Chapter 6
Rome
• 753 B.C.E.
Rome was founded
• 616-510 B.C.E.
Etruscan occupation of Rome
• 509-27 B.C.E.
Republican Rome
• 27 B.C.E.-476 C.E.
Imperial Rome
The Etruscans
Italian art history begins with the
Etruscans. Etruscan Civilization
was created on the now known
Tuscany region of Italy.
http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/ancient/etruscan.htm
http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/ClasDram/images/12/05map01italy500bce.jpg
http://users.cwnet.com/millenia/EtruscanMap.jpg
• The Etruscans created artistic objects
mostly for religious purposes. Important
part of their art is associated with their
funerary customs. The cult of the dead,
similar to contemporaneous Egyptian
practices, produced a highly developed
sepulchral art. The sculptured lids of
sarcophagi often represented a single
figure or a couple with the haunting
archaic smile so evident in early Greek
sculpture.
http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/ancient/etruscan.htm
Statue of Apollo at Veii.
520 - 550 BCE.
http://www.mysteriousetruscans.com/a
plu.html
Sarcophagus of Married Couple, 520 BCE
http://people.hofstra.edu/faculty/martha_hollander/GalleryPictures/FullSizedIm
ages/Etruscan/MarriedCouple.jpg
http://people.hofstra.edu/faculty/martha_hollander/GalleryPictures/FullSizedImag
es/Etruscan/Sarcophagus(det).jpg
Etruscan Fresco:
Double Flute Player
from the Tomb of the
Leopards, Tarquinia
--the ubiquitous
Etruscan joi de vivre
(zest of life)
http://www.mysteriouset
ruscans.com/art/gallery.
html
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=8233
“Dancing Woman and Lyre-Player,” 470 BCE
http://people.hofstra.edu/faculty/martha_hollander/GalleryPictures/FullSi
zedImages/Etruscan/TarquiniiLyrelPlayer.jpg
The Rise of Rome
• Two myths:
--Virgil’s Aeneid: Aeneas of Troy.
--Romulus and Remus, twin sons
of Mars, were nursed by a female
wolf after being abandoned.
Virgil’s Aeneid
• Written circa 19 BCE at the request of
emperor Augustus
• An epic poem in which the legendry
Trojan origin of the Roman people is
glorified
http://www.idmon.freeserve.co.uk/zmyth1a.htm
• (1) When the Greeks destroyed Troy,
Aeneas escaped alive, carrying his father
on his back, and in his arms his son. He
embarked upon a long and dangerous
voyage around the Mediterranean. During
his wanderings, Aeneas landed at
Carthage where he met and had a love
affair with Dido, queen of Carthage.
• http://www.idmon.freeserve.co.uk/zmyth1a.htm
Aeneas carrying his
father out of Troy
as the city burns, in
a detail from a
painting by
Raphael.
http://www.idmon.freeserve.co.uk/bdaenea.jpg
• (2) One day when she and Aeneas
were on a hunting trip together, a
storm blew up, and they found
themselves sheltering alone in a cave.
While the storm raged they made love.
From then on, they lived together as
man and wife, and Aeneas behaved
almost as if he were king of Carthage.
• http://www.idmon.freeserve.co.uk/zmyth6a.htm
http://www.stanford.edu/~plomio/dido.html
• (3) When the messenger of the Gods
came to remind Aeneas of his duty to
found a new Troy in Italy, Aeneas decided
that he must leave his beloved and
continue on his journey. Dido soon
discovered what his intentions were, and
confronted him with his treachery. Though
himself deeply upset, Aeneas could only
plead that the gods had compelled him,
and begged Dido not to make their parting
doubly difficult.
• http://www.idmon.freeserve.co.uk/zmyth6a.htm
• (4) In despair, Dido resolved on death.
She built a vast funeral pyre for herself. . . .
