Space and Community

a case study of the transformations of Lépcis Magna forums from the 3rd to the 6th century

Abstract

The changes in the urban landscape during Late Antiquity, such as the modifications and eventual abandonment of the forums, were often seen as evidence of the decline of the ancient city. From the 1990s, however, the criticism of the concept of decay and the development of new approaches that placed greater emphasis on the analysis of space as social production, changed the tonic of studies when considering that the transformation of spaces also implied the transformation of society. It is in this sense that the study of city forums over this period takes on meaning. The purpose of this article is to present the results of the case study in which we sought to understand the extent to which the transformations of the forums revealed changes in the community during Late Antiquity. For this, we used the archaeological remains and the inscriptions from the 3rd to the 6th century so that it was possible to follow the changes in spaces and the community, the dynamics and perception of the use of spaces and the choices made concerning the maintenance of the urban fabric.