Erken Beşinci Yüzyılda Konstantinopolis: Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae, gündelik hayat ve arkeolojik perspektif

The fifth century is often referred to as the Byzantine Empire's "Age of Transformation." It witnessed fundamental changes in political, economic, and social life. During this time, approximately the decade of 420s, an anonymous regionary catalogue was compiled, the Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae. Not only does this catalogue divide Constantinople into fourteen regions, but it lists contemporaneous major monuments, public spaces as well as smaller amenities such as housing in each region. This thesis investigates the daily life and urban character of each region by analyzing the number of the structures and their functions, as recorded in the Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae. It proposes that, while the city grew westward, the eastern part of the city remained the public and administrative center of throughout the century. It also demonstrates that in some regions, the daily life was informed and shaped by commercial activities. Other regions to the north were of a residential character. During 1920 to 1980, there were a number of short-term rescue excavations in İstanbul regarding fifth-century Byzantine monuments. Unfortunately, very few were published. Six such structures revealed as a result of these short-term rescue excavations are also discussed in order to shed more light on the Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae as well as Constantinople during the fifth century. These structures are largely absent from Byzantine scholarship and completely omitted from the Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae. The results of their investigation show that the Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae omitted both Pagan and Judaic-related structures. Their investigation will also better locate them in time.