ABSTRACT
The Liber Pontificalis in its current form was composed towards the middle of the sixth century, and subsequently added to, life by papal life, from the mid-seventh century until the latter half of the ninth century. The attitudes towards the use of silver in a sacred context which the Liber Pontificalis reveals are very different from those encountered in the hagiography and homilies of the sixth and seventh centuries. The Miracles of St Demetrius show an overwhelmingly positive attitude to the use of silver to decorate the most sacred places in the church. The archaeological context in which late antique reliquaries have been found is a reminder that they are one piece of material evidence for the development of the cult of the saints, which took place from the late fourth century onwards. The use of silver and other precious substances by the Church after Constantine was indebted to secular forms of social communication, which used wealth to denote status.
