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Chapter Six Etruscan and Roman Art

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Chapter Six

Etruscan and Roman Art

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Romulus and Remus

• According to the Roman legend, Romulus was the founder of Rome and Remus was his twin brother. Their story begins with their grandfather Numitor, king of the ancient Italian city of Alba Longa, was deposed by his brother Amulius. Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, was made a Vestal Virgin by Amulius -this means that she was made a priestess of the godess Vesta and forbidden to marry. Nevertheless, Mars, the god of war, fell in love with her and she gave birth to twin sons.

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• Amulius, fearing that the boys would grow up to overthrow him, had them placed in a trough and thrown into the River Tiber. At that time the river was in flood, and when the waters fell, the trough, still containing the two boys, came ashore. They were found by a she-wolf who, instead of killing them, looked after them and fed them with her milk. A woodpecker also brought them food, for the woodpecker, like the wolf, was sacred to Mars.

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• Later the twins where found by Faustulus, the king's shepherd. He took them home to his wife and the two adopted them, calling them Romulus and Remus. They grew up as bold and strong young men, leading a warlike band of shephards.

• One day Remus was captured and brought before Numitor for punishment. Numitor noticing how unlike a shepherd's son he was, questioned him and before long realized who he was. Romulus and Remus than rose against Amulius, killed him and restored the kingdom to their grandfather.

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The technique of spanning using

an arch, as contrasted with

trabeation, which uses the straight,

horizontal lintel or trabeation.

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A simple vault created

by extending an arch

horizontally in space

alonga single axis,

creating a tunnel. Used

extensively for

underground vaulting

and, in the Middle Ages,

as the simplest form of

vaulting a long hall,

such as a nave. Its

lateral thrusts are

distributed equally

along the barrel or

tunnel. When the axis

twists, as around an

apse or in a crypt, an

annular ("ring") vault is

created.

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A vault created when

two arches cross one

another at right angles.

The diagonal

intersections are called

groins. The advantage

of the groin vault is that

its weight and thrusts

are concentrated at the

four corners.

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Roman Architectural Terms• Columns

The Roman orders of columns are used:- Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite. The orders can either be structural, supporting an arcade or architrave, or purely decorative, set against a wall. When against walls, the orders often appear as pilasters.

Arches

Arches are semi-circular or (in the Mannerist style) segmental. Arches are often used in arcades, supported on piers or columns with capitals. There may be a section of entablature between the capital and the springing of the arch.

Vaults

Vaults do not have ribs. They are semi-circular or segmental and on a square plan, unlike the Gothic vault which is frequently rectangular.

Domes

The Dome is used frequently, both as a very large structural feature that is visible from the exterior, and also as a means of roofing smaller spaces where they are only visible internally.

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• Ceilings

Roofs are fitted with flat or coffered ceilings. They are not left open as in Medieval architecture. They are frequently painted or decorated.

Doors

Doors usually have square lintels. They may be set within an arch or surmounted by a triangular or segmental pediment. Openings that do not have doors are usually arched and frequently have a large or decorative keystone.

Windows

Windows may be paired and set within a semi-circular arch. They may have square lintels and triangular or segmental pediments, which are often used alternately. In the Mannerist period the “Palladian” arch was employed, using a motif of a high semi-circular topped opening flanked with two lower square-topped openings. Windows are used to bring light into the building. Stained glass does not feature.

Walls

External walls are generally of highly-finished ashlar masonry, laid in straight courses. The corners of buildings are often emphasised by rusticated “quoins”. Basements are often rusticated. Internal walls are smoothly plastered. Internal surfaces are often decorated with frescoes.

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Porta Augusta

Perugia, italy. 3rd and

2nd Century

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Reconstruction of Etruscan temple according to the

description of Vitruvius and archeological evidence

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Plan of an Etruscan

Temple based on

descriptions by

Vitruvius

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VITRUVIUS• 1st century BC Roman Architect• Marcus Vitruvius is the author of the famous treatise

'De architectura'.• The work is divided into 10 books dealing with city

planning and architecture in general; building materials; temple construction; public buildings; and private buildings; clocks, hydraulics; and civil and military engines.

• Vitruvius was an admirer of Greek architecture and wished to preserve the classical tradition in the design of temples and public buildings. His work was used as a classic text book from ancient Roman times to the Renaissance.

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Tuscan, Roman Doric, Roman Ionic, Corinthian and Composite.

