A new bath complex in Late Roman Dyrrachium (Albania)

Journal of Roman Archaeology ◽

10.1017/s1047759421000386 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-22

Author(s):

Brikena Shkodra-Rrugia

Keyword(s):

Late Antiquity ◽

Design Principles ◽

City Center ◽

Imperial Authority ◽

Limited Knowledge ◽

Architectural Characteristics ◽

The City ◽

Limited Scope ◽

Late Roman

Abstract This note considers a Late Roman bath building recently discovered in Durrës, Albania (ancient Dyrrachium), near the presumed Roman city center. This discovery is particularly interesting given our limited knowledge of the urban layout and of bathhouses during this important phase of the city. Despite the limited scope of the excavations, the layout of the complex, as well as certain architectural characteristics, suggests the use of design principles based on Imperial baths. The exclusive use of bricks is significant for this area in Late Antiquity. The imposing monumentality of the structures is comparable to baths in cities with Imperial authority. In the absence of stratified layers linked to this structure, moldmade marks on the bricks and decorative features from the marble facing provide a chronological window between the last quarter of the 4th c. and around the middle of the 5th c. CE for its construction.

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Home from the hunt: the afterlife of a Late Roman copper-alloy vessel

Journal of Roman Archaeology ◽

10.1017/s1047759420001130 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 33 ◽

pp. 483-495

Author(s):

Marcus Rautman

Keyword(s):

Late Antiquity ◽

Copper Alloy ◽

Structural Damage ◽

The City ◽

Late Roman

The Sardis excavation sector known as MMS was a center of habitation for over a millennium. Archaic houses built near the great mudbrick fortification were succeeded by scattered Hellenistic and Roman dwellings, to be followed in late antiquity by imposing residences of complex plan and ambitious decoration. Like other parts of the city, these houses saw extensive structural damage in the early A.D. 600s. Raised floors, flimsy partitions and makeshift hearths are among the few signs of lingering occupation.1

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Evaluation of Architectural Characteristics for Conservation Decisions of Değirmendağı, İzmir, Turkey

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.133-134.1143 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 133-134 ◽

pp. 1143-1148

Author(s):

Çağlayan Deniz Kaplan ◽

Fulya Murtezaoğlu ◽

Özge Akbulut ◽

Başak İpekoğlu

Keyword(s):

Historical Review ◽

Historical Background ◽

Social Characteristics ◽

Local Administration ◽

City Center ◽

Local Characteristics ◽

The Social ◽

Special Area ◽

Architectural Characteristics ◽

The City

Historical settlements, which are integral parts of the cultural heritage, should be documented and evaluated with their local characteristics. The aim of this study is to document, analyze and evaluate the architectural, environmental and social characteristics of an urban settlement called Değirmendağı District, which has a historical background beginning with the Roman period to the present, in the center of metropolitan city of İzmir, on the Aegean coast of Turkey. The settlement is one of the earliest that was planned by local administration in İzmir and contributes to the İzmir silhouette with its location on a steep hillside in the township of Konak. Documentation methods used are sketches, photography and architectural and social questionnaires. Inventory cards were prepared to collect architectural characteristics of each building and the social questionnaires were comprised of socio–economic characteristics of the settlers. Data gathered at the site was analyzed and evaluated to develop a conservation approach, including historical review of the ancient era. Since the area is easily accessible and close to city center, the area becomes attractive. It has the advantage of the vista based on its inclined topography and grid-planned scheme. Değirmendağı District is a special area requiring special conservation within the city of İzmir. However, historical pattern has changed through the years because of changing lifestyle. The area, which is one of the most important and valuable districts in İzmir considering its history, location, and architectural characteristics should be integrated with the city and citizens. This study documents the present potentials and values of the area and forms a basis to prepare conservation approaches.

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Ceramics from Late Roman Contexts in Durrës

The Annual of the British School at Athens ◽

10.1017/s0068245400021377 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 101 ◽

pp. 427-457 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Brikena Shkodra

Keyword(s):

Late Antiquity ◽

Eastern Mediterranean ◽

Roman Period ◽

Local Production ◽

The West ◽

Byzantine Period ◽

East And West ◽

Late Roman Period ◽

The City ◽

Late Roman

What seems to be the case is that Durrës during the late Roman period was incorporated in the network of Byzantine state-controlled supply which operated throughout the east and west Mediterranean, suggesting that the city was more open to the east than to the west in late Antiquity. By contrast, the supply of Tunisian fine ware and amphorae is smaller then the imports from the eastern Mediterranean. However, the persistence presence of Tunisian wares throughout late Vandal and Byzantine period argues for sustained interaction between east and west within the Byzantine world. The presence of local production in the 6th century contexts merits further analysis.

