Healing in Motion: The Influence of Locotherapy on the Architecture of the Pergamene

189 Pages·2016·31.9 MB·English

UCLA
UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Title
Healing in Motion: The Influence of Locotherapy on the Architecture of the Pergamene
Asklepieion in the second century CE
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8sp373gm
Author
Okay, Ece Sayram
Publication Date
2016

Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles

Healing in Motion:
The Influence of Locotherapy on the Architecture of
the Pergamene Asklepieion in the second century CE

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction
of the requirements for the degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture

by

Ece Sayram Okay

2016
© Copyright by
Ece Sayram Okay
2016
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

Healing in Motion:
The Influence of Locotherapy on the Architecture of
the Pergamene Asklepieion in the second century CE

by

Ece Sayram Okay
Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture
University of California, Los Angeles, 2016
Professor Diane G. Favro, Chair

Healing in Motion introduces the concept of locotherapy in order to examine the
relationship between Roman temple healing and architecture in the second century CE.
Healing through movement was a new phenomenon that emerged in the Roman period
involving collective and individual, formal and informal, ritual and non-ritual kinetic
actions specific to therapeutic practices. A close reading of the Asklepieion at Pergamon,
a prominent Greco-Roman healing center in Asia Minor, reveals the potent connection
between locotherapy and architectural design. The analyses draws upon engaging urban
phenomenological theory, the extensive literature on Greco-Roman healing, the

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meticulous archaeological reports on Pergamon, and first-hand data gathered during site
visits. Applying an interdisciplinary approach, Healing in Motion emphasizes the
embodied, kinetic aspects at play in the design of ancient healing centers, which had been
missing from previous scholarship.
By addressing the textual and numismatic evidence and tracing the history of
temple healing, the project first substantiates that locotherapy is a direct consequence of
the socio-cultural circumstances of the second century CE. The following chapters trace
the architectural development of the Pergamon Asklepieion from its beginnings until the
second century CE, followed by sections focusing on the architecture of the second
century, a period when temple healing and secular healing practices begin to merge. At
this point in time, the somatic movement regimen that belonged to the secular medical
tradition began to manifest itself in the cures of Asklepieia. The analytical term
locotherapy applies specifically to these changing practices and developing relations
between medicine and architecture of the second century. In the final chapters, the
dissertation demonstrates how the careful coordination of pathways, materials and
calculated design choices facilitated and shaped the movements associated with healing.
Overall, the project introduces a new kinetic reading, an alternative interpretation
contributing to the art historical, archaeological and classical scholarship on the
Pergamene Asklepieion.

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The dissertation of Ece Sayram Okay is approved.

Sylvia Lavin
Chris Johanson
Diane G. Favro, Committee Chair

University of California, Los Angeles

2016

  iv
To my parents Tuğrul and Sara Okay,
Georges and Marie-France Dissard

  v
CONTENTS

Chapter 1: “Locotherapy” in the Pergamene Asklepieion .................................................. 1
1.1
 Introduction
 .....................................................................................................................................
 1

1.2
 Movement
 and
 Healing
 in
 Roman
 Medical
 Practice
 .......................................................
 4

1.3
 Movement
 and
 Healing
 in
 the
 Asklepieion
 Tradition
 .................................................
 12

1.4
 Pergamon:
 A
 Nexus
 of
 Locotherapy
 and
 Dietetic
 Healing
 ........................................
 17

1.4.1 Mystifying Asklepieia ...................................................................................... 17
1.4.2.The Pergamene Asklepieion: A Nexus of Healing .......................................... 19
1.5.
 Sources
 and
 Scope
 .....................................................................................................................
 27

1.5.1 A Critique of Prevailing Approaches ............................................................... 27
1.6
 Overview
 of
 Chapters
 ...............................................................................................................
 32

CHAPTER 2 Approaching the Cure: From the Street into the Temple ........................... 37
2.1
 The
 Street
 .......................................................................................................................................
 38

2.2.
 At
 the
 Gates
 ..................................................................................................................................
 51

