Pisidian-Greek-Roman: Acting out communal identity on the Upper Agora of Sagalassos

Year 2017, Issue: 16 , 199 - 216 , 01.06.2017

Peter Talloen

https://izlik.org/JA29CH37NT

Abstract

In Antiquity, public space was used as part of the construction of cultural identities which could be multi-faceted. The Upper Agora of the Pisidian city of Sagalassos SW Turkey was such a dynamic space with a rich collection of images, inscribed texts and monuments that contributed to the construction of local and regional identities. It was the space where, through the use of monuments, images and symbols, these identities were acted out in a memory theatre that served to remind the community of who they were. By examining the constituting monumental elements of the agora, this paper project aims to establish the successive waves of urbanisation, their role in the articulation of different identity-aspects, and the impact of empire on these processes.

Keywords

Sagalassos , Pisidia , Agora , Urbanisation , Cultural Identity

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