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Legacy of Rome: Art Like Michelangelo Revived the Greco-Roman Style in Their Paintings and Sculptures

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Legacy of Rome: Art Like Michelangelo Revived the Greco-Roman Style in Their Paintings and Sculptures Legacy of Rome: Art like Michelangelo revived the Greco-Roman style in their paintings and sculptures. The Romans adopted parts of other cultures. This was true of A good example is the famous ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Roman art. The Romans were especially influenced by the art of the The ceiling shows scenes from the Bible painted by Michelangelo in Greeks. In fact, historians often speak of Greco-Roman art. the 1500s. A Roman would feel right at home looking up at this The Romans were skilled in creating realistic statues. They imitated amazing creation. Greek sculptures, but they were particularly good at making their Roman art has continued to influence painters and sculptors. Roman sculpted images lifelike. styles were especially popular during the early days of the United The homes of wealthy States. Americans imitated these styles to give their art dignity and Romans were decorated with nobility. You can still see statues in Washington, D.C. that reflect a colorful murals and mosaics. strong Roman influence. Again, the Romans took The Romans also brought a sense of style existing art forms and made and luxury to everyday objects. They made them their own. They painted highly decorative bottles of blown glass. A beautiful frescoes, a type of bottle for wine might be made in the shape mural, on wet plaster with of a cluster of grapes. Romans also developed the arts of gem cutting and water-based paints. A mosaic is a picture made up of small, colored tiles. metalworking. One popular art form was Roman frescoes often showed three- the cameo which is a gem that is carved to dimensional landscapes and other show a portrait of a person’s head or a scenes. Looking at one of these scene. The Romans wore cameos as frescoes was almost like looking jewelry and used them to decorate vases through the wall at a scene outside. and other objects. You can find examples You’ve probably seem similar murals of these art forms today. A typical Roman sculpture. at restaurants, banks, and other buildings. Romans were also great patrons (sponsors) of art. They paid thousands of painters, sculptors, and craftspeople to create their works. As a result, the A fresco of a typical Roman family Romans left behind many examples to inspire future generations. A thousand years after the fall of the empire, Roman art was rediscovered during the period called the Renaissance. Great artists Legacy of Rome: Architecture de Triomphe (TREE-umf) (Arch of Triumph) in Paris, The Romans’ greatest France. This monument contributions to science celebrates the victories of the and technology came in French emperor Napoleon in the the practical field of Early 1800s. Today it is the architecture. Roman national war memorial of builders learned from France. the Greeks, Etruscans, You see a Roman influence in and others. Then they the design of many modern The Arc de Triomphe in France is an example added their own genius churches, banks, and of roman arches. to take feats of government buildings. A fine construction to new example is the Capitol building, the home of the U.S. Congress in The Roman Colosseum was stripped for building heights. Washington D.C. material after the empire fell. The Romans learned how to use the arch, the vault, and the dome to build huge structures. A vault is an arch used to support a ceiling or roof. A dome is a vault in the shape of a hemisphere that rests on a circular wall. The Romans were the first to make widespread use of concrete. They made concrete by mixing broken stone with sand, cement, and water, and then allowing the mixture to harden. With concrete, they were able to build much bigger arches than anyone had attempted before. Roman baths and other public buildings often had great arched vaults. The Pantheon, a temple that still stands in Rome, is famous for its huge dome. The Romans also invented a new kind of building, the stadium. These were large, open-air structures. The Romans used concrete to build tunnels into the famous Colosseum in Rome. The tunnels made it easy for spectators to reach their seats. Modern football stadiums still The U.S. Capitol building boasts all of Roman architectural achievements including columns, arches, domes, and a vaulted ceiling. use this feature. The grand style of Roman buildings has inspired many architects through the centuries. One Roman innovation that was widely copied was the triumphal arch. This was a huge monument built to celebrate great victories or achievements. A famous modern example is the Arc Legacy of Rome: Engineering Legacy of Rome: Philosophy The