2.3
 Conclusion
 .....................................................................................................................................
 64

CHAPTER 3: Taking the Cure at Pergamon .................................................................... 66
3.1
 The
 Courtyard
 as
 a
 Container
 of
 Ritual
 Movement
 and
 Dietetic
 Locotherapy
 66

3.2
 The
 Collective
 Preordained
 Movements
 (Formal)
 .......................................................
 68

3.3
 Secular
 Movements:
 Exercise/Walking
 ............................................................................
 72

3.4
 Mapping
 of
 Movement:
 Pause
 and
 Motion,
 Zones
 of
 Movement
 along
 Porticoes

 ....................................................................................................................................................................
 75

3.5
 Other
 Spaces
 for
 Individual
 Movement
 Curation
 .........................................................
 80

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3.6
 Library
 .............................................................................................................................................
 87

3.7
 Conclusion
 .....................................................................................................................................
 88

CHAPTER 4 Curative Pauses: Mind in Motion, Body at Rest ........................................ 92
4.1
 Abaton:
 A
 Point
 of
 Rest
 amidst
 Perpetual
 Movement
 ................................................
 92

4.2
 Other
 Areas
 of
 Incubation
 and
 Points
 of
 Rest
 ..............................................................
 102

4.3
 Lower
 Rotunda:
 Resting
 Bodies
 away
 from
 the
 Gaze
 ...............................................
 105

4.4
 Theater
 ..........................................................................................................................................
 113

4.5
 Conclusion:
 Curative
 Pauses
 ................................................................................................
 118

Chapter 5: Informal, Un-Prescribed Movements ............................................................ 121
5.1
 The
 Informal
 Pathways
 Entering
 the
 Temple
 ..............................................................
 122

5.2
 Courtyard:
 Informal
 Movements
 and
 Pathways
 .........................................................
 125

5.3
 The
 Zeus
 Asklepios
 Temple
 and
 its
 Connections
 with
 the
 LRB
 ............................
 127

5.4
 Theater:
 Hidden
 Passages
 and
 Hidden
 Movements
 ..................................................
 136

5.5
 Conclusion:
 The
 Informal
 Movements
 ............................................................................
 136

Chapter 6: Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 138
APPENDIX: A Walk Through the Second Century Pergamene Asklepieion ................ 144
Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 166

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LIST OF FIGURES

All plans and section drawings are originally from the DAI publications. All other maps and 3D
reconstructions are by the author unless otherwise noted.

Figure 1 Fresco from the “House of Siricus” (VII.1.47) in Pompeii, the surgeon Lapyx is
removing an arrow from Aeneas’ thigh, Naples Archeological Museum. ............... 10
Figure 2 Physician inspecting a child (212 CE), Museo Civilta, Ara Sepolcrale del
Medico. ..................................................................................................................... 10
Figure 3 Map indicating the position of Pergamon in Asia Minor ................................... 19
Figure 4 Map indicating an approximation of the three sections of the city: Acropolis,
Lower Town and Asklepieion during the Hellenistic Era. ....................................... 20
Figure 5 Enhanced DAI base map showing the Roman expansion on the plain towards the
Asklepieion 2nd century CE. ..................................................................................... 20
Figure 6 Overall layout of the sanctuary, Sketch-up Model by the author based on 2nd
century layout ............................................................................................................ 22
Figure 7 Annotated plan showing 2nd century CE additions framing the Hellenistic
remains. ..................................................................................................................... 24
Figure 8 Map of ORBIS, The Stanford Geo-Spatial Network Model of the Roman World,
showing sea and land routes from Pergamon to Smyrna, to Koan Asklepieion and to
Knidos, annotated by the author. .............................................................................. 26
Figure 9 Annotated overall layout of the lower town, Base plan: JRA Supplementary
Series no 45, Urbanism in Western Asia Minor ....................................................... 38
Figure 10 Plan view from Model, showing Via Tecta, Colonnaded Street and Covered
Passageway ............................................................................................................... 40
Figure 11 Annotated plan view of the three street systems. ............................................. 40

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