L’Historia apostolica di Aratore: riflessioni sulle funzioni dell’opera nel suo contesto storico

Arator’s Historia apostolica reworks the content of the Acts of the Apostles into 2326 hexameters. This article argues that the poem’s public reading in the spring of 544 fulfilled the function of celebrating the Church of the 6th century and the pontifical activities of Vigilius. At a time of great doctrinal and political controversy—both between Byzantine Catholics and Aryan Ostrogoths, and between Monophysites and Chalcedonians—Arator defended what he believed to be the apostolic faith represented by the Apostolic seat of Rome.