After a sleepless night she rose to sea
Aeneas' ship already at sea. Cursing him
and praying for everlasting enmity
between Carthage and Aeneas'
descendants, she climbed the pyre and ,
taking her lovers sword, mortally stabbed
herself.
• http://www.idmon.freeserve.co.uk/zmyth6a.htm
http://digilander.libero.it/vvegaz/comenius/menu1/im2.htm
The Death of Dido,
Rubens, circa 1640
“The fullness of her
character left the door
open to controversial
interpretations: powerful
ruler, faithful widow,
lustful siren, and
wronged woman.”
http://www.amrep.org/articles/3_2b/passion.html
• (5) Eventually the band reached the shores of
Italy, where Aeneas consulted the Sibyl, a
priestess of Apollo, who acts as his guide on a
visit to the underworld. His visit to the
underworld in Book 6 is the turning point of the
epic and here Aeneas finally realizes his true
destiny. In the underworld he is reunited with his
father, who told him of the future greatness of
the race he was destined to found, and he is
shown the souls of famous Romans of the future,
waiting to be born.
• http://www.idmon.freeserve.co.uk/zmyth1a.htm
http://www.humanities.uci.edu/users/vfolkenflik/VRF%20Sources/Aen
eas%20in%20the%20Underworld.jpg
Aeneas and Sibyl in the Underworld, Jan Brueghel the Elder, 1630s
http://www2.bc.edu/~betancur/theaeneid.html
Capitoline She-Wolf, c. 500-480 BCE.
http://www.utexas.edu/courses/clubmed/capwolf.jpg
Coin of Hadrian,
2nd Century CE
http://www.utexas.edu/co
urses/clubmed/coinhadri
an.jpg
Syrian/Roman Mosaic, 510 CE
http://www.utexas.edu/courses/clubmed/syrmosaic.jpg
Roman Republic
(509-30 BCE)
Roman Culture
• Fatherly authority + military discipline
• Morality: Patriotism, duty, masculine
self-control, respect for authority and
tradition
• Virtues: bravery, honor, self-discipline,
and loyalty to country and family
(Fiero 133)
Social Hierarchy
• The patricians: aristocrats of
ancient Rome, who governed
the city from the Senate.
• The plebeians: the commoners,
98% of the citizens
(Fiero 131)
Struggle of the Orders
• The plebeian-patrician
struggle for political power.
• Lasted two hundred years.
Consequences
• The Roman aristocracy shifted
from one of birth to one of
wealth (i.e. the equestrians).
• The equestrians: men who had
wealth and influence but chose
business over politics
Government
• Consuls: 2 annually elected magistrates
--commanded the army, served as judges,
initiated legislation
• The Senate
--wealthy patricians, controlled public funds,
foreign policy, and the law-making process
• The Assembly
--elected consuls, made laws (from 287 BCE)
--established tribunes
(Fiero 131-32)
Punic Wars
(264-146 BCE)
• Wars with Carthage:
• The First Punic War
241-218 B.C.E.
• The Second Punic War
218-201 B.C.E.
• The Third Punic War
149-146 B.C.E.
• The First Punic War
– Roman fear of Carthaginian expansion
– Carthage ceded Sicily to Rome
– Rome seized Corsica and Sardinia
• The Second Punic War
– Carthaginian expansion in Spain
– Hannibal (247-182 BCE)
– Carthage abandoned all territory to save
Carthage
• The Third Punic War
– “Carthage must be destroyed.”
Hannibal crossing the Alps during the Winter of 218 B.C.
Territorial Expansion
• Increase in Roman territory (Sicily,
North Africa, and Spain)
• Policy of westward expansion
• Greece and Macedon became
Roman provinces (146 BCE)
http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/ClasDram/images/12/13map05punicwars.jpg
Late Republic
27 B.C.E – 180 C.E.
The Principate 第一公民國
• 180 – 284 C.E.
The “Third Century Crisis”
內憂外患時期
• 284 – 610 C.E.
