Contemporary fashions and jewelry in the Roman East: Evidence from the mosaics of Antioch-on-the-Orontes

This dissertation seeks to define the designs of the cosmopolitan jewelry and clothing fashions in the Roman East from the second through the sixth centuries CE, by examining the mosaics from Antioch-on-the-Orontes. In this dissertation, it is maintained that cosmopolitan trends were adhered to throughout the empire in the ranks of the social elite, crossing ethnic boundaries and reaching a common fashion. This dissemination of cosmopolitan fashions is supported in the mosaics from Antioch, which not only display changes over the centuries, but also display direct importations of fashions from other parts of the empire; the traders and travelers bringing products in and out of the city provided ample models for such artistic sources as these mosaics.;After an introduction to the site and history of Antioch in Chapter 1, Part I of this dissertation, Chapters 2--6, addresses the jewelry designs depicted on these mosaic figures, while Part II, Chapters 7--9 concentrates on the depictions of garment designs. The Catalogue in Appendix I serves as the point of departure for this dissertation, by providing descriptive information about the clothing and jewelry depicted on each of the 392 figures from the extant corpus of mosaics.;By analyzing the depictions of jewelry and clothing as a whole, it is possible to trace chronologically, the changes and modifications made on these general designs. These mosaic features evolve from their early, Greek forms in the second century CE, by assimilating Roman features into a late version of the Greek dress and jewelry designs during the fourth, fifth and early sixth centuries. In the clothing in particular, certain Greek features are maintained which differ from the imported Roman customs. This analysis demonstrates that the mosaic jewelry and clothing designs were, by and large, not simply stock forms re-used from a previous era, but instead, were influenced by fashionable designs worn in contemporary society, and thus changes the previously established analysis of these mosaics. Overall, these mosaics reveal an insight into the daily fashions of the Antiochenes, and display some of the key cosmopolitan trends followed in the Roman East.