Public Space in the Late Antique City


Book Description

This book investigates the nature of 'public space' in Mediterranean cities, A.D. 284-650, meaning places where it was impossible to avoid meeting people from all parts of society, whether different religious confessions or social groups. 0The first volume considers the architectural form and everyday functions of streets, fora / agorai, market buildings, and shops, including a study of processions and everyday street life. 0The second volume analyses archaeological evidence for the construction, repair, use, and abandonment of these urban spaces, based on standardised principles of phasing and dating. The conclusions provide insights into the urban environment of Constantinople, an assessment of urban institutions and citizenship, and a consideration of the impact of Christianity on civic life at this time.




The Middle Ages


Book Description

The Middle Ages (c.500-1500) includes a thousand years of European history. In this Very Short Introduction Miri Rubin tells the story of the times through the people and their lifestyles. Including stories of kingship and Christian salvation, agriculture and trade, Rubin demonstrates the remarkable nature and legacy of the Middle Ages.




The Mosaics of Thessaloniki Revisited


Book Description

Essays on the chronology and interpretation of the Byzantine mosaics of Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki contains the finest collection of surviving Byzantine mosaics in any one city. Made over the course of a millennium between the fourth and the fourteenth century, they show the dynamism and longevity of the medium throughout the life of the Byzantine Empire. Yet despite the quantity and quality of the mosaics in Thessaloniki, they have remained relatively unknown compared with the mosaics elsewhere in Greece and in Constantinople. Controversy and debate have surrounded the dating, function and meaning of many of the monuments and their mosaics. These issues, of the chronology of the monuments and the meanings of their mosaics, form the focus of The Mosaics of Thessaloniki Revisited. Mosaics of Thessaloniki, 4th-14th century (2012) - also available from UEP documents and illustrates the huge range of Thessaloniki's mosaics that are now accessible and visible to all, however distant or hidden their locations in each church.




The Inheritance of Rome


Book Description

The idea that with the decline of the Roman Empire Europe entered into some immense ‘dark age’ has long been viewed as inadequate by many historians. How could a world still so profoundly shaped by Rome and which encompassed such remarkable societies as the Byzantine, Carolingian and Ottonian empires, be anything other than central to the development of European history? How could a world of so many peoples, whether expanding, moving or stable, of Goths, Franks, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, whose genetic and linguistic inheritors we all are, not lie at the heart of how we understand ourselves? The Inheritance of Rome is a work of remarkable scope and ambition. Drawing on a wealth of new material, it is a book which will transform its many readers’ ideas about the crucible in which Europe would in the end be created. From the collapse of the Roman imperial system to the establishment of the new European dynastic states, perhaps this book’s most striking achievement is to make sense of an immensely long period of time, experienced by many generations of Europeans, and which, while it certainly included catastrophic invasions and turbulence, also contained long periods of continuity and achievement. From Ireland to Constantinople, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, this is a genuinely Europe-wide history of a new kind, with something surprising or arresting on every page.




Luxury Arts of the Renaissance


Book Description

Today we associate the Renaissance with painting, sculpture, and architecture—the “major” arts. Yet contemporaries often held the “minor” arts—gem-studded goldwork, richly embellished armor, splendid tapestries and embroideries, music, and ephemeral multi-media spectacles—in much higher esteem. Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, was typical of the Italian nobility: she bequeathed to her children precious stone vases mounted in gold, engraved gems, ivories, and antique bronzes and marbles; her favorite ladies-in-waiting, by contrast, received mere paintings. Renaissance patrons and observers extolled finely wrought luxury artifacts for their exquisite craftsmanship and the symbolic capital of their components; paintings and sculptures in modest materials, although discussed by some literati, were of lesser consequence. This book endeavors to return to the mainstream material long marginalized as a result of historical and ideological biases of the intervening centuries. The author analyzes how luxury arts went from being lofty markers of ascendancy and discernment in the Renaissance to being dismissed as “decorative” or “minor” arts—extravagant trinkets of the rich unworthy of the status of Art. Then, by re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, she shows how sumptuous creations constructed the world and taste of Renaissance women and men.




Architecture and the Language Debate


Book Description

This book examines the creative exchanges between architects, artists and intellectuals, from the Early Renaissance to the beginning of the Enlightenment, in the forging of relationships between architecture and emerging concepts of language in early modern Italy. The study extends across the spectrum of linguistic disputes during this time – among members of the clergy, humanists, philosophers and polymaths – on issues of grammar, rhetoric, philology, etymology and epigraphy, and how these disputes paralleled and informed important developments in architectural thinking and practice. Drawing upon a wealth of primary source material, such as humanist tracts, philosophical works, architectural/antiquarian treatises, epigraphic/philological studies, religious sermons and grammaticae, the book traces key periods when the emerging field of linguistics in early modern Italy impacted on the theory, design and symbolism of buildings.




Late Antique Letter Collections


Book Description

Bringing together an international team of historians, classicists, and scholars of religion, this volume provides the first comprehensive overview of the extant Greek and Latin letter collections of late antiquity (ca. 300–600 c.e.). Each chapter addresses a major collection of Greek or Latin literary letters, introducing the social and textual histories of each collection and examining its assembly, publication, and transmission. Contributions also reveal how collections operated as discrete literary genres, with their own conventions and self-presentational agendas. This book will fundamentally change how people both read these texts and use letters to reconstruct the social history of the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries.




Historical Dictionary of Architecture


Book Description

This dictionary provides a historical overview of the major architectural developments and styles, building materials and types, major structures and locations, sites and architects. Historical eras like ancient Egyptian architecture and the Renaissance in Europe and movements such as Art Deco are covered. Materials discussed range from concrete, stone, glass and wood, while types of structures include architectural inventions such as the arch and dome to building types from monasteries and mosques to museums and skyscrapers. Major structures highlighted in this volume include not only great achievements such as Hagia Sophia and the Eiffel Tower, but also important sites such as the Great Zimbabwe and Angkor Wat, found on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. General geographical areas are also covered, such as African and Russian architecture. Noted architects include theorists from the ancient Chinese engineer Yu Hao Roman engineer Vitruvius to many current architects such as Zaha Hadid and Santiago Calatrava, with a focus on architects who have enjoyed lasting fame through history or have won international prizes such as the Pritzker Architecture Prize. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Architecture contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 400 cross-referenced entries on architects, famous structures, types of materials, and the different architectural styles. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about architecture.




The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c.500-1492


Book Description

Byzantium lasted a thousand years, ruled to the end by self-styled 'emperors of the Romans'. It underwent kaleidoscopic territorial and structural changes, yet recovered repeatedly from disaster: even after the near-impregnable Constantinople fell in 1204, variant forms of the empire reconstituted themselves. The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c.500-1492 tells the story, tracing political and military events, religious controversies and economic change. It offers clear, authoritative chapters on the main events and periods, with more detailed chapters on outlying regions and neighbouring societies and powers of Byzantium. With aids such as maps, a glossary, an alternative place-name table and references to English translations of sources, it will be valuable as an introduction. However, it also offers stimulating new approaches and important findings, making it essential reading for postgraduates and for specialists. The revised paperback edition contains a new preface by the editor and will offer an invaluable companion to survey courses in Byzantine history.




The Book of Pontiffs of the Church of Ravenna (Medieval Texts in Translation)


Book Description

This translation makes this fascinating text accessible for the first time to an English-speaking audience. A substantial introduction to Agnellus and his composition of the text is included along with a full bibliography