“Pirates and Romans: Cities of the Rough Cilicia Coast”

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 8 PM in Miller Hall Room 114

by Professor Michael Hoff

Clarence and Anne Dillon Dunwalke Lecture** of the Archaeological Institute of America for the New Orleans Society and Loyola University Classical Studies program

At the end of the Hellenistic period, the south-central coast of Asia Minor (Turkey) was the base of operations for pirates who preyed upon merchant vessels operating in the regions between Italy and the Levant. After the Romans rid the area of the pirate threat cities began to spread at a rapid pace up and down the coast of the province of Rough Cilicia. Although these cities are still visible today, few of these urban areas have been studied or even explored by archaeologists. Unfortunately some of these sites are rapidly deteriorating because of land development and modern-day 'pirates' who are looting the sites of their antiquities. Among the goals of the Rough Cilicia Archaeological Project is the documentation of these communities by studying their urban planning and architecture, such as temples, baths, tombs, to gain an understanding of land use and urban needs in Cilicia during the Roman Empire.
This lecture highlights the work of the Rough Cilicia Archaeological Research Project; ancient sites included in this talk are Selinus, Lamos, Juliosebaste, and Antiocheia ad Cragum.
Particular attention is paid to the city of Antiocheia where Dr. Hoff is currently excavating a Roman imperial temple.

** The Clarence and Anne Dillon Dunwalke Trust supports a number of projects sponsored by various cultural institutions. In 2000 the Trust donated funds for the establishment of an endowed lectureship in honor of Clarence and Anne Dillon Dunwalke.  The Dunwalke Lecturer, who is chosen by the AIA Lecture Program Committee, visits one local society annually.