AN INTERVIEW with BRYAN WARD-PERKINS on the FALL of ROME Conducted by Donald A

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

AN INTERVIEW with BRYAN WARD-PERKINS on the FALL of ROME Conducted by Donald A March/April 2006 • Historically Speaking 31 AN INTERVIEW WITH BRYAN WARD-PERKINS ON THE FALL OF ROME Conducted by Donald A. Yerxa “AT THE HOUR OF MIDNIGHT THE SALERIAN GATE WAS ship has drastically transformed the subject that fascinated stu- silently opened, and the inhabitants were awakened by the dents of history for centuries, and Oxford historian Bryan Ward- tremendous sound of the Gothic trumpet. Eleven hundred and Perkins fears that something important is being lost. Historically sixty-three years after the foundation of Rome, the Imperial city, Speaking editor Donald Yerxa asked Ward-Perkins to speak to which had subdued and civilized so considerable a part of some of his concerns, developed more fully in Ward-Perkins’s mankind, was delivered to the licentious fury of the tribes of The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization (Oxford University Germany and Scythia.” The emotion and drama that flowed so Press, 2005), winner of the 2006 Hessell-Tiltman Prize for eloquently from Edward Gibbons’s pen has been largely drained History. from our contemporary historical imagination. Recent scholar- Donald Yerxa: In your book you mention through to the 8th century and even beyond. that there has been a “sea change in the lan- This periodization, which is now widely fol- guage used to describe post-Roman times.” lowed, deliberately ignores the 5th-century How has the language changed? collapse of Roman power in the West and the 7th-century loss of most of the Eastern (or Bryan Ward-Perkins: There has been a very Byzantine) Empire to the Arabs, events that strong tendency recently—particularly, but conventionally were seen as heralding “dark not exclusively, among scholars working in ages” in both areas. Rather than viewing the the U.S—to play down any unpleasantness at 5th to 7th centuries as a time of crisis and rup- the end of the Roman Empire and any nega- ture, historians of “Late Antiquity” see it as a tive effects of the end of Roman power. Until period of continuous cultural growth. quite recently scholars were happy that the settlement of the Germanic peoples in the 5th- Yerxa: In what ways do you believe that the century West was the result of violent invasion current view is flawed? and viewed the next few centuries as a “Dark Age” marked by the collapse of Roman civi- Ward-Perkins: The 5th century is portrayed lization. Currently the use of such negative as a time of peaceful accommodation. It is true language is seen as very old-fashioned: that the Germanic invaders wanted reasonable “decline,” “crisis,” and “Dark Age” have dis- relations with their Roman subjects (who were appeared from the titles of academic books, always in a massive numerical majority) and conferences, and university courses. They with the remnants of independent Roman have been replaced by neutral words like power. Consequently, they were very happy to “transformation” and “transition.” For enter treaty arrangements with the empire, and instance, a recent, massive European research generally treated their own Roman subjects project on the 4th to 9th centuries A.D. was barians, and decided to let many of them into reasonably well. But the evidence is unequiv- entitled “The Transformation of the Roman the empire, in order to use them to defend it ocal that most of the empire’s territory was World,” as if Rome never really came to an against further invaders. The former poachers taken over by Germanic rulers, either by force, end, but just changed into something different became the gamekeepers. or, at best, through the threat of force. This but entirely equal. was not one of those fortunate periods in Yerxa: How has the new periodization which to be alive. Yerxa: What has happened to the Roman scheme of “Late Antiquity” changed histo- Empire’s dissolution by “hostile ‘waves’ of rians’ thinking about the fall of Rome? Yerxa: You contend that treatments of the Germanic peoples,” dare I say “barbar- cultural accommodation between invader ians”? Ward-Perkins: A groundbreaking book pub- and invaded often read like accounts of “a lished in 1971, Peter Brown’s The World of tea party at a Roman vicarage.” Ward-Perkins: Nowadays, what was once Late Antiquity, identified a cultural period seen as invasion is often interpreted as a (characterized primarily by the rise of two Ward-Perkins: While Germanic invaders and process of “accommodation,” entered into new monotheistic religions, Christianity and native Roman could sit down together and willingly by Roman hosts. The argument runs Islam, and the codification of a third, coexist, much recent scholarship makes the that the Romans got tired of fighting the bar- Judaism), stretching from the 3rd century right whole process far too genteel, as if the new 32 Historically Speaking • March/April 2006 settlers knocked politely at the door and were the later 6th- and 7th-century West, in places reconstruct with considerable accuracy