Aspects of Romanisation in Cappadocia. Staging architecture and cityscapes

Abstract

Cappadocia, the north-easternmost province of the Roman Empire was established in AD 17 by the emperor Tiberius, after the death of Cappadocia's last king, Archelaus. This paper discusses settlement patterns, city foundations, the absence, at least during the 1st century AD, of an extended network of cities and the development of local communities in the region under the Romans. The establishment and the role of the Imperial Cult in this remote province is also addressed. This paper further attempts to trace the emergence of urbanisation and civic monumentality in Cappadocia, through the introduction of monumental architecture and prominent infrastructure within the major Cappadocian cities - and to understand whether Cappadocia followed, or stood aside from, the architectural/urbanistic developments launched in the rest of the Roman world.

Keywords

• Roman East
• Cappadocia
• Anatolia
• Urbanisation
• Monumentality
• City-networks.

References

1. ALLCOCK, S. L./ ROBERTS, N., 2014. Changes in regional settlement patterns in Cappadocia (central Turkey) since the Neolithic: a combined site survey perspective, in: Anatolian Studies 64, 33-57.
2. ANEZIRI, S./DAMASKOS, D., 2004. Städtische Kulte im hellenistischen Gymnasion, in: Kah, D./Scholz, P. (Ed.), Das hellenistische Gymnasion. Wissenskultur und gesellschaftlicher Wandel, Bd. 8. Berlin, 247-272.
3. ARISTODEMOU, G., 2012. Ο Γλυπτός Διάκοσμος Νυμφαίων και Κρηνών στο Ανατολικό Τμήμα της Ρωμαϊκής Αυτοκρατορίας. Thessaloniki.
4. - 2018a. Fountain Figures from the Greek Provinces: Monumentality in Fountain Structures of Roman Greece as Revealed Through their Sculptural Display Programs and their Patrons, in: Aristodemou, G. A./ Tassios, Th. P. (Ed.), Great Waterworks in Roman Greece: Aqueducts and Monumental Fountain Structures. Function in Context, Archaeopress Roman Archaeology, 35. Oxford, 193-217
5. - 2018b. Fountain Sculpture and personal propaganda in Roman Greece, in: Karanastasi, P./ Stefanidou-Tiveriou, Th./ Damaskos, D. (Ed.), Έργα Πλαστικής στη Ρωμαϊκή Ελλάδα: Καλλιτεχνικά Προϊόντα, Κοινωνικές Προβολές, Διεθνές Συνέδριο, Ρέθυμνο, 26-28 Σεπτεμβρίου 2014 // Sculpture and Society in Roman Greece: Artistic Productions, Social Projections, Rethymno, 26-28 September 2014. Thessaloniki, 351-366.
6. - 2018c. Fountain culture in the Greek provinces before Hadrian. Introducing the concept of luxury, in: Wiplinger. G./ Letzner, W. (Ed.), Water Management during the Times of Frontinus. Building - Technique - Culture. Tagungsband des internationalen Frontinus-Symposiums Trier, 25. - 29. Mai 2016, BABESCH, Supplements, 32. Leuven, 317-332.
7. BAR, M., 1985. Les monnaies grecques de Césarée de Cappadoce, Ier–IIIe s. ap. J.C., trouvées en Europe, in: Bulletin, Cercle d’Études Numismatiques 22.3, 53-65.
8. BARKER, S./COURAULT, C./DOMINGO, J.A./ MASCHEK, D. (Ed.), 2023. From Concept to Monument: Time and Costs of Construction in the Ancient World. Papers in Honour of Janet DeLaine. Oxford.

