Wessel S. Leo the Great and the Spiritual Rebuilding of a Universal Rome

Leiden - Boston: Brill, 2008. – 435 p. – (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae. Texts and Studies of Early Christian Life and Language. Vol. 93).
ISBN: 978-90-04-17052-0 (hardback: alk. paper)
ISSN: 0920-623XIntroduction to Leo the Great and the Late Roman World That Was His Stage
The study of Leo the Great
Imperial regimes and the Roman senate
Structure of the empire in Italy and the West
Ecclesiastical administration
Advance of the barbarian kingdoms
Survey of the life of Leo the GreatThe Relationship between Rome and the Western Churches
A controversy develops with the see of Arles in southern Gaul
Ecclesiastical law is debated and settled in North Africa
Priscillianism is confronted in Spain
The vicariate of Illyricum
Persecution and discipline in ItalyThe Idea of Justice and its Bearing upon Law and Mercy
Justice and its human failings
Ecclesiastical law as the expression of justice
The practical manifestation of justice in the application of mercySuffering, Compassion, and the Care of the Poor
The theology of poverty, charity, and altruismThe Humanity of Christ as a Model for Compassion
Assembling a christology
Polemics shape the development of Christ’s human nature
The quality of Christ’s humanity
Christ as example
The symmetry of justiceOverturning the Robber Synod and Preserving Christ’s Human Nature
Negotiating with the imperial court
Enlisting the help of the bishopsThe Elaboration of the Roman Primacy
The idea of apostolic succession and the primacy of Rome
The controversy over the 28th canon
Thefocus shifts to AnatoliusStriving for Unity after Chalcedon
Eliciting the support of the eastern imperial court
The apocrisiarius in Constantinople
A renewed correspondence with AnatoliusThe ‘City of God’ Unfolds in History
Christian intellectuals respond to the sack of Rome in 410
A new idea of history emergesBibliography of Primary Sources
Bibliography of Secondary Literature