Main description (English)

The aim of this paper is to reexamine the impact of the plague that broke out in Rome in 590 on the pastoral and political practice of Gregory the Great. Starting from the assumption that his narration of the events derives from a documentary tradition external to the Roman world and, in part, to papal writings, we will examine the process of positioning the epidemic in an eschatological framework parallel to other dramatic events such as the coeval Longobard devastation. Unlike more common historiographical approaches, this study will focus on the pope’s writings, in particular selected letters, homiletic commentaries and the Dialogues. This investigation will highlight the reuse of the memory of the epidemic, leading us to reconsider its importance during the early days of the pontificate of Gregory the Great.