Finding the Local within the Global: A Comparative Study of Public Architecture and Urban Development in Roman-period Lycia
This study contributes to the growing body of scholarship that utilizes globalization theory as a means of exploring changes in material culture and urban society in the Roman provinces, focusing on the understudied region of Lycia et Pamphylia. More specifically, it takes a multi-scalar approach to exploring how local, regional, and global architectural traditions were blended into uniquely Lycian urban forms, paying attention to the crucial role played by local and imperial agency in processes of urban development and practices of civic benefaction. By analyzing these urban landscapes as lived environments and considering the ways that pedestrian experiences both shaped and were shaped by architecture and urban space, we gain a better understanding of the diverse ways that “Roman” urbanism manifests across the eastern empire. The study is structured as a comparative analysis of six sites in western Lycia, which are divided by regional topography into two micro-regions: the Xanthos valley, with the sites of Patara, Xanthos, and Tlos; and the Kibyratis, a highland zone where the cities of Oinoanda, Balboura, and Boubon are located. Across these two micro-regions, I examine how each city developed over the course of the Roman imperial period, or the 1st to 3rd centuries CE, focusing primarily on the public architecture and infrastructure known through archaeological investigation (Chapter 3). I then consider how the actions of individual and communal agencies, from local elites and Roman provincial officials to the city boule or the regional koinon, shaped the development of cities over time, focusing on patterns in architectural benefaction and the temporal rhythms of urban development (Chapter 4). I also explore the spatial arrangement of these cities through a framework of urban “zones,” which I developed for the purpose of modeling the pedestrian experience of the three-dimensional city, in contrast to the modern Cartesian perspective (Chapter 5). Finally, I utilize three architectural case-studies – arches, baths, and theater-temples – to demonstrate the effectiveness of a multi-scalar approach to architecture and urban development in the Roman provinces (Chapter 6). This study therefore demonstrates the capacity of a multi-scalar model for defining local developments within broader regional and global contexts.
History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
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