Abstract
This thesis aspires to contribute to a better understanding of the socio-economic and political conditions prevailing in the Balkans during Late Antiquity by examining closely the important Aegean province of Thessaly (provincia Thessalia) from the mid-3rd until the end of the 7th c. A.D. The main discussion of this topic, contained in the first volume of the thesis (243 p., with 615 references to other works and 996 footnotes), is supported by 8 complementary studies (appendices) and 28 tables presented in the second volume (160 p.) and by extensive illustrations in the third volume (one map, 217 plates with plans and photos and a folded map showing the plans of 15 early Christian churches, all drawn at the same scale). The main text in the first volume is divided into five chapters. The first chapter defines the geographical and chronological boundaries of the study, the main research themes and the working methods. According to late antique sources, provincia Thessalia included a gr ...
This thesis aspires to contribute to a better understanding of the socio-economic and political conditions prevailing in the Balkans during Late Antiquity by examining closely the important Aegean province of Thessaly (provincia Thessalia) from the mid-3rd until the end of the 7th c. A.D. The main discussion of this topic, contained in the first volume of the thesis (243 p., with 615 references to other works and 996 footnotes), is supported by 8 complementary studies (appendices) and 28 tables presented in the second volume (160 p.) and by extensive illustrations in the third volume (one map, 217 plates with plans and photos and a folded map showing the plans of 15 early Christian churches, all drawn at the same scale). The main text in the first volume is divided into five chapters. The first chapter defines the geographical and chronological boundaries of the study, the main research themes and the working methods. According to late antique sources, provincia Thessalia included a great part of western Macedonia to the north and extended as far as the Pass of Thermopylai to the south. The thesis concentrates on the limited geographical area of the province of Thessaly in order to bring forward the regional peculiarities, which are so important in the study of changing institutions within the Roman Empire. The chronological limits of the study expand from the 3rd c. (the beginning of barbarian incursions into Thessaly) to the end of the 7th c. (the first recorded mention of the theme of Hellas, which included the former provincia Thessalia), covering thus the whole period of transition from the Roman to the Medieval world that is termed by international scholarship "Late Antiquity" rather than focusing (as in many cases) on the more prosperous 5th and 6th c. or the so-called "Dark Ages". The main contribution of the present study is that, for the first time, it brings together and systematically exploits all the rich late antique remains that have come to light within the province of Thessaly in the course of systematic or rescue excavations and field research. Furthermore, all this important material is presented within an interpretative framework, which interconnects with historiography (byzantine chronicles, vitae of saints, travellers' memoires), in order to examine within Thessaly two key issues in late antique studies: the transformation of urban centres and the nature of the regional economy.The second chapter presents the administrative structure (political, military, ecclesiastical) of the late antique province of Thessaly, the climate and the geomorphology, the communication network, as well as the main natural (earthquakes, tides, plague) and other catastrophes (barbarian incursions) that befell the province during Late Antiquity. The third chapter scrutinises twelve late antique urban centres (Larisa, Demetrias, Thessalian Thebes, Echinos, Lamia, Hypata, Metropolis, Trikke, Gomphoi, Kaisareia, Diocletianoupolis, and Pharsala), which contemporary sources (the Synekdemos of Hierokles and Procopius’s Buildings) define as ‘Thessalian cities’. Aside from Larisa, the capital, eleven of these cities provide case studies of late antique urban centres that lacked financial or other advantages emanating from their important administrative status. After a brief discussion of the circumstances relating to its foundation, which reveal the extent of each city's dependence on earlier urban designing, there follows a detailed description of the late antique fabric of each city relating to its defences, infrastructure, public and domestic architecture, and its cemeteries with an emphasis on the question of intra-mural burials. The decoration of buildings (sculpture, mosaics and frescoes) is taken into consideration only if it helps define their building history. Of greater interest to this study, however, is the location of these buildings within