Continuity in Late Antique Vaulted Architecture

This paper examines two little-known elements of continuity in the transition from Late Roman to Early Byzantine vaulted architecture. The first of these elements is the use of vaults made of arched brick courses. Known from the dome of the Mausoleum of Diocletian in Spalato, this technique has been in use from the Roman to the Early Byzantine period. Re-examining the dome at Spalato and comparing it with examples from Asia Minor and Greece, this paper provides new insights into the slow evolution of this method and its influence on late antique vaulted construction. The second element of continuity concerns the use of architectural models in Imperial architectural programmes. To shed light on this, the paper investigates the possible role of the first vaulted church of St. John at Ephesos as the model of Justinian’s Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople. Comparing these two monuments helps to understand the flexible way in which Early Byzantine architects used architectural prototypes. By analysing an influential architectural model and a durable method of vaulting this article contextualises our understanding of two of the masterpieces of late antique Imperial architecture and invites us to view them within a broader architectural tradition that developed from the 2nd to the 6th c.