Urban and Rural Christianity – Religious Transformations in Late Antique Pannonia and Dalmatia

The characteristics and development of late antique religious space are examined within the roman provinces of Pannonia and Dalmatia. The concept of the geography of religions is understood as the perception of the religious landscape and the shapes of cultic representation that takes place within the provinces. The social structure of Dalmatia qualifies this province in particular for exemplary research. On the one hand, the system of Salona as urban centre with its provincial periphery reflects the relation of Rome to the provinces; on the other hand it represents itself in the correlation to the minor provincial centres and their respective urban hinterland. The character of the Pannonias as provinces on the frontier of the Roman Empire effectuated a unique interdependency between the pivotal power of the empire and the provincial cultural situation.