The Dominate 戴克里先與其後
Late Republic
• A time of turbulence.
---Gracchian reforms: (Tribunes)
Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus
proposed giving government lands
to the poor. Tiberius murdered.
---Spartacus Uprising: 73-71 BCE;
Slave revolts
Late Republic
• Military Dictators
• Gaius Marius: served as
consul 6 times from 107-100
BCE.
• Cornelius Sulla: dictator in 83
BCE
The First Triumvirate 三人執政
Caesar
(North)
Crassus
(East)
Pompey
(Stayed in Rome)
Julius Caesar, the
most famous
Roman general
http://www.beloit.edu/~classics/main/courses/history222/julius/
Caesar(Kleiner-22)Medium.jpg
Julius Caesar
• 100 BC Birth in Rome
59 BC First consulship; beginning of the First Triumvirate.
52 BC Battle of Alesia, Gaul
49 BC Crossing of the Rubicon, the civil war starts.
48 BC Defeats Pompey in Greece; made dictator;
second time consul.
47 BC Campaign in Egypt; meets Cleopatra VII.
46 BC Third time consul.
45 BC Defeats the last opposition in Hispania.
Returns to Rome; fourth time consul.
44 BC Appointed perpetual dictator.
March 15, Assassinated.
The Second Triumvirate
Antony
Octavian
Lepidus
(East)
(Italy and Spain)
(North Africa
and Gaul)
Collapse of the Republic
• 42-31 BCE Rule of Octavian,
Mark Antony
Lepidus
• 31 BCE Octavian → sole consul.
• 27 BCE Octavian → emperor,
Augustus
The Roman Empire
(30 BCE-180 CE)
Augustus of Prima
Porta, early 1st
century C.E. Marble,
6' 8" high. Musei
Vaticani, Rome.
http://mh1.xplana.com/imageva
ult/upload/52eb0007cf9624938
3ea.jpg
Augustus of
Primaporta detail
http://www.msjc.edu/art/djoh
nson/art101/101lecture13.ht
ml
Pax Romana
→ “Roman Peace”
the rule from
Augustus to Marcus
Aurelius (d. 180 C.E.)
http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/42bf1e708cb56fcb3a05.jpg
Roman heritage in
England:
Hadrian’s Wall
http://www.open2.net/romans/ma
p/mmap.htm
Hadrian’s Wall
http://www.historicuk.com/DestinationsUK/Hadrians
Wall2.htm
http://www.worldcountries.info/UnitedKingdom/Images/17047.jpg
“Five Good Emperors”
•
•
•
•
•
Nerva (96-98)
Trajan (98-117)
Hadrian (117-138)
Antoninus Pious (136-171)
Marcus Aurelius (161-180)
Late Republican Culture
• Marked by the Hellenistic influence
• Epicureanism
--Lucretius (98-55 B.C.E.)
On the Nature of Things
• Stoicism
--Cicero (106-43 B.C.E.)
father of Roman eloquence
Literature
• The golden age
• extolling the virtues of Rome
Virgil (70-19 B.C.E.) → The Aeneid
Horace (65-8 B.C.E.) → Odes
Livy (59 B.C.E. – 17 C.E.)
→ History of Rome
Ovid (43 B.C.E. -- 17 C.E.)
→ The Metamorphoses
Literature
• The silver age
• (→self-conscious artifice)
Juvenal (60-140 C.E.)
→ the satirist
Tacitus (55-117 C.E.)
→ the historian
Third-Century Crisis
(180-284 CE)
Early Roman Laws
• Before 450 B.C.E.
Unwritten
customary laws, subject to arbitrary
interpretation of patrician officials.
• 450 B.C.E. The Law of the Twelve
Tables, the first Roman code of laws
• 287 B.C.E. End of struggle. Laws
passed by the Assembly no longer required
the Senate’s approval.
Roman Law
• The civil law: the law of Rome and its
citizens
• The law of peoples: the law common to all
people regardless of nationality.
