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.




Artistry in Bronze


Book Description

The papers in this volume derive from the proceedings of the nineteenth International Bronze Congress, held at the Getty Center and Villa in October 2015 in connection with the exhibition Power and Pathos: Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World. The study of large-scale ancient bronzes has long focused on aspects of technology and production. Analytical work of materials, processes, and techniques has significantly enriched our understanding of the medium. Most recently, the restoration history of bronzes has established itself as a distinct area of investigation. How does this scholarship bear on the understanding of bronzes within the wider history of ancient art? How do these technical data relate to our ideas of styles and development? How has the material itself affected ancient and modern perceptions of form, value, and status of works of art? www.getty.edu/publications/artistryinbronze




Identity and Power


Book Description

This remarkable volume explores the transformation of Iron Age communities in northeast Gaul, giving special consideration to questions of social identity. It surveys the multi-dimensional levels of socio-political organisation, the cycles of centralisation and decentralisation, the origins of the La Tène culture, the emergence of the oppida, and the role of sanctuaries in the construction of collective identities.




Isis Pelagia: Images, Names and Cults of a Goddess of the Seas


Book Description

In Isis Pelagia: Images, Names and Cults of a Goddess of the Seas, Laurent Bricault, one of the principal scholars of the cults of Isis, presents a new interpretation of the multiple sources that present Isis as a goddess of the seas. Bricault discusses a wealth of relatively unknown archaeological and textual data, drawing on a profound knowledge of their historical context. After decades of scholarly study, Bricault offers an important contribution and a new phase in the debate on understanding the “diffusion” as well as the “reception” of the cults of Isis in the Graeco-Roman world. This book, the first English-language monograph by the leading French scholar in the field, underlines the importance of Isis Studies for broader debates in the study of ancient religion.




Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces


Book Description

Coins were the most deliberate of all symbols of public communal identities, yet the Roman historian will look in vain for any good introduction to, or systematic treatment of, the subject. Sixteen leading international scholars have sought to address this need by producing this authoritative collection of essays, which ranges over the whole Roman world from Britain to Egypt, from 200 BC to AD 300. The subject is approached through surveys of the broad geographical and chronological structure of the evidence, through chapters which focus on ways of expressing identity, and through regional studies which place the numismatic evidence in local context.




Parthian Coins & History


Book Description




The Hellenistic World


Book Description

An accessible, vivid and up-to-date student-level introduction to the coinage and history of the Hellenistic world (323-31 BC).




Children in Antiquity


Book Description

This collection employs a multi-disciplinary approach treating ancient childhood in a holistic manner according to diachronic, regional and thematic perspectives. This multi-disciplinary approach encompasses classical studies, Egyptology, ancient history and the broad spectrum of archaeology, including iconography and bioarchaeology. With a chronological range of the Bronze Age to Byzantium and regional coverage of Egypt, Greece, and Italy this is the largest survey of childhood yet undertaken for the ancient world. Within this chronological and regional framework both the social construction of childhood and the child’s life experience are explored through the key topics of the definition of childhood, daily life, religion and ritual, death, and the information provided by bioarchaeology. No other volume to date provides such a comprehensive, systematic and cross-cultural study of childhood in the ancient Mediterranean world. In particular, its focus on the identification of society-specific definitions of childhood and the incorporation of the bioarchaeological perspective makes this work a unique and innovative study. Children in Antiquity provides an invaluable and unrivalled resource for anyone working on all aspects of the lives and deaths of children in the ancient Mediterranean world.




Hellenistic Rhodes


Book Description

Rhodes was founded more that 2,400 years ago, yet our fascination for this prosperous trading center continues across the millennia. One of the most beautiful cities ever built, Rhodes had a profound influence on the Roman, and subsequent western, civilization. Hellenistic Rhodes introduces the latest research carried out by European scholars. Individual chapters approach various aspects of the politics, culture and society of Rhodes and its sphere of influence from historical, archaeological and philosophical perspectives. These multidisciplinary essays center on the Rhodian demes, relations between Rhodes and the Rhodian Peraia, the relations between Rhodes and Caria, Rhodes and Lycia in Hellenistic times, the marginalization of Crete in Greek thought, the role of piracy in the outbreak of the First Cretan War, and the Eastern Mediterranean wine trade. Also considered is the evidence from Rhodian amphorae of the trade between Rhodes and Alexandria, pottery and jewelry from Rhodian graves and aspects of Rhodian tombs. A final essay discusses the importance of the transformation of stoicism by Panaetius and Posidonius. This final volume of the series Studies in Hellenistic Civilization continues the vibrant record of the contemporary interest in, and success with, uncovering the details of a remarkable time and place.




The Porticello Shipwreck


Book Description

The Porticello Shipwreck provides unique information on seafaring technologies and trade practices at the turn of the fifth century B.C. This volume is the final report of the excavation, including detailed analyses of the ship and its contents and a thorough catalog of artifacts associated with the shipwreck. The Porticello wreck documents for the Classical period aspects of anchor, sail, and hull construction. The cargo provides the earliest evidence for maritime trade in ink and the export of Athenian lead to the Mediterranean, and the cargo of amphoras is the largest assemblage of Greek and Punic amphoras from a shipwreck site. Of particular importance are the fragments of bronze Greek sculpture of the Classical period, which include a strikingly realistic bearded head. These pieces strongly suggest that techniques of Classical Greek bronze casting were much more varied and complex than art historians previously has though possible. The information in this book will be of great value to students of Classical Greek archaeology, sculpture, and economics as well as those interested in ancient maritime history.