This book derives from my doctoral thesis, completed at the University of St Andrews in 2015. As such, my greatest and most profound thanks go to my supervisor during the bulk of my studies there, Professor Greg Woolf, for his support in this project. His tireless comments, corrections and pondering questions helped my first thoughts about public buildings in the late antique city develop into this research project. My secondary, and eventual final supervisor, Dr Myles Lavan, was also extremely helpful for his guidance, encouragement and valuable feedback throughout the writing and finishing of this work. The School of Classics at St Andrews was a supportive environment for research, and I greatly benefited from the many colleagues there with whom I discussed elements of my work. Thanks are also particularly due to Dr Luke Lavan (University of Kent) for his mentoring and guidance and, above all, for inviting me to join the Kent-Berlin Late Antique Ostia Project, which was valuable for numerous reasons, both professional and personal.
I am greatly appreciative of all the archaeologists that answered my particular (and perhaps unusual) questions, or have kindly given me permission to use their images and plans. In this respect it would be remiss not to mention: Dr Roger Collins, Professor Andrew Wilson, Dr Sebastián Rascón Marqués, Dr Ana Lucía Sánchez Montes, Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary, Dr Marc Heijmans, Professor Michael Kulikowski and Professor Neil Christie (even if the plans of these last two did not make the final cut). The anonymous reviewers who read this manuscript were helpful for their guidance on turning a thesis into a book, as well as suggesting a number of helpful changes and corrections along the way. The volume editor, Dr Michael Mulryan, facilitated turning my variable prose into something (hopefully) readable, and was instrumental in catching a good number of minor errors and omissions. Any remaining errors are my own.
Grateful recognition is also given to the many professional and amateur archaeologists and explorers that have made their photos and plans available in several amazing online resources through Creative Commons licensing, and to NASA, who provide stunning satellite imagery (used here in my maps) through their Visible Earth program.
Above all, I would never have been able to start or finish this project without the backing and daily encouragement of my partner, Aimee. She has been a constant source of inspiration, advice and reassurance from the beginning to the end of this journey. It is with great love and profound respect that I dedicate this work to her. Final thanks go to the support given by all my family and friends who have helped in their own little ways to carry this project to completion, especially my mother.
Doug Underwood
Edinburgh
March 2019