INTRO to the ROMAN EMPIRE
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INTRO to the ROMAN EMPIRE INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Intro to Ancient Rome Area of the Empire in 117 CE (in orange) INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Intro to Ancient Rome Is it GREEK Or is it ROMAN ? 3 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Intro to Ancient Rome GREEK ROMAN Preferred Structure: Temples to Glorify Gods Civic Buildings to honor Empire Walls: Made of cut stone blocks Concrete with Ornamental facing Trademark Forms: Rectangles, Straight Lines Circles, Curved Lines Support System: Post and Lintel Rounded Arch Column Style: Doric & Ionic Corinthian Sculpture: Idealized Gods & Goddesses Realistic (Verism) humans, idealized officials Painting: Stylized figures floating in Realistic images with Space perspective Subject of Art: Mythology Civic Leaders, military triumphs 4 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Intro to Ancient Rome Temple of Athena Nike Temple of Portunus Classical Greek Rome, Italy - ca. 75 BC5 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Intro to Ancient Rome PARTHENON 447-424 BCE, Marble. Greek PANTHEON 118-125 CE, Concrete with stone facing. Rome 6 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Intro to Ancient Rome Polykleitos, Doryphoros, Augustus of Primaporta, 450-440 BCE, High Classical Greek 1st Century CE, Pax Romana (Roman) 7 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Intro to Ancient Rome Athena and Alcyoneus frieze from the Altar of Zeus at Pergamon, c180 BCE. HELLENISTIC GREEK Spoils from the Temple of Solomon, Jerusalem. Relief on the Arch of Titus EARLY EMPIRE ROME 8 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Intro to Ancient Rome Etruscan Supremacy: 700-509 BCE Provided link between Greek and Roman Art KEYWORDS: TERRA-COTTA, COMPOSITE ORDER Roman Republican Period: 509-27 BCE Begins with overthrowing last Etruscan King and ends with Julius Caesar… Major buildings built more for POLITICAL use than for WORSHIP KEYWORDS: TEMPLES, ARA PACIS, HOMAGE TO RULERS Early Empire Period: 27 BCE-180 CE KEYWORDS: WALL PAINTINGS, CONCRETE, ARCH, COLOSSEUM The High Empire: 180-195 CE Five Good Emperors (Trajan, Hadrian, etc.) kept things prosperous and peaceful. KEYWORDS: COLUMN OF TRAJAN, HADRIAN’S WALL, PANTHEON The Late Empire: 195-400 CE Diocletian had Empire divided into four parts. KEYWORDS: TETRARCHY, ARCH OF CONSTANTINE 9 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Intro to Ancient Rome The Roman Architectural Revolution 10 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Republic Rome Temple of Portunus , ca. 75 BCE. EARLY REPUBLIC ROMAN A superb example of Roman eclecticism is the Temple of Portunus, the Roman god of harbors. Follows the Etruscan pattern: • High podium is accessible only at the front, with its wide flight of steps. • Freestanding columns are confined to the deep porch. • The structure is built of stone overlaid originally with stucco in imitation of the white marble temples of the Greeks. • The columns are Ionic, complete with flutes and bases. • In an effort to approximate a peripteral Greek temple - while maintaining the Etruscan plan - the architect added a series of engaged Ionic half-columns Model of a typical Etruscan Temple, around the cella’s sides and back. 6th Century BCE • The result was a pseudoperipteral temple. 11 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Republic Rome Temple of “the Sibyl” or of “Vesta” Tivoli, Italy - early 1st century BCE The Romans’ admiration for the Greek temples they encountered in their conquests also led to the importation of the round, or tholos, temple type. The travertine columns are Corinthian. In contrast with Greek practice, the cell wall was constructed not of masonry blocks but of a new invention: concrete. 12 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Republic Rome Aulus Metellus Late 2nd - early 1st century BCE This bronze of Aulus Metellus is life-sized. We know his name because it is inscribed on the hem of his clothing. The statue has been known since ancient times as ‘The Orator’ and the man stands as if addressing a crowd. He wears sturdy leather boots, an interesting thing to note…gods and goddesses were depicted barefoot and later on we will see that Augustus was sculpted barefoot, perhaps hinting at his deification. Note the differences between this statue and similar Greek statues. While both cultures made statues of their leaders to instill confidence there are marked differences. Most notable at first glance, our Roman is clothed. Secondly, he wears shoes, going barefoot was a sign that the statue was of a god. Also, our orator appears to have been a real person. The Romans generally presented their leaders with recognizable features as they appeared in life. The Greeks presented idealized statues of their leaders showing them as gods with perfect proportions, bodies, and strength. This piece was done during the Republican period of Rome when leaders in the Senate ruled (ideally) through reason and with the support of the people. The Senate was the governing body and the ability to speak eloquently was paramount to success. 