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Mapping the Transformation of Roman Antioch: The Coin Evidence

Neumann, Kristina Marie
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1439304606

Abstract Details

2015, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Classics.
This dissertation analyzes the immediate and long-term effects of Roman annexation on the important metropolis of Antioch on the Orontes in northern Syria. Compared to many other urban centers of the ancient Mediterranean, direct textual and archaeological material for Antioch is minimal and does not provide a consistent standard by which to measure the city’s development over time and space. Many questions thereby remain about how a former Seleucid capital became an integrated and assimilated part of the Roman Empire. This dissertation argues that ancient coin finds provide a substantial and quantifiable dataset that when mapped can provide a starting point for identifying and examining larger patterns of political, economic, and social change rendered by Roman annexation. Where, when, and in what quantities coins appear can speak to limits in their circulation and movement, as well as to the activity and policies of the different authorities issuing them. The primary focus of this project is on the distribution of central, provincial, and civic coins produced by the mint at Antioch from the late Seleucid period (223 BCE) through the early centuries of the late antique period (423 CE). In order to draw out meaningful patterns in the data, this project applies a new methodology using Google Earth as a visualization platform for the distribution of coins finds. Patterns established in Google Earth are then examined through quantified analysis of individual site assemblages and regional groupings from the city of Antioch and sites within Syria, Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Asia Minor, and the western Roman Empire. This dissertation both reinforces and challenges traditional conclusions about the Roman annexation of Antioch and the East. On the one hand, the coin finds reinforce the gradual and transformative policies of the Roman Empire, which took advantage of regional structures and encouraged civic diversity while establishing regional boundaries and influencing the civic hierarchy. On the other hand, this dissertation challenges standard assumptions concerning the unchanged status of Antioch within the Roman Empire. The Romans did capitalize upon Antioch’s established position at the top of the civic hierarchy as the former Seleucid capital, but this did not necessarily guarantee the city’s supremacy. Instead, this distribution study reveals how the Roman government drew upon the resources of the city to the point of limiting the Antiochenes’ self-expression and undermining their regional stature in an increasingly competitive civic climate. The tensions that subsequently erupted in the late second and third centuries CE gradually disappeared, however, as the city was finally integrated into the Roman Empire in the late antique period.
Barbara Burrell, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Duncan MacRae, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Peter Van Minnen, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
457 p.
Ancient Civilizations
Antioch; Google Earth; Coin; Ancient City; Digital Humanities; Roman Empire

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Neumann, K. M. (2015). Mapping the Transformation of Roman Antioch: The Coin Evidence [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1439304606

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Neumann, Kristina. Mapping the Transformation of Roman Antioch: The Coin Evidence. 2015. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1439304606.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Neumann, Kristina. "Mapping the Transformation of Roman Antioch: The Coin Evidence." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1439304606

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1439304606
281
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.