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The Roman Empire

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The Roman World

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Capitoline Wolf, from Rome, Italy, ca. 500–480 BCE. Bronze, 2’ 7 1/2” high. Musei Capitolini, Rome.

“The Feral Kid” from Mad Max: Return of the Road Warrior

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"The Rape of the Sabine Women" (1637-1638) by Nicolas Poussin

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Rise of Rome

• Latins invaded the peninsula in 1000 BCE

• By 800 BCE, founded Rome at the lower valley of the Tiber River, central locus for control of the rest of Italy

• Other ethnicities migrated to the region: Etruscans, Phoenicians, Greeks

• Unlike the other villages, Rome encouraged other ethnic groups to migrate there

Chronology

Romulus founded Rome: 753 BCE

Republican Period: 509-27 BCE

Early Empire: 27 BC - 96 AD

High Empire: 96 - 192 AD

Late Empire: 192-337 AD

ROMAN EMPIRE: “MERIT”

MonumentsEngineeringRealismInterior SpaceTemples— play a part in Roman contributions to the West.

MERIT is also a term connected to the idea of virtue and praise, which allows us to discuss the Roman use of sculpture and architecture for propagandistic purposes.

Multiethnic Contributions to Rome

Phoenicians contributed maritime and commercial skills and phonetic alphabet

Etruscans brought urban planning, chariot racing, the toga, bronze and gold crafting—and the arch

Greeks: the pantheon of gods and goddesses, linguistic and literary principles, and aesthetic

The Centrality of the Roman State

Expectations of the citizen:•Obedience to the state•Service in the military—which could be profitable The soldier had to finance his own spear, shield, armor and helmet •Both were essential to the rise of the Roman emporium, the empire

The Roman Empire:Unification of the Ancient World

Government: ruled from Mesopotamia to England

Infrastructure: all led to Rome

Domination: law and order Pax Romana

Roman influences on the Western World

Legacy: Rome lives on in our government, law, architecture and language

Our coins are like Roman coins

Christian churches borrowed form the Roman Basilica

Aqueducts continue to supply water

Ships dock in Roman ports

Roman roads are still used

The Roman use of art as propaganda

Differences from Greece

• The artists are unimportant, no names survive(servants of the patron)

• Greeks were interested in philosophy, art and science. The Romans were interested in conquest and administration.

“verism”

Roman Technical Developments

ConcreteThe Arch

Barrel vaults

Groin vaults

The Dome: architecture of light and space

Roman Invention of Concrete

• Cheap and strong; can be molded to any form

• Placed in wooden frames, then dried

• Architecture of space rather than mass.

• Roman genius: many materials in the same building

Roman concrete construction. (a) barrel vault, (b) groin vault, (c) fenestrated sequence of groin vaults, (d) hemispherical dome with oculus (John Burge).

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Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia Palestrina, Italy 110 BC Goddess of fate and chance

• 7 vaulted terraces, tholos at peak of triangle

• innovative use of concrete; barrel vaults

• Symbol of Roman will & rational order over nature

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Restored view of the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, Palestrina, Italy, late second century BCE (John Burge).

The Arch

• Rome built on the arch, contributed by the Etruscans

• Weight is evenly distributed from the keystone to the sides

• It could provide so much strength that other structures could be built above it

Roman Engineering Feats: The Vault

Barrel Vault (Tunnel); a series of connected arches

needs buttressing dark and gloomy

The Dome

• Third form of rooftop architecture in Rome

• Created by rotating a round arch through 180 degrees on its axis

• Must be buttressed from all sides

• The weight must be evenly distributed at all sides

• The dome included a circular skylight

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Domestic Architecture

Entrance to a home was an atrium, a large hall entered through a corridor from the street,

An open compluvium (skylight) which let in rainwater and sunlight

Rainwater was collected in a sunken basin in the floor (impluvium) and channeled off into a cistern

Equestrian Statues

• Equestrian statues were a Roman invention reproduced throughout history

• This statue of Marcus Aurelius is typical-it depicts both horse and rider in Grecian naturalistic design

• The veins and muscles of the horse are visible as it raises its foreleg, a triumphal pose

