The Afterlife of the Roman City
Architecture and Ceremony in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages

This book offers a new perspective on the evolution of cities across the Roman Empire in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages.

Hendrik W. Dey (Author)

9781107686335, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 September 2018

315 pages, 12 b/w illus. 8 colour illus. 38 maps
25.5 x 18 x 1.8 cm, 0.64 kg

'This well-written yet nuanced and critical study makes an important contribution to this debate and to the integration of small finds into the wider narrative.' Lucy Grig, Antiquity

This book offers a new and surprising perspective on the evolution of cities across the Roman Empire in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages (third to ninth centuries AD). It suggests that the tenacious persistence of leading cities across most of the Roman world is due, far more than previously thought, to the persistent inclination of kings, emperors, caliphs, bishops, and their leading subordinates to manifest the glory of their offices on an urban stage, before crowds of city dwellers. Long after the dissolution of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, these communal leaders continued to maintain and embellish monumental architectural corridors established in late antiquity, the narrow but grandiose urban itineraries, essentially processional ways, in which their parades and solemn public appearances consistently unfolded. Hendrik W. Dey's approach selectively integrates urban topography with the actors who unceasingly strove to animate it for many centuries.

1. Introduction: urban living and the 'fall' of the Roman Empire
2. New urban forms for a new empire: the third century and the genesis of the late antique city
3. Ceremonial armatures: porticated streets and their architectural appendages
4. 'Dark ages' and the afterlife of the classical city
5. Postscript: architecture, ceremony, and monastic cities in Carolingian Francia.

Subject Areas: Medieval European archaeology [HDDM], Medieval history [HBLC1], Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], History of architecture [AMX], History of art: ancient & classical art,BCE to c 500 CE [ACG]