Gates Charles. Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome

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422 ANCIENT ITALY AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE

building (Figures 25.10 and 25.11). In contrast with standard Greco-Roman religion, where cer-

emonies were held at an exterior altar, Christianity preferred to hold its ceremony, the eucharist

or remembrance of the last meal held between Jesus and his twelve apostles, at an indoor altar.

The basilica form proved convenient. This plan would become standard for church design, and

has continued so to the present day.

Like the standard Roman basilica, Old St. Peter’s was divided into a central nave (with clere-

story) and side aisles, but its columns did not run around all four sides, but along the long sides

only. Entry was through the short side. At the opposite end was an apse. This church had two

side arms; at the crossing of nave and side arms was the main altar, the focus of the ceremony.

The tomb of St. Peter lay below the altar. The nave and the side aisles provided space for the

Figure 25.10 Plan (reconstruction), Old St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome

Figure 25.11 Old St. Peter’s Basilica (reconstruction), Rome

LATE ANTIQUE TRANSFORMATIONS 423

participants and observers. The nave was decorated with figural mosaics. In front of the building

was a courtyard, called an atrium (not to be confused with the atrium of a Roman house, as at

Pompeii) surrounded by porticoes. Eventually this church would become popular as a burial site,

for it was desirable to be buried near a great saint.

JERUSALEM

The layout of Jerusalem was altered by Constantine to reflect its new status as a place of impor-

tance and pilgrimage for Christians. But first, some background: let us quickly summarize the

history of Jerusalem during the Roman Empire. At the time of Jesus’s birth, the city was con-

trolled by Herod the Great, a local ruler subservient to the Romans. A Jewish uprising against

the Romans in 66–73 was crushed by Titus; during this, the Second Temple, which Herod had

rebuilt, was destroyed. This event is referred to in the relief sculpture on the Arch of Titus in

Rome, as we have seen (Figures 23.13 and 23.14). A subsequent revolt led by Bar Kochba in

132–135 during the reign of Hadrian gave rise to another harsh Roman response. This time, the

city was renamed Aelia Capitolina, and laid out with a cardo and a decumanus and, at their cross-

ing point, the main forum (Figure 25.12; compare with Figure 10.10).

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Under Constantine, the prestige of the city was directed toward Christian matters. A cathedral

with a baptistery was constructed on the north edge of the main forum. Thus the old Roman pat-

Figure 25.12 City plan, Jerusalem,

fourth century AD

424 ANCIENT ITALY AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE

tern was repeated, of the forum (civic center) with the principal temple to the main gods, Jupiter,

Juno, and Minerva, but now this prestigious combination was given Christian content. Likewise,

existing Roman traditions would also be adapted in other spheres. Church architecture, as we

have seen, saw the Roman basilica transformed for religious use by Christians. In pictorial art,

many Greco-Roman motifs were reinterpreted for a Christian audience, and the style was simply

that of the prevalent Roman art of the day.

During the construction of this church, a rock-cut tomb was discovered: not a surprise in

itself, for this area had served as a Jewish burial ground in earlier times. But identified as the tomb

of Jesus and thus the site of the Resurrection, the central event in Christianity, this tomb was

soon sheltered by a round martyrium, known as the Rotunda of the Anastasis (Resurrection).

With the church soon to house relics of the True Cross (the wooden cross on which Jesus died),

the four-part complex of atrium court, basilica church, second courtyard, and rotunda became a

major destination for Christian pilgrims (Figure 25.13).

The Constantinian rotunda and church were destroyed in 1009 by al-Hakim, a Fatimid ruler,

then rebuilt in 1048 with the sponsorship of the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monoma-

chos. The Crusaders made many modifications after they captured Jerusalem in 1099. The

church today is thus quite different from the fourth-century original.

CONSTANTINOPLE, THE “NEW ROME”

Although always supporting Rome, and now adding new buildings to the religious centers of

Jerusalem and Antioch, Constantine turned his eyes to the north-east, to the city of Byzantium.