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Distribution of archaeological material scatters and soils at the site of Abila of the Decapolis, northern Jordan

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12753 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Bernhard Lucke ◽

Jago Birk ◽

Michael Zech ◽

Nora Voss ◽

Günther Schörner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Material Culture ◽

Late Antiquity ◽

City Center ◽

Archaeological Material ◽

N Isotopes ◽

Land Surfaces ◽

Soil Distribution ◽

The City ◽

Biblical Sources

Patterns and intensities of past land use are mostly unknown. However, soils in the vicinity of archaeological sites usually carry significant amounts of material culture (mostly pottery sherds) which testify to past human activity. We surveyed surface transects of material culture and soil distribution, radiating from the city center of ancient Abila of the Decapolis. The city had been abandoned during the Medieval and was never resettled, which minimizes the presence of material culture from younger periods. In addition, earlier studies suggested that soil erosion of the rather level limestone plateau surrounding the site was rather limited, indicating that actual land surfaces largely represent those of antiquity. Our survey encountered strongly varying quantities of material culture, which correspond to some soil properties such as concentrations of faeces biomarkers of pork excrements. As the material culture mainly dates to Late Antiquity, and as pork consumption during the Islamic periods is rather unlikely, this indicates that the distribution of the archaeological material was to some degree connected with pig breeding during Antiquity. A possible practice leading to sherd deposition on fields could be manuring, such as from applying dung including pork excrements, but ratios of N-isotopes do not suggest that fields surrounding Abila were subject to application of larger amounts of manure. Therefore, it seems very likely that material culture deposition on the land surrounding Abila was partly connected with the herding of pigs, a land use practice that is attested in Biblical sources on the region.

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The Idea of Rome in Late Antiquity

10.1017/9789048553518 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ioannis Papadopoulos

Keyword(s):

Late Antiquity ◽

Urban Landscape ◽

The City ◽

Selection Of ◽

Late Roman

The aim of this book is to approach the manifestation and evolution of the idea of Rome as an expression of Roman patriotism and as an (urban) archetype of utopia in late Roman thought in a period extending from AD 357 to 417. Within this period of about a human lifetime, the concepts of Rome and Romanitas were reshaped and used for various ideological causes. This monograph is unfolding through a selection of sources that represent the patterns and diversity of this ideological process. The theme of Rome as a personified and anthropomorphic figure and as an epitomized notion 'applied' on the urban landscape of the city would become part of the identity of the Romans of Rome highlighting a sense of cultural uniqueness in comparison to the inhabitants of other cities. Towards the end of the chronological limits set in this thesis various versions of Romanitas would emerge indicating new physical and spiritual potentials.

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The Idea of Rome in Late Antiquity

10.5117/9789463723152 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ioannis Papadopoulos

Keyword(s):

Late Antiquity ◽

Urban Landscape ◽

The City ◽

Selection Of ◽

Late Roman

The aim of this book is to approach the manifestation and evolution of the idea of Rome as an expression of Roman patriotism and as an (urban) archetype of utopia in late Roman thought in a period extending from AD 357 to 417. Within this period of about a human lifetime, the concepts of Rome and Romanitas were reshaped and used for various ideological causes. This monograph is unfolding through a selection of sources that represent the patterns and diversity of this ideological process. The theme of Rome as a personified and anthropomorphic figure and as an epitomized notion ‘applied’ on the urban landscape of the city would become part of the identity of the Romans of Rome highlighting a sense of cultural uniqueness in comparison to the inhabitants of other cities. Towards the end of the chronological limits set in this thesis various versions of Romanitas would emerge indicating new physical and spiritual potentials.

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CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE MACEDONIAN COUNTRYSIDE FROM GALLIENUS TO JUSTINIAN

Late Antique Archaeology ◽

10.1163/22134522-90000035 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 535-586 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Archibald Dunn

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Late Antiquity ◽

Rural Settlements ◽

Continuity And Change ◽

History Of ◽

The Military ◽

Urban Institutions ◽

The City ◽

Written Sources ◽

Late Roman

A history of the countryside in Late Antiquity that speaks of real terrains or regions, and thus confronts the shortcomings of written sources, remains elusive. Strategies based upon archaeology allow progress, but interpretation of the results remains problematic. However, if we collate the results of all kinds of fieldwork, the archaeology of Late Roman Macedonia now offers several case-studies which allow us to examine the forms and distributions of rural settlements of varying status. An assessment of the relationships between these settlements and their resource bases, together with the military, fiscal, and urban institutions with which they interacted, allows a re-evaluation of general histories of the countryside and ultimately of ‘the city’.

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