Una «nuova» Roma medievale. polittico di monografie recenti

The aim of this essay is to illustrate and discuss some recent books on medieval Rome, especially those dealing with socioeconomic and political/institutional issues. Two particular historiographical trends seem to emerge from the analysis: on the one hand, research is focusing on the «beginning» (5th-9th centuries) and «ending» (15th century) periods of the Roman Middle Ages; on the other hand, a new kind of «macro-synthesis book» has emerged, covering the entire medieval millennium (5th-15th centuries) and relying heavily on materiality and archaeological data. The discussion also deals with the emergence of some problematic areas: the demography of the 13th-14th centuries, the overall interpretation of the 10th and early 14th centuries, and the composition of the popular strata before the 12th century.