Roman Sculpture• Emphasized Roman victories: triumphal

arches and victory columns (obelisks redesigned in Roman style)

• Sculptures of Roman emperors, in realistically detailed Roman breastplate and idealized faces and proportions

• Equestrian statues were added in the 2nd Century BCE

• Emphasis on realism was evident in balding senators and matronly women

• Fig leafs in nude male statues such as Mercury were a Roman invention after conversion to Christianity

Roman Roads

“All roads lead to Rome” is an apt description of Roman roadsThe network on this map show how the Roman army could go anywhere

Later, it also indirectly contributed to the spread of Christianity throughout the empire

The paving was basic to the rapids transport of troops

Public Architecture: The Forum

• A rectangular open space, usually with a temple at one end

• Bounded on three sides by colonnades (rows of columns)

• Fourth side by a basilica

• Best known: Forum Romanum and Forum Julium

Architectural and Engineering Professions

• Roman architecture and engineering were considered to be one discipline

• The most influential manuals were Vitruvius’s Ten Books on Architecture

• Function to the Roman architecture determined design

• Classic architecture emphasized size to accommodate 1 million people of Rome: the coliseum, the amphitheaters, all designed for entertainment, whether gladiators, drama, or circuses

The Republican Period509-27 BCE

• 509 BCE Expulsion of Etruscans from Rome

• Establishment of constitutional government

• Power in senate and consuls

• Two social classes: Patrician and Plebian

Dancing Warriors, late Republican period, Vatican museum

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The Romans took over their neighbors one by one

27 BC Republic becomes Roman Empire

211 BC: Romans conquered the Greek city of Syracuse, Sicily-plundered Greek art

146 BCE Greece becomes a Roman Province

Head of an old man, from Osimo, mid-first century BCE. Marble, life-size. Palazzo del Municipio, Osimo.

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Head of a Roman Patrician 75-50 BCE marble

Function: show elevated class status through genealogy

Waxed death masksBust of ancestors kept in the homeRoman coins

Different from Greek:Not full figureUse of verism, not idealism

Portrait of a Roman general, from the Sanctuary of Hercules, Tivoli, Italy, ca. 75-50 BCE. Marble, 6’ 2” high. Museo Nazionale Romano-Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome.

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Portrait of a Roman General, From Sanctuary of Hercules 75-50 BCE Marble 6’2”

What’s wrong with this picture?

Cuirass(breastplate): military general

Body: Hero (Idealized)

Face: portrait (verism)

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Aerial view of the forum (looking northeast), Pompeii, Italy, second century BCE and later. (1) forum, (2) Temple of Jupiter (Capitolium), (3) basilica.

Pompeii and the cities of Vesuvius

Buried by a volcano 79 ADExcavated mid 1700’s

Classical Revival 1760’s- (Neo Classic period)

Forum: Public squareBasilica: city hallAmphitheater: gladiators

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Dionysiac mystery frieze, Second Style wall paintings in Room 5 of the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy, ca. 60–50 BCE. Fresco, frieze 5’ 4” high.

Villa of Mysteries• Scene from the Villa of the

Mysteries

• An initiate is flagellated (by a winged woman out of view)

• Another women plays cymbals while in a frenzied dance

• The technique give a three-dimensional image on a two dimensional surface

• Portraits were common, as seen in Young Woman With a Stylus

• This was probably the Lesbian poet Sappho—from the Isle of Lesbos, but not necessarily homosexual

2nd style Dionysiac Mystery frieze,

Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy 60-50 BCE 5’ 4” high

• Celebrate rites of the god of Bacchus

• Women emulate Ariadne

• Figures interact across the room

• Fasting, alcohol, physical abuse

• Pictorial devices: Modeling of figures- illusion of a ledge

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Brawl in the Pompeii amphitheater, wall painting from House I,3,23, Pompeii, Italy, ca. 60–79 CE. Fresco, 5’ 7” x 6’ 1”. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

Restored view and plan of a typical Roman house of the Late Republic and Early Empire (John Burge). (1) fauces, (2) atrium, (3) impluvium, (4) cubiculum, (5) ala, (6) tablinum, (7) triclinium, (8) peristyle.

