Lavan, Late Antique

coins and the late roman economy 169 PART FOUR TOPOGRAPHY 170 luke lavan late antique urban topography 171 LATE ANTIQUE URBAN TOPOGRAPHY: FROM ARCHITECTURE TO HUMAN SPACE LUKE LAVAN Abstract Writing about the late antique city is dominated by topographical mapping, architectural studies and site syntheses. These approaches operate within a conception of space as the location of points within an imaginary grid. However, other notions of space exist. This paper proposes a move away from the location and description of physical remains towards a study of human spatiality. It also seeks to re-establish the study of topography at a general, rather than site-focused level. The limitations of existing approaches and the needs of late antique evidence are explored. An alternative topographical approach is suggested, based on studying ‘activity spaces’ (human activities in their total material setting) instead of simple buildings. This gives special prominence to texts, but seeks to combine all kinds of evidence. The methodological issues involved in doing this are considered. Possible implications for archaeological field practice are also explored. Where Did We Lose the Late Antique City?* One of the most evocative ‘late antique’ experiences one can have is to walk around the ruins of an extensively excavated Mediterra- nean city, where much of the site is preserved largely as it was in the closing years of antiquity. Amidst the remains of churches, col- onnaded streets and bath buildings, one feels very close to the human events recalled by late antique writers, which so often took place in an urban setting. This immediacy is sadly lost back in the library, when reading academic studies of urban monuments. The disengage- ment that this provokes is partly a result of the complexity of urban data. However, it also results from a scholarly desire to master this * This paper was written before the appearance of Allison (2001), which covers some of the same issues in an Early Roman context and contains much interesting bibliography. L. Lavan and W. Bowden (edd.) Theory and Practice in Late Antique Archaeology (Late Antique Archaeology 1 2003) (Leiden), pp. 171-195 172 luke lavan information rather than synthesise it and, especially, from the use of spatial concepts and methodology that impoverish writing about late antique cities. This leaves them empty and cold, as physical descrip- tions and line drawings, with no life. Reconstruction drawings of these buildings are common, but few are drawn in use; consequently, not only scholars, but also the general public, has little or no idea what late antique cities looked or felt like. This is not a brilliant situation to be in after several decades of excavation and library research. In this paper I argue that it is possible to broaden our understanding of late antique urban topography by reconsidering the spatial concepts and methodology that we use, and especially by implanting a human perspective at the centre of our writing. ‘Space’ Outside of Late Antique Studies In the humanities and social sciences there is a vast array of approaches to the study of space. This work has evolved from several disciplines, creating a huge range of concepts; these have been either well-de- fined or simply assumed according to the priorities of different scholars. The best-established tradition conceives of space as the location of points within a physical grid. Though it was present in the ancient world and other pre-industrial civilisations, it received its classic exposition in the works of Descartes and Newton; this concept of space has often been associated with traditional regional geography, concerning for example the study of settlement patterns and the location of industry. A second tradition stresses the importance of using spatial concepts based on human action; this has been explored by geographers interested in developing a sense of place, or in describing the perceived geographies and spatial vocabularies carried around in the heads of different individuals. A third strand of thought sees space not so much as a subject in itself, but as an inherent inseparable part of human action, through which all aspects of our lives are constructed and negotiated; this is particularly associated with concepts of ‘social space’ developed by the philosopher Lefebvre. Many concepts from the second and third traditions outlined here have been tried out in archaeology, including that of Roman cities.1 1 My description of concepts of space is a gross simplification but useful for the purpose of this article: for current definitions of space being used in the hu- late antique urban topography 173 ‘Space’ and the Late Antique City The most systematic spatial study of the late antique city remains that of Dietrich Claude, who in his Die byzantinische Stadt (1969) devoted almost 100 pages to Topographie. This work sought to list monument types built or maintained in Mediterranean cities