Urban Space between the Roman Age and Late Antiquity

This book investigates the substantial changes that can be perceived within the urban fabric and its surrounding territory in the transition period between the second century and the sixth century AD in several areas of the Mediterranean Basin that have remained unexplored until now. The results of new excavations and case studies with an innovative and original approach give new insights into the development of the late antique city. Multidisciplinary methods, and the comprehensive examination of the different topics offer a new focus on the spatial occupation of urban territories through time and geographic boundaries. The volume brings together a series of historical and archaeological studies and researches carried out in recent years under the theme „Urban Space“. These contributions were presented at an International Workshop, which took place in Regensburg on 13th - 14th February 2020. The metropolis of Aquileia is analysed in two papers focusing on the demographics of the peri-urban space and on waste management as a proxy for understanding the urban dynamics. Moving East, light is shed on the renewed liveliness of some late antique cities of Asia Minor (in the West and South Coasts) and of Caucasus. Also, the role of religious institutions, which are responsible for the transformation of the cityscape, are examined through some case studies (synagogues at Priene, Sardis, Andriake; monastic foundations in Cilicia and Isauria). Finally, the analysis of religious architecture as a mark of the transformation of urban space in the Near East (Palmyra) perfectly shows the conception of a new late antique urban aesthetic.