When Less Is More: Monumentality and the Architectural Orders from the Tetrarchs to Justinian

Monumental architecture dominated the late antique urban landscape. However, buildings that were constructed using newly carved architectural components employed smaller elements than in earlier periods. Most columns, for example, measured no more than 3.5 meters tall. The phenomenon occurred in secular and ecclesiastical construction projects from the late third through sixth centuries CE and was limited neither to a particular region, workshop, patron, stone, nor building type. Many potential factors were involved, but analyzing their effect on a Mediterranean-wide scale can prove challenging, especially when lacunae exist in the archaeological and historical records. Therefore, this article uses a distributed agency model to assess the relative impact of stone availability, production and transportation logistics, and ideology on the late antique building industry. It first addresses the provenance of the stones employed and calculates the typical sizes of diverse architectural orders. This data is then set alongside financial codes and available technology to determine what factors enhanced or inhibited procurement and production. Finally, aesthetics and patronage are examined to understand the ideological value of new construction versus repair work, restoration, and reuse. Assessing these primary contributing factors through Actor-Network and Material Engagement Theories reveals how agents involved in the production of these elements responded to and directed changes in how the building industry functioned. This article thus provides an innovative methodological assessment of late antique architecture and new insight regarding altered perceptions of monumentality among late antique communities, for whom “less” was not only acceptable but set the standard for privileged construction within evolving civic landscapes.