Middle Ages, Renaissance & Baroque
The Fall of Rome (476 AD)
On September 4, 476, the Germanic military leader Odoacer deposed the last Western Roman Emperor — the Western Roman Empire was history. Rome shrank from over a million to 20,000 inhabitants. The ancient monuments decayed, the Roman Forum became a pasture (Campo Vaccino), and the aqueducts collapsed.
Papal Rome (800–1500)
Christianity saved Rome: The popes made the city the center of Western Christendom. Pilgrims brought money and significance. In the Middle Ages, Rome was a smaller, poorer, but still symbolically powerful city — marked by family feuds among noble families (Orsini against Colonna) and the constant struggle between pope and emperor.
Renaissance & Baroque (1450–1700)
The Renaissance popes transformed Rome into the most magnificent city in Europe:
- Julius II (1503–1513): Began the reconstruction of St. Peter's Basilica and commissioned Michelangelo for the Sistine Chapel and Raphael for the Stanze.
- Sixtus V (1585–1590): Created the modern street network of Rome with straight axes between the basilicas — the streets you walk on today.
- Urban VIII (1623–1644): Promoted Bernini, who transformed Rome into the capital of the Baroque — St. Peter's Square, Fountain of the Four Rivers, Baldachin in St. Peter's Basilica.
The Sack of Rome (Sacco di Roma, 1527) by the troops of Charles V was a shock — thousands of artworks were destroyed, the city devastated. But Rome recovered and became more splendid than ever. The Baroque (17th century) was Rome's golden era: Bernini and Borromini created the fountains, churches, and squares that define the cityscape today.