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The Two Dancers. In this masterpiece from the Tomb of

the Triclinium at Tarquinia, a couple dressed in their

finest costume dance into the hereafter.

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Sarcophagus of Cerveteri, limestone?, c. 520 bce, Etruscan.

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Temple of Minerva; Painted terra-cotta

roof decoration. 5’ -10” Sculptor maybe

Vulca

c. 510 -500 B.C.

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Etruscan bronze head, with inlaid eyes, of a Roman, so-

called Lucius Junius Brutus, leader of the rebellion against

Tarquinius.

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Early Rome

Ruled by Etruscan kings, but following a popular revolution in 509 BC., the dynasty was ejected and replaced with the res publicae --the "activity of the Roman people" -- or a Republic. The Republican constitution sought to share rulership, or imperium (from imperare, "to order" or "command"), between the Patricians, or aristocratic elite, and the Plebeians, or common people.

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Like the Greek city states, the Roman Republic was a form of civic democracy, administered by assemblies of the Roman people, an executive body or Senate, and the elective magistracies, of which the most important were the Consulate and Tribunate. Unlike the Greek city states, Roman citizenship was not restricted by birth or property requirements.

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Roman citizenship, and its associated political and legal advantages, was a far more inclusive concept that could be obtained as a reward for service to the state. This astute policy enabled Rome to absorb conquered populations by providing the incentive of participation in the Roman state in return for the benefits of empire. Service in the Roman army was the principal way of earning these benefits, and it was Roman military prowess that was to win Rome an empire.

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• The republic began, and finished, as a state largely dominated by the two upper classes, the senators, who qualified by birth and wealth, and the equestrians or knights (equites); until the second century BC, the latter were, by reason of their property holding, provided at public expense with a horse, with which they were required to report for military duty. The constitutional change from monarchy to republic was gradual. The main functions of the king, including full military command, were undertaken by two consuls with equal powers, elected for one year only.

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• From 367 BC, one consulship was normally held by a plebeian, though by this time consular duties were mainly formal. The consul was so named because he “consults” the people and the senate. The constitution allowed, however, that in time of crisis, and particularly in war, a single “dictator” could be nominated to exercise complete control for not more than six months.

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Aulus Metellus, found

near Perugia. Late 2nd

or early 1st century BC.

Bronze, height 5’11”

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Life-size bust of

Pompey: first-

century AD copy of

a contemporary

likeness.

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• Pompey was first elected consul in 70 BC while under the statutory age-limit and without having held any office of state, though he had already made a name for himself as a soldier. In 67 BC he was appointed to rid the Mediterranean of pirates. The resources and powers put at his disposal were formidable, and included 250 ships, and a hundred thousand marines and four thousand cavalry from Rome alone, which he reinforced with what was offered by other interested nations. By a concerted sweep against the pirates and their strongholds, he forced them out of business in three months. He took twenty thousand prisoners, most of whom he spared and offered employment as farmers.

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Denarius with Portrait of Julius Caesar

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The Pont du Gard in Provence was completed by the Romans in the first

century AD as part of a 50km aqueduct to convey water from a spring at

Uzès to the garrison town of Nemausus (Nimes). The bridge is constructed

from limestone blocks fitted together without mortar and secured with iron

clamps. The three tiered structure avoids the need for long compressive

members.

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Concrete• The Roman builders had concrete available unlike the Greeks.

Another great advantage for the Romans was the use of the semi-circular arches to form vaults and domes. The great Pantheon shows many examples of these. Roman builders could not use marble all the time, because it was expensive and there was a limited amount. However there was a plentiful supply of terracotta, stone and brick. Early in their development they invented the material concrete. It was made by mixing pazzolana, a strong volcanic material with rubble and a mixture of limes. The concrete was used to make walls, domes, vaulted rooves of solid concrete, concrete with brick ribs and faced structure with marble, or mosaic. Tools such as a plumb bob, a bronze square, bronze dividers, bronze foot rule and chisels were used in building

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Model resconstruction of the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia.

Palestrina, Italy late 2nd century BC. Concrete covered with

veneer of stucco.

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The Temple of Portunus is perhaps the most frequently cited example of

Roman Republican temple architecture in the world. Built in the late-second

to first century B.C., the temple dedicated to the god of ports and harbors

rises gracefully near the Tiber in Rome’s Forum Boarium. Its raised podium

and colonnaded porch are usually described as a combination of Etruscan

and Greek architectural elements and were hallmarks of Roman temple

design for centuries.

