Temples and Towns is the first comparative study of Roman sanctuary
design for the six centuries of architecture on the Iberian
Peninsula, from the arrival of the Romans in the third century B.C.
until the decline of urban life on the peninsula in the third
century A.D. During these six centuries, the peninsula became an
important influence in the Roman world. The area supplied writers,
politicians, and emperors, a fact acknowledged by Romanists for
centuries. But study of the peninsula itself has often been brushed
aside as insignificant and uninteresting. In Temples and Towns in
Roman Iberia Mierse challenges such a view.
By examining the changing forms of temples and their placement
within the urban fabric, Mierse shows that Iberian architecture had
great variation. It was never a slavish imitation of an imported
model but always a novel experiment. Sometimes the forms arrived at
were both new and unexpected; sometimes the specific prototypes
were obvious. But the Iberian form was significantly altered to
suit local needs. What might seem at first to be a repetition of
forms turns out to be theme and variation upon closer
investigation. Mierse brings impressive learning to his quest,
which allows him a unique perspective on the interaction between
the events and architecture he chronicles here.
The architectural changes are interesting in themselves, but
also of note are the reasons underlying the modifications. We see
the growing role of private patronage and the increasing importance
of local wealth in determining choices of form over the six
centuries. We also see how the architecture responds to Iberians'
increasing sense of Romanness, which by the third century has
takencomplete hold of most of the peninsula. The power of outside
forces on local forms, the influence of local elites who paid for
the structures, and the innovations of architects and builders
produced distinctive designs.
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