Ruines en usage : droit, pratiques et perceptions du remploi, de l’Antiquité tardive au haut Moyen Âge
Ruins in Use: Law, Practices, and Perceptions of Reuse from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages

Author(s): Masset Valentine
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, History of Law, Social history, Modern Age
Published by: Editura Pro Universitaria
Keywords: urban planning; architecture; spolia; ancient materials; reuse; cultural implications
Summary/Abstract: At the dawn of the decline of the Roman Empire, urban planning was codified in law, reflecting a legislative response to major socio-political upheavals. Contrary to the commonly held image of an Empire in full decay, the late Roman period in fact reveals a complex and well-structured legal system. The Codex Theodosianus devotes an entire chapter, De operibus publicis, to urban planning and architecture, underscoring their crucial importance in the management of public affairs. From the Late Empire to the onset of the Middle Ages, the intensive reuse of ancient sites and materials became widespread practice. This phenomenon, largely driven by the economic disruptions of the time, lay at the heart of numerous political issues that this paper seeks to explore. It is within this context that we encounter the earliest attestations of the concept of spolia, used today to designate the incorporation of fragments of ancient buildings into new constructions. By revisiting this perspective, it becomes possible to examine more deeply the political, cultural, and symbolic implications of reuse through the analysis of selected case studies dating from 315 to 1140.

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