chang- shown to an empty chair. The reality is that the like Rome and Visigothic Spain, are tiny in ing patterns of production, distribution, and invaders seized most of the power and much comparison to those of the 4th century or of consumption of pottery vessels. The picture of the land of the empire. Roman landed fam- the later Middle Ages. that emerges shows that in the Roman period ilies remained, and many Romans rose high in I also believe—and this seems obvious potting was highly sophisticated, and that the service of the new masters. But the from modern experience—that sophistication good-quality pots reached deep into society. It unavoidable truth is that by the end of the 5th in intellectual life generally requires solid eco- was, for instance, quite usual for a 3rd-centu- century an entirely new Germanic aristocracy nomic underpinning. In my book I attempt to ry peasant in upland central Italy to eat off a had been established, whose raison d’être was show this by focusing on the evidence of graf- fine pottery bowl manufactured in North its military might. This establishment was Africa. Virtually all this remarkable sophisti- achieved by the dispossession on a massive cation disappeared in the post-Roman period. scale of Roman landowners. Other products do not survive as well in the soil as potsherds or cannot be attributed Yerxa: Is there evidence that a civilization with such confidence to particular places or collapsed when Rome fell? centuries of manufacture. But it is, I believe, obvious that the picture provided by pottery— Ward-Perkins: This is an area where histori- of Roman sophistication, followed by almost ans seem to be decidedly myopic. In looking total collapse—can be extended to other closely at their texts, they have failed to notice goods, where the evidence survives much less that in every single area of the empire (except well, such as textiles, metal tools, and special- perhaps the Levantine provinces conquered by ized food products. Pottery offers a detailed the Arabs) there was an extraordinary fall in snapshot of the wider economy. what archaeologists term “material culture.” The scale and quality of buildings, even of Yerxa: What is fueling the revisionist views churches, shrank dramatically—so that, for of the Late Antiquity school? instance, tiled roofs, which were common in Roman times even in a peasant context, Ward-Perkins: There are probably a number became a great rarity and luxury. In the 6th- of different forces at work. Scholarship does and 7th-century West the vast majority of peo- tend to progress by a process of revision and ple lived in tiny houses with beaten earth counter-revision. It was probably time that floors, drafty wooden walls, and insect-infest- gloomy views of the end of Rome were tested; ed thatch roofs; whereas, in Roman times, and now, perhaps, it is time to return to them. people from the same level of society might This game of scholarly Ping-Pong might seem well have enjoyed the comfort of solid brick a little pointless, but I don’t think so, because View of Rome’s skyline near the Tiber River, ca. or stone floors, mortared walls, and tiled 1900. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs each time the ball is lobbed back over the net roofs. This was a change that affected not only Division [reproduction number, LC-USZ62-123704]. it lands in a slightly different place and has the aristocracy, but also huge numbers of peo- always acquired some of its flight from the ple in the middling and lower levels of socie- preceding debate. For instance, although I ty who in Roman times had had ready access fiti (which were very common in Roman could be termed a counter-revisionist (or a to high-quality goods. times, but virtually disappeared thereafter) in “neo-con” as one reviewer put it), I have no order to demonstrate that basic intellectual problem in recognizing that Late Antiquity has Yerxa: You discuss evidence from graffiti, skills—reading and writing—suffered as dra- opened up an extraordinarily fertile field of coins, roof tiles, and especially pottery, matic a downturn with the fall of Rome as did debate, and that, without it, my own thinking whereas scholars from the Late Antiquity the availability of high-quality material goods. would never have gone in the directions it has. school point to religious texts. Why is it A central underlying reason for the current important to pay attention to material cul- Yerxa: Why is Roman pottery such a revisionist view must be the fact that both ture and economic history? revealing source? “empires” and “civilizations” have gone out of fashion, undermining earlier assumptions that Ward-Perkins: However elevated our Ward-Perkins: The study of pottery isn’t to the Roman Empire was a high point of “civi- thoughts, we all live in a sophisticated materi- everybody’s taste, but (as a couple of review- lization.” In the modern postcolonial world al world, supported by a complex economy, ers have independently said of my book) it the very concept of “civilizations” has virtual- and we all enjoy the convenience and comfort reveals “surprisingly interesting” results.