Recognizing the greater richness of the eastern half of the empire, and the practical benefits

of having a headquarters closer to the eastern and Danube frontiers, Constantine decided to

move the imperial capital from Rome to Byzantium. The dedication ceremony took place in the

hippodrome on May 11, 330. Byzantium, occupied since the Bronze Age, and refounded as a

Greek city during the Iron Age, had played a modest role in Greek and Roman history. In the late

second century, because it had supported an unsuccessful rival of Septimius Severus, Severus

Figure 25.13 Plan (reconstruction), Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, fourth century AD

LATE ANTIQUE TRANSFORMATIONS 425

captured and sacked the city, but then he rebuilt its walls (they no longer survive). The city’s

location on a peninsula at the southern end of straits (the Bosphorus) leading from the Sea of

Marmara to the Black Sea was now considered of strategic and commercial value. This remark-

able position as a crossroads, both maritime and land (between Europe and Asia), earned the city

its role as an imperial capital for 1,600 years, first Byzantine, then Ottoman.

Few traces of Constantine’s new capital survive, because Constantinople was much rebuilt in

subsequent centuries. However, from literary sources in particular we can get some idea of what

he did, how he redesigned the city to make it worthy of its new role as imperial capital (Figure

25.14). Of importance were the new city walls, defining the limits of the capital; these walls,

however, no longer exist. The main street, or Mese, led from the tip of the peninsula down its

spine, forking at the later Forum of Theodosius before continuing toward the land walls. The

street soon passed through the Forum of Constantine, an oval plaza with a commemorative por-

phyry column in the center, with a bronze statue of Constantine as Helios, the sun god, on top

(this statue survived until toppled in a storm in 1106). The column shaft was not decorated with

sculpture. However, during the dedication of the new capital, prestigious items from the Greco-

Roman past and from the Christian present were placed inside the base, such as the Palladium,

a venerable statue of Athena thought to come originally from Troy. This forum was the site of

civic buildings of the new city. Although the ground level of Constantine’s oval forum now lies

Figure 25.14 Plan, Byzantine Constantinople (Istanbul), to 1453

426 ANCIENT ITALY AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE

3m below today’s streets, the column still stands, although damaged and without the statue on

top, as a series of column drums held in place by metal bands.

The other great institution was the hippodrome, a stadium for chariot races, built by Septi-

mius Severus ca. 200, later rebuilt by Constantine. Adjacent to the royal palace (which would be

developed in succeeding centuries), the hippodrome was a long narrow circus, 480m × 117.5m,

a track with one straight end, for the start and finish, and a curved end, which was supported

by a huge construction of vaulting on the south end, the sphendone, which extended the flat land

where the hill sloped down toward the Sea of Marmara. As the main public gathering place of

the city, the Hippodrome was decorated with prestigious items taken from different parts of the

empire. Today all that remains from the Constantinian period is the fragmentary bronze Serpent

Column from Delphi (see Chapter 15), which served as one of many decorations along the spina,

the central divider of the hippodrome track. The Serpent Column celebrated the Greek victory

over the Persians at Plataea in 479 BC. By bringing this commemorative monument to his new

capital and by setting it up in such a prominent position, Constantine made clear that his state, his

city was not something entirely new, but had deep roots in the past achievements of the region.

Likewise Theodosius I, an emperor of the later fourth century, would erect on this very same

spina an Egyptian obelisk carved in the time of Thutmose III (fifteenth century BC): an even

deeper reach into the past.

Constantine was buried in Constantinople in a round mausoleum, a martyrium. This building

served as a chapel or church right from the start, it seems, supplied with an altar. At some point,

either in 336 or 356–357, relics of the apostles Timothy, Luke, and Andrew were housed here

until an adjacent cruciform church was completed and dedicated in 370. This Church of the Holy

Apostles became the burial site of Byzantine royalty for several hundred years. Rebuilt during the

reign of Justinian (ruled 527–565), the church was already in ruins by the time of the Latin sack

of the city in 1204. Neither tomb nor church has survived.

