ARCHITECTURE AND ÉLITE IDENTITY IN LATE ANTIQUE ROME: APPROPRIATING THE PAST AT SANT'ANDREA CATABARBARA

The conversion of a fourth-century secular basilica into the church of Sant'Andrea Cataharbara in Rome during the 470s invites a discussion of how architectural adaptation contributed to the identity of its restorer, Valila. More than a century after the praetorian prefect of Italy, Junius Bassus, founded the basilica in 331, a Goth named Valila, belonging to the senatorial aristocracy, bequeathed the structure to Pope Simplicius (468-83). References to Valila's last will in the church's dedicatory inscription were inserted directly above Junius Bassus's original donation inscription, inviting reflections upon the transmission of elite status from one individual to another. The particularities of Valila's legacy as a testator, as indicated in the references to his will in the Sant'Andrea Catabarbara inscription and confirmed by a charter he wrote to support a church near Tivoli, suggest that he sought to control his lasting memory through patronage. Valila's concern for a posthumous status provides a context for interpreting the interior of the Roman church. Juxtaposed to the church's fifth-century apse mosaic were opus sectile panels depicting Junius Bassus, together with scenes of an Apollonian tripod and an illustration of the exposed body of Hylas raped by two nymphs originating from the earliest phase of the basilica. The article proposes that Valila nuanced his elite identity by preserving the fourth-century images and thereby hinted that preservation fostered both the accretion of physical layers and the accrual of multiple identities by a Gothic aristocrat in Rome. La conversione di una basilica secolare del IV secolo nella chiesa di Sant'Andrea Catabarbara a Roma negli anni intorno al 470 invita a una discussione su come gli adattamenti architettonici contribuirono all'identita del suo restauratore Valila. Più di un secolo dopo che il pretoriano prefetto d'ltalia, Junius Bassus, fondb la basilica nel 331, un goto di nome Valila, appartenente all'aristocrazia senatoria, lascio in eredita la struttura a Papa Simplicius (468-83). Riferimenti alle ultime volonta di Valila nell'iscrizione dedicatoria della chiesa furono inseriti direttamente sopra I'iscrizione originale della donazione di Junius Bassus, invitando ad una riflessione sulla trasmissione dello stato elitario da un individuo a un altro. La particolarita del lascito di Valila come testatore, come indicato nei riferimenti alla sua volonta nelll'iscrizione di Sant'Andrea Catabarbara e conferma