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to open new quarries, hoping the increased production would lower prices. 257 The new
quarries quickly became so active and prosperous that in A.D. 393 a second imperial
decree forced them to close; presumably, the prices had dropped so dramatically that no
one was buying from the state-owned production centers anymore. 258
151
The fourth century saw a drastic drop of marble imports to Rome, after Constantine
moved the imperial residence to Byzantium (A.D. 330). At this time the reuse of marble
stripped from old monuments became common: a famous example is the Arch of
Constantine, in which reliefs and sculptures were appropriated from earlier monuments of
Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius. 259 These events in the West likely resulted from two
causes: the emperors’ presence in the East caused imports to shift from Rome to
Constantinople, and the new capital city’s proximity to Proconnesus and Docimium
attracted most of their production. It does not seem accidental that at the end of the fourth
century A.D. tax breaks were given to everyone except marble contractors located near
Constantinople: apparently, they were doing well enough not to need them. 260
In the Byzantine age the production of the eastern quarries did not stop, but the
exports were directed mostly towards Constantinople, northern Africa, and the strongholds
of the Byzantine empire in the West, particularly Ravenna. In the reign of Justinian (A.D.
527-565) the well-known “basilica shipwreck” sank at Marzamemi, Sicily, carrying a
complete set of marble architectural elements to decorate a new church. Its cargo of 28
columns, bases, and capitals in Proconnesian marble, along with a pulpit in verde antico
257 Cod. Theod. 10.19.2.
258 Cod. Theod. 10.19.13.
259 Bianchi Bandinelli 1971, 83.
260 Fant 1993, 77.