IN CONCLUSION

What legacy has pre-Christian antiquity left for the cities of this new world order? Good fortifi-

cations, important streets, a hippodrome for the much-loved chariot races, an exalted placed for

the emperor’s residence in the layout of the city, and, thanks to the Romans, the dome, the sym-

bol of heaven, the appropriate roof for the place of worship. What dies away? Features are never

abruptly canceled. More often that not a city with all its qualities slowly fades away, bypassed

now by the trade routes, its harbor filled in by a silt-bearing river, its back broken by invaders

or an earthquake or the growth of swamps hospitable to malarial mosquitoes. Newly important

cities try to remember: when it remains useful, the past survives. But they must innovate, too.

Urban life is always recreating.

Glossary

Absolute chronology. The assigning of calendar dates, fixed points in time. The opposite of

relative chronology.

Acropolis. “High city,” in Greek; a fortified hilltop in an ancient Greek city.

Acroterion. A stone or terracotta decoration or statue placed on a small platform on top of

the pediment, in Greek, Etruscan, and Roman architecture; pl. acroteria. In Etruscan

architecture, could also be placed along the roof pole and atop the descending line of the

pediment.

Agora. The civic center of a Greek city, containing civic, commercial, and religious buildings; pl.

agoras.

Amphitheater. In Roman architecture, a round or oval open-air building used for spectacles.

Amphora. In Greek and Roman ceramics, a tall jar with two vertical handles and a narrow neck;

pl. amphoras, amphorae. Typically used to transport wine and olive oil.

Anatolia. The western Asian peninsula bordered by the Black Sea, the Aegean, and the

Mediterranean, with the eastern border variously defined; today the western part of Turkey.

Also called Asia Minor, especially when referring to the Greek and Roman periods.

Arch. In architecture, a curved form that spans an opening. In antiquity, two technically different

types of arches are: corbelled (on each side of the space to be covered, each successive course

of horizontally laid stones projects further inward until the two sides meet at the top) and

true (wedge-shaped stones fit against each other to make a smooth curve). The true arch was

a hallmark of Roman architecture.

Archaeological survey. Recording remains visible on the surface, without recourse to exca-

vation. Useful for examining rural areas, where small sites might not justify the expense of

excavation.

Aryballos. In ancient Greek ceramics, a small vase typically used for perfumed oil; pl. aryballoi.

Ashlar masonry. Stonework in wall construction that consists of rectangular blocks with square

edges and smooth faces.

Atrium. In Roman domestic architecture, a centrally placed room with an opening to the sky and a

basin below; pl. atria. The tetrastyle atrium has four columns around the basin; the Tuscan

atrium has none. In early Christian architecture, the portico-lined forecourt of a church.

Attic. The upper story, above the entablature in a classical façade. In this book, used notably for

triumphal arches: the highest story, above the arched section below.

Attica. The city-state of Athens, its urban and rural territory together. Attic: (adj.) pertaining to

Attica.

Attribute. In pictorial imagery, a feature that serves to identify a person, being, or building, such as

items of clothing, objects held, or distinctive architectural forms (e.g., a gate, or towers).

428 GLOSSARY

Basilica. A rectangular building with a taller central area lit by a clerestory. During the Roman

Republic and Empire, typically used for civic purposes; from the fourth century on, a Christian

church.

Black-figure. A technique of pottery decoration, best known from Athens in the Archaic and

Classical periods; the images are black, while the background is left in the natural orange-red

color of the clay of Athens. The opposite of red-figure.

Bouleuterion. In a Greek city, the building where the council (Gk. boule) met.

Carbon 14 dating. A method of assigning absolute dates to organic materials (plants, seeds, etc.)

based on the predictably changing ratio between stable carbon 12 and carbon 14, a radioa-

ctive isotope. Carbon 14 begins to disintegrate when a plant dies; after ca. 5,730 years (its

“half-life”), only half the original quantity remains.

Cardo. The main north–south street in a Roman city; crosses the decumanus at a right angle.

Caryatid. A column-like architectural support carved in the form of a clothed woman.

