World History Unit 3: Ancient Rome – Republic to Empire and Historical Christianity.
Ancient Rome: From Republic to Empire
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Transcript of Ancient Rome: From Republic to Empire
Ancient Rome
Rise to Empire 509 BCE-337 CE
The Roman Empire Dates and Places: • 509BCE-337CE • Italian peninsula,
Western Europe, Near East
People: • Republic→Empire • Polytheistic • Military expansion
spreads culture Map Ancient Rome through death of Caesar, 44 BCE
The Roman Empire
• At its height, the Roman Empire stretched from the Tigris and Euphrates to Britain’s Scottish borders
• 146 BCE Greece absorbed into Roman empire
Map Roman Empire
Roman Art
Themes: • Portraits • Gods and rituals • Homes, civic buildings,
temples
Forms: • Verism, idealism,
perspective • Concrete construction • Greek influence
Dionysiac mystery frieze, ca. 60-50 BCE. Second style wall painting, Room 5 Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy. Fresco, frieze
5’4” high.
The Republic (509-133 BCE)
• Roman Republic begun after expulsion of the last of the Etruscan kings
• Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE), a Roman general takes leading position in the rise and fall of the Roman Republic and birth of the Roman Empire
• Military prowess wins him unmatched power in Rome and new territories for the Republic, including lands in Britain and along the Rhine
Bust of Julius Caesar, first half of the first century, CE. Green
Basanite (stone) and rock crystal, 16 1/8” high. Altes
Museum, Berlin.
The Republic (509-133 BCE)
Model of Rome during the early fourth century CE. Museo della Civiltà Romana,
Rome.
Dates and Places:
• Between 509-46 BCE Rome as a Republic undergoes a period of territorial expansion and political consolidation at both home and abroad (political consolidation at home does not last)
• Republic dominated by small group of wealthy patricians (members of nobility)
• Plebeians (non-aristocrats, low social order) struggle for more rights and power
• Republic fraught with social and political instability
• 46 BCE dictatorship of Julius Caesar begins to turn Republic around with improvements in infrastructure, tax relief, etc.
The Republic (509-133 BCE)
• Romans excelled at many things, including law and government and infrastructure
• Julius Caesar oversaw the construction of well-planned roads and harbors connecting far reaching territories with Rome
• Romans were also known for the engineering skills evident in their bridges, aqueducts, and sewer systems
Via Appia, near Rome. The oldest major Roman route in Italy (opened 312 BC). This, one of the best
preserved stretches in the world, from Rome to Boville (near Albano, 18 km (11 mi), detail shown), is
paved with stone blocks. In Britain, more humble materials were generally used
Roman Art: The Republic Example: • Mix of Etruscan and Greek features
– Etruria=podium, stairs (axial alignment), and frontality (here the deeper porch also Etruscan influence)
– Greece=cella, columns, porch, the Orders, the pediment, the use of stone and marble, post and lintel
• High podium with frontal access only
• Ionic columns and frieze, pediment • Pseudoperipteral style (free-
standing columns in front with engaged columns along side)
• Many Greek artists and architects worked in Rome and its provinces following Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BCE Temple of Portunus (Temple of
“Fortuna Virilis”) ca. 75BCE. Rome, Italy.
Roman Art: The Republic
Example: • Small scale, modest temples of
Republican period undergo change as Republic absorbs other cultural influences (like Hellenism) and as the Republic starts to get into trouble – Scale changes from intimate to
grandiose – Late Classical and Hellenistic
influences at work – Demand for assertive statements
of power as power begins to unglue demands large scale, imposing architecture
Temple of Portunus (Temple of “Fortuna Virilis”) ca. 75BCE. Rome, Italy.
Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, Palestrina, Italy, begun 100 BCE. Concrete.
Roman Art: The Republic Example: • Pompeii typical Roman
city • Civic center is forum • Two-story colonnade • Capitolium temple faces
forum • Basilica for
administration and law • Amphitheater built with
concrete barrel vaults
Aerial view of the forum, Pompeii, Italy. Second century BCE.
Aerial view of the amphitheater, Pompeii, Italy, ca. 70BCE.
Roman Art: The Republic Example: • Elite live in inward-looking
domus (most others live in apartment buildings, ostia)
• Central atrium, axial plan • Cubiculae, triclinium,
tablinium • Peristyle courtyard • Mural painting in four styles
Atrium of the House of the Silver Wedding, 62-79CE.
Restored view and plan of a typical Roman house dating to the Late Republic
and Early Empire.
