Ritual landscapes in the cities of Late Roman Gaul
Our picture of urban transformation in late antiquity is inevitable coloured by the fact that it took place against the backdrop of the political decline of Rome. Many of the features that characterise the classic image of the ancient city, civic monuments for example, enjoyed a close relationship with the political and social institutions of the empire. The disruption and eventual disappearance of this political order had an inevitable impact upon the topography of cities. The abandonment and decay of ancient monuments is one of the most striking phenomena in late antiquity, especially in Gaul where it is seen particularly clearly. However this is only one part of a much larger and more significant story that resulted in cities surviving the collapse of the political system that had, for the vastest number of urban centres, been responsible for their creation and their development. In this thesis, it is argued that the physical transformation of cities disguises real continuity in terms of the function that they served in both Roman and Medieval society. This is based upon a definition of the city that focuses on its role in establishing corporate identities, which in both pagan and Christian societies were
Barber, D. C.
Ritual landscapes in the cities of Late Roman Gaul. Our picture of urban transformation in late antiquity is inevitable coloured by the fact that it took place against the backdrop of the political decline of Rome. Many of the features that characterise the classic image of the ancient city, civic monuments for example, enjoyed a close relationship with the political and social institutions of the empire. The disruption and eventual disappearance of this political order had an inevitable impact upon the topography of cities. The abandonment and decay of ancient monuments is one of the most striking phenomena in late antiquity, especially in Gaul where it is seen particularly clearly. However this is only one part of a much larger and more significant story that resulted in cities surviving the collapse of the political system that had, for the vastest number of urban centres, been responsible for their creation and their development. In this thesis, it is argued that the physical transformation of cities disguises real continuity in terms of the function that they served in both Roman and Medieval society. This is based upon a definition of the city that focuses on its role in establishing corporate identities, which in both pagan and Christian societies were
ritual landscape city late roman gaul picture urban transformation late_antiquity inevitable colour fact take_place backdrop political decline rome many feature characterise classic image ancient_city civic monument example enjoy close_relationship political_social institution empire disruption eventual disappearance political order inevitable impact_upon topography city abandonment decay ancient monument strike phenomenon late_antiquity especially gaul see particularly clearly however part much_large significant story result city survive collapse political_system number urban_centre responsible creation development argue physical transformation city disguise real continuity term function serve roman medieval society base_upon definition city focus_role establish corporate_identity pagan christian society