Casemate wall. A fortification wall whose foundations consist of stone-walled compartments

filled not with stones but with earth; a design used in Bronze Age Anatolia.

Cataract. In Egypt and Sudan, a place where the Nile River is obstructed by boulders, rocks, and

islets, blocking or impeded navigation. The First Cataract, located at Aswan, marked the

southern boundary of ancient Egypt. The five additional major cataracts are located further

south, in modern Sudan.

Cella. The main room of a Greek or Roman temple, where the statue of the god has its home.

Also called the “naos.”

Choregic monument. A monument set up by a choregos (pl. choregoi), a wealthy Athenian citi-

zen who financed the training and other expenses of the chorus in a dramatic performance,

to commemorate a prize won in a dramatic competition.

Civitas. A Latin word used by the Romans to denote local government; city (included the Greek

polis); state (or tribe, for non-Roman peoples); citizenship; and citizenry. English “city”

derives from it, via French “cité.”

Clerestory. The upper level of a building or room, rising above the roofs of the other parts, and

containing windows to let in light and air.

Colonia. A Roman town founded by the government to assure military control or political domi-

nation in a conquered region; in later times, a colonia would be established to relieve popula-

tion pressure in large cities or to reward veterans with free land. Differs from a Greek colony,

a regular settlement autonomous from its mother city.

Corbelled arch. See Arch.

Corbelled vault. See Vault.

Cryptoporticus. A covered, vaulted passageway, often underground, and often serving as the

substructure for a portico or other building; lighting and ventilation are provided by openings

either in the vaulted ceiling or in the side walls.

Cuneiform script. A writing system in which signs are made from combinations of wedge-

shaped marks, used in the Ancient Near East from the Protoliterate period to the first century

AD. Cuneiform writing survives on clay tablets and stone inscriptions. The term, coined in the

late seventeenth century, is derived from “cuneus,” Latin for “wedge.”

Cyclopean masonry. Stone masonry consisting of crudely fitted huge blocks, with tiny stones

filling the interstices; used notably in Mycenaean Greece and the Hittite capital, Hattusa. So

named by later Greeks, who believed that only giants such as the Cyclopes could manipulate

such large stones.

Cylinder seal. A small cylinder usually of stone, carved on the outside with a design or image,

GLOSSARY 429

typically pierced longitudinally for a string to pass through. The design would be rolled onto

moist clay, a sign of ownership or authority. The cylinder seal, popular in Mesopotamia from

the Protoliterate period through the Iron Age, contrasts with the stamp seal (design on the

flat underside only) used elsewhere.

Decumanus. The main east–west street in a Roman city; perpendicular to the cardo.

Ethnoarchaeology. Ethnographical research directed toward understanding how current

behavior might explain the making and use of material objects by ancient peoples.

Ethnos. In ancient Greece, a political organization consisting of a loose association of villages;

prevalent in western and northern areas of the Greek peninsula.

Exedra. In Roman architecture, a semicircular recess, set into a building’s façade, or a curved

break in a colonnade; pl. exedras. Also applied to an extra room, a retreat, as in the House of

the Faun, Pompeii.

Forum. The civic center of a Roman city, with open space, markets, and buildings for civic and

religious functions; pl. fora. The equivalent of the Greek agora.

Fresco. A term of Italian origin that denotes painting on a plastered wall or ceiling; pl. frescos or

frescoes. The two main techniques are true fresco and dry fresco. True fresco is painting on

freshly prepared wet lime plaster; as it dries, the plaster absorbs the paint pigment. Dry fresco

is painting on dry plaster; the pigment must be mixed with an additional element to fix the

paint to the surface.

Frieze. In Greek and Roman architecture, the upper of two horizontal bands that rest on top of

the colonnade. In the Doric order, the frieze is decorated with trigylyphs and metopes. The

Ionic frieze is either plain or decorated with relief sculpture.

Glacis. A sloping rampart, used in the outer foundations of fortifications in order to widen and

strengthen the base and to expose attackers attempting to scale the wall.

