Space and community: a case study of the transformations of Lépcis Magnas forums from the third century to the sixth century

Abstract

The transformations in the urban landscape in late antiquity, such as the modifications and eventual abandonment of the forums, were often seen as a reflection of the decline of the ancient city. However, from the 1990's onward, the critique of the concept of decay and the development of new approaches that placed greater emphasis on the space as a social production changed the tone of the studies, considering that the transformation of spaces implied in the society's transformation. In this sense, that the study of cities' forums throughout this period gains meaning. The main objective of this research is to verify to what extent the forums' transformations reveal changes in a city community during Late Antiquity. To answer this, we will do a case study of Lépcis Magna's forums using the archaeological remains and the honorific inscriptions from the 3rd century to the 5th century and other inscriptions from 6th century. By describing and mapping the physical transformations of each forum, we will try to identify evidences of transformation in the spaces' nature. As for the inscriptions, we will analyze the dedicators and dedicated as well as their characterizations, the reasons and the types of inscriptions remaining in the 6th century in the order to understand the epigraph culture of spaces to verify possible changes and continuities in practice.