Public space and memory in late antique Byzantium

Abstract

This thesis examines the transformation of the public space in late antique Byzantium from the perspective of identity and memory studies. The process of destruction, removal, and/or Christianization of historically important urban spaces, which gave the ancient and late antique cities their identities and collective memories, should be studied in their civic as well as religious contexts. Several questions may be asked in this regard: Why were certain specific places chosen for the transformation? How was the transformation perceived by different parties, especially the spatial aspect of it? How did authors make use of the past in order to construct their narratives and justify their discourses? How were different identities and ‘others’ constructed over these ‘meaningful’ spaces? This thesis examines three cases in the context of these questions. After the introduction (Chapter One), Chapter Two studies the destruction of the famous Serapeum complex in Alexandria, Chapter Three analyzes the removal of the Altar of Victory in Rome, and Chapter Four discusses the conversion of the Temple of Aphrodite in Aphrodisias.