Grid plan. A type of urban layout characterized by streets that cross at right angles; an orthogonal

plan.

Gymnasium. From the Greek word for “naked,” a building typically consisting of a court sur-

rounded by a portico, often with additional rooms, used for physical exercise and training in

sports; side rooms could be used as schoolrooms for boys. In form and function, very much

like a palaestra.

Herm. A plain, rectangular stone shaft with a portrait head on top. In the Classical world, the

bearded god Hermes was typically represented in such a form, with male genitalia carved

half-way down; such herms were used as boundary markers and protective images, and were

considered to bring good luck.

Herodotus. A major Greek historian, ca. 484–425 BC, his Histories recount the invasion of main-

land Greece by the Achaemenid Persians (the Persian Wars, 490–479 BC). In presenting the

background to the conflict, he explores the cultures of the larger region, from the Black Sea

steppes to Egypt.

Heroon. In ancient Greece, a monument or tomb dedicated to a hero, a man with larger-than-life

qualities, either mortal or legendary (pronounced with three syllables: he-ro-on).

Hieroglyphic script. From Greek, “sacred carving.” Writing systems developed by the ancient

Egyptians, the Hittites (to write Luvian), and others that use hieroglyphs, stylized pictures

that can represent sounds, words, and concepts (such as determinatives, the class to which a

word belongs).

Hippodrome. A stadium for horse or chariot races; in Latin, circus.

Höyük. See Tell.

Hypostyle hall. A large room whose roof is supported by rows of columns or piers.

430 GLOSSARY

Inscription. A piece of writing on a stone, a coin, or a monument; usually carved (especially if on

stone), but can be painted, formed in a mold, etc.

Insula. Latin for “island,” used to denote a city block in the ancient Mediterranean region; also a

multi-storied apartment building in Roman cities; pl. insulae.

Ka. In ancient Egyptian belief, one of the souls with which a person was born. At physical

death this spiritual essence left the body, but could continue to be nourished with food

and drink.

Kore. Greek for “young woman.” In Archaic Greek sculpture, a free-standing statue of a young

woman, typically clothed, smiling, feet together; pl. korai.

Kouros. Greek for “young man.” In Archaic Greek sculpture, a free-standing statue of a young

man, typically nude, smiling, one foot placed in front of the other; pl. kouroi.

Krater. In Greek ceramics, a large, wide-mouthed bowl, typically used to mix wine and water.

Lamassu. A human-headed, winged bull or lion; colossal statues of lamassus often guarded

doorways in Neo-Assyrian palaces.

Linear B script. A writing system used to write Mycenaean Greek. Descended from the Linear

A script, used by the Minoans to write their as yet undeciphered language. Unlike the later

Greek alphabet, this script is a syllabary.

Light well. A mini-courtyard; a frequent design element in Minoan architecture.

Lost-wax. A technique of bronze casting using a clay core and a wax coating placed in a mold. The

wax is melted in the mold and drained out; liquid bronze is poured into the space left. When

the bronze cools and solidifies, the core is removed, leaving a hollow bronze object.

Lower and Upper Egypt. The two main divisions of ancient Egypt. The terms refer to their

geographical positions along the north-flowing Nile River. Lower Egypt, lying downstream,

is in the north, the area of the Nile delta. Upper Egypt is located upstream, south of Lower

Egypt, stretching from modern Cairo south to Aswan.

Lustral basin. In Minoan architecture, a small, sunken rectangular room, often lined with gypsum

slabs, reached by an L-shaped staircase. Used for religious functions.

Martyrium. In Christian architecture, a building that marks the site of an event in the life of Jesus

or that commemorates a martyr: the site of martyrdom or a martyr’s tomb. Typically round or

octagonal in form, the martyrium derives from Roman imperial tomb architecture.

Mastaba tomb. From Arabic, “bench.” In ancient Egypt, a low, flat-roofed rectangular structure

typically made of sun-dried mud brick that protected a burial in the ground below.