the town plan and possible alterations in their function and design (abandonment, spoliation, subdivision of large rooms to create more living units), which may indicate changes in the socio-economic life of the urban population. At the end of each sub-chapter dedicated to one of the twelve cities, the questions of whether or not, to what extent, and how the city under discussion survived the turbulent period of the Slavic invasions are examined (with the additional aid of toponyms). The fourth chapter concentrates on the economy of late antique Thessaly. The study takes account of the local resources, such as agriculture and stock-raising with an emphasis on traditional Mediterranean products (wheat, olive oil, wine), as well as pisci- and apiculture, forestry and game, manufacturing installations (salt ponds, mosaic and glass production, quarries), and the amount and type of trade channelled through Thessaly’s two major ports on the Aegean Sea, Thebes and Demetrias. The limited written sources for the economy of late antique Thessaly are complemented by information that confirms Thessaly's potential in producing and exporting goods before and after Late Antiquity, a methodological approach well justified by the fact that the products and their cultivation and manufacturing methods remained virtually unchanged in the Mediterranean basin throughout the pre-industrial era. The emerging picture on the economy of late antique Thessaly is further illucidated by the archaeological remains of late antique manufacturing installations in the area (vol. 2: appendix 5) and the detection of identifiable products of certain or possible Thessalian origin outside the province’s borders, such as the renowned green Thessalian stone or verde antico (vol. 2: appendix 6 and tables 6-11) and the Late Roman Amphora 2 (vol. 2: appendix 7 and tables 12-26). This approach, together with the study of inscriptions and the identification of mints on the coins excavated in its two ports (vol. 2: appendix 3-4 and tables 2-5), reveal that Thessaly’s economic interests lay within the Eastern Mediterranean, while its main trading partners were located in the north and northeastern Aegean provinces. In the fifth (and final) chapter, which brings together the main conclusions of the whole study, it is ascertained that despite the unequal archaeological investigation in the twelve Thessalian cities under investigation (the extent and duration of the systematic or rescue excavations vary significantly from site to site), the overview of all the archaeological material available at present, that is undertaken here for the first time, allows a number of important conclusions to be drawn about the transformation of urban centers and the economy of Thessaly during Late Antiquity. The Thessalian cities may be divided into three categories: port-cities (Demetrias, Thebes), coastal cities (Echinos, Lamia), and inland cities. Among them, only Thebes and Diocletianoupolis are new (or almost new) foundations. In those cases, where the available archaeological data allow such observations (Larisa, Demetrias), it becomes clear that the intra-mural extent of the cities decreases during Late Antiquity. Some of the town-planning characteristics of their Graeco-Roman past (Hippodamian planning, part of the water and sewage system, baths) survive in certain cities, but others disappear (e.g. the theatres at Larisa and Demetrias do not function after the middle of the 4th c.). The impact of the new religion becomes clear in the increasing number of ecclesiastical buildings that have been excavated, especially in the port-city of Thebes (nine basilicas, four baptisteries and the bishop's palace). At present, there is no explicit evidence in Thessaly for the transformation of a pagan temple into a church (as observed in Athens or Carian Aphrodisias), while the archaeological evidence indicates that in Larisa, at least, there existed a considerable community of pagans as late as the end of the 5th c. The epigraphic record testifies also to the presence of Jews in some Thessalian cities (Larisa, Thebes, Hypata), although no remains of a synagogue have been revealed so far. All of the Thessalian cities had walls that must have been repaired repeatedly, if one takes into account the damages they suffered after natural catastrophes (earthquakes) and, above all, the repeated barbarian incursions, which became more intense in Thessaly from the last quarter of the 5th c. onwards. This study proposes that it is during this period and, more specifically, after 483 (the retreat of the Ostrogoths from Thessaly) that important repair work was undertaken on the walls of Larisa and that the castle of Iolkos in the wider area of Demetrias was built. Procopius' testimony that the walls of the Thessalian cities were renovated under Justinian cannot be put to the test in all cases, but it seems to be valid for