This public lecture is staged annually in memory of the ecclesiastic historian Hans Lietzmann (1875-1942), Adolf von Harnacks's successor as director of the Academy project The Greek Christian Authors of the First Centuries (GDS). The invited speaker is an internationally renowned scholar from the field of classical studies. The lectures address central topics of the history of ancient religion that are of relevance to the present day.

Our image of Antioch on the Orontes, a metropolis of the Roman world, is largely shaped by the reports of ancient authors. By comparison, the archeological image of the city of late antiquity has remained essentially invisible. It has become apparent over time that the city underwent radical reconstruction beginning from the 4 th century as the result of pillage and natural disasters as well as demographic and economic change.

Autorentext
Gunnar Brands, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle/Saale.