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Atrium of the House of the Vettii, Pompeii, Italy, second century BCE, rebuilt 62–79 CE.

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Second Style wall paintings (general view left, and detail of tholos right) from cubiculum M of the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor, Boscoreale, Italy, ca. 50–40 BCE. Fresco, 8’ 9” high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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Portrait of a husband and wife, wall painting from House VII,2,6, Pompeii, Italy, ca. 70–79 CE. Fresco, 1’ 11” X 1’ 8 1/2”. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

Mummy Portraits

Fayum portrait: Egyptian 160-170 CE

Encaustic on woodReplaced portrait masks

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Still Life with Peaches, detail of 4th style wall painting Herculaneum, Italy CE 62-79

Illusionistic light and shadowStill Life

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Still life with peaches, detail of a Fourth Style wall painting, from Herculaneum, Italy, ca. 62–79 CE. Fresco, 1’ 2” x 1’ 1 1/2”. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

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From Republic to Empire • Rome then began to build an

empire

• Conquest of the known world was the extension of conquest of the Italian peninsula by the Latins

• War with the Phoenicians of Carthage (Punic Wars) was the first phase of Roman expansion

• Other expeditions led to Roman control of the entire Mediterranean (Mare Nostrum, “Our Sea”) and much of Europe: Hispania (now Spain), Gallia (France) Britannia (England) and part of Germania (Germany)

From Republic to Empire

• Led by military dictators, of which Julius Caesar was the best known

• Caesar expanded the empire to include western and central Europe

• He directed the construction of a wooden bridge to enable the troop to invade and conquer Germania (central Europe)

• Under Caesar Augustus (Octavian), the empire entered into a pax romana (peace under Rome)

• This, which brought in a long era of high culture and stability

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Portrait of Augustus as general, from Primaporta, Italy, early-first-century CE copy of a bronze original of ca. 20 BCE. Marble, 6’ 8” high. Musei Vaticani, Rome.

Portrait of Augustus as general

IdealizedHe was 76 when this was made

Diffusion?Polykletian styleA god and a man

Iconography:

Every part carries a political message

Cupid- descended from godsHero- bare feetCuirass: military power

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Statue-Augustus.jpg

Oratorical pose

Cuirass: current events-the return of the captured Roman military standards by the Parthians

Early Empire

Pax Augusta, PAX ROMANA

•Peace reigns for 200 years•Huge number of public works projects

•Art and architecture become a tool of propaganda

• Classical style after the Athenians

The Fruits of Pax AugustusEarly Empire

Pont-du-Gard, 16 BCE Nimes Frances

Function: Bridge and aqueductEach person had 100 gallons of water per day

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Pont-du-Gard, Nîmes, France, ca. 16 BCE.

The Flavian Dynasty 69-96 CE

General Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian ruled for 25 years

STRUCTURES:

Colosseum 70-80 CE

Arch of Titus, Rome 81 CE

Spoils of Jerusalem

Triumph of Titus

Vespasian 69-79 ADGood Character: simple, honest, able

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Portrait bust of a Flavian woman, from Rome, Italy, ca. 90 CE. Marble, 2’ 1” high. Museo Capitolino, Rome.

Portrait bust of Flavian woman, 90 AD

Portraits of people of all agesElegant and delicate figureContrast between hair and skin.

How different than republic?Change from verism to idealism

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Coliseum: Flavian Amphitheater 70-80 CE

Former site of Nero’s Domus Aurea

Held 50,000 spectatorsGames for 100 days runningGladiators, animal combats, dead Christians

Colosseum: Flavian Amphitheater 70-80 CE

Exterior travertine marble, interior concrete

Unification of the multistoried façade

ARCH COLUMN construction Used 3 orders of architecture: Tuscan Doric, Ionic and CorinthianEquivalent to 16 stories tall

76 entrances

Elliptical shape, concentric circles, banked seats with valerium

Ground level First level

2nd level 3rd level

Sequence based on the proportion of the orders

Roman DoricIonic

Corinthian

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Aerial view of the Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater), Rome, Italy, ca. 70–80 CE.

