IMAGES OF POWER: EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE (Art during the Flavian Dynasty) ROMAN ART of the FLAVIAN DYNASTY Online Links: Colosseum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Colosseum by night - Colosseo - Monumenti - Roma – Arounder The-Colosseum.net: the resourceful site on the Colosseum Colosseum cleaning yields old frescos, graffiti - Yahoo! News Discovery of Nero's Rotating Dining Room Vespasian was a Roman emperor who ruled from 69 CE to 79 CE. He was the founder of the Flavian Dynasty. On June 9, 68, amidst growing opposition of the Senate and the army, the emperor Nero committed suicide, and with him the Julio-Claudian dynasty came to an end. Rome then saw a succession of short-lived emperors and a year of civil war. Vespasian immediately embarked on a series of efforts to stay in power and prevent future revolts. Many modern historians note the increased amount of propaganda that appeared during Vespasian's reign. In 64, most of Rome was destroyed in a great fire, which many Romans believed Nero himself had started in order to clear land for his planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. This view (left) of the shows a domed octagonal room from the Domus Aurea (Golden House). Severus and Celer. Octagonal Hall of the Domus Aurea (Golden House) of Nero, 64-68 CE After the great fire, Nero asked Severus and Celer, two architect-engineers, to build a grand new palace for him on a huge confiscated plot of fire- ravaged land near the Forum. The ceiling of the octagonal room is a dome that modulates from an eight-sided to a hemispherical form as it rises toward the oculus- the circular opening that admitted light to the room. Decorative recesses enlivened satellite rooms, one of which contained a waterfall. The architects ingeniously lit the rooms by leaving spaces between their vaulted ceilings and the central dome’s exterior. But the most significant aspect of the design is that here, for the first time, the architects appear to have thought of the walls and vaults not as limiting space but shaping it. Cultures from pre-history to modern times constructed domed dwellings using local materials. Although it is not known when the first dome was created, sporadic examples of early domed structures have been discovered. The Romans, however, are known for their extensive use of the dome, essentially in three environments: bath, villas (or palaces), and tombs. The senate passed a law conferring the powers of emperor on Vespasian when he arrived in Rome in the late summer of 70 CE, having left his elder son Titus in charge in Judaea. Jerusalem was taken in August 70 CE and the Jewish temple was destroyed. Vespasian's major objectives during his reign were to restore Rome's finances after Nero's wasteful reign, to restore discipline in the army after the civil wars and to ensure the succession of his son Titus. He was successful in all three. The immunity from taxation that Nero had given to the Greeks was revoked, and the Colosseum was begun in Rome with spoils from the conquest of Jerusalem. Colosseum (Rome) 79-80 CE The sheer magnitude of such Roman amphitheaters such as the Circus Maximus, which seated 200,000 spectators and the Colosseum, which covered six acres and accommodated fifty thousand, is a reminder that during the first century CE, Rome’s population exceeded on million people, many of whom were the impoverished recipients of relief in the form of wheat and free entertainment, hence “bread and circuses.” The Roman amphitheaters testify to the popular taste for entertainments that included chariot races, mock sea battles, gladiatorial contests, and a variety of violent and brutal blood sports. Roman audiences watched a variety of athletic events and spectacles, including animal hunts, fights to the death between gladiators or between gladiators and wild animals, performances of trained animals and acrobats. The Flavians erected it to bolster their popularity in Rome, and its name then was the Flavian Amphitheater. The name “Colosseum,” by which it came to be known, derived from the Colossus, a bigger-than-life statue of Nero that had been left standing next to it. The opening performance in 80 CE lasted 100 days, during which time, it was claimed, 9,000 wild animals and 2,000 gladiators were killed. Construction of the Colosseum began under the rule of the Emperor Vespasian in around 70– 72 CE, funded by the spoils taken from the Jewish Temple after the Siege of Jerusalem. The Colosseum can be thus interpreted as a great triumphal monument built in the Roman tradition of celebrating great victories, placating the Roman Above: Medieval map of Rome depicting people instead of returning soldiers. the Colosseum It was built on the site of Nero’s Domus Aurea, land that Nero seized after the Great Fire of 64 CE. Much of the Domus Aurea was torn