Roman Art: The Republic
Example: • First Style Roman wall
painting • Artists aim was to imitate
costly marble panels using a stucco technique
• Style is Greek in origin • An example of Hellenization
of Republican architecture
First Style Roman wall painting in the fauces of the Samnite House, Herculaneum, Italy, late 2nd cent.
BCE
Roman Art: The Republic Example: • Second style mural
painting • Illusion of three-
dimensional world via linear perspective
• Atmospheric perspective for hazy distance Gardenscape from Villa of Livia, Primaporta, Itlay,
ca. 30-20BCE. Second style wall painting. Fresco, 6’7” high. Museo Nazionale Romano-
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome
Roman Art: The Republic Example : • Second style Roman wall
painting introduced ~80 BCE • Villa of the Mysteries=best
examples of second style frescoes
• Painters aim to dissolve room’s confining walls and replace them with the illusion of an imaginary three-dimensional world
• Frescoes believed to capture Dionysiac mystery cult
Dionysiac mystery frieze, ca. 60-50 BCE. Second style wall painting, Room 5 Villa of
the Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy. Fresco, frieze 5’4” high.
Roman Wall Painting: Early Empire Example: • Third Style Roman wall painting popular
c. 15 BCE-60CE • Roman patrons favor designs that
reassert the primacy of wall surface • Creates illusion of framed painting on
wall • Artist does not focus on landscape or
narrative but instead on ornamentation • Monochromatic backgrounds dominate • At center of delicate architecture is
found a tiny floating landscape
Detail of a Third Style Roman wall painting from cubiculum 15 of the Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase, Italy, c. 10 BCE.
Fresco, 7’8” high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.
Roman Wall Painting: Early Empire Example: • Fourth Style Roman wall
painting popular 100AD-76AD
• Combines elements of all 3 styles
• Characterized by crowded and confused compositions w/a mixture of fragmentary architectural vistas, framed panel paintings, and motifs favored in the 1st and 3rd style
• Three dimensionality unique characteristic of this 4th style
Fourth style wall painting, Ixion Room (triclinium P) of the House of the Vetii, Pompeii, Italy, c.
70-79 CE. Fresco, multiple dimensions.
Still life with peaches, detail of a Fourth Style wall painting, from
Herculaneum, Italy, c. 62-79 CE. Fresco, 1’2”x1’1 ½.” Museo
Archeologico Nazionale, Naples
Roman Wall Painting: Early Empire • Roman citizens eager to
prove they were cultured, educated themselves in Greek mythology and philosophy
• Paintings including Ulysses in the Land of the Lestrygonians demonstrate how Romans decorated their homes with frescoes advertising their knowledge of Greek literature
Ulysses in the Land of the Lestrygonians, part of the Odyssey Landscapes, second style wall-
painting from a house in Rome, late 1st cent. BCE. Fresco, approx. 5’ high.
Roman Art: The Republic
Example: • Romans practiced ancestor worship,
patrician ancestor portraits (imagines) kept in home, displayed at funerals and used for impersonations
• Veristic likeness (highly realistic with particular features observed, continuation of Hellenistic trend)
• Artists neither idealize or interpret personality, report true likeness
Head of an old man from Osimo, mid-first century BCE. Marble, life-size.
Palazzo del Municipo, Osimo.
Roman Art: Early Empire Example: • Emperor and Pontifex Maximus
(highest priest in College of Pontiffs in Ancient Rome)
• Augustus ushers in Pax Romana (Period of Roman Peace)
• Idealized portrait molds public opinion • Uses religion to solidify position • Wears toga (something he would put
over his head while performing rituals) and sandals of a patrician
Portrait of Augustus as Pontifex Maximus, from Via Labicana,
Rome, 90-100 AD. Marble, 6’8” high. Musei Vaticani, Rome.
Roman Art: Early Empire Example: • Augustan style portrait • Idealized image of emperor as general • Placed throughout empire • Right arm extends in orator gesture • Breast plate (cuirass) mythological and
allegorical figures representing peace and order
• Cupid and dolphin suggest Venus and the divine origins of emperor – According to Virgil, Augustus related to
Aeneas, son of Venus
• Bare feet suggest divinity Augustus of Primaporta, from Primaporta, Italy. Early first century BCE copy of bronze original. Marble,
6’8” high. Musei Vaticani, Rome.
Roman Art: Early Empire
Example: • Based on Hellenic
models
Augustus of Primaporta, Portrait of Augustus as general, from Primaporta, Italy. Early first century BCE copy of
bronze original. Marble, 6’8” high. Musei Vaticani, Rome.
Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer), Roman copy from Pompeii,
Italy after bronze original, ca. 450-440BCE. Marble, 6’11.“Naples
National Archaeological Museum.
Ancient Rome: Early Empire
Example: • Altar of Augustan Peace. • Under Augustus, Rome
reaches Pax Romana, a period of peace and prosperity.
• Monument celebrates Augustus victory and establishment of peace.
• Decorated with figural and floral reliefs.
• It is during Pax Romana that Vergil writes Aeneid. Ara Pacis (Altar of Augustan Peace); looking
northeast, 13-9 BCE. Marble, outer wall approx. 34’5” x 38’x23.’Rome, Italy.
Ancient Rome: Early Empire
Ara Pacis today with artistic renderings of Ara Pacis, 13-9 BCE.
Ancient Rome: Early Empire • Imperial Procession recalls Panathenaic Procession from
Parthenon. • Romans preoccupied with history. • Relief used to establish lineage, actual people represented,
specificity of faces, gestures, and posture. • Crowded overlapping figures contribute to dynamism and depth.
Detail of Imperial Procession from Ara Pacis (Altar of Augustan Peace), 13-9 BCE. Marble, outer wall
approx. 34’5” x 38’x23.’Rome, Italy.
Detail Panathenaic Procession from the Ionic frieze on the Parthenon, c.
447-438 BCE.
Ancient Rome: Early Empire Example: • The peace and prosperity of
Pax Romana featured in allegorical Mother Tellus relief.
• Exact identity of woman, debated. – She has been identified as
Pax, Ceres (Grain), and/or Venus
• Earth Mother shown with babies (Romulus and Remus)
• Fertility of scene evident in fruits, flowers, jug.
• Earth, sea, and air creatures testify to Rome’s dominance.
Detail of Mother Tellus, from Ara Pacis (Altar of Augustan Peace), east façade, 13-9 BCE.
Marble, 63” high. Rome, Italy.
Ancient Rome: Early Empire
Example: • Discovered 1760, commonly
known as “Sappho fresco” • Depicted is a high-society
Pompeian girl, very well dressed with a gold threaded hair and large gold earrings
• Freeborn women in Ancient Rome born to affluent families could not vote or hold public office but did have the ability to effect change
• Possibly Sappho, a Greek lyric poet admired for her writing style
Master of Herculaneum, Young girl with book and stylus (Sappho fresco), from a
Roman house, Pompeii, c. 50 AD. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli
Ancient Rome: Early Empire Example: • Women like Livia, married to Augustus,
adopted into the wealthy and powerful Julian family, used their positions and connections to promote women’s rights
• Throughout her lifetime she served as wife and adviser to emperor Augustus, as mother to emperor Tiberius, and grandmother to emperor Claudius who deified her as Augusta – As counselor to Augustus, she campaigned
on behalf of women and argued for women’s rights and value, especially as mothers of future Roman soldiers
• Her portrait remained timeless and portrays Livia as forever young, something consistent with her position in the Roman state
Portrait bust of Livia, from Arsinoe, Egypt, early 1st cent. CE. Marble,
1’ 1 ½” high. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen.
• Romans excel at construction. • It is the arch and concrete that make
Roman structures possible.
Ancient Rome: Early Empire
Example: • Roman ingenuity seen
in civic projects. • Aqueduct a series of
channels using gravity to deliver water.
• Concrete and arch used to deliver approx. 100 gallons/person of running water to Romans a day.
• As empire grew, these modern conveniences delivered to colonies. Pont du Gard, near Nîmes, Fance, c. 20-10 BCE.
Stone, 180’ high, 900’ in length.
Ancient Rome: Early Empire
Pont du Gard, near Nîmes, Fance, c. 20-10 BCE. Stone, 180’ high, 900’ in length.
• Romans used pipes most often made out of concrete, terra cotta, or even lead to help deliver the water from aqueducts to citizens
Diagram How Aqueducts Work
Ancient Rome: Early Empire (The Flavians)
Aerial view of the Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater), ca. 70-80CE. Rome,
Italy.
Example: • Erected and dedicated to Roman
people – Construction begun under
Vespasian – Funded by spoils taken from
Jewish Temple during siege of Jerusalem
– Triumphal monument • Built over Nero’s Golden Palace • Opening ceremonies included sea
battles
Roman Art: Early Empire Example: • Place of public spectacle funded by
wealthy private families • Concrete barrel-vaulted skeleton covered
with marble • Arches flanked by engaged columns and
lintel for decoration • Tuscan Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian styles
present (bottom to top) • Series of arcades turned inward • Efficient traffic flow: 50,000 capacity • Top covered by awning system • Basement below to house gladiators and
animals Detail of the façade of the
Colosseum, 70-80CE.