Recommended publications
  • Reshaping East Roman Diplomacy with Barbarians During the 5Th Century
    Chapter 1 From Hegemony to Negotiation: Reshaping East Roman Diplomacy with Barbarians during the 5th Century Audrey Becker Introduction During the first half of the 4th century ad, thanks to their military power, the Romans had been giving the barbarian tribes bordering the Danube and the Rhine no choice but to accept the conclusion of deditio after losing the war, leav- ing them in a very humiliating position.1 Yet, the military and political events of the second half of the 4th century ad, and even more of the 5th century ad, led the Romans to reconsider their relationship with the barbarian tribes.2 The characteristics of diplomatic relationship changed even before the defeat at Andrinople in 378, because the barbarian tribes, in the middle of the 4th cen- tury, gradually became able to restore the balance of power, leading the Eastern Roman Empire to reconsider its relations with its barbarian neighbours. This compelled the Byzantine Empire, from the end of the 4th century onward, to take into account barbarian leaders or kings who became, at that time, real dip- lomatic actors playing, of necessity, with formal rules of diplomatic protocol to 1 For instance, Constantinus with the Sarmatians in 323: Zosimus, Historia Nova 2.21.3, ed.Paschoud (Paris, 2000), p. 92; Julian in 358 with the Alemanni kings Suomarius and Hor- tarius: Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae 17.10.3, ed. Sabbah (Paris, 1989), p. 64; Ammianus Marcellinus 17.10.9, p. 66; Constantius ii, in 358 as well, with the kings of the Sarmatians and Quadi: Ammianus Marcellinus 17.12.9–16, pp.
    [Show full text]
  • THE MAIN RULES of TRIBUTE PAYMENT in MID 5Th CENTURY ATHENIAN ARCHE ACCORDING to CLEINIAS DECREE
    GRAECO-LATINA BRUNENSIA 20, 2015, 1 LUKÁŠ KUBALA (MASARYK UNIVERSITY, BRNO) THE MAIN RULES OF TRIBUTE PAYMENT IN MID 5th CENTURY ATHENIAN ARCHE ACCORDING TO CLEINIAS DECREE The main priority of my paper is to point out, through epigraphic sources and evidence from the 5th century Athens, one of the most characteristic features and objectives of Athenian “imperialism” during the last two decades of the period called Pentekontaetia (the period of fifty years – 479–431 B.C.). I will especially focus my attention on one of the most important epigraphic sources from this period – Cleinias decree (448/7, 425/4(?) B.C.). The impor- tance of this decree is significant, because it puts an exact view on the process of collection of the tribute (foros) in the mid-5th century Athenian arche. The financial regulations pre- scribed in the decree were valid for all members of the Athenian arche, and had a great im- pact on restriction of their autonomy at the expense of growth of Athenian dominance in the symmachy. The main objective I want to achieve in this paper, the importance of epigraphic material and evidence as one of the most important (and in some cases irreplaceable) sourc- es of information about the image of Athenian “imperialism” and Athenian relationship towards their subject-allies in the 5th century B.C. The reason why I choose particularly this decree as a representative type of epigraphic evidence, is to show how important the annual collection of the tribute was for the Athenians, and how the Athenians used the collection of the foros, as Isocrates mentions to “publicly humiliate” the allies and how they strengthened their hegemonic position in Delian symmachy transforming it into their own thalassocratic “empire” and allies into their “subjects”.
