Innocent, who had succeeded to the bishopric of Rome in 401, was, according to his biographer in the Liber Pontificalis, the son of a man called Innocens of Albano; but according to his contemporary Jerome, his father was Pope Anastasius I, whom he was called by the unanimous voice of the clergy and laity to succeed (he had been born before his father's entry to the clergy, let alone the papacy; this is before the time of a universal rule of celibacy for priests).

Innocent loses no opportunity of maintaining and extending the authority of the Roman see as the ultimate resort for the settlement of all disputes; and his still extant communications with Victricius of Rouen, Exuperius of Toulouse, Alexander of Antioch and others, as well as his actions on the appeal made to him by John Chrysostom against Theophilus of Alexandria, show that opportunities of the kind were numerous and varied.

In 405, Innocent promulgates the church’s first official listing of books forbidden to church members without specific permission from a qualified person.

Emperor Honorius closes the Flavian Amphitheatre (the Colosseum) in an austerity move that abolishes amusements.