of the 6th c. A.D., using archaeological and literary sources. In its day it gave researchers a first glimpse of the distinct nature of cities of this period. Since this book was published there has been an enormous amount of new archaeological work which has greatly altered our understanding of urban history. In early medieval archaeology, in western Europe, this has included a great deal of interest in the broad topographical development of cities.2 However, within the more classical-looking cities of the late antique East or the West up to the mid-5th c., few scholars have followed Claude’s lead, in writing about topography in a systematic, holistic way.3 Broadly three types of spatial writing have dominated research: that done by self-conscious topographers, that done in recording architecture and that done as part of site syntheses and guide books. All of these exist within the first conception of space outlined above: that of mapping physical phenomena in relation to an absolute grid. Topographical Mapping Topographical mapping, more usually known simply as ‘topography’, is an academic practice that has grown out into classical archaeology out of geography. It normally involves the extensive recording of the broad outlines of sites, from their natural setting to manities and social sciences, with bibliography see Curry (1996) and Simonsen (1996). The discussion in Alston (2002) 12-43 is also useful. For a review of spatial approaches in Roman archaeology see Laurence (1997). 2 See for example Brogiolo and Gelichi (1998). 3 Claude’s work significantly studied not only building work but occasionally considered relevant literary sources for monument use. German scholarship has continued to study topography, though not in such a systematic way as Claude: Bauer (1996); Bruhl (1979, 1990). W. Müller-Wiener’s Bildlexikon zur Topographie Istanbuls (1977) assembles available evidence for Constantinople but does not seek to synthesise it. Mango (1990) does do this, for monuments and large-scale urban change, though not everyday life, for which see Mango (1981-82). E. Zanini’s chapter on “Le città dell’impero,” in Introduzione all’Archeologia Bizantina (1994) 117-71 is the only work to preserve Claude’s ambition of a general treatment for Late Antiquity, though it organises material in terms of city syntheses rather than as Claude did, by theme. 174 luke lavan the position of monuments within them. In this, it fits traditional dictionary definitions of topography as “the location of physical phenomena” or “where things are”, though not more recent notions such as “sacred topography”, which treat topography as equivalent to “spatial narrative”.4 Topographical mapping is particularly cher- ished in classical urban archaeology because it appears to give great order to the complexity of the ancient city, and because there is still so much of it to be done. It is seen as a necessary preliminary to all further fieldwork. A great deal of this work is done as an integral part of excavation campaigns and not as free-standing research. Other studies are done as library research: locating monuments from old excavation reports, textual studies or even the scrutiny of placenames. In both kinds of work topographers do have a secondary historical object. This usually involves three areas of interest: the first is relat- ing the implantation of cities and buildings to relief and other natural features; the second is attempting to explain the motives behind the design of newly planned urban areas; the third seeks to account for the setting and design of individual buildings within a new or existing urban environment. The last approach was that adopted by Krautheimer in the introduction to his Three Christian Capitals, and seems to be implicit in the work of Topographie Chrétienne series and C.-R. Bruhl’s Palatium und Civitas.5 For the Republican and Early Imperial period this work can be very successful, allowing one to study concepts of urban design and ideal forms, in a period of co- lonial foundations and urban growth; it also helps one think through the intentions of urban architects from this period, when monumental ideological programs and symbolic intentions seem frequently to have played an important role in the design and relative positions of many monuments.6 Unfortunately this work is somewhat less useful for Late Antiq- uity, in spite of Krautheimer’s early optimism.7 The 4th to 6th c. 4 Oxford English Dictionary “the practice of describing a particular place...delineation of the features of a locality..study of local distribution”—Simpson and Weiner (1989) 257. 5 Krautheimer “Introduction” in Three Christian Capitals: Topography and Politics (1983) 1-5. Gauthier and Duval et al. (Paris 1986 f.). Bruhl (1975, 1990). 6 Urban planning: see Ward-Perkins (1974) and Owens (1989) though note critical reflections in Laurence (1994) 12-19 and more recently papers in Fentress (2000).

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