Week 6 Flashcards
(8 cards)
What is a key element of how we think of the ancient city? (Grig)
“From the polis to the civitas, the ideal of the self-governing, self-sustaining city, with its council and its agora or forum, its gymnasium or its baths, represents a key element of what we think of as ‘classical civilization’.”
What happened to cities in late antiquity? (Grig)
“This urban model underwent substantial change during Late Antiquity, though, as we shall see, at different times and in different ways in different areas of what was once the classical world”
What did Liebeschuetz condsider incompatible with the traditional city? (Grig)
“for Liebeschuetz the Christianization of the city is a central aspect of (and cause of) ‘decline’, as he sees ancient Christianity as incompatible with the ideas and ideals of the classical polis”
What might have led to the change in cities? (Grig)
“This change in the personnel and character of urban government comprises the rise of the bishop as civic leader, related in turn to the Christianization of urban space”
How did change occur? (Grig)
“However, these changes happened at varying speeds, and to different extents, in very different ways across the former classical world. Regional and local studies are absolutely crucial”
How did cities in Gaul change? (Grig)
“In Gallic cities such as Bordeaux, Paris and Perigueux, for example, from the late third to the fifth centuries the urban plan underwent radical constriction, as new city walls, built to repel barbarian invaders, cut off parts of the city for good”
How did cities change in North Africa? (Grig)
“However, in North Africa the fourth and fifth centuries (at least up to the period of the Vandal conquest in 429–39) marked a period of urban expansion, not constriction, for the most part.”
