The world was changing between the 4th and the 8th century. It was a time when the Roman Empire faced many challenges. Old truths were questioned as Christianity gradually influenced all levels of society. In this world, Rome’s central fora, with their political, historical, and religious monuments, stood as the embodiment of Roman tradition. However, even the old fora had to change. Thus, in the early 5th century, Christian graffiti were incised on one of their temples. The graffiti were a striking result of the area’s Christianisation and the earliest archaeological evidence of this process. Despite this, no thorough analysis of the graffiti exists. Several are still unpublished, while pollution is eroding them. They must be documented to avoid ultimate disappearance. FROG will 1) digitally preserve the Christian graffiti, 2) provide new knowledge of the fora’s use and meaning in early medieval Rome by analysing the graffiti in their spatial and temporal context, and 3) enhance the understanding of the fora’s role in the emergence of Christian pilgrimage and identity by analysing the graffiti in their cultural context. Using written, epigraphical, and archaeological sources, FROG analyses the fora’s Christian graffiti, use, and role in Rome’s Christianisation through human acts. The analysis is based on an innovative combination of collective memory theory, resilience theory, and activity spaces, enabling the interpretation of the interplay between the fora’s physical and mental landscape. This approach provides a unique opportunity to understand how humans from all layers of society shaped the fora to reflect their identity and needs. Thus, FROG is innovative in its study material, method, theoretical framework, and focus on a broader range of Rome’s actors beyond the elite. This will result in new knowledge on the development of the Roman Empire’s most symbolically important sites during a crucial period of urban and religious change.
Since its beginning, the project has both established a research network and initiated practical documentation work:
• Field surveys in Rome have identified and photographed graffiti at a number of key sites, with new examples discovered through both archival research and on-site investigation.
• The project has applied modern methods such as photogrammetry, image enhancement, and GIS mapping to record the location, document, and date the graffiti.
• A comprehensive database of the graffiti is currently under development, aiming to make the material accessible to both scholars and the wider public.
• Several scholarly articles have been drafted and submitted, and the project has been presented at international conferences and workshops in Oslo, Aarhus, and Bergen.
• Public engagement has been prioritized from the outset: the project maintains an Instagram account, has contributed popular-science lectures, and plans to deliver teaching for both university students (autumn 2025 and spring 2026) and school groups. In addition, I have taught students for the Norwegian Institute in Rome (October 1, 2024).
• A collaboration with the Antiquities Museum in Aarhus has been established, including plans for free guided tours and events to present the graffiti to a broad audience. One such tour was conducted in September 2025.
The work has already yielded several important insights:
• The graffiti reveal how Christianity established an early presence even in some of the most traditionally Roman urban landscapes.
• Significantly more graffiti have been identified than previously expected.
• The new discoveries demonstrate that Christian traces were not confined to churches but were also present on former pagan monuments.
• The project highlights the role of ordinary individuals rather than solely emperors or bishops in shaping the city’s religious topography.
In the next phase, the project will intensify efforts to date, systematize, and digitally publish the material. The database and GIS maps will offer unprecedented insight into the spatial distribution of Christian graffiti across the city and their use in daily life, rituals, and pilgrimage. At the same time, public engagement will continue through lectures, museum collaborations, and popular-science publications. Several scholarly presentations are planned for 2025 and 2026, and further fieldwork is scheduled for January 2026.
In the 5th century, Christian graffiti were incised on a temple near the Forum Romanum – the heart of pagan Rome. They were a striking result of the area’s Christianisation - potentially the earliest archaeological evidence of this process. Rome’s Imperial fora and the Forum Romanum were essential cultural, political, economic, and religious centres used and adapted by the city’s inhabitants between the 4th and the 8th centuries. They are thus critical case studies of the Roman Empire’s Christianisation. Their graffiti offer a unique opportunity to examine this process from a non-elite perspective. Despite this, no thorough analysis of these graffiti exists. Several are still unpublished, while pollution is eroding them. They must be documented to avoid ultimate disappearance. FROG will 1) digitally preserve the Christian graffiti, 2) provide new knowledge of the fora’s use and meaning in early medieval Rome by analysing the graffiti in their spatial and temporal context, and 3) enhance the understanding of the fora’s role in the emergence of Christian pilgrimage and identity by analysing the graffiti in their cultural context. Using written, epigraphical, and archaeological sources, FROG analyses the fora’s Christian graffiti, use, and role in Rome’s Christianisation through human acts. The analysis is based on an innovative and ambitious combination of collective memory theory, resilience theory, and activity spaces, enabling the interpretation of the interplay between the fora’s physical and mental landscape. This approach provides a unique opportunity to look beyond elite monuments and understand how humans shaped the fora to reflect their identity and needs. Thus, FROG is innovative in its study material, method, theoretical framework, and focus on a broader range of Rome’s actors beyond the elite. This will result in new knowledge on the development of the Roman Empire’s most symbolically important sites during a crucial period of urban and religious change.
