Abstract:

Aizanoi, one of the important cities of Phrygia, had experienced a transformation by 3rd Century Crisis which was felt throughout Roman Empire. Local elites lost their economic privileges because the transferring Temple Lands income to the imperial treasury now, and their political dominance for the increasing pressure of central bureaucracy upon the provinces, so they withdrew from the urban life. Aizanoi lost its autonomy, and its council became dysfunctional. The public buildings, which are the symbols of the Greco-Roman urban tradition, were either abandoned or lost their functions. In this process, the use of classical necropoleis ended and cemeteries around new churches appeared. The burial customs changed, and tombstones were not produced anymore. Use of writing had also dramatically decreased. Finally, Aizanoi transformed to a medieval settlement at the end of Late Antiquity. It was also disintegration of classical urban culture and the ideal of Polis.

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