The University of Edinburgh Classics Postgraduate Seminar Series, 2023
Romans established and developed cities to control regions, exploit resources, manage population ... more Romans established and developed cities to control regions, exploit resources, manage population growth, and distribute wealth. It was a complex machine based on extensive exploitation of natural resources with the help of its efficient labor organization, trade and road networks, infrastructure investments, and regional and supra-regional elite cooperations. This phenomenon also transformed through centuries in different regions across the Mediterranean according to their environmental, geographical, economic, and socio-cultural conditions. This paper aims to investigate the initial Roman approach to Asia Minor and its influence over urbanism and designing local production chains in an extensive relationship with the environment by examining a particular region consisting of a cluster of cities: Pisidia (Lower central Turkey). The region came to the Roman sphere of influence in the middle of the second century BCE, and Augustus decided to annex the whole region in 25 BCE alongside Galatia. With the annexation, Romans applied a master plan to overhaul the region and its cities economically, ecologically, and politically by bringing their ideas of connectivity, urbanism, standardization, and systemic exploitation of resources. Considering the available archaeological and literary evidence, Pisidia appears as a promising case study to investigate the longue durée Roman approach to designing sustainable, or not sustainable, urban landscape and production chains by seeking, or not seeking, ecological balance from the annexation to the Middle Ages.
University of Birmingham Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman & Modern Greek Studies - 22nd Annual Postgraduate Colloquium, 2023
Justinianic Plague hit Constantinople and Asia Minor in 541 and occurred in different waves until... more Justinianic Plague hit Constantinople and Asia Minor in 541 and occurred in different waves until the eighth century, causing severe demographic, economic, and political consequences for the empire. For urban landscapes, the scale of influence was different everywhere. Some cities relatively protected their urban “texture”, while the plague caused a tendency of “ruralisation” among society in specific settlements. In this paper, the influence of the plague on the development of Byzantine urbanism will be investigated in collaboration with other relevant environmental, political, and economic factors. Constantinople and Sagalassos will be examined as case studies by their urban development process and reaction to the plague to see diseases’ influence on cities with different urban scales through available literary sources and archaeological data. Literary evidence describing the epidemic is strong for Constantinople, and the city appeared as a successful example of maintaining its urban occupation with the help of being the imperial seat, despite the harsh demographic and economic consequences. On the other hand, Sagalassos will be presented as an example of a discontinued urban settlement after the Justinianic Plague, even though there is a significant problem with the availability of sources concerning the plague’s presence in the city. Considering Constantinople and Sagalassos went through similar periods of urban development, despite the scale and political reality, my main argument here will be that diseases can be influential either directly or indirectly on the fates of cities as being the “final blow” by weakening societies’ will to sustain the urban landscape.
Boğaziçi University Department of History Graduate Workshop, 2023
Justinianic Plague, or Bubonic Plague, hit Constantinople and Asia Minor in 541 and occurred in d... more Justinianic Plague, or Bubonic Plague, hit Constantinople and Asia Minor in 541 and occurred in different waves until the eighth century, causing severe demographic, economic, and political consequences for the empire. For urban landscapes, the scale of influence was different everywhere. Some cities in the empire relatively protected their urban "texture," while the plague caused a tendency of "ruralization" among society in specific settlements. In this paper, the influence of the plague on society and the development of Byzantine urbanism will be investigated in collaboration with other relevant environmental, political, and economic factors with the concept of a "three-phase" examination: The primary, secondary, and tertiary term effects of the plague on society and the urban landscape will be investigated under the conceptualization of "Shock, Awe, and Adaptation." Chronologically, it is hard to follow a single wave of the plague to present arguments and material since there were many outbreaks between 541 and 748 around the Mediterranean and the Middle East. For the secondary and tertiary effects, some changes, societal responses, and transformations occurred in different waves in different cities. Still, the starting point for the paper will be 541, when the plague first manifested in the empire. Constantinople will be the main case study for this examination, considering the presence of strong literary evidence describing the epidemic. Compared to other sites in Asia Minor, the city appeared as a successful example of maintaining its urban occupation with the help of being the imperial seat, despite the harsh demographic and economic consequences. In the sight of Constantinople and several examples from Asia Minor, my argument will be that identifying how people reacted to the plague in different phases of the pandemic is essential to discover possible structural transformations among the society and the cityscape at the end of Late Antiquity and the beginning of the so-called "Medieval Dark Ages" for the Byzantine Asia Minor.