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Mason Carre is a pseudoperipteros temple with 6 Corinthian columns in

front in Early Imperial Rome period when the Roman temples have been

strongly influenced by Greek temple style.

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The Roman Forum is located in a valley that is between the

Palatine hill and the Capitoline hill. It originally was a marsh, but

the Romans drained the area and turned it into a center of political

and social activity. The Forum was the marketplace of Rome and

also the business district and civic center. It was expanded to

include temples, a senate house and law courts. When the Roman

Empire fell, the Forum became forgotten, buried and was used as a

cattle pasture during the Middle Ages.

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The Roman Forum

• Much of the forum has been destroyed. Columns and stone blocks are all that remain of some temples. The arch of Titus and the arch of Septimius Severus still stand and are in good shape. Like many other ancient Roman buildings, stone blocks have been removed from the Forum and used to build nearby churches and palaces.

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Augustus of Prima

Porta

Marble 27 B.C. - 14

A.D.

The statue of Augustus

was found in 1863 nine

miles away from Rome

in the surburb of Prima

Porta after which the

statue was named. The

7 ft. (2.08 m.) tall

statue is now on

display at the Vatican

Museum

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It has long been known

that classical statues

were painted. Indeed,

their creators sometimes

chose different kinds of

stone for different parts of

their statues according to

the way they reacted to

paint and wax, using

types that could be highly

polished for the fleshy

parts and coarser

varieties that would

absorb paint for the

drapery.

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ARA PACIS AUGUSTAE DIMENSIONS: HEIGHT: ca.6.1mLENGTH: north and south, 11.63m; east and west, 10.52mDATE: 13-9BC

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• The Altar of Augustan Peace (Ara Pacis Augustae) was built to commemorate Augustus' return from the western provinces of Spain and Gaul, where he had busy settling matters since 16BC.It was set up on the Field of Mars (Campus Martius) in the north of Rome, with its stepped entrance on the west side of the enclosing screen walls.The Ara Pacis Augustae, a monument of outstanding historical and artistic value, was reconstructed in the late 1930s from fragments discovered as early as 1568. This 'Altar of Peace' was commissioned by the Senate in 13 BC to give thanks for Augustus' gift of peace to the entire Roman world after the victories in Spain and Gaul. It was consecrated on the Campus Martius in 9 BC with solemn ceremony.

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• It consists of a rectangular marble precinct wall on a podium with two doors, each reached by a staircase. Inside, at the top of three steps, is the richly decorated altar. The precinct wall has magnificent sculptural decorations both inside consisting of festoons with paterae (vessels) and bucrania (ox skulls) - and on the outside, where it is divided into two sections horizontally. The lower band has an elegant repeating frieze of acanthus volutes with swans and animals, while the upper band portrays four mythological scenes (one on each side of the doors) and the procession to mark the consecration of the altar, divided between the two shorter sides.

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• While the one on the north side is badly damaged and less important, the group of characters on the south side is of great interest because it includes Augustus together with priests, magistrates and members of the imperial family. This illustration (which restores the gaps) shows the procession on the south side, with the exception of the first sector in which the reliefs are lost. The procession is headed by two of the lictors, followed by Augustus between two consuls; then come the four Flaminian priests and the Flaminian lictor; Agrippa, his son Gaius Caesar and the former's wife Julia, Augustus' daughter; Tiberius; Antonia the Younger (Augustus' niece) and her husband Drusus, Tiberius' brother, with his son Germanicus;Antonia the Elder (Augustus'niece) with her children Domitius and Domitia, and finally her husband, Domitius Ahenobarbus.

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Imperial Procession from the Ara Pacis, 13-9 B.C.

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Allegory of Peace

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Gemma Augustea early 1st century C.E.

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• The city of Pompeii in Italy, buried by the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius Volcano seen in the background, was and still is a time capsule of Greek and Roman art and architecture. Much, but not all, of the city has been excavated from beneath the 6 meters of ash fall and pyroclastic-flow deposits that blanketed the area. In a way, the eruption destroyed and preserved the city at the same time; few man-made places on Earth have survived for nearly 2000 years.

