Building between polis and empire. Urban development and urban ways of life in the imperial Peloponnese

ISBN-13: 9783110569513

short text

The urban landscape of the Peloponnese was changing at the dawn of the Roman Empire. The old Greek poleis saw themselves confronted with the changed socio-cultural constellations of the Imperium Romanum, not least because of the reestablishment of the Roman coloniae Corinth and Patrai. With the present study, a more complex assessment of the inner urbanization in the Peloponnese, understood as a cultural-historical development process of urban ways of life, for the period from the end of the 1st century B.C. up to the Flavian-Trajanic period.

For this purpose, the changes within the material basis of existence of the colonia Corinth as well as the two Greek poleis Sparta and Argos are analyzed and questioned with regard to their implications for the meaning of an urban identity. Finally, the previously observed urbanistic phenomena are placed in the broader framework of the Peloponnesian urban landscape in cultural change, and the regional divergences that come to light are justified.

A valuable specialist book for every ancient historian who deals with polis research, polis history or building history in antiquity.

Tags: Peloponnese, imperial period, Roman period, Greece, Poleis, imperial Hellas, archaeology, urbanity, urban planning, urban area planning, Corinth, Sparta, Argos.

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