Alahan and Zeno

Abstract

AbstractFollowing Gough, the late Roman church complex at Alahan in Isauria is usually described as a monastic site built by the emperor Zeno (AD 474–491). Recent reinterpretation of the site by Mango and Hill has suggested that it was not a monastery but a pilgrimage site. This paper argues that none of the physical evidence at the site gives good reason to think of it as built by Zeno. The usual lavish scale of imperial patronage is missing. Alahan was a rural church complex built in the late fifth or early sixth century, whose most important feature is its state of preservation.