A Lecture by Dr. Yannis Lolos
The Samuel H. Kress Lectureship in Ancient Art**
Archaeological Institute of America
Monday, April 16, 2011
Nunemaker Auditorium
Monroe Hall, 3rd floor
8 p.m.
free admission and free parking on campus
Co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Classical Studies program and the New Orleans Society of the Archaeological Institute of America
The Via Egnatia, initiated by the proconsul of the Roman province of Macedonia Cn. Egnatius probably in the mid-140s BCE, was the first Roman highway built east of the Adriatic sea. It originally led from Apollonia and Dyrrachion in Illyria (modern Albania) to the Hebrus river in Thrace (modern boundary between Greece and Turkey), but later its line extended to Constantinople (Istanbul). With a length of almost 1100 km and a lifespan of many centuries (until the 5th century CE) the Via Egnatia crossed many nations and important cities in modern Albania, F.Y.R.O.M., Greece and Turkey. The largest part of this artery has been obliterated or covered over by modern roads or again destroyed by cultivations and land development in the course of the 20th century. Yet, some sections are still visible, especially near Pequin and Librazhd (Albania), and near Kavala and Alexandroupoli (Greece). The entire artery and many of the old cities along its course revived under the Ottoman rule (from the 15th century onwards). During the lecture we shall follow the Via Egnatia from west to east and track its history through the centuries.
Dr. Lolos is a member of the Department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology, at the University of Thessaly, Argonauton and Filellinon in Volos, Greece. He received his B.A. in History of Art and Archaeology) and M.A. (D.E.A.)in Classical Archaeology from the University of Paris-Sorbonne., and his Ph.D. in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley. His specialties include Archaeology of the Hellenistic City, Greek and Roman Architecture and Topography . He has done field work throughout Greece in the territory of Sikyon, in Aetolia and the Pelopponesos. He has numerous publications related to his work.
*** Since 1984 the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in New York has given the AIA several grants to support the Samuel H. Kress Lectureship in Ancient Art. The 1998/1999 program marks the first year of a three-year grant to continue the lectureship.
In the first grant application to the Kress Foundation in 1983, the AIA proposed the establishment of a Kress Lectureship in Ancient Art "to be held by a foreign, preferably junior, scholar whose work in one or more fields of ancient art is, or deserves to be, internationally known and who would benefit from the opportunity to widen his horizons to U.S. scholarly communities and museums." The Kress Lectureship was to be "dedicated to ancient art in the widest sense, with an emphasis on Classical, ancient Near Eastern, and Egyptian art." It was further proposed that the Kress Lecturer reside for one semester or a portion thereof at a university chosen by the AIA "for the strength of its program in art and archaeology."
In 2001 the program was expanded to two Kress Lecturers for each year. The Lecturers are chosen by the Lecture Program Committee and annually lecture to one quarter of all local AIA Societies.