The vicissitudes of a nation largely depends on whether its wealth emergence can meet people’s self-assertiveness demands. From the eighth century BC to the second century AD, Roman had grown into the most powerful country dominating... more
The vicissitudes of a nation largely depends on whether its wealth emergence can meet people’s self-assertiveness demands. From the eighth century BC to the second century AD, Roman had grown into the most powerful country dominating Europe, Asia and Africa within more than 1000 years. However, she just collapsed within less than 200 years. Based on the analysis of demographic and territorial changes of Roman, it is found that the rise of Roman results from a synergic effect of both expansions and innovations as indicated by road system constructions and land distributions. In about 600 years, the population and territory had increased by 600 times and 6000 times respectively. As expansions and road system constructions reached their limits, overdraw from the future and religion practice became the dominant governing method to maintain the empire. However, when the wealth emergence mentioned above exhausted and all governing institutions stopped functioning, Roman Empire came to an ...
Since the late 1970s, historians have questioned the links between the classical city and the Christian city. Some consider the Christian city as a creation of the late Roman era. Others, on the contrary, defend the thesis of the... more
Since the late 1970s, historians have questioned the links between the classical city and the Christian city. Some consider the Christian city as a creation of the late Roman era. Others, on the contrary, defend the thesis of the permanence of the urban fact but take for original the nature and functions of the late-ancient city. There is no doubt that urban life after the 4th century is very different from that of the Roman Empire because of the dominant position occupied by the Church, the new nature of the institutions, and the social composition of the urban population. Yet, the city of the Early Christian era often occupied the same site as the city of the classic period. The African example shows that the late-Antic city remained largely dependent on an urban fabric established in the classical era, despite the many changes that marked Africa from the 5th century onward.
The so-called ‘Hellenistic-Roman Quarter’ is a residential district of the Roman city of Agrigentum. Discovered in the last years of the 19th century, it was extensively excavated in the 1950s, with the aim of bringing to light wealthy... more
The so-called ‘Hellenistic-Roman Quarter’ is a residential district of the Roman city of Agrigentum. Discovered in the last years of the 19th century, it was extensively excavated in the 1950s, with the aim of bringing to light wealthy Roman houses. The aim of this paper is to survey the transformation that occurred in the domus of the late Roman and early Medieval periods, by examining walls, layers and tombs that overlie the oldest buildings, and by collecting data presented in a recent book on this archaeological quarter. Our focus is on the archaeological remains after a period of extensive destruction, possibly dating from mid-fifth century, when large rooms and houses were often subdivided; and on burials set within former houses. At the same time, in the Roman forum nearby, public buildings were abandoned and became covered by a thick layer of earth, while the southern section of the city was occupied by a large necropolis, a sign that the urban limits of Agrigento had by then become significantly reduced.
"This essay looks at the archaeological evidence from a great Late Roman City, Nicopolis Ad Istrum, charting its transformation through to the Byzantine era. Traditionally, both archaeological and historical studies have tended to explain... more
"This essay looks at the archaeological evidence from a great Late Roman City, Nicopolis Ad Istrum, charting its transformation through to the Byzantine era. Traditionally, both archaeological and historical studies have tended to explain the changes to Late Roman Cities in terms of either outright decay or an almost seamless transformation.
In this essay I argue that for too long archaeologists have charted the end of the roman city without understanding what took its place. Evidence at Nicopolis shows that decline and transformation can go hand in hand.
Exemplum et Spolia La reutilización arquitectónica en la transformación del paisaje urbano de las ciudades históricas PEDRO MATEOS CRUZ CARLOS JESÚS MORÁN SÁNCHEZ (Eds.) Volumen II
Exemplum et Spolia La reutilización arquitectónica en la transformación del paisaje urbano de las ciudades históricas PEDRO MATEOS CRUZ CARLOS JESÚS MORÁN SÁNCHEZ (Eds.) Volumen II
The lecture discussed the theory of Late Antiquity as a period of decline through the archaeological material of three main political locations of the Roman Empire.
The paper presents the problem of transformation of Late Antique towns in Illyricum. Apart from the continuity of some urban centres a number of different transformation processes can be distinguished; from complete decay and abandonment... more
The paper presents the problem of transformation of Late Antique towns in Illyricum. Apart from the continuity of some urban centres a number of different transformation processes can be distinguished; from complete decay and abandonment or radical decrease and pauperisation of town areas to the last new foundations of strongly transformed urban sites. These transformations must be observed in relation to the contemporary countryside settlement pattern which in Illyricum shows a number of new settlement forms, either fortified or unfortified, various military posts which also served the civilian population and different types of refuges. A special emphasis is put on the architecture within the urban and the countryside settlements which is a great help in understanding of the changes in the settlement structure of this endangered region. The archaeological research of the recent decades has contributed several new solutions to the previous rather poor understanding of the Late Antique settlement pattern.