Interior barrel and groin vaults

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Aerial view of Timgad (Thamugadi), Algeria, founded 100 CE.

Trajan: The First Spanish Emperor 98CE

He became all things to all people: popular

Instituted Social Programs

He and Augustus became the yardsticks for success

Goal of all Emperors: Felicior Augusto, Melior Traiano

luckier than Augustus, better than Trajan

The Forum of Trajan; Architect Apollodorus of DamascusRome 112 CE

Rome’s greatest forum to glorify Emperor Trajan

Huge Basilica rather than temple dominates the colonnaded square.

Celebration of victory over the Dacians

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APOLLODORUS OF DAMASCUS, Forum of Trajan, Rome, Italy, dedicated 112 CE. (James E. Packer and John Burge). 1) Temple of Trajan, 2) Column of Trajan, 3) libraries, 4) Basilica Ulpia, 5) forum, 6) equestrian statue of Trajan.

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Column of Trajan, Forum of Trajan, Rome, Italy, dedicated 112 CE.

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APOLLODORUS OF DAMASCUS, aerial view of the Markets of Trajan, Rome, Italy, ca. 100–112 CE.

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Trajan’s Markets, Reconstruction

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APOLLODORUS OF DAMASCUS, interior of the great hall, Markets of Trajan, Rome, Italy, ca. 100–112 CE.

Hadrian as General, Israel 130-138 AD 2’11” high, bronze

Successor to Trajan; also Spaniard

Age 49 forever

Synthesis of the real and the ideal

Power restrained

Pantheon, Rome, Italy, 118 – 125 CE.98

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Interior: Revolutionary use of space

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Interior of the Pantheon, Rome, Italy, 118–125 CE.

Metamorphis from real to virtual -earth to heavens

Pantheon: all the godsInterior orb of the earth

7 planets: seven nichesDome: vault of the heavens

27’d. oculus-the sunstars in the

coffers

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Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, from Rome, Italy, ca. 175 CE. Bronze, 11’ 6” high. Musei Capitolini, Rome.

The Antonines 138-192 CE

Peaceful Succession: from Hadrian Antoninus Pius, 23 yrs, Marcus Aurelius

138-Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius (age 51)

Antoninus adopted Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius

• Emperor /Philosopher

Marcus Aurelius

Turning point in art history

Classical style being challenged

Beyond Republican verism- exposure of the soul

His personality appears

End of Antonine DynastyCommodus as Hercules 191-192 CE marble

CommodusSon of Marcus AureliusDecadent and insaneAssassinated

Septimius Severus takes powerAfrican Born General

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Portrait of Caracalla, ca. 211–217 CE. Marble, 1’ 2” high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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Painted portrait of Septimius Severus and his family, from Egypt, ca. 200 CE. Tempera on wood, 1’ 2” diameter. Staatliche Museen, Berlin.

Baths of Caracalla Rome Italy 212 AD-216• Exercise• Lecture halls• libraries• Conduct Business• Opera performances

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Plan of the Baths of Caracalla, Rome, Italy, 212–216 CE. 1) natatio, 2) frigidarium, 3) tepidarium, 4) caldarium, 5) palaestra.

Roman Portraiture

Augustus – 27 BC-14 AD – A more idealized portrait.

Caracalla – 217 AD – A highly realistic portrait.

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Chariot procession of Septimius Severus, relief from the Arch of Septimius Severus, Lepcis Magna, Libya, 203 CE. Marble, 5’ 6” high. Castle Museum, Tripoli.

The Third Century: Soldier Emperors235-284CE

Soldier emperors for the next 70 years

Troubled times-out of controlDeath by assassination- frequently

Little building activityArt expressed general/symbolic qualitiesSimplified and geometric formsDefensive building

Increased demand for engravers & sculptors

Designing coinsBusts of ever changing emperors

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Heroic portrait of Trebonianus Gallus, from Rome, Italy, 251–253 CE. Bronze, 7’ 11” high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Emperor Trebonianus Gallus, Rome , Italy 251-253 7’-11”

How does it reflect the art of the “soldier emperors”?

