Urban Evolution and Transition in Byzantine Asia Minor

FAIN: FA-11262-75

Clive Foss
University of Massachusetts, Boston (Boston, MA 02125-3300)

To study the cities of Asia Minor in Late Antiqiuty (284-610 A.D.) and the Byzantine period (7th through 13th centuries). In particular the study will consider the survival of classical urban-based culture in Late Antiquity, its transformation in the early Middle Ages under the onslaught of Persian and Arab invasions, and the extent and nature of city life in the medieval Byzantine empire, By the use of specific examples, the study will illustrate the peace and prosperity of Late Antiquity, in which classical forms were able to survive. Here, the archaeological evidence will be of prime importance, as it will be in the central part of the study which will be concerned with the crucial question of the continuity or decline of classical civilization, as represented by urban culture, into the Middle Ages.