Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material / Louis I. Hamilton and Stefano Riccioni -- Note from the Publisher / Louis I. Hamilton and Stefano Riccioni -- Introduction: Rome Re-imagined / Herbert L. Kessler -- The Rituals of Renaissance: Liturgy and Mythic History in The Marvels of Rome / Louis I. Hamilton -- Rewriting Antiquity, Renewing Rome. The Identity of the Eternal City through Visual Art, Monumental Inscriptions and the Mirabilia / Stefano Riccioni -- Walking in the Shadows of the Past: The Jewish Experience of Rome in the Twelfth Century / Marie Thérèse Champagne and Ra‘anan S. Boustan -- Viewing Rome from the Roman Empires / Emily Albu -- An Assessment of the Political Symbolism of the City of Rome in the Writings of John of Salisbury / Irene A. O’Daly -- Decoding the Labyrinth: Rome in Arabic and Persian Medieval Literature / Mario Casari -- Conclusion: An Imagined City / Louis I. Hamilton and Stefano Riccioni -- Index / Louis I. Hamilton and Stefano Riccioni.

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For nearly a century, the concept of a twelfth-century renaissance has been integral to our understanding of the medieval Latin West. At the heart of any notion of renaissance is a Rome of the mind’s eye. This collection places Rome into the larger context of multilingual imaginations to reveal that Rome was both an object of fascination and contestation across the Mediterranean world. In Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Persian, in art, inscriptions, geographies, ritual practice, and itineraries, Rome was both held up as ideal and challenged as an authoritative center. These constructions of Rome could be deployed for renewal and reform, or to enhance or challenge papal or imperial authority because of the imaginative force of the ancient city. Contributors are Herbert L. Kessler, Louis I. Hamilton, Stefano Riccioni, Marie-Thérèse Champagne, Ra‘anan S. Boustan, Emily Albu, Irene A. O’Daly, and Mario Casari