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The most famed excavation in Europe is that of Pompeii, a small city near

modern Naples, that along with its sister town of Herculaneum, was totally

buried by an glowing ash avalanche released during the 79 A.D. eruption of

Vesuvius. This is an aerial oblique photo of the present-day ruins

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Bodies cast in

volcanic ash in

eruption of

Mount

Vesuvius

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Street in Pompeii

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Plan of the villa of the mysteries

A roman house usually

consisted of small rooms laid out

around one or two open courts,

the atrium and the peristyle.

The peristyle was a planted

interior court enclosed by

columns.

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Peristyle Garden, House of the Vettii, Pompeii, Rebuilt 62 – 79 AD.

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A CUBICULUM IN A VILLA AT BOSCOREALE, NEAR POMPEII

These frescoes are now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, set up as they were in the villa.

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The Villa of the Papiri (Reconstructed in Malibu, California)

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Roman wall painting

• Roman wall painting is described as having four distinct styles, identified from the wall paintings found at Pompeii, Herculaneum, Boscoreal and other cities buried under the volcanic ash of Mt. Vesuvius. Roman mosaics either imitated the painting styles or became very abstract.

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• The First Style Roman wall painting, "Incrustation" (right) is thought to imitate Greek painting that created flat areas of color and 'faux" finishes (like a fake marble or oak finish).

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• In the second style Roman wall painting, called the "architectural style," space extends beyond the room with various perspective ("illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat two-dimensional surface) devices. Roman artists came close to developing a true linear perspective.

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• In the Third Style Roman Wall Painting, called the "Ornate Style," pictorial illusion is confined to "framed" images, where even the "framing" is painted on. The overall appearance is flat rather than a 3-d illusion of space.

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• The Fourth Style Roman Wall Painting, called the "Intricate Style," confines full three-dimensional illusion to the "framed images," which are placed like pictures in an exhibition. The images themselves do not relate to one another nor do they present a narrative, as in the Second Style.

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Initiation Rites of the Cult of Bacchus in the Villa of Mysteries Second style Wall paintings c. 60 – 50 B.C.

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Garden Scene from the Villa of Livia at Primaporta

(near Rome) late 1st century B.C.

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Cityscape, Detail of a wall painting from a bedroom in the house of

Publis Fannis Synistor, Boscoreale, Late 1st Century AD.

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House of M.

Lucretius Fronto,

Pompeii

mid 1st century

AD.

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Third Style from the Villa at Boscotrecase, near Pompeii. 1st Century.

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“Peaches and Glass Jar," still life fresco from Herculaneum, c.50 AD.

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"Young Woman with a Stylus," fresco from

Pompeii, 1st Century AD.

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Arch of Titus Rome 81 AD. erected by the Emperor

Domitian in honor of his brother, Titus after his death

Domitian and Titus are the sons of Vespasian

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Spoils from the Temple of Solomon, Jerusalem relief panel from the passage of the Arch of Titus

Marble – height 6’ 8”

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Triumph Procession, of Titus relief panel from the passage of the Arch of Titus Marble – height 6’ 8”

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Portrait of the Emperor VespasianFather of the Flavian Dynasty

ca. 70 AD.

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The Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum) Rome 72-80 AD. erected by the Emperor Vespasian

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The Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum) used vaulted construction

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Portrait of a Young Flavian Womanca. 90 AD.

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Palazzo Massimo,

Julia , Titus' daughter

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Forum and Markets of TrajanBasilica Ulpia, Column of Trajan, Greek and

Latin Libraries, Markets100-113 AD.

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Reconstruction of the Basilica Ulpia

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Detail of the Reconstruction of the Basilica Ulpia

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Model of central Rome showing Colosseum, Palatine hill, and Circus Maximus

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Markets of Trajan,

Rome: the main

hall. Made of

brick-faced

concrete, with

only some

detailing in stone

and wood, in

compliance with a

building code that

was put into effect

after AD 64.

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Trajan, 100 AD.

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The Trajan Column

• Trajan's column was erected A.D. 106 to 113 in honor of emperor Trajan. It was located at the then just completed Trajan forum and surrounded by buildings. The column commemorates his victories in Dacia (now Romania).

• The Trajan column including its base is 42m high (138ft). This was exactly the height of the hill that stood at this site. It had been leveled to create an open space for the construction of Trajan's Forum.

