CLST 26 Later Roman Imperial Archaeology: The Golden Age and Beyond
This course surveys Roman archaeology from Hadrian to Constantine. Emphasis is placed upon the Antonine and Severan emperors, then shifts rapidly over most of the mid-third century to focus on Diocletian and the tetrarchy, Constantine and the move of the capital to Constantinople. The course ends with a look at the great church of Hagia Sophia, and consideration of the debt of early Christianity to pagan religious traditions. A major component of the course is the study of the Romanization of the provinces, and, more specifically, the complex process of cultural hybridization (imported Roman traditions melding with local practices). Such sites as Baalbek, Petra, Dura-Europos, Palmyra, Roman Egypt, Tripolitania, Tunisia and Algeria, Constantinian Jerusalem, Trier, Spalato, etc., may be included. May be taken in partial fulfillment of the major in Art History.