• The natural law: a product of philosophy.
--All men are by nature equal.
--All men have some basic rights.
(Fiero 136)
The third-century crisis
• military anarchy
• barracks emperors
• Political chaos and civil wars: during
the 50-year period from A.D. 235 to
284 there were approximately 23
emperors, of whom only one died a
natural death
Late Antiquity
(284-610 C.E.)
Diocletian
• (284-305 C.E.)
• The Reorganized Empire
Diocletian’s Reform
Diocletian
(Augustus)
Caesar
Maximian
(Augustus)
Caesar
Reign of Diocletian
• 1. Diocletian shifted the empire’s
administrative weight toward the east.
(Rome
Nicomedia)
• 2. Oriental despotism: Adopted the titles
and ceremonies of a Near Eastern lord.
• 3. The Tetrarchy (the rule of four)
Constantine
• 272-337; emperor 324-37
• 313 Edict of Milan: Favored Christianity
• Moved the capital to Constantinople
(Byzantine) in 324 C.E
• Dynastic Monarchy : Made succession
to the throne hereditary.
Spread of Christianity
• Constantine had the soldiers paint crosses
on their shields and when they won, he
attributed his victory to the Christian God
• When Constantine became emperor of
Rome, he issued the Edict of Milan, granting
freedom of worship to all religious groups
• 80 years later (AD 392), Emperor
Theodosius made Christianity the official
religion of the Empire and banned older
religions
Constantine’s Conversion 312 C.E.
Roman Achievements
• A long-standing empire
• Roman government’s ability to create and
maintain systems of communication, trade,
and travel.
• Roman economy: stable currency and a
prosperous international trade
• An inclusive political system: Emperor
Caracalla (212 CE) extended citizenship to
all inhabitants in the empire.
http://nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu/~malavet/comparat/notes/romanmap.gif
The “Fall” of Rome
• Political failures
--Lack of a clear law of succession
--Civil war
--Lack of constitutional means for
reform
--Violence
Economic Crisis (1)
• No transition to industrialism: The Romans
never really fostered a strong industrial base in
their empire—they farmed, they fought, they
traded, they enslaved and organized the world
around them—but they did not cultivate industry,
something which could sustain their economy
outside of subjugating and exploiting conquered
peoples. So, when their foreign conquests
began to slow down and eventually faltered,
they had nothing firm to fall back on.
http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/ClasDram/chapters/121romhist.htm
Economic Crisis (2)
• With that, taxation and money woes increased over
time—inflation was a persistent and corrosive
influence from the third century on—to the point that
people began avoiding work altogether, just to dodge
taxes. And from that came the abandonment of cities,
the failure of central government and the inability to
pay the soldiers defending the empire, which led to the
rupture of the frontiers that kept at bay the barbarians
living outside the boundaries of Rome. A state in such
deep and lingering debt cannot go on for long.
http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/ClasDram/chapters/121romhist.htm
The Sack of Rome - 410
http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/RomanLinks/AlaricsackofRome.gif
Roman Achievements
• Roman government’s ability to create and
maintain systems of communication, trade,
and travel.
• Roman economy: stable currency and a
prosperous international trade
• An inclusive political system: Caracalla
extended citizenship to all inhabitants in
the empire.
•Visual Art
• “Art was functional: in a highly
material and prosperous urban
society, it was an adjunct of
luxury and a status symbol; or it
extolled the glory of the state, the
fame of family, the renown of
national or civic heroes—
propaganda art”
• (Piper, The Illustrated History of Art 46-47).
•Sculpture
Portrait of
an Old Man,
80 BCE
http://people.hofstra.edu/faculty/martha_hollander/Gallery
Pictures/FullSizedImages/Roman/PortraitOldMan.jpg
During the Republican
era there were many
detailed, realistic,
portraits done of
famous senators,
political leaders, and
even writers. The
Romans of the
Republican era looked
on the lines of the face
and the sagging flesh
as a sign of maturity
and a way to
immortalize the person.
http://online.elcamino.edu/art2/r
oman.html
http://www.vroma.org/images/raia_images/cicero.jpg
Spinario (Boy Pulling a
Thorn from his Foot), 1st
century C.E. Bronze.
