Translating Faith from Greek to Latin: Romanitas and Christianitas in Late Fourth-Century Rome and Milan

Abstract

In the late fourth-century churches of Rome and Milan, the prayers of the liturgy of the faithful, the core of what would become the eucharistic canon, were set down in written form, establishing Latin as the liturgical language. In each case, this step was a response to complex local circumstances. The adoption of a Latin liturgy allowed Damasus to identify his church with traditional Roman culture, to appropriate its values and prestige, and to claim a share in the aristocratic life of the city for the rulers of the Roman church. For Ambrose, the Latin liturgy excluded the barbarian Arians and identified Christianity with Roman civilization and culture. Although locally motivated, however, the decisive move to the use of Latin in the fixed portions of the liturgy in Rome and Milan was an important step towards the formation of the concept of Latinitas as a unifying characteristic of western Europe.