different conceptions of right Christian rule.