ARISTOTELES MENTZOS Professor of Byzantine Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GREECE. mentzos@hist.auth.gr, www.hist.auth.gr Dion, excavation Headquarters, 2010 Personal Information - Studies Career I was born in 1950; I grew up and studied in Thessaloniki, Greece. I graduated from the Aristotle University at Thessaloniki in 1973. In 1975 I was appointed a Library and Excavation assistant in the School of Philosophy, Department of Archaeology. In 1989, after having completed my PhD on the Corinthian capitals of later Antiquity in Macedonia, I was appointed as teaching assistant. Until now I continue to serve in the Department of Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Academic career 1990 Lecturer, 1993 assistant professor, 1999 associate professor, 2006 professor of Byzantine Archaeology. I have written on subjects of Early Christian and Byzantine architecture and sculpture, especially concerning Thessalonikē, as well as on matters of pilgrimage, cult practices and cult objects concerning the cult of St Demetrius. I participate with other scholars in a project of identification and exploration of the use of Thasian marble in Roman and Early Byzantine period. Teaching I teach regularly in the undergraduate level since 1989 and in the postgraduate level since 1993. I teach regularly at the University of Thessaloniki in the undergraduate level since 1986 and in the postgraduate level since 1996. Subjects in undergraduate courses: Introduction to the Byzantine Art and Archaeology.
Architectural sculpture of the late Antiquity and the Byzantine period. Ecclesiastic and secular Architecture of the later Antiquity and the Byzantine period. Painting of the Byzantine period. Pictorial sculpture and minor Arts of the late Antique and Byzantine periods. Subjects in postgraduate courses: Seminar in the late antique and Early Byzantine Architectural sculpture. Seminar in Byzantine iconography, Seminar in Byzantine mosaic, Seminar in Early Byzantine icons Seminar in Early Byzantine church architecture, The organization of the Byzantine city. Teaching and working at foreign institutions In 1985 I spent a semester in Rome (Pontificio Istituto di archeologia cristiana and The German archaeological Institute). I taught at the School of Divinity (Harvard University) as an invited Lecturer in conjunction with Prof. Helmut Koester a seminar in the fall semester of 1991 with the title: Early Christian Architecture in the Balkans. I have also worked in the Library of the Institute for Medieval Studies of the University of Toronto at 1991 and 1995. In 2003 I spent the spring semester at Princeton as a guest of the Program in Greek Studies. In 1998 I taught in the Summer Program National Honors Semester in Greece offered by the National Collegiate Honors Council of the University of Omaha, Nebraska. In 2003 I taught the courses: Byzantine Art History and History and Archaeology of Byzantine Greece at the joint Summer Program of Aristotle University and Paideia educational Program of the University of Connecticut. In the following years I collaborated in the same Program by delivering lectures on the monuments of Byzantine Thessaloniki. In the summers I also teach regularly under- and postgraduate students in excavation method and archaeological publication, at Dion and Philippi. In the frame of my extended relations with the School of Divinity I have participated during the past and recently in the Archaeology of the New Testament World seminars directed by H. Koester and L. Nasrallah. Supervision of Theses I personally supervised three doctoral theses; I was member of the supervising Committee in 18 doctoral theses; I also supervised numerous MA theses. I was an external member of the advisory Committee for the doctoral thesis of Jim Skedros: St. Demetrios of Thessaloniki: Civic Patron and Divine Protector, under the supervision of H. Koester, which was defended at the School of Divinity in 1996. Invited Lectures at Institutions abroad
