Chapter 25 – Late Antique transformations: Rome, Jerusalem, and Constantinople in the Age of Constantine

Flashcards

Study guide

1. Review the historical context of the Roman Empire during the third and fourth centuries. What social, military, and religious changes happened? To what extent are these changes reflected in the appearance of cities?
2. Is the Palace of Diocletian a building that looks to the past, or one that points to the future?
3. Describe the benefactions of Constantine the Great to the city of Rome. Why was it important for him to leave his mark on a city that he would soon give up for a new capital?
4. Describe Old St. Peter’s basilica. After the Edict of Milan gave Christians the right to practice their religion openly, why was the basilica chosen as the architectural design best suited for Christian worship?
5. To what extent were the city plan, architecture, and decoration of Constantinople, the new capital, anchored in the past?
6. It’s time, at the end of the book, for grand reflections. Think of change. As you recall the cities of the many civilizations that have come and gone in the Near East and the Mediterranean basin, can you discern patterns of urban life that remain constant through the centuries?  To what extent was each city, each civilization, dependent on what came before?  Or, in contrast, to what extent were ruptures complete, the need for innovation immense? Why did urban change occur? What factors explain the different paces of urban change, sometimes fast, sometimes slow?

Images

Figure 25.1

Plan, Piazza Armerina.

Figure 25.2

Mosaic from Piazza Armerina (detail): comic chariot race.

Figure 25.3

Plan, Diocletian’s Palace, Split.

Figure 25.4

Diocletian’s Palace (reconstruction), Split.

Figure 25.5

Peristyle Court, Diocletian’s Palace.

Figure 25.6

Plan, Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine, Rome.

Figure 25.7

Constantine the Great, colossal marble sculpture. Capitoline Museums, Rome.

Figure 25.8

Arch of Constantine (north side), Rome.

Figure 25.9

Siege of Verona, relief sculpture, south-west frieze, Arch of Constantine.

Figure 25.10

Plan (reconstruction), Old St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome.

Figure 25.11

Old St. Peter’s Basilica (reconstruction), Rome.

Figure 25.12

City plan, Jerusalem, fourth century AD.

Figure 25.13

Plan (reconstruction), Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, fourth century AD.

Figure 25.14

Plan, Byzantine Constantinople (Istanbul), to 1453.