Procopius and the language of buildings

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Gunnar Brands; Professorin Dr. Marietta Horster
• Subject Area: Ancient History ; Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: from 2018 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 400139393

“Procopius and the language of buildings" focuses on the 6th century Greek book De Aedificiis. This text is crucial for the understanding of the material culture of the early Byzantine Empire. A team of historians, philologists and archaeologists will analyze the text, recognize its narrative patterns, illustrate given structures, and illuminate the significance and limitations of the text for individual buildings and for entire regions. The applicants take for granted that just as images, buildings and materials with their visual messages present and promote the character of a reign, writing and talking about buildings has a similar potential. The project doesn’t center emperor Justinian’s (527-565) power as visualized in buildings and art but focuses on a text whose aim was precisely to create and imitate in words the signaling effect of material culture. With his text about the buildings Procopius almost enters into competition with the buildings themselves, setting high standards: he presents the enormous number of building measures, he describes the technical expertise and innovations involved, he emphasizes the soundness, beauty and creativity of Justinianic building. He grasps these topics with a creative use of traditional literary strategies and with new means of representation. This “language of buildings” is apt to express the power of the Roman emperor, the strength and durability of the Roman Empire, and to convince the reader of these concerns.The buildings Procopius selected for his text and the way in which he made them speak will be investigated in cultural, historical and archaeological terms. Against the background of the earlier constructions as well as in view of the many texts of Procopius virtual (or real) library, the “language of the Buildings”-project will help to decipher this material and literary heyday at the end of antiquity and the beginning of Byzantine culture and will contribute to a deeper understanding of this period. It will be discussed to what extent Procopius’ invoked state myth is based on the solid world of constructions and images, which, as it seems constitutes an important element of stability “visualizing” Justinian’s (built) world as based on divine order. In addition to the art-historical, architectural and cultural tasks, the organization of large-scale construction projects and the implementation of building law are in need of a detailed (re)examination as well as the central text itself needs more philological investigation than has been done e.g. on later (7th-12th c.) insertions and transformations of the text. Only recently (and for the first time), the authoritative early short text-version of De Aedificiis was edited by our colleague F. Montinaro, who is among the co-operation partners of our projects. In short: the goal of the project is to create an innovative and trend-setting historical and archaeological commentary of Procopius Buildings.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Canada
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Geoffrey Greatrex