    [Show full text]
  • The Athenian Agora
    Excavations of the Athenian Agora Picture Book No. 12 Prepared by Dorothy Burr Thompson Produced by The Stinehour Press, Lunenburg, Vermont American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1993 ISBN 87661-635-x EXCAVATIONS OF THE ATHENIAN AGORA PICTURE BOOKS I. Pots and Pans of Classical Athens (1959) 2. The Stoa ofAttalos II in Athens (revised 1992) 3. Miniature Sculpturefrom the Athenian Agora (1959) 4. The Athenian Citizen (revised 1987) 5. Ancient Portraitsfrom the Athenian Agora (1963) 6. Amphoras and the Ancient Wine Trade (revised 1979) 7. The Middle Ages in the Athenian Agora (1961) 8. Garden Lore of Ancient Athens (1963) 9. Lampsfrom the Athenian Agora (1964) 10. Inscriptionsfrom the Athenian Agora (1966) I I. Waterworks in the Athenian Agora (1968) 12. An Ancient Shopping Center: The Athenian Agora (revised 1993) I 3. Early Burialsfrom the Agora Cemeteries (I 973) 14. Graffiti in the Athenian Agora (revised 1988) I 5. Greek and Roman Coins in the Athenian Agora (1975) 16. The Athenian Agora: A Short Guide (revised 1986) French, German, and Greek editions 17. Socrates in the Agora (1978) 18. Mediaeval and Modern Coins in the Athenian Agora (1978) 19. Gods and Heroes in the Athenian Agora (1980) 20. Bronzeworkers in the Athenian Agora (1982) 21. Ancient Athenian Building Methods (1984) 22. Birds ofthe Athenian Agora (1985) These booklets are obtainable from the American School of Classical Studies at Athens c/o Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J. 08540, U.S.A They are also available in the Agora Museum, Stoa of Attalos, Athens Cover: Slaves carrying a Spitted Cake from Market.
    [Show full text]
  • THE SYMBIOSIS BETWEEN DEMOCRACY and WAR: the CASE of ANCIENT ATHENS David M
    THE SYMBIOSIS BETWEEN DEMOCRACY AND WAR: THE CASE OF ANCIENT ATHENS David M. Pritchard (University of Queensland) Introduction This edited collection significantly advances our understanding of the two-way relationship of causation between democracy and war in world history. In particular it explores the almost entirely neglected question of the impact of the democracy of the classical Athenians on their waging of war. Today ancient Athens is not widely known for its intensification and transformation of war-making among the Greeks. It is famous instead for what is arguably the most fully developed democracy of pre- modern times and for its innovative culture, which helped lay the foundations for the arts, literature and sciences of the ancient and modern worlds. In 508/7 BC the Athenian dmos (‘people’) rose up against a leader who was once again aiming for tyranny, expelled him and the foreign troops backing his attempt, and arrested and executed his upper-class supporters (Ath. Pol. 20.1-21.2; Herodotus 5.65.5-74.1).1 They could no longer tolerate the internecine struggles of the elite and demanded an active role in the decision-making of the city. This was quickly realised by the reforms of Cleisthenes, which made the assembly and a new popular council of five- hundred members the final arbiters of public actions and laws.2 By the early 450s the people had consolidated their new dmokratia (‘democracy’) by making decisions on an increasing range of public affairs and by taking over entirely the administration of justice and the oversight of magistrates (e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • The Last Horizons of Roman Gaul: Communication, Community, and Power at the End of Antiquity
    The Last Horizons of Roman Gaul: Communication, Community, and Power at the End of Antiquity The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Wilkinson, Ryan Hayes. 2015. The Last Horizons of Roman Gaul: Communication, Community, and Power at the End of Antiquity. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:17467211 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA The Last Horizons of Roman Gaul: Communication, Community, and Power at the End of Antiquity A dissertation presented by Ryan Hayes Wilkinson to The Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of History Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts May 2015 © 2015 Ryan Hayes Wilkinson All rights reserved. Dissertation Advisor: Professor Michael McCormick Ryan Hayes Wilkinson The Last Horizons of Roman Gaul: Communication, Community, and Power at the End of Antiquity Abstract In the fifth and sixth centuries CE, the Roman Empire fragmented, along with its network of political, cultural, and socio-economic connections. How did that network’s collapse reshape the social and mental horizons of communities in one part of the Roman world, now eastern France? Did new political frontiers between barbarian kingdoms redirect those communities’ external connections, and if so, how? To address these questions, this dissertation focuses on the cities of two Gallo-Roman tribal groups.