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• Like an unrolled scroll, a spiral frieze winds twenty-three times around the column, depicting the campaigns of Trajan in Dacia in AD 101-102 and AD 105-106. It likely illustrates the emperor's own commentary on the wars, a book, now lost, that was housed in the adjacent library. Depicted in low relief, there are one hundred and fifty-five scenes, in which more than twenty-five hundred figures are represented, no less than sixty of Trajan, himself. Only eighteen scenes actually depict battles; most show the day-to-day activities of the army. Situated between the two libraries and enclosed by a peristyle, only the elaborately decorated base was not obstructed from view, and it is not certain if these scenes could be appreciated or even were ignored once the column had been erected.

• At the top was a statue of the emperor in gilt bronze, access to which was by a spiral staircase illuminated by a series of slit windows cut into the marble.

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Trajan’s Column

Marble 113 – 16 AD.

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Detail of the Trajan Column

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Pantheon

• It was built as a Roman temple and later consecrated as a Catholic Church. Its monumental porch originally faced a rectangular colonnaded temple courtyard and now enfronts the smaller Piazza della Rotonda. Through great bronze doors, one enters one great circular room. The interior volume is a cylinder above which rises the hemispherical dome. Opposite the door is a recessed semicircular apse, and on each side are three additional recesses, alternately rectangular and semicircular, separated from the space under the dome by paired monolithic columns. The only natural light enters through an unglazed oculus at the center of the dome and through the bronze doors to the portico. As the sun moves, striking patterns of light illuminate the walls and floors of porphyry, granite and yellow marbles.

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• The portico consists of three rows of eight columns, 14 m (46 feet) high of Egyptian granite with Corinthian capitals. They support an entablature facing the square, which bears the famous inscription in Latin, attributing the construction to Agrippa, although the extant temple was rebuilt later by Hadrian.

• The dome has a span of 43.2 m (142 feet), the largest dome until Brunelleschi's dome at the Florence Cathedral of 1420-36.

• The interior volume is a cylinder above which springs the half sphere of the dome. A whole sphere can be inscribed in the interior volume, with the diameter at the floor of the cylinder of 43.3 m (143 feet) equaling the interior height.

• Five rows of twenty-eight square coffers of diminishing size radiate from the central unglazed oculus with a diameter of 8.7 m (29 feet) at the top of the dome.

• The dome is constructed of stepped rings of solid concrete with less and less density as lighter aggregate (pumice) is used, diminishing in thickness to about 1.2 m (4 feet) at the edge of the oculus. The dome rests on a cylinder of masonry walls 6 m (20 feet). Hidden voids and the interior recesses hollow out this construction, so that it works less as a solid mass and more like three continuous arcades which correspond to the three tiers of relieving arches visible on the building exterior. Originally, these exterior walls were faced with colored marbles.

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Pantheon (118-128 AD.)Rome

built by the emperor Hadrian on the

foundations of a building constructed by Marcus

Agrippa

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Dome of the Pantheon

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Aerial View of

Pantheon

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Hadrian's Villa

• Hadrian's Villa (Villa Hadriana) was built by the emperor Hadrian in the early second century CE. The villa was a sumptuous complex of over 30 buildings, covering an area of over 250 acres,

• "The villa was Hadrian's preferred residence when he was in Rome. His choice of an imperial palace outside Rome, instead one of the several palaces in Rome, was probably influenced by the miserable relations he had with the senate and the local Roman aristocracy.

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• Hadrian was born in Spain, just like his predecessor Trajan, and the senate and the local aristocracy had trouble coming to terms with another provincial on the imperial throne.

• The way Hadrian had assumed power only reinforced their opposition to him. Trajan's adoption of Hadrian on his deathbed was immediately cast in doubt, and when four military leaders, all Roman aristocrats who had been close to Trajan and hence possible contenders for the throne, were assassinated immediately after Trajan's death, the senate immediately suspected Hadrian of having ordered the killings.

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• Hadrian only arrived in Rome eleven months after Trajan's death, and denied any wrongdoing, but his relationship with the senate never recovered from the crisis. As a consequence Hadrian stayed very little in Rome. He traveled extensively throughout most of the empire in two prolonged periods, in 121-125 CE and in 128-134 CE, and when in Italy he preferred to stay away from Rome. A grandiose imperial palace outside Rome, but not too far away, was the perfect answer.

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Hadrian's villa:, end of colonnade c. 130 – 135 AD.

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Hadrian’s Wall

• By the time Hadrian became Emperor in 117 AD the Roman Empire had ceased to expand. Hadrian was concerned to consolidate his boundaries. He visited Britain in 122 AD, and ordered a wall to be built between the Solway Firth in the West and the River Tyne in the east "to separate Romans from Barbarians".