9. BERGES, D./NOLLÉ, J., 2000. Tyana: archäologisch-historische ntersuchungen zum Süd westlichen Kappadokien. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Inschriften Kleinasiens 55. Bonn.
10. BURRELL, B., 2004. Neokoroi: Greek cities and Roman emperors. Leiden.
11. CHASE, R. G., 2002. Ancient Hellenistic and roman Amphitheatres, Stadiums, and Theatres: The Way They Look Now. University Press of New England.
12. DEININGER, J., 1965. Die Provinziallandtage der römischen Kaiserzeit von Augustus bis zum Ende des dritten Jahrhunderts n. Chr. Munich.
13. DICKENSON, CH. P., 2016. On the Agora: The Evolution of a Public Space in Hellenistic and Roman Greece (c. 323 BC – 267 AD). Leiden.
14. DORL-KLINGENSCHMID, CL., 2001. Prunkbrunnen in kleinasiatischen Städten. Funktion im Kontext, Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Studien zur antiken Stadt 7. München.
15. - 2006. Brunnenbauten als Medium der interkommunalen Wettbewerbs, in: Wiplinger, G. (Ed.), Cura Aquarum in Ephesos. Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on the History of Water Management and Hydraulic Engineering in the Mediterranean Region, DWhG, 12 (Selçuk, 2- 10 October 2004), BABesch, Suppl. 42. Leuven, 381-386.
16. DODGEON, M./ LIEU, N., 1994. The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars A.D. 226-363. London. DRERUP, H., 1966. Architektur als Symbol. Zur zeitgenössischen Bewertung der römischen Architektur, in: Gymnasium 73, 181-196.
17. ENGLAND, A./EASTWOOD, W.J./ROBERTS, C.N./TURNER, R./HALDON, J.F., 2008. Historical landscape change in Cappadocia (central Turkey): a paleoeco-logical investigation of annually-laminated sediments from Nar Lake, in: TheHolocene 18.8: 1229-1245.
18. EQUINI SCHNEIDER, E., 1992-1993. Siti di età romana in Anatolia: indagini in Cappadocia 1993, in: ScAnt 6-7, 401-402.
19. EVANGELIDIS, V., 2008. The Architecture of the Imperial Cult in the Agoras of the Greek cities, in: Egnatia 12, 125-144.
20. 2010. Η Αγορά των πόλεων της Ελλάδας από τη Ρωμαϊκή κατάκτηση ως τον 3ο αι. μ.Χ. Thessaloniki.
21. 2020. Building the Cityscapes of Roman Greece: Urban Armatures, in: Mazzilli, G. (Ed.), In solo provinciali, Sull’architettura delle province, da Augusto ai Severi, tra inerzie locali e romanizzazione, Thiasos 9.2. Roma, 301-320.
22. FRANGIPANE, M., 1993. Melid (Malatya, Arslanl-Tepe) Archäologisch, in: RlA 8, 42-52.
23. FRENCH, D.H., 1980. The Roman Road-system of Asia Minor, in: Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt II.7.2, 698-729
24. -1981. Roman Roads and Milestones of Asia Minor, I, The Pilgrim's Road. Oxford.
25. -1983. New research on the Euphrates frontier: supplementary notes 1 and 2, in: Mitchell, S. (Ed.), Armies and Frontiers in Roman and Byzantine Anatolia, BIAA Monograph 5; BAR 156. Oxford, 71–101.
26. - 1997. Inscriptions of Cappadocia I. The Museum of Kirşehir and Niğde, in: Epigraphica Anatolica 28, 115-124, pl. 21- 23.
27. GILLI, E. /YAMAÇ, A., 2015. Water Tunnels of Güvercinlik Valley (Cappadocia – Turkey), in: Hypogea 2015 - Proceedings of International Congress of Speleology in Artificial Cavities - Rome, March 11/17 2015. Rome, 72-77. Accessed from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268740586_Water_tunnels_of_Guvercinlink_Valley_Cappadocia_-_Turkey
28. GRADEL, I., 2002. Emperor worship and Roman religion. Oxford. GROSS-ALBENHAUSEN, K., 2004. Bedeutung und Funktion der Gymnasien für die Hellenisierung des Ostens, in: Kah, D./Scholz, P. (Ed.), Das hellenistische Gymnasion. Wissenskultur und gesellschaftlicher Wandel, Bd. 8. Berlin, 313-323.
29. HAENSCH, R., 1997. Capita Provinciarum. Mainz.
30. HALDON, T., 2018. Euchaïta: From Late Roman and Byzantine Town to Ottoman Village, in: Haldon, J./ Elton, H./ Newhard, J. (Ed.), Archaeology and Urban Settlement in Late Roman and Byzantine Anatolia: Euchaïta-Avkat-Beyözü and its Environment. Cambridge, 210-254.
31. HALFMANN, H., 1986. Itinera Principum. Stuttgart.
32. HARPER, R.P., 1964. Roman Senators in Cappadocia, in: An.St. 14, 163-169.
33. HARPER, R. P./ BAYBURTLUOĞLU, I., 1968. Preliminary Report on Excavations at Şar, Comana Cappadociae in 1967, in: An.St.18, 149-158.
34. HÄUSLE, H., 1980. Das Denkmal als Garant des Nachruhms: Beiträge zur Geschichte und Thematik eines Motivs in lateinischen Inschriften. Zetemata, 75. München.
35. HAWKINS, J. D., 1993. Melid, A. Historisch, in: RlA 8, 35-41.
36. HILD, F., 1977. Das byzantinische Strassensystem in Kappadokien, Veroffentlichungen der Kommission fur die Tabula Imperii Byzantini. Wien.
37. HILD, F./RESTLE, M., 1981. Kappadokien (Kappadokia, Charsianon, Sebasteia und Lykandos), Tabula Imperii Byzantini, 2. Wien. (repr.Wien 2004)
38. HOEPFNER, W., 1966. Herakleia Pontike - Eregli: eine baugeschichtliche Untersuchung, Forschungen an der Nordküste Kleinasiens-Ergänzungsbände zu den Tituli Asiae minoris, II/1, Denkschriften, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-historische Klasse, 89. Wien/Graz.
39. HONDIUS, J.J.E., 1923. “SEG 1-466. Tyana. Catalogus gymnasiarchorum, saec I.”, in: Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum.
40. IMHOOF-BLUMER, F., 1898. Zur griechischen Münzkunde. Eusebeia Kaisareia-Elaiusa Sebaste- Reichsmünzen der syrischen Provinzen-Die Ära von Paltos-Antiocheia Gerasa, RSN. Genf.
41. KOORTBOJIAN, M., 2013. The Divinization of Caesar and Augustus: Precedents, Consequences, Implications.Cambridge.
42. LEKA, E., 2001. Nora, in: Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία, 2001, URL: , accessed July 2020 from http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemma.aspx?lemmaid=12267&contlang=58.
43. MACDONALD, W. L., 1986. The Architecture of the Roman Empire, II, An Urban Appraisal, Yale Publications in the History of Art 35. New Haven/London.
44. MAGIE, D., 1950. Roman Rule in Asia Minor. Princeton.
45. MANOLEDAKIS, M., 2022. An Approach to the Historical Geography of the Southern Black Sea Littoral (First Millennium Bc), Colloquia Antiqua 36. Leuven.
46. MILLAR, F., 2002. Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1. The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution, Studies in the History of Greece and Rome. North Carolina.
47. 2004. Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol.2: Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire, Studies in the History of Greece and Rome. North Carolina.
48. MITCHELL, S., 1993. Anatolia: Land, Men and Gods in Asia Minor. I: The Celts and the Impact of Roman Rule. Oxford.
49. MIRANDA, E., 1992-1993. Testimonianze sui Kommodeia, in: Scienze dell’Antichità 6-7, 69-88.
50. MORETTI, L., 1953. Iscrizioni agonistiche greche, Studi pubblicati dall'Istituto italiano per la storia antica, Fasc. 12. Roma.
51. NICHOLSON, O., 2018. The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity. Oxford.
52. OSTERHOUT, R.G., 2017. Visualizing Community. Art, Material Culture and Settlement in Byzantine Cappadocia, Dumbarton Oaks Studies 46. Dumbarton Oaks.
53. PRICE, S., 1984. Rituals and Power, The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor. Cambridge.
54. POCHOSHAJEW, I., 2008. Nyssa in Kappadokien. Universität Rostock, accessed from: https://doi.org/10.18453/rosdok_id00002139.