School of Divinity, Harvard University, 1991 University of Nottingham, 1993. St. Michael s Institute of Medieval Studies, University of Toronto, 1995. King s College, London, 1997. Università degli Studi di Bologna, 2013. I have also delivered numerous lectures at various Universities and Institutions in Greece. In the last four academic years since 2009-2010 I was responsible for and taught in the Program of further education at Byzantine Archaeology and Art History for University graduates, offered by the Center for Byzantine Research, Thessaloniki. Organizing of Congresses, Exhibitions etc. 1993: Member of the Organizing Committee of the Symposium Pieria in the Byzantine Times (Katerini, Greece). 2000: Member of the Organizing Committee of the International Symposium La sculpture Byzantine, VIIe-XIIe siècle (Athens). 2007: President of the Organizing Committee of the 4 th International Congress on Late Roman Coarse Wares, Cooking Wares and Amphorae (LRCW 4) Mediterranean: A Market without Frontiers. (Thessaloniki) 2011: President of the Organizing Committee of the International Symposium Byzantium & the Arabs: Encounter of civilizations (Thessaloniki). 2012, March: Organization responsible of the joint photo exhibition of the Center for Byzantine Research and the University of Bologna: «Giuseppe Gerola: Archaeological Journeys from the Aegean to Ravenna». 2012, December: Organization responsible of the joint exhibition of the Center for Byzantine Research and the British School at Athens, Impressions : Byzantine Thessalonikē through the Photographs and Drawings of the British School at Athens (1888-1910). Professional duties Chair of the Department of Archaeology, Aristotle University, 2008, 2009. Head of the Department of Archaeology of the Center for Byzantine Research at the Aristotle University, 2008-2013. Director of the Center for Byzantine Research, 2011-2013. Member of the Board of the Center for the Preservation of the Holy Mountain Heritage (2011-). Member of the University excavation at Dion since 1980; member of the University excavation at Philippi, 1975-1990. Director of the excavation at Philippi since 2012. Member of the Archaeological Council of the Ministry of Culture for the region of Central Macedonia, 2005-2011. Editorial board of scholarly periodicals
Member of the edit. Board of Archaeologia Bulgarica. Member of the edit. Board of Mnemeion & Perivallon (Monument and Environment). Member of the edit. Board of BYZANTINA, periodical of the Center for Byzantine Studies, Thessaloniki. Membership in scholarly and scientific societies and institutions Member of the ASMOSIA (Association for the Study of Marble and Other Stones in Antiquity), Member of the Greek Society for Christian Archaeology (XAE). Member of the Society for Macedonian Studies. Main Publications Books -Impressions; Byzantine Thessalonikē through the photographs and drawings of the British School at Athens (1888-1910), Thessaloniki: Center for Byzantine Research Charitable Fraternity of Thessaloniki, 2012 (I was the general editor and contributor of pp. 82-125). -Τα ψηφιδωτά της ανοικοδόμησης του ναού του Αγίου Δημητρίου στον 7ο αιώνα μ.χ. (The mosaics of the reconstruction of the church of St. Demetrios in the 7th century A.D.) Thessaloniki: Center for Byzantine Research Byzantine texts and studies 54, 2010. -Corinthian Capitals from the Province of Macedonia in the later Antiquity, Unpublished Doctoral Thesis: Thessaloniki 1989. Articles -«H ανάμνηση του αποστόλου Παύλου στη Θεσσαλονίκη και τους Φιλίππους» (The remembrance of the apostle Paul in Thessaloniki and in Philippi), Gēthosynon sebasma: Antidoron tēmēs kai mnēmēs eis ton makariston kathēgētēn Ioannēn Phoundoulēn, Thessaloniki 2013, 1295-1303. -«H νησίδα της Επισκοπικής Βασιλικής και οι δρόμοι του Δίου» (The insula of the Episcopal Basilica and the streets of Dion), Νamata; honorary volume to professor Dēmētrios Pandermalis. Pingiatoglou, S., Stefanidou-Tiberiou, Th., eds., Thessaloniki, 2011, 423-432. -«Ο «άμβωνας» του Οκταγώνου του ανακτόρου της Θεσσαλονίκης» (The so-called ambo from the Octagon of the palace of Thessaloniki), Philotēmia, Honorary volume for professor emerita Alkmēnē Stauridou-Zafraka, Thessaloniki: 2011, 425-432. 5. Reflections on the Architectural History of the Tetrarchic Palace Complex at Thessalonike, L. Nasrallah, Ch. Bakirtzis, St. J. Friesen, eds., From Roman to Early Christian Thessalonike Studies in Religion and Archaeology (Harvard Theological Studies, 64), Cambridge, Mass, 2010, 333-359.
