GRST 381 - Urbanism in the Ancient Mediterranean: Pompeii, Akrotiri and Constantinople

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

Daily life in the ancient Mediterranean world revolved around urbanism, as cities defined and delineated the geographic and ideological landscapes of Greece and Rome. Incorporating contemporary urban and anthropological theories of the preindustrial city, this course draws on a multidisciplinary approach using archaeology, art, historiography, and literary and documentary evidence to investigate forms and expressions of urbanism in three highly disparate cities from the ancient world: Aegean Akrotiri, Roman Pompeii, and Late Antique Constantinople. Pompeii, richly documented through documentary, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence, occupies the course’s theoretical and practical center as a type-site for exploring ancient urbanism and the mechanisms of daily life. The course then addresses two other important cities and the unique methodological challenges they pose for ancient urban studies: Akrotiri, the 2nd millennium BCE port on the island of Santorini (Thera) was preserved by a 17th century BCE volcanic eruption and is now accessible only through study of its archaeological remains, and the Late Antique (4th-7th century CE) city of Constantinople which can be recovered now primarily through literary and documentary sources. Topics include city planning, politics and social organization, public and domestic space, infrastructure, religious practices, and trade and economic production. Barbara Olsen.

Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS