Spaces in Late Antiquity: Cultural, Theological and Archaeological Perspectives

Places and spaces are key factors in how individuals and groups construct their identities. Identity theories have emphasised that the construction of an identity does not follow abstract and universal processes but is also deeply rooted in specific historical, cultural, social and material environments. The essays in this volume explore how various groups in Late Antiquity rooted their identity in special places that were imbued with meanings derived from history and tradition. In Part I, essays explore the tension between the Classical heritage in public, especially urban spaces, in the form of ancient artwork and civic celebrations and the Church's appropriation of that space through doctrinal disputes and rival public performances. Parts II and III investigate how particular locations expressed, and formed, the theological and social identities of Christian and Jewish groups by bringing together fresh insights from the archaeological and textual evidence. Together the essays here demonstrate how the use and interpretation of shared spaces contributed to the self-identity of specific groups in Late Antiquity and in so doing issued challenges, and caused conflict, with other social and religious groups.

About the Author

Juliette Day is University Lecturer and Docent in Church History at the University of Helsinki and Senior Research Fellow in Christian History at Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford.

Raimo Hakola, Th.D. (2003), is an Academy Research Fellow at the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Theology. His latest publication is Reconsidering Johannine Christianity: A Social Identity Approach .

Maijastina Kahlos, Ph.D. (1998), University of Helsinki, has published Debate and Dialogue: Christian and Pagan Cultures, c. 380-430 and Forbearance and Compulsion: Rhetoric of Tolerance and Intolerance in Late Antiquity .

Ulla Tervahauta is post-doctoral researcher in the Center of Excellence in Reason and Religious Recognition, at the University of Helsinki. Her publications include A Story of the Soul’s Journey in the Nag Hammadi Library. A Study of Authentikos Logos (NHC VI,3).