Ostia in Late Antiquity by Douglas Boin

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS 505 examples eschew philosophical discourse, because even Aristotle’s views on the emotions and tragedy are often “extremely narrow” (84n.13). She extracts data chiefly from epic, tragedy,historiography, comedy, and biography. Assertive self-promotional pronouncements often trapped Hellenes and Romans into indefensible situations of their own making. Winged words and physical assaults cannot be unsaid,21 apologies threaten community regard, and third parties willing to arbitrate find little oxygen to attempt repairs. Thus, Fulkerson’s clever title—No Regrets—unintentionally contradicts her argument, since those withoutregrets cannot experience remorse,butthose “bitten” bytheir own mistakes cannot avoid regretting them. Fulkerson opens up the important issue of “framing remorse debates” (214). She has provided path-breaking analyses of ancient moments of this mordant emotion, and other scholars will supplementher pioneering,case-study coverage. DONALD LATEINER Ohio Wesleyan University, dglatein@owu.edu * * * * * OstiainLateAntiquity.ByDOUGLASBOIN.CambridgeandNewYork:Cambridge UniversityPress,2013.Pp.xix+287.Hardcover,$99.00.ISBN978-1-107-024014 . Don’t be fooled by its nondescript title: Ostia in Late Antiquity compellingly, thoughonoccasionunevenly,engagessomeofthemostimportantdebatesinlate antique history—e.g. the third century “crisis,” Christian “triumph” (or Christianization to use a more, or less, neutral synonym), and the fifth-century “collapse”ofthewesternRomanempire—throughtheprismoflateantiqueOstia. While thetitle suggestsa broadoverviewofOstia fromthe thirdto the eighth centuries, Boin presents a series of emblematic vignettes on Ostian material culturalandliterarysourcesinanattempttomodelanewapproachtolateantique religious and urban change. Boin argues that the so-called crisis had much less 21 Livy’s Samnites (9.11.3, cited 173n.44) offer the impossible idea of “rewinding time” and refighting their battle, if the defeated Romans now experience paenitentia for their surrender. BOOK REVIEWS 506 impact on Rome’s port as archaeological and textual sources reveal enduring patterns of classical urban life into the sixth century, a century after the western empire’s “collapse,” and that the entirely contingent process of Christianization was a slow and stuttering process that itself stretched from the fourth to the sixth centuriesas Roman traditional religions longmaintained a robust presence. Part One, “Background”, outlines the theoretical toolkit of the work and sketches the basic contours of late antique Ostia. In chapter one, “New Approaches to daily life in Late Antique Ostia,” Boin signals a commitment to post-processuralarchaeology,socialmemory(orthepersistenceandpowerofthe past in which Roman traditional religions remained vibrant for much longer than expected), and the complexities of identity (which complicates the facile assumption that a ring with Christian symbolism necessarily belonged to a Christian). Chapter two, “The new urban landscape of Rome’s ancient harbor,” orients the reader with a rapid tour of late antique Ostia from the inner harbor to thecoastline(withitscollegia,villas,synagogue,andbaths)totheciviccenterand its surrounding housing stock, demonstrating that Ostia remained dynamic and diverse,attractingpeople ofvariousreligious, social,and economic stripes. Part Two, “Foreground,” proceeds more or less chronologically. Chapter three, “The third century: Roman religions and the long reach of the emperor,” offers analyses of the Round Temple, which Boin argues was a multi-purpose imperial audience hall, domestic and workplace religious installations, and the renovations of the synagogue, now thought to have been founded in the second century. The assembled snapshots demonstrate the ongoing vitality of thirdcentury Ostia,which was little impaired by the supposed third-century“crisis.” After summarizing recent studies on Constantine, Julian, and the anti- “pagan”—anadjectiveBoinrightlycritiques—legislationintheTheodosiancode, Chapterfour,“Thefourthcentury: proudtemplesandresilienttraditions,”tackles the supposedly swift Christianization of the Roman Empire after Constantine’s conversion. Though cities continually “decline,” Ostia’s Capitolium and Forum werecarefullymaintaineddemonstratingthepersistenceandpowerofthe“pagan” past in the late antique present. Also in the fourth century, the synagogue added a kitchen and new architectural decoration, perhaps in response to an increasingly powerful, though internally conflicted, Christian community, whose modest public presence, one intramural church and a handful of extramural martyr basilicas,beliesnarrativesofChristian “triumph.” BOOK REVIEWS 507 Chapter five, “The fifth century: history seen from the spaces in between,” surveysthefifth-century’srambunctiousreligiousdiversityandcompetitionwhen the synagogue took on its most monumental form, the Christian Pianabella basilica employed spolia from the sanctuary of Vulcan, intimating a discontinuity between the classical past and contemporary conceptions of Christian identity, and a stunning statue collection which was displayed in the sanctuary of Magna Mater. This civic diversity was echoed in the Christian community as an intramural church, commonly understood to have...