Arts, Crafts and Trades in Ancient and Byzantine Thessaloniki: Archaeological, Literary and Epigraphic Evidence by Anastassios Antonaras (review)

This volume is the first comprehensive study of the ancient and Byzantine material culture of Thessaloniki. Its author, Anastassios Antonaras, a curator of Byzantine Art at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki, possesses an innate knowledge of the region and a depth of understanding of his historical subject. Drawing on textual, archaeological, and material sources, Antonaras reconstructs a vibrant city at the nexus of trade routes across the Mediterranean and the greater world. The volume focuses on a broad time span, beginning in ancient Thessaloniki and continuing through the end of the Late Byzantine period. Within this timeframe, the city saw dramatic rises and falls in technology, population, and trade. Antonaras explores many remains of material culture that would have formed part of the everyday existence of those living in the second largest city of the Byzantine Empire.

This near encyclopedic book explores many facets of the city's arts and crafts, with a special emphasis on their manufacture, such as records mentioning the materials and evidence of known production sites. The book has two central portions of equal weight and importance: a comprehensive summary of known information about production in the city and a catalogue of documented production sites in the region. The first portion is divided into three expansive chronological periods: Hellenistic to Early Christian, Middle Byzantine, and Late Byzantine. The topics and trades discussed within this book could each be expanded into its own study, as demonstrated in the rich footnotes, primary sources, and bibliography. Each era of the book begins with a brief introduction that paints a general view of the city in terms of population, trade, and religion at the time. Following this overview, each section then focuses on brief segments relating to the types of crafts that were local to the region and time. These subsections lay out known examples of the arts and crafts, with little interjection or analysis. Instead, the author remains focused on presenting the material in a systematic and straightforward method, at times seeming to go out of his way to maintain a sense of impartialness towards the material.

The crafts surveyed include not only more well-known media, such as textiles and glasswares, Antonaras' specialty, but also lesser studied ones, such as baskets, woven mats, and bone carvings. The crafts vary during each period; some such as metalworking, mosaics, and painting are discussed in all three time periods, whereas others are only found in one period. Even in repeated topics, however, the emphasis on a localness of time and space remains at the center of his writing. The decision of the author to organize the book chronologically, rather than discuss each craft as a whole, is an effective one. Copious figures and images accompany each section. In addition to discussions of the remaining material evidence, the author takes care to note evidence of related resources to the industry, such as relevant materials and written sources that mention the production.

The thoughtful narration about the many crafts creates a rich understanding of the city's shifting environment. But, the most exceptional portion of this book is the extensive catalogue of attested workshops that follows the main text. This section provides an invaluable resource to future scholars. Antonaras has compiled a brief description on each attested workshop with an individual bibliography provided for each site. Also included with each entry are excavation drawings, maps, and quality images of site remains and findings. This catalogue of sites is supported by a large, removable map at the back of the book, which plots all archaeologically attested workshops in the city, providing a visual compilation that recreates the craft industries of greater Thessaloniki over a millennium. An analysis of the map and the relevant sections of the book allows the reader to understand how certain sections of the city, for example, the cemeteries, changed over time. The map also allows scholars to place together the...