ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the question of what possibly the Byzantines saw as art in their urban environment and how we consider what art was for them in their surroundings. Public spaces were considered spaces that were to provide an environment of some aesthetic experience in the Byzantine urban life. This should not be considered unusual or special. The late Roman early Byzantine topography and organization of the city are barely recognizable today. Natural disasters, struggles among pagans and Christians, reuse of materials and the decline of the city following the Arab conquest, all have contributed to the lack of physical evidence of the Byzantine city. In the early Byzantine period, Antioch was a thriving city until it was lost to the Arabs in 637 despite Heraclius’ attempt to reconquer it, and for the next 350 years, the city fell into a fast decline.