Mausoleum. Thanks to the luxurious tomb building of Mausolus, ruler of Caria, erected in

Halikarnassos in the mid-fourth century BC, this word now denotes any elaborate above-

ground building containing a tomb or tombs.

Megaron. A rectangular room with a central hearth, typically surrounded by four columns to sup-

port the ceiling and preceded by a shallow porch and possibly a small anteroom as well. This

plan is used for free-standing buildings in Neolithic Greece and Early Bronze Age western

Anatolia, and later as the central unit of the Mycenaean palace. The word is ancient, used by

Homer; pl. megarons, or megara.

Neolithic Revolution. A phrase coined by V. G. Childe that indicates the dramatic nature of

changes in subsistence techniques that occurred during the long-lasting Neolithic period:

agriculture (cultivation) and animal husbandry; also includes such other skills developed at

this time as pottery making, metallurgy, and recording systems (before writing).

Numismatics. The study of coins, medals, and banknotes.

Nymphaeum. A fountain building, supplying water; originally conceived as a shrine to water

nymphs; pl. nymphaea.

GLOSSARY 431

Obelisk. A tall stone pillar, square in section with a pyramidal top. In ancient Egypt, obelisks had

religious significance, symbolizing the sun.

Obsidian. A dark glass-like volcanic stone; especially before the development of metallurgy, used

for making tools valued for their sharp cutting edges.

Odeon. A Greek word; also odeion, Latin odeum; pl. odeons, odea. In Greek and Roman

architecture, a covered theater or concert hall, usually small, for musical performances, poetry

recitals, etc.

Order. In Greek and Roman architecture, a system of design containing well-defined formal

elements organized in a narrow range of proportional relationships. The two main orders are

Doric and Ionic.

Orthostat. A large stone slab set upright against the base of a wall; could be decorated with relief

sculpture. Popular in Assyria, North Syria, and Anatolia.

Ostrakon (also ostracon). A potsherd or stone chip on which something is written; pl. ostraka,

ostraca.

Oxhide ingot. A flat, rectangular ingot with two or normally all four corners pulled out, for easy

handling. Copper and tin ore were transported in this form during the Late Bronze age. The

modern name comes from a (coincidental) resemblance to an animal skin nailed in the cor-

ners for drying.

Palaestra. From a Greek word for wrestling; a building with a court surrounded by a portico and

often rooms, used for training for wrestling and other sports. Similar in form and function

to a gymnasium.

Pediment. The triangular area above the colonnade and entablature on the short ends of a Greek

or Roman temple, or above a columned porch in Classical architecture.

Peristyle. Surrounded by columns. A peristyle court is a courtyard surrounded by columned

porticoes.

Pier-and-door partition. A feature of Minoan architecture. A wall of multiple doorways, created

by a row of piers with niches in their sides into which wooden door flaps could be folded in

warm months, when the circulation of air was desired.

Pithos. A large ceramic storage jar; pl. pithoi.

Polis. In ancient Greece, a city-state, a city; pl. poleis.

Portico. A structure consisting of a roof supported by a line or lines of regularly spaced columns;

often one side is attached to another building.

Postern. A small, secondary entrance, especially in a fortification; often in a concealed location.

Propylon. In Greek architecture, a gateway.

Punic. In general, pertaining to Phoenicians of the central and western Mediterrean from the sixth

to the second centuries BC, when Phoenician-founded Carthage was dominant. The word can

also mean specifically Carthaginian, or pertaining to ancient Carthage. From Latin words for

Phoenician (poenus, punicus, poenicus).

Pylon. In ancient Egyptian architecture, a wedge-shaped wall cut by an open-air passageway.

In temples, the pylon represented the distant mountains between which the sun rose and

set.

Quadriga. A chariot pulled by four horses.

Red-figure. A technique of pottery decoration, best known from Athens in the Archaic and

Classical periods; the images are left in the natural orange-red color of the clay of Athens,

while the background is black. The opposite of black-figure.

Refinements. In Greek architecture, the slight deviations from the true horizontal and

vertical lines, deliberately done – according to Vitruvius, a Roman architect and writer on