Is it legitimate to refer to a ‘Christian euergetism’? This is the question posed by this study, by examining a series of representations of benefactors on mosaic floors in the churches of Aquileia, Thessaloniki and Gerasa, from the fourth to the sixth centuries AD. Analysed in the light of their legal and municipal context, the portraits reveal a fundamental evolution of Late Antiquity society. Churches as private entities were the last places, after the reforms of Valentinian I, where it was possible to freely display one’s social prestige. They allowed the municipal elite to remain socially and religiously attractive. They provided a place of expression for the old competition that was at the root of municipal culture. This new form of euergetism took place in a society whose hierarchy of values had been reversed: the recognition of the imperial court and its agents was sought more than that of a people, whose cheers were expected at most.

With new discourses and standards on the cleanliness and regularity of streets gaining influence in the Ottoman administration and public, memorandums and planning policies become widespread in the Mediterranean port cities as of the 1830s/1840s. Especially neighborhoods reconstructed after fires and newly developed faubourgs see their application, although often only partially.

The nineteenth century infatuation with opera by residents of Izmir, Istanbul, and Thessaloniki is grounded mainly in their attempt to take part in a global "civilizing mission." The middle classes and the administration intended but often failed to educate the lower classes to properly behavior during theater performances, refraining from smoking, eating, unpleasant bodily movements or ill-timed displays of veneration. Nonetheless, all these and also violence were not uncommon at the opera house. Moreover, opera aficionados wishes for a "one world" of global stage entertainment, for a cultural exchange with Western and Central Europe. Unfortunately, Western interest in Eastern music and narratives came to an end in the 1820s, whereas Eastern interest in Western performances gained momentum later.

This chapter reviews three incidents of urban violence in the late Ottoman port cities: the 1876 St. George's Day intercommunal riots resulting in the lynching of the French and German consuls of Thessaloniki; the 1881 intercommunal riots in Alexandria, resulting in the British Navy shelling the city and occupying the country; and the 1903 bomb attacks in Thessaloniki by Macedonian separatists. It comes to the conclusion that incidents of violence that targeted European foreigners and non-Muslims indiscriminately most often did not succeed. Therefore, in the particular sociocultural climate of the nineteenth-century Eastern Mediterranean, agents often resorted to discrediting communities separately, as this held higher chances success, even against Western parties.

As documented in an 1895 newspaper, men and women in late Ottoman port city society felt highly ambivalent about their own gender roles and that of the other sex. They characterize their predicament as being caught between an emerging modern world with many ideals of how young people should develop, but finding their surroundings, the commercially minded port city, unsuited to these possibilities. Journals and nonfiction writing of the times predominantly attempts to dictate roles of modesty, productivity, and conformism especially for women. Only fiction writing, especially after the end of Hamidian censorship, reflect more on the challenges to female fulfilment, but with the exception of some erotic novels ultimately reaffirm patriarchal role models, albeit in a slightly modified way. While some men find an escape from limited role models by developing their body via gymnastics or utilize medical discourse to speak openly about sex, for women only belonging to the limited milieu of stage performers or extremely liberal and upper-class families offers a way out from the constraints of local society, and even then at the price of great personal strain.

The introduction formulates a critique of the predominant reading of modern Ottoman historiography for its focus on nationalities, nationalism, and the state. It traces the reason for this neglect from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century.It argues that the Europeanized and heterogeneous culture of the large cities needs more attention in studies of the modernization of the region and operationalizes notions of urban, global, and cultural history for this purpose.

Quay development had a fundamental impact on late nineteenth-century Eastern Mediterranean urban space. Large-scale development of the waterfront created not only a new facade for Izmir and Thessaloniki, but also precipitated new usages of urban space and modes of transport, labor, and leisure. They also led to a perceived bifurcation of the urban space into modernized and non-modernized quarters.

Theater and opera venues around the Eastern Mediterranean in the nineteenth century evolved not so much by state initiative and also only rarely due to municipal or citizens' initiative. It was mainly Italian migrant stage workers who took the initiative to establish permanent stages in Istanbul and Izmir around the middle of the nineteenth century and later in Thessaloniki. Following a period of destruction by fire and decay and a rise of multipurpose cafés chantants as venues, a second wave of bigger and more glamorous stages dedicated primarily to opera was established.

Taking three photographs of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century ports of Izmir, Thessaloniki, and Istanbul as points of departure, the chapter investigates the question of why these highly diverse populations and the urban space they inhabited have been relegated to the margins of national and imperial histories of the Eastern Mediterranean. In particular, it claims that the port cities' myriad ways of blending particular aspects of modern Western and Central European culture with more regional characteristics warrants more attention in historiography.

The nineteenth century brought diversification to Eastern Mediterranean pastimes. Residents could visit neighbors and friends at home or meet them at the evening stroll along the waterside or main avenues. Especially as of the 1870s, commercial venues increased to large numbers. Especially the season from New Year to Carnival brought with them numerous receptions and balls as main sites of social prestige. Toward the new century, consumers increasingly expected music and dance opportunities to be on permanent offer through cafés. Especially balls served as loci to perform interethnic and international harmony. While participation in these leisure practices was not equally practiced by all denominational groups, with especially Muslims being underrepresented, there was no formal exclusion of any group, as acquired cultural capital was the main hurdle for taking part and profiting from these sociabilities.