Bücher der Reihe Pharos Studien zur griechisch-römischen Antike

Zahlreiche Hafenstädte reihten sich schon in der Antike rund um das Mittelmeer. Das mare nostrum, wie die Römer es nannten, war ein lebhaft genutzter Kommunikationsraum. Nicht nur Bedarfsgüter und Luxuswaren, Truppen, Ausrüstungsgegenstände und Reisende, gleich, aus welchem Anlass, fanden ihren Weg über das Meer. Auch aktuelle Nachrichten, philoso-phische Gedankengebäude, naturwissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse, kulturelle und technische Neuheiten wurden verbreitet. Und nicht zuletzt waren es Selbstdarstellungen, die weitergetra-gen wurden, Selbstdarstellungen von Personen, aber auch Selbstdarstellungen von Städten. Mit einer Art antikem "city-branding" suchten Städte, ihre Position im römischen Imperium zu festigen oder zu verbessern. Hafenanlagen boten dabei in zweifacher Hinsicht Möglichkei-ten: Sie konnten als Kommunikationsraum, aber auch als optisches Aushängeschild, als "façade maritime", dienen. In einer Gegenüberstellung von sieben Hafenstädten aus dem öst-lichen und dem westlichen Mittelmeerraum untersucht die vorliegende Arbeit, ob und in wel-chem Maß diese Möglichkeiten in der Städtekonkurrenz der frühen römischen Kaiserzeit ge-nutzt wurden.Already in antiquity, numerous harbour cities lined the Mediterranean Sea. The mare nos-trum, as it was called by the Romans, was a dynamic space for communication. Not only did consumer and luxury goods find their way across the sea but also troops, equipment, and trav-elers, and for a variety of reasons. The latest news, philosophical constructs, scientific find-ings, as well as cultural and technical innovations also spread in this way. And last but not least, self-presentations were transmitted - of both persons and cities. In a kind of "city brand-ing," cities in the classical Mediterranean tried to consolidate or improve their status in the Roman Empire. Port facilities offered opportunities to cities in two respects: they could serve as a space for communication as well as a visual showpiece, a "façade maritime." In a juxta-position of seven harbour cities of the Eastern and Western Mediterranean, this dissertation investigates whether and to what degree these opportunities were used by cities to compete for status in the Early Roman Empire.

The religious transformation of Late Antiquity is one of the most influential phenomena of its time. While there is no doubt regarding the importance of religious change, its precise impact on Late Antique life is far from obvious. This is illustrated by the development in Late Antique celebration culture, investigated in this book. The transformation from a pagan celebration culture to one shaped by Christianity was in no way smooth. In particular, the lasting success of individual pagan festivities remains to be explained. Dealing with this problem is a central focus of the present volume. Based on the investigation of local celebration practices in important metropoles of the Late Antique Roman Empire, this study raises central questions concerning the development of pagan traditions in the context of the increasing influence of Christianity: which mechanisms and factors determined the fate of pagan celebrations? In how far did local peculiarities influence the persistence of traditional feast days? How can we explain the sometimes heterogeneous development of some pagan feasts - from rapid disappearance to continued persistence - and where were the limits of religious change? Tackling these questions promises not only a better understanding of pagan celebration culture in Late Antiquity, but also of the religious transformations of this period more generally.

In recent decades, there has been an increasing focus on elucidating the details of Christianisation processes in the Roman Empire. While there are several studies dealing with the relationship of war and Christianity in Late Antiquity, there are hardly any works which concentrate on the change in cult practices in the Roman army. The present volume is therefore dedicated to precisely this topic. It traces the development of the Christianisation of the army cult, shows that the area of responsibility of the later soldier-saints was already prefigured in Late Antiquity, and explains why officers still acted as cult functionaries at the end of the 6th century.