    [Show full text]
  • The Crossing of the Danube and the Gothic Conversion , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 27:3 (1986:Autumn) P.289
    HEATHER, PETER, The Crossing of the Danube and the Gothic Conversion , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 27:3 (1986:Autumn) p.289 The Crossing of the Danube and the Gothic Conversion Peter Heather MMIANUS MARCELLINUS provides a detailed account of the re­ A lations between the Emperor Valens and the Goths during the period 367-378. But essentially because Ammianus does not mention it, there has been much controversy over the date of a Gothic conversion to Christianity ascribed in other sources to the reign of Valens. Equally, because the historians Socrates and So­ zomen link a civil war among the Goths to the conversion, it has also been unclear when this split might have taken place. It will be argued here that the primary accounts found in Socrates, Sozomen, and Eunapius can be reconciled with the secondary ones of Jordanes, Theodoret, and Orosius to suggest a Gothic conversion in 376. Fur­ ther, combined with Ammianus, they strongly indicate that Christian­ ity initially affected only elements of one Gothic group, the Tervingi, and was part of the agreement by which Valens allowed them to cross the Danube and enter the Empire in 376. It also becomes clear that the split too affected only the Tervingi, and occurred immediately before the crossing and conversion. This reconstruction in turn highlights the Huns' role in overturning the established order in Gothic society: their attacks first divided the Tervingi, who were unable to agree on an appropriate response, and prompted the larger group to seek asylum in the Empire and accept conversion to Christianity.
    [Show full text]
  • Children on Attic Vases Detail from a Similar Krater Metropolitan Mus., NY
    Children on Attic Vases Detail from a similar Krater Metropolitan Mus., NY Funeral for a Man Attic Krater c. 750 BCE Athens, Kerameikos Mus. Funeral for a Woman Amphora c. 750 B.C.E. Athens, Kerameikos Mus. 6th century Black Figure Children in myths Achilles pursues Troilos and Polyxena, children of Priam Neoptolemos (son of Achilles) kills Astyanax (son of Hector) during the fall of Troy. Priam (to the left of the altar) looks on. The birth of Athena from the head of Zeus was a popular black figure subject during the 6th cent. The death of Astyanax continues to appear on red figures vases of the 5th century. Red figure crater by the Altamura Painter ca 470-60 BCE Red figure vase by Hermonax ca 470-460 BCE Red figure painters frequently depicted the birth of Erichthonios, an early king of Attica. Hephaistos (left) sired the child upon Gaia (Earth) who hands the newborn to Athena (right) for safekeeping. On this cup by the Kodros Painter (440-430 BCE) Gaia hands Erichthonios to Athena. To the left stands the first king of Attica, Kekrops (with a serpent’s tail). To the right, Hephaistos, the child’s father, looks on. Detail of a vase by the Erichthonios Painter, ca 450-40 (left). A krater by the Nikias Painter ca 410 BCE (below) The birth of Erichthonios remained a popular subject throughout the 5th century. Danae and her son are set adrift in a box by her father Acrisius who feared an oracle that Perseus would one day kill him. As part of the increasing interest in children during the 5th century, the story of Danae and her son, Perseus (whose later heroic deeds Include the decapitation of Medusa) became popular.
