The end of the pagan city : religion, economy, and urbanism in late antique North Africa / Anna Leone.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Leone, Anna, 1967- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cities and towns--Africa, North--History--To 1500.

Cities and towns.

Cities and towns--Religious aspects--Paganism.

Paganism--Africa, North--History--To 1500.

Paganism.

Sociology, Urban--Africa, North--History--To 1500.

Sociology, Urban.

History.

Africa, North--Antiquities.

Africa, North.

North Africa.

Antiquities.

Physical Description:

xxii, 319 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, 2013.

Summary:

This book focuses primarily on the end of the pagan religious tradition and the dismantling of its material form in North Africa (modern Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya) from the 4th to the 6th century AD. Leone considers how urban communities changed, why some traditions were lost and some others continued, and whether these carried the same value and meaning upon doing so. Addressing two main issues, mainly from an archaeological perspective, the volume explores the change in religious habits and practices, and the consequent recycling and reuse of pagan monuments and materials, and investigates to what extent these physical processes were driven by religious motivations and contrasts, or were merely stimulated by economic issues. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Paganism and Christianity in Late Antique North Africa 1

1 Introduction 1

2 What Paganism and What Christianity? 6

3 Sacred and Secular: Augustine and his Contemporaries 7

4 From Paganism to Christianity: Donatism, the Circumcelliones 14

5 Vandal and Byzantine Conquests: An Overview 19

6 Urban Monumentality and Religiosity in Late Antique North Africa: A Summary 21

7 The End of Paganism in Late Antique North Africa 23

2 The Fate of Pagan Religious Architecture: Was there a Conversion from the Temple to the Church? 27

1 Introduction 28

2 The End of Temple Maintenance and Restoration 34

3 Emperors, Legislation, and the Fate of Temples 40

4 Cult Prohibition: The Archaeological Evidence of Private Cults 46

5 Post-Closure Temple Maintenance: The Legislation 55

6 The Fate of Temples: Use and Reuse of Buildings in North Africa 61

7 The End of Temples: An Ideological Event? 80

3 Pagan Continuity and Christian Attitudes: When did Paganism End? 83

1 Introduction 83

2 Sacerdotes and Flamines in Late Antique North Africa 87

3 Fifth-Century Evidence: The Vandal Period 91

4 Calendars and Games: The Case of Late Antique North Africa 99

5 The Buildings of the Imperial Cult 101

6 The Last Official Dedication of Imperial Statues: New Urban Settings and Display 115

7 Conclusions 118

4 The Fate of Statues: Legacy of the Past or Economic Casualties? 121

1 Introduction 121

2 Evidence from Legislation and Written Sources 125

3 Statues and the Classical Tradition 126

4 Statues and Markets 130

5 Destruction and Deposition of Statues 133

6 Statues and Textual Evidence from Africa 136

7 Damnatio memoriae and Destruction 139

8 Statues Buried, or Left in Pits, Wells, Cisterns, and Rooms of Derelict Buildings 144

9 Statues in Excavated Public Buildings 151

10 Carthage and the Case of the Antonine Baths-the Borj Jedid Area 159

11 The Temple of Apollo at Bulla Regia: Museum or Warehouse? 169

12 Thugga/Dougga and the Temple of Saturn: A Case Study 176

13 Between Pagans and Christians: Statues and Symbols 178

5 Spolia in Churches: Recycling in Late Antique Building Activity 189

1 Introduction 189

2 Spolia: Economy, Style, and Symbolism 190

3 Style and Marbles in Late Antique North Africa 192

4 Trade to Late Antique North Africa 195

5 Imported Marbles in Context: The Case of Carthage 200

6 Urban Workshops 202

7 Early Byzantine Architecture and its Language: The North African Perspective 215

8 Marble Decoration in Byzantine Sabratha 218

9 Basilica I in Sabratha: Church Decorations 220

10 Spolia and Trade: Between Secular Life and Economy 229

6 Secular Life in Late Antique North Africa 235

1 Introduction 235

2 What Pagans and What Christians? 236

3 Statues and Supply 238

4 Marbles and Spolia: Symbols or Required Objects? 241

5 Secular Life in Late Antique North Africa 243.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [271]-313) and index.

ISBN:

9780199570928

0199570922

OCLC:

854177711