down by Vespasian. The Colosseum itself was built on an artificial lake Nero created for his personal domain. The Colosseum was used to host gladiatorial shows as well as a variety of other events. The shows, called munera, were always given by private individuals rather than the state. They had a strong religious element but were also demonstrations of power and family prestige, and were immensely popular with the population. Another popular type of show was the animal hunt, or venatio. This utilized a great variety of wild beasts, mainly imported from Africa and the Middle East. The floor of the Colosseum was laid over a foundation of service rooms and tunnels that provided a backstage area for the athletes performers, animals, and equipment. (This floor was covered in sand, or arena in Latin, hence the English term “arena.” Sand was used to prevent the combatants slipping and to soak up the blood from deadly battles. ) The hypogeum was connected by underground tunnels to a number of points outside the Colosseum. Animals and performers were brought through the tunnel from nearby stables, with the gladiators' barracks at the Ludus Magnus to the east also being connected by tunnels. Separate tunnels were provided for the Emperor and the Vestal Virgins to permit them to enter and exit the Colosseum without needing to pass through the crowds. Similar to a modern sports arena, the Colosseum in Rome is actually a massive amphitheater (from the Greek amphi, meaning “around,” or “both,” and theatron, meaning “theater.” The floor of the Colosseum was laid over a foundation of service rooms and tunnels that provided a backstage area for the athletes performers, animals, and equipment. (This floor was covered in sand, or arena in Latin, hence the English term “arena.”) Some 50,000 spectators could easily move through the seventy- six entrance doors to the three sections of seats and the standing area at the top. Each had an uninterrupted view of the spectacle below. Like many stadiums today, the Colosseum was oval with a surrounding exterior wall and ascending tiers of seats laid over barrel-vaulted corridors that provided access to them. Entrance tunnels connected the ring corridors to the inside ramps and seats on each level. The intersection of the entrance tunnels and the ring corridors, both barrel-vaulted, created what is called a groin vault. The walls on the top level of the arena supported an awning system (called a velarium) that could shade the seating areas. Former seamen who had experience in handling ropes, pulleys, and large expanses of canvas were employed to work the apparatus. The curving, outer wall of the Colosseum consists of three levels of arcades surmounted by a wall-like attic story. Each arch in the arcades is framed by engaged columns, which support entablature-like bands marking the divisions between levels. Each level also uses a different architectural order: the plain Tuscan order on the ground level, the Ionic on the second level, the Corinthian on the third, and flat pilasters on the fourth. Engaged Corinthian pilasters above the Corinthian columns of the third level support another row of corbels beneath the projecting cornice. All of these elements are purely decorative and serve no structural function. The addition of post-and-lintel decoration to arched structures was an Etruscan innovation. The systematic use of the orders in a logical succession from sturdy Tuscan to lighter Ionic to decorative Corinthian follows a tradition inherited from Hellenistic architecture. Top: Architectural Orders (Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite) Above: Doorways Right: Example of a pilaster Arch of Titus (Rome), after 81 CE The Arch of Titus is a 1st- century honorific arch located on the Via Sacra in Rome, just to the southeast of the Roman Forum. It was constructed around 82 CE by the Roman Emperor Domitian shortly after the death of his older brother Titus to commemorate Titus’ victories, including the Seige of Jerusalem in 70 CE. This was celebrated by a specified ritual procession where the troops marched before the populace and exhibited the booty and prisoners-of-war so as to confirm the success of the general and his army. The arch is situated on a prominent rise, the Velian Hill, which is a low saddle between the Palatine and Esquiline Hills. The corners are articulated with a massive order of engaged columns that stand on a high ashlar basement. The capitals are Corinthian, but with prominent volutes of the Ionic order projecting laterally above the acanthus foliage- the earliest example of the Composite order, combining both designs. Above the main cornice rises a high, weighty 4.40m high attic on which is a central tablet bearing the dedicatory inscription. The spandrels on the upper left and right of the arch contain personifications of victory as winged women.