7. Santa Sofia di Salonicco: Il problema della prima fase στο R. Farioli-Campanati, Cl. Rizzardi, P. Porta, A. Augenti, I. Baldini-Lippolis eds., Ideologia ecultura artistica tra Adriatico e Mediterraneo orientale (IV-X secolo). Atti del convegno Internazionale, Bologna-Ravenna, 26-29/11/2007, Studi e scavi 19, nuova serie, Bologna 2009, σ.87-98. -«Εργαστήρι γλυπτικής στη Θεσσαλονίκη στον 11ο αιώνα» (Atélier de sculpture à Thessalonique au 11e siècle), Actes du colloque international organizé par la 2e Ephorie des antiquités byzantines et l Ecole française d Athènes (6-8 septembre 2000), BCH Supplément 49, Paris 2008, 217-230. -«Ζητήματα της εικονογραφίας του αγίου Δημητρίου» (Questions of the iconography of St. Demetrios), Byzantina, 28 (2008), 364-392. 10. Βema and Altar Crypt of the Church of St Demetrius International Symposium The Cult of Martyrs and Relics and their veneration in East and West. Varna, 20-23/11/2003. Varna 2006, 214-226. -«Δυο κιονόκρανα στο Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Δράμας» (Two capitals in the Archaeological Museum of Drama), Acts of the 4th Scientific Meeting Drama kai ē periohē tēs Drama, 16-19/5/2002, Drama 2006, 157-167. -«Πρώτες παρατηρήσεις για την εξέλιξη των πολιτικών θεσμών της Θεσσαλονίκης στη αυγή του Μεσαίωνα. Σχόλια στο 4ο Θαύμα της Ανώνυμης συλλογής των Θαυμάτων του αγίου Δημητρίου» (Preliminary remarks on the evolution of the civic institutions of Thessaloniki on the eve of the Middle ages; comments on the 4th Miracle of the Anonymous collection of the Miracles of St. Demetrios), Byzantina, 23 (2006), 33-61. -«Ζητήματα τοπογραφίας των χριστιανικών Φιλίππων» (Questions of the topography of ancient Philippi), Εgnatia, 9 (2005), 101-156. -«Ο άγιος Ανδρέας και η εκκλησία της Θεσσαλονίκης» (St. Andrew and the Church of Thessalonikē), Εgnatia, 8 (2004), 303-321. -«H ιστορική τοιχογραφία του ναού του Αγίου Δημητρίου» (The historic wall painting of the church of St. Demetrios), Μakedonika, 34 (2003-04), 209-227. - A Sketch of the History of Late Roman Dion, Roman and Late Roman City, Acts of the International Conference held at Veliko Tirnovo, 26-30 July 2000, Sofia 2002 333-340. - Cathodoluminescence and isotopic analysis of Roman and Early Byzantine architectural decoration in the Rotonda Museum, Thessaloniki, N. Herz and R. Newman, eds. Interdisciplinary Studies on Ancient Stone (ASMOSIA 5), London, 2002, 316-327 (With J. Herrmann and V. Barbin ). - Reflections on the interpretation and dating of the Rotunda of Thessaloniki, Εgnatia, 6 (2001-2002) 2003, 57-82. - Architectural Decoration and Marble from Thasos: Macedonia, Central Greece, Campania, and Provence, ASMOSIA VI, Interdisciplinary Studies on Ancient Stone Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference. Venice, June 15-18 2000, Padova 2002, 329-350. (With J. Herrmann, V. Barbin and R. Reed)
20. "Early Byzantine Architecture in Pieria" J. Burke and R. Scott, eds., Byzantine Macedonia Art, Architecture, Music and Hagiography. Melbourne 2001, 7-12. -«Κιβωτίδια του Αγίου Δημητρίου στο Αγιον Όρος: Μαρτυρίες του προσκυνήματος του Αγίου» (Reliquary coffers of St. Demetrios in the Holy Mountain. Testimonies of the Saint s pilgrimage), Holy Mountain: Nature Cult Art, vol. 2. Acts of Conferences on the occasion of the exhibition Treasures from the Holy Mountain. Thessaloniki 2001, 125-137. -«Ο ναός του Αγίου Δημητρίου προ και μετά την πυρκαγιά του 7ου αιώνος (The church of St. Demetrios before and after the Fire of the 7th century), Acts of the 12th international Symposium Christian Thessaloniki, Ο naos tou Agiou Dēmētriou,proskynēma Anatolēs kai Duseos. Thessaloniki 2001, 217-241. -«Ο γλυπτός διάκοσμος της Αγίας Σοφίας στη Θεσσαλονίκη» (The sculptural decoration of Saint Sophia at Thessaloniki), Tribute to the memory of Sotiris Kissas, Thessaloniki 2001, 315-334. -«Αγία Σοφία ή Άγιος Μάρκος», Tribute to the memory of Ι. Karayiannopoulos, Βyzantina, 21 (2000), 583-587. -«Ενδείξεις και πληροφορίες για τον αρχαιότερο ναό του Αγίου Δημητρίου» (Indications and informations about the earliest church of St. Demetrios), Acts of the 13th international Symposium Christian Thessaloniki, The provincial synod of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 2000, 179-202. - Early Christian Dion, entry in the Encyclopaedia of Early Christian Art and Archaeology, P. Corby Finney, ed., 2000. -«Πρόταση για την ερμηνεία των Μαγεμένων, της