Musei Capitolini, Rome.
http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/u
pload/810aaff2801c2b34414c.jpg
Trajan’s Column, 113 CE
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/class/489502/Column%20of%20Trajan.jpg
Trajan’s Column,
Rome, detail
The marble low relief
winds unbroken up its
shaft and retails the
course of the Emperor’s
campaigns against the
Dacians (in modern
Romania) in 101 and
105-06 CE.
http://www.honors.umaine.
edu/images/hon111/forum/
Trajan's%20Column%20D
etail.jpg
Trajan's Column (detail of Roman soldiers offering severed heads of
Dacians to Trajan), Rome. 106-113 A.D. Marble.
http://daphne.palomar.edu/mhudelson/WorksofArt/07Roman/2987.html
Double Portrait of Gratidia M.L. Chrite and M. Gratidius Libanus, late 1st century B.C.E. White marble with traces of
color, height 23 3/4". Museo Pio Clementino, Musei Vaticani, Rome
http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/f69311d15147a3c024a1.jpg
Equestrian statue of
Marcus Aurelius (before
restoration), 164-166
C.E. Bronze, 11' 6"
high. Piazza del
Campidoglio, Rome.
http://mh1.xplana.com/imageva
ult/upload/b7f8fb8cbbeaf183af7
2.jpg
The Techtrarchs, c. 303
Each emperor clasps his deputy
with his right arm and grasps his
sword with his left. Each is
identical, a symbol of an idea of
unity rather than a real ruler.
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/class/48
9-502/Tetrarchs.jpg
Head of
Constantine,
8ft, 330 CE
http://people.hofstra.edu/faculty/martha_hollander/GalleryPictures/Full
SizedImages/Roman/HeadConstantine.jpg
Roman Painting
Mourners at the Door of the Other World, Tomb of the Augurs, Tarquinia, c. 510 B.C.E.
http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/5efc8c289ea89bba5fae.jpg
• The history of Roman painting is
essentially a history of wall paintings on
plaster.
• The majority of Roman frescoes were
found in Campania, in the region around
the Bay of Naples. It is here that Mount
Vesuvius erupted on August 24, 79 A.D.,
burying much of the countryside, the cities
of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and nearby
private residences.
• http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ropt/hd_ropt.htm
Roman wall paintings
create the illusion of
space, like this example
from a villa at Boscoreale
(near Pompeii). It almost
looks like we are gazing
through an open window
into the town. These
paintings gave the rooms
of Roman houses a more
open feeling.
http://carlos.emory.edu/ODY
SSEY/ROME/painting.html
Fresco from
Boscoreale
illusionistic and
naturalistic
Again, the paintings
create the illusion of
space.
The scene is life-size
and makes effective
use of light and shade.
http://www.accd.edu/sac/
vat/arthistory/arts1303/R
ome4.htm
http://harpy.uccs.edu/roman/html/romptg.html
Young Woman
with a Stylus
(sometimes called
Sappho), from
Pompeii, 1st
century C.E.
Fresco, 11 3/8"
diameter. Museo
Nazionale
Archeologico,
Naples
http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/94a29df67f5918c72844.jpg
Roman artists' intense desire to accurately describe their world. The painting
shows a keen sense of the observation of the different qualities of light and how
they affect forms. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mxb/roman_painting.html
Painting from the "Villa of Mysteries," Pompeii, thought to portray
initiation into the mysterious Dionysion cult.
http://www.accd.edu/sac/vat/arthistory/arts1303/Rome4.htm
View of the frescoes at the Villa of the Mysteries, near Pompeii, c. 65-50 B.C.E.
http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/046252471102c53b7dfa.jpg
Villa of the Mysteries
Pompeii., Second century B.C.
