Renovatio imperii Romanorum

There were major building and renovation programmes by Popes Hadrian I and Leo III, and there is also evidence for population growth and an increase of Christian pilgrimage.

[9] Charlemagne's successor, Louis the Pious, omitted the formula in favour of a new one: renovatio regni Francorum ("renewal of the kingdom of the Franks").

[10] When Louis's younger son, Charles the Bald, became emperor in 875 he adopted the combined formula renovatio imperii Romani et Francorum for his seal.

The historian Percy Ernst Schramm argued that the formula represented a coherent programme for the restoration of the Roman Empire on a secular and universal basis.

[3] Knut Görich has written a riposte to Schramm's thesis, arguing instead that Otto III and Pope Gregory V were attempting a renewal of the papacy only.

Denarius of the Roman usurper Carausius , depicting on the reverse (at right) Romulus and Remus surrounded by the legend RENOVAT[io] ROMANO[rum] , "renewal of the Romans".