13 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Republic Rome Funerary Relief with Portraits of the Gessii Rome (?), Italy - ca. 30 BC The surviving sculptural portraits of prominent Roman Republican figures are uniformly literal reproductions of individual faces. Although their style derives to some degree from Hellenistic and Etruscan portraits, Republican portraits are one way the patrician class celebrated its elevated status. Slaves and former slaves could not possess such portraits, because, under Roman law, they were not people but property. Yet when freed slaves died, they often ordered portraits for their tombs - in a style that contrasts sharply with that favored by freeborn patricians. This image depicts former slaves who have gained their freedom and right to have their portraits created. 14 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Republic Rome Pompeii & the Cities of Vesuvius Aerial view of the amphitheater, Pompeii, Italy, ca 80 BCE The forum was an oasis in the heart of Pompeii - an open, airy plaza. Throughout the rest of the city, every square foot of land was developed. At the southern end of the town, immediately after the Roman colony was founded in 80 BCE, Pompeii’s new citizens erected a large amphitheater. It is the earliest such structure known and could seat some 20,000 spectators. The word- amphitheater means “double theater”, and the Roman structures closely resemble two Greek theaters put together, although the Greeks never built amphitheaters. Arena is Latin for “sand”, which soaked up the contestants’ blood. Instead of refined performances, the Amphitheater held mostly bloody gladiator combats. 15 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Early Empire Rome The Eruption of Vesuvius 16 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Republic Rome Head of a Roman patrician, from Otricoli, Italy, ca 75-50 BCE. Republican patrician portraits: Mostly men of advanced age (generally these elders held the power in the state) One of the most striking of these so-called veristic (superrealistic) portraits is of an unidentified patrician. We are able to see this man’s personality: serious, experienced, determined- virtues that were admired during the Republic. Kresilas, Pericles Classical Greece 17 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Republic Rome Verism Verism can be defined as a sort of hyperrealism in sculpture where the naturally occurring features of the subject are exaggerated, often to the point of absurdity. In the case of Roman Republican portraiture, middle age males adopt veristic tendencies in their portraiture to such an extent that they appear to be extremely aged and care worn. This stylistic tendency is influenced both by the tradition of ancestral imagines as well as a deep-seated respect for family, tradition, and ancestry. The imagines were essentially death masks of notable ancestors that were kept and displayed by the family. In the case of aristocratic families these wax masks were used at subsequent funerals so that an actor might portray the deceased ancestors in a sort of familial parade (Polybius History 6.53.54). The ancestor cult, in turn, influenced a deep connection to family. For Late Republican politicians without any famous ancestors (a group famously known as ‘new men’ or ‘homines novi’) the need was even more acute—and verism rode to the rescue. The adoption of such an austere and wizened visage was a tactic to lend familial gravitas to families who had none—and thus (hopefully) increase the chances of the aristocrat’s success in both politics and business. This jockeying for position very much characterized the scene at Rome in the waning days of the Roman Republic and the Otricoli head is a reminder that one’s public image played a major role in what was a turbulent time in Roman history. INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Early Empire Rome Augustus of Primaporta, Early 1st Century BCE EARLY EMPIRE ROMAN Octavian Caesar (the great-nephew and adopted ‘son’ of Julius Caesar) became the first Roman Emperor in 44 BCE. By 27 BCE, the Senate conferred him the title ‘Augustus’ (meaning ‘exalted’ or ‘sacred’). For the next 41 years, Augustus Caesar led the empire thru a period of peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, or Roman Peace. The inclusion of Venus’ son, Cupid, is a reminder of Augustus’ divine descent (related to Goddess Venus). Furthermore, this depicts the return of Roman military standards by the Parthians. The marble statue was originally painted. 19 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Early Empire Rome Ara Pacis, 13-9 BCE. EARLY EMPIRE ROMAN. The Ara Pacis (or ‘Altar of Augustan Peace’) was a monument dedicated in 9 BC to commemorate Augustus; return to Rome after establishing Roman rule in Gaul. Included on this monument was the Imperial Procession – a relief showing the family members and other who attended the dedication. (This is much different than the ‘Procession of the Gods’ frieze located on the Parthenon in Athens.) 20 INTRO TO ANCIENT ROME Early Empire Rome Gemma Augustea, Onyx ca 1st Century CE, EARLY EMPIRE ROMAN Augustus Caesar was elevated to Divine Status after his death (as memorialized with the Ara Pacis)… Here is an onyx cameo of the ‘crowning’ of Augustus as Jupiter – King of the Gods.