Larisa, the castle of Iolkos ("Demetrias"), Thebes, and Diocletianoupolis (the latter, as argued in this thesis, was even visited by Procopius himself). The general historical background seems also to justify the absence of Lamia from Procopius' catalogue, as the only Thessalian city whose walls were not renovated under Justinian; we may easily imagine how superfluous repair works on the battered walls of this city must have looked, especially after the construction of the far more important and mighty defences of the nearby Pass of Thermopylai. The overview of the most recent archaeological evidence undertaken in this study shows a varying degree of prosperity in the Thessalian cities. The capital of the province (Larisa) and its two ports (Demetrias, Thebes) present a rich archaeological record throughout the 6th c., which gradually diminishes in the course of the 7th c., while in the case of Thebes everything comes to a standstill after the middle of the 7th c. Indeed, while Larisa and Demetrias seem to survive the "Dark Ages", the city of Thebes disappears from the literary and archaeological record after the end of Heraclius' reign. The coastal Thessalian cities (Echinos, Lamia) must have faced considerable difficulties as early as the beginning of the 5th c. (their numismatic finds are not dated beyond the 4th c.). Among the inland cities, Hypate, Trikke, and Diocletianoupolis exhibit limited building activity during the 5th c., while our information on the other Thessalian cities (Kaisareia, Gomphoi, Pharsalos) does not allow at present any conclusions on their level of prosperity and fate during Late Antiquity. The two Thessalian cities (Larisa, Demetrias) that survived the turbulent "Dark Ages" managed to do so on account of the following reasons (in order of importance): they had an important administrative position, they played a key-role in the economy of the region, they were easily accessible by the Byzantine army/fleet and finally, they occupied a well defended and suitably manned site. Larisa, for example, as the capital of the province, was placed in the centre of the communications network and the fertile Thessalian plain, at a distance of 60 km from the port of Demetrias. Its vulnerable location was improved significantly when, towards the end of the 5th c., the length of its walls was reduced, allowing thus a better use of its manpower for a more effective defence. The two port-cities of Thessaly, Demetrias and Thebes, were equally important for the region's economy. The prosperity of these neighbouring ports presupposed peaceful conditions and a fairly high amount of transactions that would justify the existence of them both. Such conditions prevailed more or less until the end of the 6th c. when, owing to the barbarian incursions, this intense trade decreased and as a result the presence of two ports on the Pagasetic gulf became superfluous. At this moment Demetrias took precedence over Thebes, as it was located (already from the end of the 5th c., as argued in the present thesis) on a much better defended location (castle of Iolkos), contrary to Thebes, which lay virtually unprotected on the coastal plain. Subsequently, it must have been the port of Demetrias where the convoy of the Thessalonians arrived in 677, hoping to buy foodstuff from the Belegezites Slavs, who lived "in the area of Thebes and Demetrias". The same port may have been the export point of wheat produced in the sitonia which (as argued in vol. 1, p. 103-112) may have been set up by Constans II and/or his immediate successors in the valley of the Spercheios river, in order to face the pressing food demands of Constantinople especially after the 640s, when the capital could no longer rely on large supplies of Egyptian wheat. It is, indeed, the primacy of Egypt as the main wheat supplier for Constantinople that explains the relative silence of the sources in what concerns the indisputable potential of Thessaly in the production and exportation of goods during Late Antiquity. It is worth noting that the references in Byzantine sources (Miracles of St. Demetrios, Michael Choniates) to the fertile land of Thessaly become far more numerous after 646 when Egypt was irrevocably lost to the Arabs. In the concluding paragraphs of this thesis it is underlined that the results of this study offer an essential background for promising future research. Indeed, the full and timely publication of all excavation results, a well orchestrated research programme for the registration and study of the Thessalian countryside settlements, and the application of scientific methods in the study of quarries, sculpture, and the production of ceramics within Thessally can refine significantly our knowledge of the importance of provincia Thessalia in the administrative mechanism and the trade networks of the Eastern Roman Empire.
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