Santuari martiriali e aree funerarie a Roma all’epoca della guerra greco-gotica

Literary sources and epigraphic and archaeological data attest to widespread damage caused by the events of the Greek-Gothic war at the martyrial shrines of the Roman suburbs. The destruction was followed by restoration-campaigns sponsored directly by the popes, which ensured continued frequentation of these revered places into early Middle Ages. The events of the war also contributed to spread-ing the practice of burying inside the city. The churches built in the suburbs after the middle of the sixth century show greatly reduced signs of funerary use, and their architecture indicates a function now essentially connected with devotional practices at the tombs of the martyrs they housed.