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Hadrian’s Wall, Great Britain. 2nd Century AD.

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Hadrian’s Wall

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Roman Mosaics

• The expansion of the Roman Empire took mosaics further afield, although the level of skill and artistry was diluted. If you compare mosaics from Roman Britain with Italian ones you will notice that the British examples are simpler in design and less accomplished in technique.

• Typically Roman subjects were scenes celebrating their gods, domestic themes and geometric designs. The inter-twined rope border effect here is called "guilloche".

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Detail of centaur,

mosaic

118-138 AD,

from Hadrian's

villa near Tivoli

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Detail of centaur, mosaic 118-138 AD, from Hadrian's villa near Tivoli

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Hadrianic Roundels

• A series of eight roundels is located in pairs above the lateral archways. They have been dated to Hadrian's reign on stylistic reasons, and images of Hadrian and Antinous have been recognized in them.

• Some roundels have been modified. The central figure on all eight roundels, which originally portrayed Hadrian, has been changed to depict Constantine, while other recognisable figures from Hadrian's entourage, such as Antoninus Pius, the adopted heir, and Antinous, Hadrian's young favorite, remain unchanged. Besides this, the roundel showing a lion hunt (N. face, 2nd. from the right) has been changed further.

• All eight roundels have an undecorated baseline on which the figures stand, but this baseline has been re-carved into a slain lion that is not a part of the original composition. On this roundel Antoninus Pius is in the middle background, while Antinous is holding a horse on the extreme right.

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The Arch of Constantine

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Hadrianic Roundels Marble c. 130 – 138 AD.

The first of these roundels depicts the emperor, probably Licinius, hunting a wild

boar. The emperor is on a horse about to strike the boar with a now missing spear.

The second roundel depicts Constantine sacrificing to the god Apollo. Constantine

was a follower of Apollo early in his career.

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Imperial Portraits

• Element of Propaganda

• Sensitive modeling

• Expert drill work

• Captures subjects weakness

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Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius

bronze - Originally gildedca. 176 AD.

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Bust of the Emperor Commodus as Hercules

marbleca. 191-192 AD.

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Detail of Bust of the

Emperor

Commodus as

Hercules

marble

ca. 191-192 AD.

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Painted Portrait of Septimius Severus, Julia Domna,and their Children Caracalla and Geta

painted woodca. 200 AD.

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Portraits of Caracallamarble

early third century AD.

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Baths of Caracalla• The Baths of Caracalla, the second largest baths complex in ancient

Rome, were built between 212 and 219 A.D. by the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known by his nickname Caracalla.

• By the 3rd century A.D. the Romans had built many baths, in Rome and elsewhere, and had acquired great skill in designing functional, fully integrated complexes. The water supply and drainage system, in particular, required careful planning to ensure an adequate flow to and from the numerous hot and cold basins: it has been calculated that the baths used 15-20,000 cubic meters of water per day.

• The baths were fed by a branch of the Aqua Marcia aqueduct, which brought pure water to Rome from springs in the hills near Subiaco, over 90 km away. The water flowed into a huge cistern, divided into 18 separate chambers for easy maintenance and with a total capacity of 80,000 cu. m. From here it went by gravity flow through pipes underneath the gardens to the main building.

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• The baths (thermae) were designed along a central axis: the caldarium or hot bath; a smaller area for the tepidarium or warm bath; the basilica, which held the frigidarium or cold bath; and the natatio, an open-air bathing pool.

• Symmetrically arranged on either side of the baths were rooms for changing, massage, depilation, and medicinal use.

• From the changing rooms (apodyteria), one would go to the gymnasia (palaestrae) to exercise and from there to a sauna (laconica) to induce an even greater sweat.

• Then the bather passed to the caldarium, after which he scraped his skin clean with a strigil, and to the tepidarium for a cooler bath and, finally, to the frigidarium for a bracing plunge in a cold bath, which was the regimen recommended by Galen, himself.

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Baths of Caracalla. Model

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Phillip the Arab (ruled 244-249 AD), marble, height 2' 4", Musei Vaticani, Rome

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Santa Maria degli Angeli C. 298 -306 AD.

