Dissertation committee:
Μαρία Παναγιωτίδου-Κεσίσογλου, Ομότιμη καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Φιλοσοφική Σχολή, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Νικόλαος Γκιολές, Ομότιμος καθηγητής, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Φιλοσοφική Σχολή, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Παναγιώτα Ασημακοπούλου-Ατζακά, Ομότιμη καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Φιλοσοφική Σχολή, Α.Π.Θ.
Σ. Καλοπίση-Βέρτη, Ομότιμη καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Φιλοσοφική Σχολή, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Β. Κέπετζη, Ομότιμη καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Φιλοσοφική Σχολή, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Πλ. Πετρίδης, Αναπληρωτής καθηγητής, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Φιλοσοφική Σχολή, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Θ. Αντωνοπούλου, Καθηγήτρια Βυζαντινής Φιλολογίας, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, Φιλοσοφική Σχολή, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Summary:
The thesis focuses on the house decoration in the Balkans during Late Antiquity. It aims to shed light on issues such as the decorative forms applied, their distribution in domestic spaces, as well as their iconography and function. In the synthetic part of the essay the following issues are addressed: the geographical distribution of the material; the main architectural types of the domestic buildings; the distinctive characteristics of domestic spaces with different function (peristyles, triclinia and other reception halls, cubicula, domestic sanctuaries, libraries, storerooms and other secondary spaces); the various kinds of wall, floor and sculpt decoration applied; the extent of the owners’ involvement in the choice of the form and the iconography of decoration, as well as the role of their paideia; the iconography of the mosaic pavements in opus tessellatum technique, which constitute the richest source of information; the role of sculpure; the greek written sources concerning the subject of domestic decoration and their correspondence to the excavated material. The catalogue of the select, seventy one houses that form the basis of the thesis constitutes its primary analytical part. Each entry includes data about the location, excavation, architecture, decoration, dating and bibliography of the building. The study is supplemented by four annexes: The first one presents the basic data concerning eighty five houses with functionaly unidentified, yet decorated spaces; the second annex forms a corpus of passages from greek narrative sources dating between the 4th and 8th century bearing information about domestic decoration; the third forms a brief catalogue of the most important collections of sculptures discovered in aristocratic houses outside the Balkan penninsula, used as comparative material, while the fourth is a table that summarizes the material of the principal catalogue.
Keywords:
Houses, Decoration, Mosaic pavements, Balkan peninsula, Late antiquity