Heroic Nudity

Wrestlers body

Not Greek Idealism-

Image of brute force

The Four Tetrachs 305 CE porphyry, 4’3” high Saint Marks Venice

Characteristics of Roman sculpture in 4th century

Cubic heads

Squat bodies

schematic drapery

Shapeless bodies

Emotionless masks

ICONIC

Diocletian and the Tetrarchy284-306 CE

• Division of the Roman Empire into West and East– Diocletian: Augustus of the East– Power sharing “rule by four”

• Division continued throughout the Middle Ages; – Latin west– Byzantine (Greek)East

• What do these statues tell us about the rule of the four tetrachs?

– No indiv. identity– Embracing each other

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Portraits of the four tetrarchs, from Constantinople, ca. 305 CE. Porphyry, 4’ 3” high. Saint Mark’s, Venice.

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Portrait of Constantine, from the Basilica Nova, Rome, Italy, ca. 315–330 CE. Marble, 8’ 6” high. Musei Capitolini, Rome.

Constantine 306-337

313:Issued Edict of Milan- no persecution of ChristiansThe beginning of the Middle Ages

324: Founded New Rome: Constantinople

325: Christianity becomes the official religion

Late Antique Style – c.284 - 325 AD

Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337 AD) Initiates many major changes:

•Recognizes the new religion of Christianity. Gives freedom for Christians to worship.• Moves away from the classical style.• Changes the scale and materials of some sculpture.• Borrows reliefs from previous “good” Emperors. These are called ‘Spolia’

Coins with portraits of Constantine. Nummus (left), 307 CE. Billon, diameter 1”. American Numismatic Society, New York. Medallion (right), ca. 315 CE. Silver, diameter 1”. Staatliche Munzsammlung, Munich.

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The Late Empire 192-337CE The Fall of Rome

Lack of order and challenges to authority

Under attack on all fronts-military important

Economy in decline

Bureaucracy disintegrating

Decline of state religion :moving from a pagan to a Christian world

Rome: Date of Its Decline and Fall

• Edward Gibbon fixes the date of the fall in 476 CE, when Odoacer, a Germanic officer in the Roman army overthrew the last emperor Romulus Augustulus

• Odoacer leads the “Barbarians at the Gates”

• Others fix the date at 410 CE with the First Sack of Rome, a siege led by another Germanic officer Alaric; lack of food induced Alaric’s army induced it to leave

• Alaric died in 411, after his forces left

• Dates vary from 410 CE to as recent as 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Turks; clearly this is a matter of definition

Rome: Decline and Fall

This is a complex issue

•The Edict of Milan of 313 CE allowed Christians freedom of worship and toleration became official policy

•The state religion of the empire itself was Christianity by the end of the fourth century

•When the fall finally came, Christianity was established in Rome

•Rome was divided into the West and the East in 286 as an administrative convenience, but set the stage for the Eastern and Western churches.

Thomas Couture, Romans in the Decadence of the Empire (1847).

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Factors Involved in the Fall of Rome

• Christianity: Rome proved unable to resist the spread of Christianity despite persecution, partly because of its widespread appeal (details in the next presentation on roots of Christianity)

• Bread and circuses (including gladiator contests at the coliseum) were used to support and entertain the returning soldiers after the conquests ended

• Moral and political decline: The emperor as office became a source of wealth, corruption, and an object of contention between armed factions

• Social conditions: most Romans lived in poverty as the urban infrastructure declined

• Division of the empire: the empire was divided into east (Greek) and west (Latin) by Diocletan in 296 CE

• Several explanations, not just one, satisfactorily explain the decline.

Conclusion

• Romans were imperialists first and republicans second

• Even the Republican era was one of conquests in the Italian peninsula—much like manifest destiny in the United States during the 19th century

• Much of the themes emphasize war

and conquest

• The arts mostly had a practical side

• Toward the end of the era, wealth mattered more than duty that had marked Rome’s earlier years

• The insecurity of the latter years also opened the populace to new ideologies: mystical cults, revivals of older beliefs from Egypt—and Christianity

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