Θεσσαλονίκης με αφορμή νεότερα ευρήματα» (A proposition for the interpretation of The Enchanted ones of Thessaloniki on the occasion of some recent finds), To Archeologiko Ergo stēn Macedonia kai Thrakē, 11 (1997), 1999, 379-392. -«Η Ροτόντα. Ιστορικό διάγραμμα» (The Rotonda; a sketch in history), Η Rotonda ston kyklo me tēn kimõlia, Thessaloniki 1998, 29-38. - The Exportatiοn of Marble from Thasos in Late Antiquity. The Quarries of Aliki and Cape Fanari, Thassos, Prõtes hyles kai technologia apo tous proistorikous xronous õs sēmera. Acts of International Congress, Limenaria, Thassos 26-29/9/95, Paris-Thassos 1999, 75-90. - A Byzantine Hydraulic Clock from Philippi PACT, 45 - VIII.2, Βrussels 1997, (Acts of the 2nd Congress of Archaeometry of Southern Europe, Delphi, May 1991) 525-530. -«Η εκκλησιαστική αρχιτεκτονική της Πιερίας στην πρώιμη Βυζαντινή περίοδο» (The ecclesiastic architecture of Pieria in the Early Byzantine period), Acts of the Symposium Η Pieria sta Βyzantina kai neotera hronia. Thessaloniki 1997, 151-165. -«Το ανάκτορο και η Ροτόντα της Θεσσαλονίκης: Προτάσεις για την ιστορία του Γαλεριανού συγκροτήματος» (The palace and the Rotonda of Thessaloniki: Propositions for the history of the Galerian palace), Βyzantina, 18 (1995-96), 339-364. -«Λίθινη σφραγίδα ευλογίας» (A stone mould of eulogiae), Μuseum of Byzantine
Culture, 3 (1996), 17-27. -«Η κοιμητηριακή Βασιλική του Δίου. Τα προσκτίσματα» (The cemetery basilica of Dion; the annexes), ΑΕΜΘ, 6 (1992), Θεσσαλονίκη 1995, 235-243 -«Το προσκύνημα του Αγίου Δημητρίου Θεσσαλονίκης στα βυζαντινά χρόνια» (The pilgrimage of St. Demetrios in the Byzantine period), Athens: Hetaireia philõn tou laou, Kentron ereunēs Byzantiou, v. 1, 1994. -«Παρατηρήσεις στην εξέλιξη του συγκροτήματος του Οκταγώνου των Φιλίππων στο τέλος της παλαιοχριστιανικής περιόδου» (Observations on the evolution of the Octagon complex of Philippi at the end of the Early Christian period), 10th Symposium of Byzantine and Postbyzantine Archaeology and Art, 18-20/1990, summary p.45. With E. Pelekanidou. -«Οκτάγωνο Φιλίππων: Πρώτα συμπεράσματα μετά τις νεότερες έρευνες» (Octagon of Philippi: First conclusions after the recent investigations), Acts of the Archaeological Conference Polis kai chora stēn archaia Makedonia kai Thrakē Thessaloniki, 1990, 597-607. With E. Pelekanidou. -«Ο επίσκοπος Δημήτριος και η οικοδομική του δραστηριότητα στους Φιλίππους» (Bishop Dēmētrios and his building activity at Philippi), Εgnatia, 1 (1989), 197-205. -«Σφραγίσματα σε πλίνθους από το Δίον και τη Θεσσαλονίκη» (Byzantine Brickstamps from Dion and Thessaloniki), Historicogeographica, 2 (1988), 196-99. -«Το προστώο του παλιού κτιρίου του Πανεπιστημίου» (The porch of the Old Building of the University of Thessaloniki) Amētos: Tribute to professor M. Andronikos, Thessaloniki 1986, 499-503. -«Ημιτελές ανάγλυφο από τη Θεσσαλονίκη» (An unfinished marble relief from Thessaloniki), Dedication to the memory of Stylianos Pelekanidis, Thessaloniki 1983, 260-269. -«Συμβολή στην έρευνα του αρχαιότερου ναού της Αγίας Σοφίας Θεσσαλονίκης» (A contribution to the investigation of the earlier church of St. Sophia of Thessaloniki), Μakedonika, 21 (1981), 201-221. -«Μαρμάρινα και Χάλκινα έργα από το παλαιοχριστιανικό Δίον» (Artefacts in marble and bronze from the Early Christian Dion), Oi archaiologoi miloun gia tēn Pieria, 2 (1985), Thessaloniki 1986, 42-48. Conferences -The Cult of Apostle Paul in Philippi. International Symposium held at the University of Thessaly, Art and Cult in Byzantium. Volo, June 24-26, 2005. -2007 November, Ideologia e cultura artistica tra Adriatico e Mediterraneo orientale (IV-X secolo) Il ruolo dell autorità ecclesiastica alla luce di nuovi scavi e ricerche Bologna-Ravenna, 26-29 Novembre 2007, Santa Sofia di Salonicco: il problema della prima fase. -2007 April, 4th International Congress of Late Roman Coarse Wares, Thessaloniki, Pottery from the Cemetery Basilica in the Early Byzantine City of Dion (with N.
Poulou, D. Minasidis, K. Fragkoulis) (In press). -2013, March 23d to 25th, 46th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies at the University of Birbingham, Byzantine Greece: Microcosm of Empire? - Thasian Marble and Thessaloniki in Late Antique and Early Byzantine Times (With John Herrmann and V. Barbin). 5th International Conference, ΑSΜΟSΙΑ 1998, June 11-15, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA.