Universität Wien

090062 SE Byzantine History (SE) (2017W)

8.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 9 - Altertumswissenschaften
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 10 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

three double-length sessions

  • Wednesday 08.11. 15:00 - 16:30 (Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Byzantinistik u. Neogräzistik, Postg. 7/1/3 L3-05)
  • Wednesday 15.11. 15:00 - 18:15 (Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Byzantinistik u. Neogräzistik, Postg. 7/1/3 L3-05)
  • Wednesday 13.12. 15:00 - 16:30 (Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Byzantinistik u. Neogräzistik, Postg. 7/1/3 L3-05)
  • Wednesday 10.01. 15:00 - 16:30 (Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Byzantinistik u. Neogräzistik, Postg. 7/1/3 L3-05)
  • Saturday 13.01. 09:00 - 12:30 (Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Byzantinistik u. Neogräzistik, Postg. 7/1/3 L3-05)
  • Wednesday 17.01. 15:00 - 16:30 (Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Byzantinistik u. Neogräzistik, Postg. 7/1/3 L3-05)
  • Saturday 20.01. 09:00 - 12:30 (Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Byzantinistik u. Neogräzistik, Postg. 7/1/3 L3-05)
  • Wednesday 24.01. 15:00 - 16:30 (Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Byzantinistik u. Neogräzistik, Postg. 7/1/3 L3-05)
  • Wednesday 31.01. 15:00 - 16:30 (Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Byzantinistik u. Neogräzistik, Postg. 7/1/3 L3-05)

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The ‘decline of the city’ is often mentioned as one of the features that characterize the early Byzantine period. This seminar investigates the changes in urban life in the Eastern Roman (or Early Byzantine) Empire from the fourth to the eighth centuries, by focusing on the status and administration of cities (curia/boule); social structures and social groups; elites and non-elites; and urban self-representation by collectives and individuals in text and image. All major sources —texts, papyri, inscriptions, archaeology and material culture—will be considered, in addition to relevant scholarly literature. Particular emphasis will be placed on the question of the impact of Christianity on urban life in this period.
This is an advanced, research-intensive seminar that depends on the active participation of each student. Students are expected to contribute throughout the semester, by participating in class discussion, by presenting a written source and a non-written source and by giving a book report on relevant scholarly literature. In addition, students will develop a research topic of their own, which they first present in oral form and then write up in an extensive scholarly essay.

Assessment and permitted materials

Participation in class discussion: 20%
Presentations of a written and a non-written source: 10%each
Book report: 10%
Oral presentation: 20%
Written essay: 30%
Guidelines for the written essay, which should be based on a substantial amount of original research:
Topic to be agreed in dialogue with the instructor;
Bibliography and outline must be presented for discussion in class;
Final length: 10.000-12.000 words, excluding footnotes and bibliography;
Quotations in the text in English, in the footnotes in the original language; Citation system must be consistent.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

In all five examination categories above, students must achieve a grade of at least ‘mangelhaft’ (4), in order to pass the course. Students are required to be present at each session. Unavoidable absences must be announced ahead of time. Missing more than two sessions may result in a failing grade.

Examination topics

Materials covered in the seminar meetings, and additional readings selected by the student.

Reading list

Abbott, F. F., Johnson, A. C., Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire (Princeton, 1926)
Barnish, S., “The Transformation of Classical Cities and the Pirenne Debate,” JRA 2 (1989), 385-400
Brandes, W., Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Berlin, 1989)
Chastagnol, A., L’Album municipal de Timgad (Bonn, 1978)
Claude, D., Die byzantinische Stadt im 6. Jahrhundert (Munich, 1969)
Durliat, J., De la ville antique à la ville Byzantine (Paris, 1990)
Jones, A. H. M., The Greek City from Alexander to Justinian (Oxford, 1940)
L’évêque dans la cite du IVe au Ve siècle. Image et autorité, CEFR 248 (Rome, 1998)
Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G., The Decline and Fall of the Ancient City (Oxford, 2002)
Recent Research in Late Antique Urbanism, ed. L. Lavan, 2001
Saradi, H., The Byzantine City in the Sixth Century: Literary Images and Historical Reality (Athens, 2006)
The City in Late Antiquity, ed. J. Rich (London, 1992)
The City in the Classical and Post-Classical World. Changing Contexts of Power and Identity, ed. C. Rapp, H. Drake (Cambridge University Press: New York 2014)
The Greek City from Antiquity to the Present. Historical Reality, Ideological Construction, Literary Representation, ed. K. Demoen (Louvain etc., 2001)
The Idea and Ideal of the Town between Latin Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, ed. G-P. Brogiolo and B. Ward-Perkins, The Transformation of the Roman World, 4 (Leiden, Boston, Cologne, 1998) CR
Towns and their Territories between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, ed. G. P. Broglio, N. Gauthier, N. Christie (Leiden etc., 2000)
Towns in Transition: Urban Evolution in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, ed. N. Christie, S. Loseby (Aldershot, 1996) CR
Vescovi e pastori in epoca teodosiana, 2 vols. (Rome, 1997)
Whittow, M., “Ruling the Late Roman and Byzantine City,” Past and Present 129 (1990), 3-29
Wickham, C., “From the Ancient World to Feudalism,” Past and Present 103 (1984), 3-36

Further bibliography will be communicated in the course of the semester.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Tu 31.05.2022 00:18