Road work ahead: the transformation of the colonnaded street in sixth and early seventh century Palestine and Arabia

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This thesis explores the urban character of colonnaded streets in the late Roman provinces of Palestine and Arabia. By using archaeological data from the cities of Caesarea Maritima, Scythopolis, Jerusalem and Gerasa, the colonnaded street is shown to have continued to exist into the sixth century, at least in major urban centers, and despite the diminishing will and ability of municipal councils to maintain them from the late fourth century onward. By the late sixth century all colonnaded streets in Palestine and Arabia succumbed to a process of transformation in which the spaces among their various components were being encroached upon by privately-owned structures. This process of transformation pre-dated the mid seventh century Arab invasion, and thus the reasons for it are seen in changes in late Roman society and economy. Additional comparanda from Antioch and Constantinople provide contemporary literary sources.