Romans’ greatest contributions to science and technology came in Like art and architecture, Roman philosophy and law were greatly the practical field of engineering. Roman builders learned from the influenced by the Greeks. But the Romans made contributions of their Greeks, Etruscans, and others. Then they added their own genius to own that they passed on to future generations. take feats of construction to new heights. Stoicism was a philosophy that came from the Greeks. Many upper- The Romans class Romans made it their own. changed Stoics believed that a divine (godly) intelligence ruled all of nature. engineering as well A person’s soul was a spark of that divine intelligence. “Living as architecture. rightly” meant living in a way that agreed with nature. They were the To the Stoics, the one truly good thing in life was to have a good greatest builders of character. This meant having virtues (good characteristics) such as roads, bridges, and self-control and courage. aqueducts in the Stoics disagreed with those who said that happiness meant only ancient world. avoiding pain and experiencing pleasure. They prized duty and the Nearly 53,000 welfare of the community over their personal comfort. They said that A cross-section of a Roman road. How is it similar to the miles of road true happiness was the peace of mind that came from living up to Stoic roads built by the Gupta empire? connected Rome with ideals. the frontiers of the The most famous Roman Stoic was the emperor Marcus Aurelius. empire. The Romans built their roads with layers of stone, sand, and Aurelius wrote down his private thoughts in a book he called “To gravel. Their techniques set the standard of road building for 2,000 Himself.” Later it was given the title years. Cars in some parts of Europe still drive on Freeways built over Meditations. In his writings, Aurelius old Roman roads. constantly reminded himself of Stoic The Romans also set a new standard for building aqueducts. They ideals. “Do not worry,” he wrote, “If did not invent the aqueduct, but once again the Romans learned the you encounter ungratefulness, insults, technique and expanded on it. They created a system of aqueducts for disloyalty, or selfishness. If you think Rome. The aqueducts brought water from about 60 miles away to the and act rightly, none of these things homes of the wealthiest citizens, as well as to the city’s public baths can hurt you.” and fountains. The Romans built aqueducts in other parts of the empire Stoics were famous for bearing pain as well. The water system in Segovia, Spain, still uses part of an and suffering bravely and quietly. To ancient Roman aqueduct. Roman arches from aqueducts can still be this day, we call someone who found in Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor. behaves this way “stoic.” A bust of Marcus Aurelius, a famous Stoic Legacy of Rome: Language Other English words Latin Prefix Meaning English word come from Latin root Inactive, One legacy of Rome that still affects us every day is the Roman words. For instance, a In, im, il Not Impossible language: Latin. We still use the Latin alphabet (although Roman manual is derived Illogical Latin uses 23 letters and English uses 26). Many of our words come from manus, the Latin Inter Among, International between from Latin; even Latin proverbs are still in use. For example, look at word for “hand.” Com, co Together, Communicate, the reverse side of a U.S. dime and you’ll see the United States motto Finally we still often with cooperate E pluribus unum (“Out of many, one”). use Roman numerals. Pre Before Precede Several modern European languages developed from Latin, The Romans used a Post After, Postpone including Italian, Latin Root Meaning English words system of letters to behind Anima Life, breath, animal Spanish, and French. write numbers. You Re Back, Remember soul English is a Germanic may have seen Roman again Civil Citizen, Civic language, but it was numerals used on Semi Half semicircle community strongly influenced by clocks, sundials, and the first pages of books like text books. You Lex, legalis Law, legal Legislature the French-speaking might also spot Roman numerals on buildings and in some movie Manus Hand Manual Normans who credits to show the year in which they were made. Militare To serve as a Military conquered England in The Romans combined the seven letters shown in the table to soldier 1066ad. English has Portare To carry Portable express larger numbers. Putting letters after another adds the value of Unus One United borrowed heavily the additional letters. For example: VIII = 5+3=8 and XX = 10+10=20. from Latin, both Putting a letter before a letter with a greater value subtracts its value. directly and by way of French. For example: IV = 5-1=4 and IX = 10-1=9. You can see the influence of Latin on many of the words we use today.
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