Domestic architecture and social change in the Greco-Roman Near East -

Abstract

Houses play a major role in building identities. Nowhere is that more visible than in the Roman period where the domus played an essential part in shaping the public image of its owner. The organization of households and the use of space within them is a visible reflection of invisible cultural and social ideas. During the Greco-Roman period, house designs varied from one area to the other in the Near East hinting at the presence of social and cultural differences between these different regions. My aim is to look at the Greco-Roman housing from Lebanon, more specifically, the region of the colony of Berytus (modern day Beirut) and compare those to different domestic houses in the Near East. The arrival of the new colonists to Beirut should be a good starting point when it comes to looking at the changes in domestic architecture. The colonists – veterans of Augustus’ army – most certainly had different cultural backgrounds to those already living in Berytus. As a result, their new houses, built on their newly acquired land should reflect those new foreign ideas.