The scene depicts a rite of initiation,
perhaps the passage to adulthood
of a young girl, who is seen here
with her head in the lap of an older
woman.
http://www.dl.ket.org/humanities/gallery/images
/roman_wall_.jpg
At this time there were many
mystery cults which came from the
Hellenistic east with secret rites a
part of the practice
- many of the cults included
salvation through mystical union
with the deity
- ecstatic, hallucinatory state
created by fasting, drugs and
beating
http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/e3b4b83
cab026610b2cb.jpg
http://www.coco.cc.az.us/apetersen/_ART201/
Wall_painting.htm
Three Graces, from Pompeii, 1st century C.E. Fresco. National Archaeological Museum,
Napleshttp://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/60bf8503f3151b4f5ccc.jpg
Landscape with Boats, from Pompeii, Third Style, 1st century C.E.
http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/852ec0aa15d63d845bd7.jpg
Odysseus Being Attacked by the Laestrygonians, from the Esquiline Hill, Rome, c. 50-40 B.C.E. Fresco, 3'
10" high. Musei Vaticani, Rome. http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/2916b1e42d5e7b2d04e3.jpg
•Roman Arches
The Arch of Constantine
was erected between 312
and 315CE by the Senate
in honor of his military
triumph over Maxentius at
the Battle of the Milvian
Bridge. A substantial
portion of the decoration on
the Arch of Constantine
was taken from other earlier
monuments in an attempt to
liken Constantine to his
great predecessors, Trajan,
Hadrian, and Marcus
Aurelius.
http://www.students.sbc.ed
u/smith04/ancientrome.html
Arch of Constantine, Rome, c. 313 C.E. Marble, 70' high, 85' 8" wide. Scala/Art
Resource, NY. http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/c5241d2fcc066e83ba7c.jpg
Medallions (Hadrianic, 117-138 C.E.) and frieze (Constantinian, early 4th century) from the Arch of Constantine,
Rome. Frieze, approx. 3' 4" high. http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/b0e6f7bf044826da7883.jpg
http://egghead.psu.edu/~ma_tapps/arch/roman.html
Vaults
http://rubens.anu.edu.au/htdocs/surveys/italren/pics.arch/0268/26806.JPG
http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/Images/109images/romanesque/st_sernin/nave_vault.jpg
http://rubens.anu.edu.au/htdocs/surveys/italren/pics.arch/0268/26807.JPG
The Pantheon
http://wings.buffalo.edu/AandL/Maecenas/black/pantheon/ab780206.html
Reconstruction (section) of the Pantheon during the Imperial era. Watercolour, undated, by Peter
Connolly.http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/b9b903670d26fb6a28b3.jpg
The Pantheon, dome
http://www.monolithic.com/thedome/pantheon/pictorial8.html
The Pantheon,
dome
http://www.pitt.edu/~tokerism/0040/images2/202.jpg
West side of the Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace), Rome, 13-9 B.C.E.
Scala/Art Resource, NY.
http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/c5241d2fcc066e83ba7c.jpg
Basilica
• “A rectangular colonnaded hall
commonly used for public
assemblies”.
• “The Roman basilica became the
model for the early Christian
Church in the West” (Fiero 151)
• http://www.gleaden.plus.com/churches/images/basilica.jpg
http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~nemeaucb/175b/week09/ForTrai4.jpg
Reconstruction drawing of the interior of the Basilica Ulpia, from P. Connolly.
http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/bd63d8bc5c920499a1a2.jpg
Reconstruction drawing of the Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius
http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/b5fad49775547482fcaa.jpg
Atrium and peristyle, House of the Silver Wedding, Pompeii, early 1st
century C.E.. Alinari/Art Resource, NY.
http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/91f5882fc2ee922cfbd1.jpg
The End