Benedict’s
Mirabilia (though it did not yet have that title) constitutes a part of his
Liber Polypticus, which also contains papal inventories and another, much earlier census of Roman built works, the
Curiosum urbis Romae, which the
Mirabilia resembles. The
Mirabilia begins with a description of the walls of Rome, detailing towers, fortifications, and gates; then triumphal arches, hills, baths, ancient buildings, theaters, places related to saints’ martyrdom; then bridges, cemeteries, and a few important ancient monuments and histories. There follows an itinerary from the
Vatican to the
Trastevere, although it focuses almost exclusively on ancient monuments — that is, it describes the ancient heritage of the city, not all points of interest. This textual nucleus correlates with the
late antique concepts of
decus (decorum) and
ornatus (ornament), used to describe the infrastructure and monuments of Rome that were protected from scavenging and seen to represent the political power of Rome’s rulers. While Benedict’s compilation is closely linked to the
papacy, long the steward of Rome’s monuments and infrastructure, other versions from only a little later seem to come instead from the ambit of the Roman Senate, the key institution of the
medieval commune then taking control of much of the city. None of the early versions have any clear connection with
pilgrimage or travel. ==Combinations and transformations==