During a visit to Brussels this weekend, I visited the Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Historie, located in the Parc du Cinquantenaire. The museums hold a marvellous collection of late antique art as well as an reconstructed section of Apamea‘s colonnaded street. The Great Hunt Mosaic from Apamea, now in the Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Historie, […]
Category archives: Late Antiquity
The Beauty of Numbers
There is nothing quike like the magnificence of ancient Rome as expressed in numbers. We are lucky enough to have preserved such accounts in the so-called regionary catalogues that cover the city district by district. Two of these, the Notitia regionum and the Curiosum urbis Romae (henceforth N and C respectively) are especially far-reaching in […]
The Sculptor’s Workshop at Aphrodisias
One of the most important Roman-period archaeological digs in the last 40 years is without a doubt Aphrodisias in Turkey. The excavations have revealed not only a wide range of public buildings, including a Sebasteion, a Bouleuterion, a stadium and a temple of Aphrodite, but also some of the most important Roman sculpture found in […]
The Archaeology of Temple Conversion II: Silifke
Another temple conversion featured in Richard Bayliss’ new book is the temple of Zeus in Silifke, ancient Seleucia ad Calycadnum. It is not as well preserved as the temple of Zeus Olbios, but it is a lot easier to get to, if you ever find yourself in Cilicia (cf. yesterday’s post). Silifke was also home […]
The Archaeology of Temple Conversion I: Uzuncaburç
The temple of Zeus Olbios is located in a very remote rural setting in the village of Uzuncaburç in Cilicia (Turkey), but it is a great outing for the more adventurous and archaeologically interested traveller. It is also featured in Richard Bayliss’ new book on the archaeology of temple conversion, that I just got hold […]
The Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project
Bill Caraher in Winnipeg this weekend. He gave a talk yesterday on the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project, a survey of a medium-size late Roman settlement in the eastern part of Cyprus. The project will undoutedly add to our knowledge of the island’s economic and social history in this transitional period. Check their website here.
The Archaeology of Antioch Part II
So yesterday I talked a bit about the general topography of late Roman Antioch. One of the currently running archaeological projects in the city and the landscape around is the University of Chicago Oriental Institute Amuq Valley Regional Project. Although not exclusively dedicated to the late Roman period, the project has further increased our knowledge […]
The Archaeology of Antioch Part I
Antioch, modern Antakya in the region of Hatay, Turkey, was one of the great cities of the Roman Empire, alongside Alexandria, Ephesus and Rome, as well as capital of the province of Syria. The Tabula Peutingeriana depicts it as a metropolis. However, Antioch has often been called a ‘lost ancient city’ (see e.g. the recent […]
Magic in Late Antiquity
I’m quite busy at the moment, so today’s post is not only late, but also very short. I would, however, like to draw attention to a very interesting site, “Traditions of Magic in Late Antiquity“, put together by the University of Michigan Library. It presents a series of magic “recipe books” and amulets (mostly from […]
Religious Violence and the Fall of Rome
Bryan Ward-Perkins has a new book out on The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization. I got it just before I came over from Denmark and finally had time to finish it last night. He uses an empire-wide perspective to show that the 4th-6th centuries CE were indeed periods of decline that resulted […]