55. ROBERT, L., 1963. Noms indigènes dans l'Asie-Mineure gréco-romaine, Part 1, Bibliothèque archéologique et historique de l'Institut français d'archéologie d'Istanbul, 13. Paris.
56. ROELENS-FLOUNEAU, H., 2018. Remarques sur la navigabilité des fleuves, in: Dan, A./Lebreton, St. (Ed.), Études des Fleuves dAsie Mineure dans l’Antiquité, I-II, Arras Cedex, 251-317.
57. ROGERS, D.K., 2015. Water-Display and Meaning in the High Roman Empire, Unpublished PhD Thesis.Virginia.
58. ROSADA, G./ LACHIN, M. T., 2010. “... civitas Tyana, inde fuit Apollonius magus... (ItBurdig, 577,7-558,1)”, in: d’Alfonso, L./ Balza, M.E. / Mora, C. (Ed.), Geo-archaeological Activities in Southern Cappadocia –Turkey, Proceedings of the Meeting held at Pavia, 20.11.2008. Milan, 111-127.
59. 2011: Excavations at Tyana/Kemerhisar 2009, in: 32. Kazı sonuçları toplantısı, 3. Cilt (Istanbul, 24-28 Mayıs 2010). Ankara, 196-215.
60. ROTT, H., 1908. Kleinasiatische Denkmäler aus Pisidien, Pamphylien, Kapodokien und Lykien. Leipzig.
61. ROUECHÉ, C., 1993. Performers and Partisans at Aphrodisias, Journal of Roman Studies Monograph, 6. London.
62. SCHORNDORFER, S., 1997.Öffentliche Bauten hadrianischer Zeit in Kleinasien. München.
63. SEAR, F., 2006. Roman Theatres: An Architectural Study. Oxford.
64. SINCLAIR, T. A., 1989. Eastern Turkey: an architectural and archaeological survey, vol. III. London.
65. SMITH, W., 1854. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London.
66. SOFOU, A., 2001. “Caesarea (Antiquity)”, in: Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία URL: , accessed July 2020 from http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemma.aspx?lemmaid=8543&contlang=58. 2002: “Tyana (Antiquity)”, in: Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία
67. URL: , accessed July 2020 from http://www.ehw.gr/asiaminor/Forms/fLemma.aspx?lemmaid=9671&contlang=58.
68. SPANU, M., 2001. Teatri ed edifici da spettacolo in Cilicia, in: La Cilicie: espaces et pouvoirs locaux (IIe millénaire av. J.-C. – IVe siècle ap. J.-C.). Actes de la Table Ronde d’Istanbul, 2-5 novembre 1999, Varia Anatolica, 13. Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes-Georges Dumézil. Istanbul, 445-477.
69. STROBEL, K./OLSHAUSEN, E. 2006, Komana, In: Der Neue Pauly Online. Brill. Consulted online on 13 July 2020
70. STEFANIS Ι. Ε., 1988a. Διονυσιακοὶ τεχνῖται. Rethymno. 1988b. Ό Μηνόδωρος από την Άθήνα, in: Hellenika 39, 281-286.
71. SYME, R., 1970. Domitius Corbulo, in: The Journal of Roman Studies 60, 27-39.
72. TEJA, R., 1980. Die römische Provinz Kappadokien in der Principatzeit, in: Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt II.7.2, 1083-1124.
73. THOMAS, E., 2007. Monumentality and the Roman Empire: Architecture in the Antonine Age. Oxford.
74. TURCHETTO, J., 2013. Cappadocia Centro-Meridionale (Turchia). Il Sistema Della Viabilità Antica In Una Terra Di Frontiera, PhD Thesis, Università Degli Studi Di Padova. Padova.
75. 2015. Beyond the Myth of the Cilician Gates. The Ancient Road Network of Central and Southern Cappadocia, in: Beyer, D./ Henry, O./ Tibet, A. (Ed.), La Cappadoce méridionale de la préhistoire à la période byzantine, Actes du 3èmes Rencontres d’Archéologie de l’IFEA, Istanbul, 8-9 November 2012, Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes. Istanbul, 179-201
76. VAN DAM, R., 2011. Becoming Christian: The Conversion of Roman Cappadocia. Philadelphia.
77. YEGÜL, F./FAVRO, D., 2019. Roman Architecture and Urbanism: From the Origins to Late Antiquity. Cambridge. YILDIRIM, B./GATES M.-H., 2007. Archaeology in Turkey, 2004-2005, in: AJA 111, 275-356.