‎Max Ritter, lodie Turquois (eds)‎
‎Imagery and Aesthetics of Late Antique Cities‎

‎, Brepols, 2025 Hardback, Pages: x + 197, Size:216 x 280 mm, Illustrations:4 b/w, 17 col., 4 tables b/w., Language: English. ISBN 9782503611914.‎

Reference : 70576

‎Summary While the role of the city in Late Antiquity has often been discussed by archaeologists and historians alike, it is only in recent years that scholarship has begun to offer a more nuanced approach in our understanding to how such cities functioned, stepping away from the traditional paradigm of their decline and fall with the collapse of the Roman Empire. In line with this approach, this deliberately interdisciplinary volume seeks to provide a more multifaceted understanding of urban history by drawing together scholars of literary and material culture to discuss the concepts of imagery and aesthetics of late antique cities. Gathering together contributions by historians, philologists, archaeologists, literature specialists, and art historians, the volume aims to explore the imagery and aesthetics of cities in Late Antiquity within a strong theoretical framework. The different chapters explore the aesthetics of cityscape representations in literature and art, asking in particular whether literary representations of late antique urban landscapes mirror the urban reality of eclectic ensembles of pre-existing architecture and new buildings, as well as questioning both how the ideal of the city evolved in the imagination of the period and if imperial ideology was reflected in literary depictions of cities. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations Abbreviations Imagery and Aesthetics of Late Antique Cities. An Introduction Elodie Turquois From the City of Indians to Jerusalem. Nonnus of Panopolis' Real and Imagined Cities Arianna Rotondo Experiencing a City in Harmony. The Aesthetics and Ethics of Gaza in Choricius's Panegyrics Jan R. Stenger Aesthetics of Urban Decor in Sixth-Century CE Greek ekphraseis. Gaza and Constantinople Delphine Lauritzen Constantinople in the Latin Geographical Imagination (300-600) Caroline B langer The Emperor as Builder: Justinian, Constantinople, and the Past in Malalas' Chronographia and Procopius' Buildings Olivier Gengler From Constantinople to Edessa. Syriac Historians and the Justinianic City Lea Niccolai Cityscapes in Early Syriac Poetry. Nisibis, Amida, Edessa Philip Michael Forness The Beautiful Wall. Militarized Cityscapes in the Age of Justinian Conor Whately A Land of Small Forts and Cross Walls. The Sixth-Century Balkans according to the Buildings Alexander Sarantis The City Foundations of Justinian between Imagery and Reality through the Lenses of Justiniana Prima and Caput Vada Max Ritter Why Depict a City? Urban Imagery in the Early Medieval Eastern Mediterranean Bill Leal Why Else Depict a City? A Response Philipp Niew hner Epilogue. Cities of the Mind, Cities of the Heart, Cities of Stone Hendrik Dey‎