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Santa Maria degli Angeli

Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri is on the Piazza della Republica., Like so many of the churches in Rome, it is built upon a supernatural event. In 1541 a Sicilian priest, Fr. Antonio Lo Duca, had a vision of angels in the ruins of the Diocletian Baths, and in the 1560’s Pope Pius IV ordered a church to be built there. The resulting church was not only built on the site of the Baths of Diocletian, but also recycled some of the building materials, adapting the Baths for the new use. Michelangelo provided the original design for the church.

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The Grande Ludovisi Sarcophagus

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The Grande Ludovisi Sarcophagus

• The front of the sarcophagus shows a battle scene between Roman soldiers and Germans. The Germans have distinctive clothing, beards, and hairstyles that distinguishes them from the cleanshaven Romans. This work has been dated to ca. 250 A.D. The Roman on horse back in the center-top has been identified with Hostilian, son of the emperor Decius, who died in 252 A.D.

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The Tetrarchs Venice porphyry (a red-purple stone) ca. 300 C.E.

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Basilica Trier, Germany early 4th century C.E.

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Constantine I

• The Roman emperor, Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, or Constantine I, was born at Naissus, in Upper Moesia. He was the eldest son of Constantinus Chlorus and Helena, and first distinguished himself as a soldier in Diocletian's Egyptian expedition (296), and then under Galerius in the Persian war. In 305 the two emperors Diocletian and Maximian abdicated, and were succeeded by Constantine Chlorus and Galerius.

• Constantine joined his father, who ruled in the west, at Boulogne on the expedition against the Picts, and before Constantinus died (306) he proclaimed his son his successor. Galerius did not wish to quarrel with Constantine, yet he granted him the title of Caesar only, refusing that of Augustus.

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• Political complications now increased, until in 308 there were actually no less than six emperors at once -- Galerius, Licinius and Maximin in the east, and Maximian, Maxentius his son, and Constantine in the west. Maxentius drove his father from Rome and Maximian committed suicide (309).

• Maxentius threatened Gaul with a large army. Constantine, crossing the Alps by Mont Cénis, defeated Maxentius, who was drowned after the last great victory at the Milvian Bridge near Rome (312).

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• Before the battle a flaming cross inscribed "In this conquer" was said to have caused Constantine's conversion to Christianity. In 313, the edict of Milan, issued conjointly with Licinius, gave civil rights and toleration to Christians throughout the empire. Constantine was now sole emperor of the west; and by the death of Galerius in 311 and of Maximin in 313, Licinius became sole emperor of the east. After a war (314) between the two rulers, Licinius had to cede Illyricum, Pannonia and Greece, and Constantine for the next nine years devoted himself to the correction of abuses, the strengthening of his frontiers and the chastising of the barbarians.

• Having in 323 again defeated Licinius, and put him to death, Constantine was now sole ruler of the Roman world. He chose the ancient Greek city of Byzantium for his capital, and in 330 inaugurated it under the name Constantinople. Christianity became a state religion in 324 although paganism was not persecuted.

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Colossal Portrait of Constantine the Great from the Basilica Nova, RomeMarble ca. 325-326 AD.

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Reconstruction of

Colossal portrait of

Constantine in the

Basilica Nova

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Basilica Novaalso known as the Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius

Forum, Romeca. 306-312

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Basilica Nova diagram of interior

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Dish from

Mildenhall,

England

Mid-4th Century

AD. Silver

diameter approx.

24”

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Dish from Mildenhall, England

• The central feature is probably the face of Oceanus. He has a beard of seaweed and four dolphins can be seen emerging from his hair. The inner frieze depicts a sea revel of sea nymphs riding a variety of mythical sea creatures.

• The broad outer frieze shows a wild revel. Bacchus is holding a bunch of grapes and a thyrsus. The mighty Hercules has been overcome by an excess of wine and is supported by two young satyrs. Silenus is handing more wine to Bacchus whilst Pan and a group of satyrs and Maenads continue their frenzied dance.

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"Priestess celebrating the rites of Bacchus," Ivory 11 ¾” x 4 ¾” each panelc. 390 - 401 AD.

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Priestess of Bacchus

• C. 390-401 A famous ivory diptych documents the realtionship of particians Quintus Aurelius Symmachus and Virius Nicomachus Flavianus and their anti-Christian ways. It is a revival piece of classic culture. It commemorates the marriage of the two families. This one is inscibed, "Symmachorum" with a elaborately dressed priest makes an offer to an elaborate altar. Extremely skilled Roman ivory carvers were commissioned by Pagans and Christians both. The folds and wrinkles with the foliage is reminiscent of earlier works.