The Medieval City: Stones, Communities, Concepts

Abstract

“Tell me, sir, this city – what is it?”, a Christian boy named Iamlikha asks a man on the street after arriving at his hometown, late antique Ephesus. Iamlikha’s failure to identify his own native city is understandable given the circumstances. The day before, he and seven companions had decided to flee Ephesus and hide in a nearby cave for the night, rather than submit to an order by the Roman Emperor Decius that they sacrifice to the pagan gods. Upon re-entering the city the next morning, Iamlikha had seen, to his profound surprise, the sign of Christ’s Cross suspended in proud display above the city gates. He is unable to reconcile this sight with the Ephesus he knows and remembers: a pagan city where the sign of Christ was banned from public space. How can his city have changed so fundamentally in a single day?