- Title Pages
- List of Plates
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Maps
- 1 The Transition to Late Antiquity
- 2 The Transition to Late Antiquity on the Lower Danube: the City, a Fort and the Countryside
- 3 The Lower Danube Region under Pressure: from Valens to Heraclius
- 4 The Late Roman Army and the Defence of the Balkans
- 5 Goths in the Roman Balkans <i>c</i>.350–500
- 6 The Two Anglo-Bulgarian Research Programmes and the Results of the Bulgarian Excavations
- 7 The Late Roman Agora and the State of Civic Organization
- 8 The Environmental Archaeology Research Programme at Nicopolis: Methodology and Results
- 9 Dichin (Bulgaria): Interpreting the Ceramic Evidence in its Wider Context
- 10 Seeds of Destruction: Conflagration in the Grain Stores of Dichin
- 11 A Short Report on the Preliminary Results from the Study of the Mammal and Bird Bone Assemblages from Dichin
- 12 Coin Circulation in the Balkans in Late Antiquity
- 13 The Transformation of Cities in Late Antiquity within the Provinces of Macedonia and Epirus
- 14 Caričin Grad and the Changes in the Nature of Urbanism in the Central Balkans in the Sixth Century
- 15 Nicopolis ad Istrum: Backward and Balkan?
- 16 Ephesus in the Late Roman and Early Byzantine Period: Changes in its Urban Character from the Third to the Seventh Century AD
- 17 Amida and Tropaeum Traiani: a Comparison of Late Antique Fortress Cities on the Lower Danube and Mesopotamia
- 18 The Fort of Iatrus in Moesia Secunda: Observations on the Late Roman Defensive System on the Lower Danube (Fourth–Sixth Centuries AD)
- 19 The Fortresses of Thrace and Dacia in the Early Byzantine Period
- 20 From the Danube to the Po: the Defence of Pannonia and Italy in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries AD
- 21 Extensive Field Survey in North Central Bulgaria
- 22 Site-Specific Field Survey: the Methodology
- 23 Geophysical Survey and Rural Settlement Architecture on the Lower Danube at the Transition to Late Antiquity
- 24 Another View on Late Antiquity: Sagalassos (SW Anatolia), its Suburbium and its Countryside in Late Antiquity
- 25 The Contribution of Regional Survey to the Late Antiquity Debate: Greece in its Mediterranean Context
The Late Roman Agora and the State of Civic Organization
The Late Roman Agora and the State of Civic Organization
- Chapter:
- (p.202) (p.203) 7 The Late Roman Agora and the State of Civic Organization
- Source:
- The Transition to Late Antiquity, on the Danube and Beyond
- Author(s):
P. VLADKOVA
- Publisher:
- British Academy
The second half of the third century marks an important period in the history of Lower Moesia and the Balkans. It coincides with the economic and political crisis which spread across the Roman Empire and affected all levels of society. This chapter reviews the evidence for the character of the agora in Nicopolis ad Istrum during the late Roman and early Byzantine periods. First, it explains the historical context and then describes the epigraphic finds — which cease with the reign of Aurelian. It also details the coins that were discovered and their implications for continued use of the agora during the fourth century and on into the fifth and sixth centuries. Even so, archaeological excavations have demonstrated that there is no reason to believe that the agora served its original purpose beyond the middle of the fifth century, when flimsy structures were erected over the remains of the former civic centre. Occupation is still attested during the first half of the sixth century before the remaining buildings were destroyed by fire.
Keywords: Lower Moesia, Balkans, Roman Empire, agora, Nicopolis ad Istrum, archaeological excavations, civic centre, Aurelian, coins
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- Title Pages
- List of Plates
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Maps
- 1 The Transition to Late Antiquity
- 2 The Transition to Late Antiquity on the Lower Danube: the City, a Fort and the Countryside
- 3 The Lower Danube Region under Pressure: from Valens to Heraclius
- 4 The Late Roman Army and the Defence of the Balkans
- 5 Goths in the Roman Balkans <i>c</i>.350–500
- 6 The Two Anglo-Bulgarian Research Programmes and the Results of the Bulgarian Excavations
- 7 The Late Roman Agora and the State of Civic Organization
- 8 The Environmental Archaeology Research Programme at Nicopolis: Methodology and Results
- 9 Dichin (Bulgaria): Interpreting the Ceramic Evidence in its Wider Context
- 10 Seeds of Destruction: Conflagration in the Grain Stores of Dichin
- 11 A Short Report on the Preliminary Results from the Study of the Mammal and Bird Bone Assemblages from Dichin
- 12 Coin Circulation in the Balkans in Late Antiquity
- 13 The Transformation of Cities in Late Antiquity within the Provinces of Macedonia and Epirus
- 14 Caričin Grad and the Changes in the Nature of Urbanism in the Central Balkans in the Sixth Century
- 15 Nicopolis ad Istrum: Backward and Balkan?
- 16 Ephesus in the Late Roman and Early Byzantine Period: Changes in its Urban Character from the Third to the Seventh Century AD
- 17 Amida and Tropaeum Traiani: a Comparison of Late Antique Fortress Cities on the Lower Danube and Mesopotamia
- 18 The Fort of Iatrus in Moesia Secunda: Observations on the Late Roman Defensive System on the Lower Danube (Fourth–Sixth Centuries AD)
- 19 The Fortresses of Thrace and Dacia in the Early Byzantine Period
- 20 From the Danube to the Po: the Defence of Pannonia and Italy in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries AD
- 21 Extensive Field Survey in North Central Bulgaria
- 22 Site-Specific Field Survey: the Methodology
- 23 Geophysical Survey and Rural Settlement Architecture on the Lower Danube at the Transition to Late Antiquity
- 24 Another View on Late Antiquity: Sagalassos (SW Anatolia), its Suburbium and its Countryside in Late Antiquity
- 25 The Contribution of Regional Survey to the Late Antiquity Debate: Greece in its Mediterranean Context