The University of Edinburgh Classics Postgraduate Seminar Series, 2023
Romans established and developed cities to control regions, exploit resources, manage population ... more Romans established and developed cities to control regions, exploit resources, manage population growth, and distribute wealth. It was a complex machine based on extensive exploitation of natural resources with the help of its efficient labor organization, trade and road networks, infrastructure investments, and regional and supra-regional elite cooperations. This phenomenon also transformed through centuries in different regions across the Mediterranean according to their environmental, geographical, economic, and socio-cultural conditions. This paper aims to investigate the initial Roman approach to Asia Minor and its influence over urbanism and designing local production chains in an extensive relationship with the environment by examining a particular region consisting of a cluster of cities: Pisidia (Lower central Turkey). The region came to the Roman sphere of influence in the middle of the second century BCE, and Augustus decided to annex the whole region in 25 BCE alongside Galatia. With the annexation, Romans applied a master plan to overhaul the region and its cities economically, ecologically, and politically by bringing their ideas of connectivity, urbanism, standardization, and systemic exploitation of resources. Considering the available archaeological and literary evidence, Pisidia appears as a promising case study to investigate the longue durée Roman approach to designing sustainable, or not sustainable, urban landscape and production chains by seeking, or not seeking, ecological balance from the annexation to the Middle Ages.
University of Birmingham Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman & Modern Greek Studies - 22nd Annual Postgraduate Colloquium, 2023
Justinianic Plague hit Constantinople and Asia Minor in 541 and occurred in different waves until... more Justinianic Plague hit Constantinople and Asia Minor in 541 and occurred in different waves until the eighth century, causing severe demographic, economic, and political consequences for the empire. For urban landscapes, the scale of influence was different everywhere. Some cities relatively protected their urban “texture”, while the plague caused a tendency of “ruralisation” among society in specific settlements. In this paper, the influence of the plague on the development of Byzantine urbanism will be investigated in collaboration with other relevant environmental, political, and economic factors. Constantinople and Sagalassos will be examined as case studies by their urban development process and reaction to the plague to see diseases’ influence on cities with different urban scales through available literary sources and archaeological data. Literary evidence describing the epidemic is strong for Constantinople, and the city appeared as a successful example of maintaining its urban occupation with the help of being the imperial seat, despite the harsh demographic and economic consequences. On the other hand, Sagalassos will be presented as an example of a discontinued urban settlement after the Justinianic Plague, even though there is a significant problem with the availability of sources concerning the plague’s presence in the city. Considering Constantinople and Sagalassos went through similar periods of urban development, despite the scale and political reality, my main argument here will be that diseases can be influential either directly or indirectly on the fates of cities as being the “final blow” by weakening societies’ will to sustain the urban landscape.
Boğaziçi University Department of History Graduate Workshop, 2023
Justinianic Plague, or Bubonic Plague, hit Constantinople and Asia Minor in 541 and occurred in d... more Justinianic Plague, or Bubonic Plague, hit Constantinople and Asia Minor in 541 and occurred in different waves until the eighth century, causing severe demographic, economic, and political consequences for the empire. For urban landscapes, the scale of influence was different everywhere. Some cities in the empire relatively protected their urban "texture," while the plague caused a tendency of "ruralization" among society in specific settlements. In this paper, the influence of the plague on society and the development of Byzantine urbanism will be investigated in collaboration with other relevant environmental, political, and economic factors with the concept of a "three-phase" examination: The primary, secondary, and tertiary term effects of the plague on society and the urban landscape will be investigated under the conceptualization of "Shock, Awe, and Adaptation." Chronologically, it is hard to follow a single wave of the plague to present arguments and material since there were many outbreaks between 541 and 748 around the Mediterranean and the Middle East. For the secondary and tertiary effects, some changes, societal responses, and transformations occurred in different waves in different cities. Still, the starting point for the paper will be 541, when the plague first manifested in the empire. Constantinople will be the main case study for this examination, considering the presence of strong literary evidence describing the epidemic. Compared to other sites in Asia Minor, the city appeared as a successful example of maintaining its urban occupation with the help of being the imperial seat, despite the harsh demographic and economic consequences. In the sight of Constantinople and several examples from Asia Minor, my argument will be that identifying how people reacted to the plague in different phases of the pandemic is essential to discover possible structural transformations among the society and the cityscape at the end of Late Antiquity and the beginning of the so-called "Medieval Dark Ages" for the Byzantine Asia Minor.
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