    [Show full text]
  • External Relations of Scythian
    Sergey Kullanda Institute of Oriental Studies (Moscow) External relations of Scythian The paper is a case study of an ancient language known only from foreign traditions. It is ar- gued that a fairly adequate description of its phonetics and contacts with other languages can still be achieved. The Scythian word stock shows certain exceptions to the regular pho- netic correspondences that are probably due to borrowing. It seems likely that in Ciscaucasia and the North Pontic area the Scythians and their ancestors encountered bearers of West Ira- nian or other Aryan, North Caucasian, and unidentified Indo-European languages and par- tially embraced their onomasticon, theonyms, and names of some realia. On the other hand, Scythian loanwords can be detected in East Caucasian, Median, Avestan and Thracian. Keywords: Scythian, Thracian, Avestan, North Caucasian, language contacts. My paper is a case study of an ancient language known only from foreign traditions. I believe that a fairly adequate description of its phonetics and contacts with other languages can still be achieved. The most distinctive trait of Scythian phonetics is the change d > δ > l, cf. Scythian Παραλάται, the name of the Scythian royal caste, and Avestan paraδāta, the mythical dynasty of kings. There is also the change of the *xš- cluster into a sibilant in the initial position. Thus, the famous Olbian decree in honour of a certain Protogenus dealing with the events of the late 3rd century bc mentions the tribe of Σάϊοι (in the plural genitive case Σαΐων, from Iranian *xšaya- ‘king’) and its king Saitapharnes (Σαιταφάρνης, from Iranian *Xšaitafarna­, ‘[Possess- ing of] a bright/regal farnah;’ the text recorded only the genitive case Σαιταφάρνου) (IOSPE I2: 32, A, lines 10, 34, 83).
    [Show full text]
  • The Egyptians and the Scythians in Herodotus' Histories
    Bard College Bard Digital Commons Senior Projects Spring 2011 Bard Undergraduate Senior Projects Spring 2011 The Old and the Restless: The Egyptians and the Scythians in Herodotus' Histories Robert J. Hagan Bard College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2011 Part of the Classical Literature and Philology Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Recommended Citation Hagan, Robert J., "The Old and the Restless: The Egyptians and the Scythians in Herodotus' Histories" (2011). Senior Projects Spring 2011. 10. https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2011/10 This Open Access work is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been provided to you by Bard College's Stevenson Library with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this work in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 The Old and the Restless: The Egyptians and the Scythians in Herodotus’ Histories Senior Project Submitted to Division of Language and Literature of Bard College by Robert Hagan Annandale-on-Hudson, New York May 2011 2 Acknowledgments On the completion of this sometimes challenging, but always rewarding project, I thank my family and friends for their support throughout the year. Thanks also go to the classics department at Bard, including Bill Mullen and Thomas Bartscherer for their help and advice, as well as one dearly needed extension.
    [Show full text]
  • Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans 8/29/07
    Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans 8/29/07 1 Proto-Indo-European or Indo-Hittite PROTO-INDO-EUROPEAN is the traditional name given to the ancestor language of the Indo-European family that is spread from Iceland to Chinese Turkestan and from Scandinavia to the Near East. A PROTO-LANGUAGE (Gk. prõtos ‘first’) refers to the earliest form of a language family presupposed by all of its descendants. There will forever be major gaps in our ability to reconstruct proto-languages, but as general linguistic knowledge becomes more sophisticated, so do the tools of reconstruction. The so-called Anatolian subfamily, consisting of Hittite, a –2nd millennium language from central Turkey, and its immediate relatives from Turkey and the Near East, is by far the most archaic branch of Indo-European. Since Anatolian was the first subfamily to break off, the ancestor family is now commonly referred to as INDO- HITTITE. Another archaic branch is Tocharian, from Chinese Turkestan. This is widely recognized as the second branch to split off from the rest. Much of the evidence for this evolutionary history is recent, and the terminology is not yet fixed. Instead of Indo- Hittite, many scholars still prefer Proto-Indo-European (PIE) as the name of the earliest reconstructable ancestor language of this particular family. Figure 1 is a recent cladistic model (from Ringe 2006: 5) of the Indo-European languages.1 Figure 1: Major divisions of the Indo-European family PIE Anatolian 5 North IE Tocharian5 W est IE Italo-Celtic5 Central IE C4eltic Itali c ! Central Indo-European consists of the other subfamilies, most important for our purposes being Greek, Indo-Iranian, Baltic, Slavic, and Germanic.