Ancient Rome: Early Empire (The Flavians)
Example: • In contrast to Republican ancestor
worship, Flavian portraiture depicts people of all ages
• Portrait of contemporary Roman idealized beauty – Focus on fashion, not Greek gods/
goddesses • New tools, namely the drill, allow for
deep “corkscrew” curls • Sharp contrast between flesh of face
and neck and ringlets Portrait of a Flavian woman from Rome, Italy, c. 90 CE. Marble, 2’1”
high. Musei Capitolini, Rome.
Roman Art: High Empire Example: • Trajan enlarges empire • Forum with temple, basilica,
equestrian portrait, market nearby • Column with Trajan’s victories
over Dacians in spiral narrative – Images adjust for easy viewing
• Nude sculpture of emperor – Replaced with sculpture of St.
Peter • Monument to Roman military
prowess Column of Trajan, 112CE. Marble, 125’ high from base.
Rome, Italy.
Apollodorus of Damascus, Forum of Trajan, 112CE.
Roman Art: High Empire
Example: • Temple dedicated to
gods of ancient Rome • Plain exterior with
temple portico façade before large dome
• Remains world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome Apollodorus of Damascus, Exterior view of
the Pantheon at night, Rome, 117-125AD. Commissioned by Marcus Agrippa between 27 BCE and 14 AD, and rebuilt by Hadrian.
Marble, brick, and concrete.
Roman Art: High Empire Example: • Design based on harmony and
balance of circle and square • Emphasis on interior, not exterior • Artistic rendering of interior of
Pantheon shows its large oculus measuring 30’ in diameter, height of oculus, 142’ same as diameter of inner circle
• Interior decorated with different marbles, niches for sculptures
• “Dome of heaven”
Giovanni Paolo Panini, The Interior of the Pantheon, 1734-1735. Oil on canvas, 4’
2 ½” x 3’ 3.” National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Roman Art: High Empire
Restored cutaway view of the Pantheon, 118-125CE.
Example: • Concrete • Cylindrical drum,
hemispherical • Coffering, oculus • Architecture of space,
not mass • Colonnaded courtyard • Porch with Corinthian
columns and pediment
Roman Art: High Empire
• Design of Pantheon based on circle inscribed in square
Cross-section of the Pantheon showing how a 30’ diameter sphere fits under its dome.
Roman Art: High Empire
• The concrete for the coffered dome was poured in moulds, probably mounted on temporary scaffolding. The oculus is the main source of natural light.
Roman Art: High Empire
• Buried within the Pantheon is the Renaissance artist, Rafael Sanzio de Urbino, (1483-1520)
Raphael’s tomb inside the Pantheon
Roman Art: High Empire Example: • Equestrian portrait • Superhuman scale • Gesture of greeting and clemency
(reference to orator pose) – Possible fallen enemy originally
under horse • Bringer of peace, not military force • Introspective verism • Gilded bronze • Spared because thought to be
Empreror Constantine Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, ca. 173CE. Bronze, 16’8” high. Capitoline
Museum, Rome, Italy.
Roman Art: Late Empire
Example: • Empire in decline in late
imperial era • Basilica with colossal
portrait of emperor • Concrete groin vaults • Marble facing inside and
brick outside • Fenestration for light
Basilica Nova (Basilica of Constantine), ca. 306-312CE. Roman Forum, Rome,
Italy.
Portrait of Constantine, from the Basilica Nova, Rome, ca.
315-330 CE. Marble, 8’6” high. Musei Capitolini, Rome.
Roman Art: Late Empire
Example: • Acrolithic portrait of
Constantine (c.280-337) – Arms and legs marble,
body brick core with wooden framework, possibly gilded bronze
• Emperor 306-337 • Important figure in Christian
history • Edict of Milan, 313 AD • Possible held Remains from the Colossus of Constantine, from
the Basilica Nova, Rome, ca. 315-330 CE. Marble, approx 40’ high. Musei Capitolini, Rome.
Roman Art: Late Empire
Example: • Triumphal arch
celebrates emperor’s victories – Last of its kind
• Relief sculpture from other monuments
• New sculpture reveals change in style
• Rejecting art as window onto world Arch of Constantine (south side), 312-315CE.
Rome, Italy.