Focusing on visions of Romanness vividly encapsulated by the idea of the orbis Romanus, this book is a welcome addition to a long-standing debate on the legacy of Rome. Building on her important work on Frankish Romanness and perceptions of the Byzantines in the Frankish West, Sarti considers the extent to which the Carolingians viewed themselves as part of the Roman world (Sarti in Speculum 91.4 (2016), 1040–58; Journal of Medieval History 44.2 (2018), 131–50). S. deftly explores the interconnections, exchanges and ties between the Frankish and Byzantine worlds, noting remarkably similar developments across the two worlds (e.g. the emergence of minuscule script) as well as how language shaped notions of Romanness. Despite theological and political rifts, it becomes clear that what united the Byzantine and Frankish worlds is historically more significant that what divided the eastern and western empires. By exploring the perceptions of Roman culture across these two worlds, S. underscores common features, parallel developments and a shared heritage.
This book challenges prevailing misconceptions and narratives that advocate stark opposition and division between the Franks and the Byzantines, noting instead that both inhabited a cultural landscape strongly indebted to imperial Rome with its models of rulership. Nowhere is this more evident than in the concept of Romanness, which became a constituent part of Carolingian ruler ideology in the age of Charlemagne and beyond. This book charts the transmission and evolution of Roman culture in the late eighth and ninth centuries, highlighting the fusion of imperial Roman and Christian elements. S. astutely foregrounds how orthodoxy became a defining feature of Carolingian imperial thinking, as is demonstrated by the Frankish response to iconoclasm and the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.
S. argues that Romanness was not a cultural monolith but that differing interpretations could co-exist. Above all, she underscores that the concept had evolved by the Carolingian age. It had been appropriated and reshaped to legitimise royal authority by Carolingian elites, especially by figures such as the court scholar Alcuin. Like their Byzantine counterparts, Frankish elites adopted an ecclesial model of empire, reflected in terms such as imperium Christianum. S. mentions in passing that Alcuin’s concept of empire was not just a physical construct. Here one could usefully situate Charlemagne’s Übersee-Politik in the East (including diplomatic relations with the ecclesiastical and ruling elites of early Islamic Palestine), Carolingian statements regarding philanthropic work in the East and Carolingian interest in the Christian infrastructure of Jerusalem within the wider context of an imperial-inflected narrative that not only put the Carolingians on the world stage but connected them to biblical historia. Indeed, as the absolute centre in Jewish and Christian historiography, Jerusalem shaped Carolingian Christo-centric imperium. Moreover, Sarti’s discussion of the Frankish empire as a ‘supraethnic entity’ is apposite and fits with the well-known Carolingian promotion of the idea of the populus dei with its ‘claims to election and universalism’ (Heydemann in Speculum 95.1 (2020), 89–131). Noted also are the Carolingian and Byzantine references to David, a key model of Christian rulership.
S. identifies crucial models and paradigms shaping Carolingian Romanness. That Frankish ideas of Roman antiquity were grounded in Trojan myth is cogently considered. Here the Carolingian reception of Virgil would be a valuable addition to the rich body of Frankish evidence explored in this book. For instance, in Virgil manuscripts, prominence was accorded to Aeneas, as is illustrated by the circulation of a pseudo-historical genealogy that included a synopsis of his journey from Troy to Italy. Following Virgil’s lead, Carolingian commentators emphasised the significance of the Trojan progenitor of the Romans, his exile and alliance with the king of the Latins and the subsequent rise of Rome.
Another key paradigm is that of the four kingdoms. Here a look at Orosius would further enhance the idea that Rome was not only part of world history but also of salvation history. Papal Rome is also brought into the picture in S.’s book. This Rome was based not only on the apostles Peter and Paul but also on the extension of the church across the orbis terrarum. Papal Rome underscores the Frankish perception of Rome as the ecclesial centre.
Towards the end of this book, S. interlinks orthodoxy and the oikoumene, arguing that both the Byzantines and Franks envisaged their respective communities as part of a universal Christian empire, indivisible and eternal. This connection was vital and coheres with the Carolingian reception of the oikoumene and its Latin equivalent orbis terrarum. Overall, this is an important book that explores the Carolingian and Byzantine understandings of Romanness at a crucial moment in the re-invention of imperium in the medieval West.