    [Show full text]
  • URBAN PROJECTS in SCYTHIA MINOR Ioana-Iulia OLARU, Lecturer, Ph.D
    URBAN PROJECTS IN SCYTHIA MINOR Ioana-Iulia OLARU, Lecturer, Ph.D. (George Enescu University of Arts, Iaşi, Romania) Abstract 223 This study presents some examples of cities – Histria, Tomis, Callatis, Tropaum Traiani, L Troesmis, Noviodunum, Arganum, Dinogetia, Capidava – that focus on the urban projects im that the Romans put into practice in the province of Scythia Minor, where they developed ba j Greek urban types in order to put into practice the new conceptions according to which the ş i architectural model of Urbs should be a living example. c o n t Keywords: urban type, architectural model, city. ext Rezumat , A Studiul prezintă câteva exemple de oraşe – Histria, Tomis, Callatis, Tropaeum Traiani, nu Troesmis, Noviodunum, Arganum, Dinogetia, Capidava –, care aduc, în prim-plan, proiecte l I urbanistice pe care romanii le-au pus în practică în provincia Scythia Minor, unde au V dezvoltat tipuri urbanistice greceşti, găsite aici pentru a pune în practică noile concepţii, , vo conform cărora modelul arhitectural al lui Urbs trebuia să fie un exemplu viu. l. Cuvinte-cheie: tip de urbanizare, model arhitectural, oraş. 1 , 201 Immediately after the Roman conquest, urbanism and architecture as well 2 reached their peak of development in ancient times and even in the first part of Late Antiquity. The role of the peripheral regions had started to grow in the Empire, beginning with the period of the Antonions, while the Late Empire, opened by the dinasty of the Severs, affirms its force in architecture, urbanism extending itself in provinces, too. Our newly founded cities will respect the same construction techniques of buildings, the most frequent being opus incertum, opus caementicum, opus quadratum, opus listatum.
    [Show full text]
  • Harttimo 1.Pdf
    Beyond the River, under the Eye of Rome Ethnographic Landscapes, Imperial Frontiers, and the Shaping of a Danubian Borderland by Timothy Campbell Hart A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Greek and Roman History) in the University of Michigan 2017 Doctoral Committee: Professor David S. Potter, Co-Chair Professor Emeritus Raymond H. Van Dam, Co-Chair Assistant Professor Ian David Fielding Professor Christopher John Ratté © Timothy Campbell Hart [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8640-131X For my family ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Developing and writing a dissertation can, at times, seem like a solo battle, but in my case, at least, this was far from the truth. I could not have completed this project without the advice and support of many individuals, most crucially, my dissertation co-chairs David S. Potter, and Raymond Van Dam. Ray saw some glimmer of potential in me and worked to foster it from the moment I arrived at Michigan. I am truly thankful for his support throughout the years and constant advice on both academic and institutional matters. In particular, our conversations about demographics and the movement of people in the ancient world were crucial to the genesis of this project. Throughout the writing process, Ray’s firm encouragement towards clarity of argument and style, while not always what I wanted to hear, have done much to make this a stronger dissertation. David Potter has provided me with a lofty academic model towards which to strive. I admire the breadth and depth of his scholarship; working and teaching with him have shown me much worth emulating.
    [Show full text]