L'affirmation de l'autorité de l'évêque dans les sanctuaires paléochrétiens du haut Adriatique: de l'inscription à l'image

Abstract

The affirmation of the bishop’s authority in the Early Christian churches of the North Adriatic; from the Inscription to the Image

The present article discusses the patronage in the region of the North Adriatic during the Early Christian period and the way in which the supremacy of the bishop was being communicated through the surviving examples, the basilica of Theodore at Aquileia dated in first decades of the 4^th century and the basilica of Euphrasius at Poreç of the 6^th century. These two examples along with the key monuments of the 6^th century Ravenna showcase the evolution in the bishop’s status which is not only affirmed epigraphically but pictorially as well. The latter consolidated the role of hierarchy in the clergy.