Undergraduate Course: The City in the Late Antique Mediterranean World (CACA10042)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course uses texts and material culture to examine how people lived in, thought about and interacted with urban spaces and how these practices changed through time. |
| Course description |
How did the cities in the Mediterranean world develop from the fourth to the eighth century? How did the arrival of Christianity and Islam influence the built environments and how did the urban populations engage with the monuments of the pasts? This course uses texts and material culture (art, architecture and objects) to examine how people lived in, thought about and interacted with the urban space. We begin with a critical examination of the models that scholars have used to explore the process of urban change. The course adopts a thematic approach by addressing the organisation of physical space, examining the fabric of the late antique city, and exploring social and religious practices in the urban environment. Towards the end of the course, we return to the present to explore how archaeological practices and heritage management influences our view of the late antique city.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics, History or Archaeology (at least 1 of which should be in Classical Art and Archaeology) at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- critically engage with archaeological publications;
- analyse the development of cities using different strands of material culture;
- summarise the main interpretative models that have dominated the study of cities and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses;
- demonstrate a sound knowledge of the material culture of cities in the Mediterranean world from the fourth to the eighth century;
- demonstrate bibliographical research skills and to be able to independently find additional information on topics related to the archaeology of late antique cities.
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Reading List
Avni, G. 2014. The Byzantine-Islamic transition in Palestine: an archaeological approach. Oxford.
Ball, W. 2015. Rome in the East. London and New York.
Bowden, W. and Lavan, L. (eds.) 2001. Recent research in late antique urbanism. Portsmouth.
Christie, N. and Loseby, S.T. (eds.) 1996. Towns in transition: urban evolution in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Aldershot.
Dey, H.W. 2015. The afterlife of the Roman city: architecture and ceremony in late antiquity and the early middle ages. New York.
Jacobs, I. 2013. Aesthetic maintenance of civic space: the 'Classical' city from the 4th to the 7th c. AD. Leuven.
Lavan, L., Özgenel, L. and Sarantis, A.C. 2007. Housing in late antiquity: from palaces to shops. Leiden.
Leone, A. 2013. The end of the pagan city: religion, economy, and urbanism in late antique North Africa. Oxford.
Smith, R.R.R. and Ward-Perkins, B. (eds.) 2016. The last statues of Antiquity. Oxford.
Yegül, F.K. 1992. Baths and bathing in classical antiquity. New York.
Weiss, Z. 2014. Public spectacles in Roman and Late Antique Palestine. Cambridge. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Louise Blanke
Tel: (0131 6)50 2368
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Ksenia Gorlatova
Tel: (0131 6)50 8349
Email: |
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