Romans:
Roman Phases:
Monarchy: 753-509 BCE
Republic: 509-27 BCE;
Early empire: (27 BCE-96 CE): Augustus to
Domitian
High Empire: (96-192 CE): Nerva to Commodus
Late Empire: (192-337 CE): Septimius Severus to
Constantine
1) Hellenizing tradition
2) Etruscan emphasis on head & shoulders
3) realism/verism
Bust of Patrician, 80 BCE
-extreme verism
-employed in veneration of ancestors
Roman Patrician with Busts of His Ancestors, late
1st BCE
Augustus of Prima Porta, c. 20 CE
-allusion to the Doryphorus; Augustus as the
ideal man
-shield refers to diplomatic victory over
Parthians (related to Persians)
-presence of his tutelary gods, Apollo & Diana
-Augustus does not age visibly in his statues
-nearly all Roman imperial public sculpture is
designed to make a positive propaganda statement
about the current emperor and/or Roman rule
-virtually all of this sculpture was executed by
Greek sculptors
Ara Pacis (“Altar of Peace”), 13-9 BC
celebrates “Pax Romana”
acanthus leaves, swans, flowers—fruitfulness
of earth under Augustus
Ends: Aeneas (refugee from Troy who was the
ancestor of Julius Caesar’s family) sacrifices pigs;
Tellus (=”Mother earth”) nursing two children;
women on the sides symbolize land & sea breezes
Long sides: procession of emperor’s family
(including women & grandchildren, other young
relatives) and senators, on opposite side;
Augustus, despite being short “in real life,” is
slightly taller than anyone else; note the multiple
relief planes, far more than what would be seen in
a Classical or Hellenistic relief
Rendition of a historical event—the
foundation of the altar in 13 BC. Romans
frequently show historical events, although gods
or symbolic figures may be mixed in with actual
people.
Vespesian, c. 75 CE
-Vespasian (came from Italian countryside &
rose through ranks) deliberately chose a more
veristic rendition of his facial features
Port. of a Flavian Lady, c. 90 CE
-“big hair” a feature of Flavian-era ladies
Portrait of Hadrian (ca. 120 CE)
-favored Greek culture; return to Greek-style
beards among Roman males; set fashion for next
century
Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius (160 CE)
-the “philosopher emperor”; forced to deal
with German raids, plague, famine
Roman Architecture:
1) Influence of Etruscan buildings & city
planning
2) Use of concrete (mortar + aggregate
[pebbles/cobbles] + volcanic sand )—made
rapid construction possible with less skilled
labor. Roman concrete also “sets”
underwater. Concrete is faced with bricks.
3) Common Roman vault types: barrel vaults,
cross vaults (aka “groin vaults”)
4) Use of stone arches in conjunction with
concrete. Arch parts: springers, voussoirs,
keystone
5) Immense amounts of construction—Roman
buildings all over Mediterranean and western
Europe
6) Continued use of Classical orders but more
decorative—often simply a skin applied to a
concrete structure
Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, Palestrina,
early 1st c. BCE
-massive concrete terracing; covers entire
hillside
-highly symmetrical axial plan on a series of
terraces (“axiality” another big Roman
characteristic)
-porticoes serve to frame/focus attention on a
small round temple on uppermost terrace
Pont du Gard, Nimes, France, e. 1st c. AD
-a Roman aqueduct supplying Nimes, France
-carried on round arches
-Roman aqueducts run underground for most
of their length; can be 50+ miles long
Temple of Portunus, Rome, late 2nd c. BC
-older books will call this the “Temple of
Fortuna Virilis”
-on a podium
-tetrastyle Ionic front
-pseudoperipteral temple with engaged
columns
-“frontality” is a big Roman characteristic
Coliseum (real name was the “Flavian
Amphitheater”—Flavius was family name of
Vespasian), Rome, 75 CE
-amphitheaters, unlike theaters, are complete
ovals, not half-ovals or half-circles
-employed for gladiatorial combats & animal
hunts
-interior could be covered with awnings to
screen spectators
-mostly made of concrete
-“sequence of orders” on the exterior facing:
Doric, Ionic, Corinthian
Pantheon, Rome, ca. 125 CE
-built by Hadrian to replace older structure
-a temple dedicated to “all the gods”
-complex built in the form of a forum:
porticoes on three sides, a temple at the back.
Sense of closure/control of space very strong.
-excellent example of symmetry, axiality,
frontality
-basically a traditional-looking pedimented
temple grafted onto a cylinder with a dome
-dome not visible from the front in antiquity
-made of brick-faced concrete with marble
sheathing
-interior has a hemispherical vault ca. 140 ft.
in diameter
-vault made of concrete with graded
aggregates, lightest near top.
-hole in the dome is called an “oculus” (=
“eye”)
-elaborate marble decorations in original
building
-example of Roman idea of “architecture of
the interior”
-used as a church later on
POMPEII (destroyed AD 79)
Cardo; decumanus; forum
cardo (N-S main street); decumanus (E-W main
street); city walls, forum
-theater, amphitheater, temples, basilica,
baths, water supply
Private houses
atrium; peristyle; triclinium; cubicula
House of the Meander, 80 BC
-atrium: centrally located room, idea of house
as seat of power, Etruscan domestic
architecture
House of the Vettii, second c. BCE, rebuilt AD 6279, recon drawings
-impluvium in atrium
-Peristyle Garden (taken from Hellenistic
Greek houses)
House of the Faun, 2nd c. BCE
-mosaic, ca. 80 BCE, showing the Battle of
Issus (Alex. the Great vs. Persians)
-tesserae, foreshortening
House of the Vettii, Pompeii, 64-68 CE, 4th Style
-architectural motifs become another form of
decoration
-Ixion Room, House of the Vettii,
The Late Empire
Caracalla, ca. 215 CE
Philip the Arab, 250 CE
-Close-cropped hair; large eyes
Tetrarchs, ca. 300 CE
-built into St. Mark’s Cathedral, Venice
Portrait of Constantine, c. 320 CE
Note large eyes, blocky features
Arch of Constantine, ca. 325 CE
-Combination of new sculptures & pieces pilfered
from older monuments
-Roundels: Boar Hunt, Sacrifice to Apollo
-4th century CE reliefs of emperor’s court—
completely unclassical—small blocky figures
packed together, large, crude heads
Basilica of Maxentius/Constantine, Rome, ca. 320
CE
Creation of additional capital city at Byzantium
by Constantine; called “Constantinopolis”=
“Constantine’s city.” Today called Istanbul.