An architectural investigation of leisure spaces in the roman domestic context: the case of Ephesus

Download

index.pdf

Date

2006

Author

Çinici, Ahmet

Metadata

Show full item record

Item Usage Stats

244
views

248
downloads

Leisure is most basically defined as “the time free from work”. The ancient conception and forms of leisure were quite different from the modern ones, which came into discussion during the industrial era. The Roman society was highly stratified and comprised of diverse social classes for which leisure acquired different forms and meanings. Every stratum of the Roman society enjoyed the possibilities and pleasures of leisure proportional to its hierarchy in the social system, so that leisure can be investigated in both public and private contexts in the Roman world. This study aims to investigate “leisure”, which was one of the main driving social forces in the Roman society, in spatial terms with reference to Roman domestic architecture. The study focuses on central Italy and particularly on Ephesus, the latter of which is a good example to discuss how the Roman conception of leisure was spatially materialized in a provincial private setting since a group of well studied, documented, and published houses constitute an appropriate comparative sample and context in Ephesus. The spatial organization and characteristics of the spaces housing leisurely activities are discussed on the basis of an “axes-scheme” that regulated and even dictated the visual and bodily interaction of the participants with certain spaces and elements during leisure activities either in a static state (sitting, reclining), or a kinetic one (walking, perambulating). The “visual axes” are those perceived in either of these states, along which the eye is directed towards a visual focal point, whereas the “dynamic axes” are those along which people move during a kinetic leisurely activity. The location, architecture, and use of leisure-oriented spaces in the Roman period houses in Ephesus, such as triclinium, exedra, oecus, museion, and peristyle courtyard are examined with reference to the proposed axes-scheme to present and compare the operation of leisure in the Roman provincial and private setting.

Subject Keywords

Archaeology.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12607673/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/15947

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

The impacts of the younger dryas period on plant and animal food resources of the ancient natufian culture and the economy Ferah, Egemen; Pişkin, Evangelia; Department of Settlement Archaeology (2009) This masters thesis investigates the environmental/climatic change that is thought to have brought about the economic shift and transition from Palaeolithic economic system of hunting gathering to Neolithic economic system of agriculture and domestication period around 11.000-10.000 years ago. This study uses the collected animal and plant data of the Natufian culture in the Levant region from the previous zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical literature anlyses. It shows a significant mathematical differe...
The classicalperiod houses in Burgaz : an archaeological and architectural overview Gökdemir, Özgür; Tuna, Numan; Department of Settlement Archaeology (2006) The aim of this study is to present the architectural and organizational characteristics of Burgaz houses by taking into consideration a number of internal and external factors such as economical, social and environmental that influenced the house plan and its utilization in 4th century BC. To discuss the place of Burgaz house within the ancient Greek domestic context, the architectural, structural, and functional characteristics of houses are investigated and compared to contemporary examples, such as Olyn...
Deposition and dislocation of pottery as surface assemblages in semi-arid regions Tunçer, Aylin; Güvenç, Murat; Department of Settlement Archaeology (2005) This thesis aims to discuss the archaeological concerns about how surveys can provide data tht is meaningful to construct spatial patterning and its intricacies for inferences through altering processes diversified as cultural and natural processes. Along with that there is also a second concern dealing with the application of these theoretical issues to practical basis. It consists both methodological limits and also limits governed by the legislation of the particular area according to the aim of the stud...
A Workflow-based mobile guidance framework for managing personal activities Tüysüz, Gökhan; Eren, Pekin Erhan; Department of Information Systems (2013) In daily life, people have to perform a large number of activities typically in a limited amount of time. Thus, they may need help and guidance provided by support systems in order to accomplish these activities accurately and in the correct order. Accordingly, in this study, we propose a software framework based on workflows and supported by a mobile application to assist users in pervasive environments for managing their personal activities. Pervasive computing enables to ease and automate the execution o...
Agricultural practices and countryside in classical Greece Demirciler, Volkan; Tuna, Numan; Department of Settlement Archaeology (2007) The subject of this study is the rural settlements in Classical Greece. There is no doubt that there were various factors determined the ancient settlement patterns in Greek countryside. Geographical conditions, socio-economic and political structures can be regarded as major significant factors behind the settlement practices of ancient societies. In this study the relationships between agricultural system and rural settlements of Classical Greece will be examined.

Citation Formats

A. Çinici, “An architectural investigation of leisure spaces in the roman domestic context: the case of Ephesus,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2006.