Housing in Late Antique Augusta Emerita: The End of The Peristyle House

Abstract

Summary This article presents the archaeological evidence for a comprehensive change in the residential pattern of late antique Merida, Spain (Augusta Emerita) in the second half of the fifth century AD. By the fourth century AD, the peristyle house had become the fundamental unit of aristocratic late Roman housing, offering the ideal setting for high-status interactions, aristocratic ceremony, and even private and public business. The peristyle house was gradually replaced by subdivision housing in the course of the fifth and sixth centuries, in a trend seen throughout the late Roman world. In Emerita, however, the transition was quite sudden. Here, a destructive event in the middle of the fifth century paved the way for the rapid introduction of subdivision housing, over just a few decades. While this new style of housing was typical of the late antique world, the evidence from Emerita highlights the role that a local catalyst might play in the adoption of new cultural forms.