Chapter 4: Ancient Rome

Etruscan Influence

• Architecture– Etruscan Temples• Steps only on one side.• Deep front porch.• Enclosed area (cella) is divided into three rooms.

Etruscan Influence

• Architecture– Etruscan Tombs• Two types:

– Corbeled domes– Rock cut chambers forming

rectangular rooms.

• They were made with tufa, a type of stone that hardens when exposed to the air.

Etruscan Influence

• Architecture– Etruscan Tombs• They tended to replicate home-life.• Men and women appeared to be equal in status.

Etruscan Influence

• Etruscan Sculpture– Capitoline She-Wolf• This was a bronze sculpture created ca. 500 B.C.E.• The twins, Romulus and Remus, were later added by

the Romans.

The Roman Republic

• Social Structure– Classes• Patricians: land-

owning aristocrats.• Plebeians: poor

class.• Slaves

– Commonly captured in war.

– Also debtors.

The Roman Republic

• Social Structure– Pietas is the total

obedience to the father of the household.

– Government, in regard to class, was supposed to work in the same fashion.

– Patricians were the adults when compared to the plebeians.

The Roman Republic

• Social Structure– The patricians also were patrons in some cases.– If they favored a particular art, they would support

the artist, becoming their patron.

The Roman Republic

• Military Expansion– Punic Wars• It began over the ownership of Sicily.• The war was fought against the African city-state,

Carthage.

The Roman Republic

• Military Expansion– Punic Wars• The Carthaginians were descended from the

Phoenicians.• The Latin term for Phoenician is Punic.

The Roman Republic

• Military Expansion– Julius Caesar• He conquered Gaul,

modern France.• He manipulated the

Roman Senate into declaring him dictator for life.

The Roman Republic

• Military Expansion– Julius Caesar• He was later

assassinated on March 15, 45 B.C.E.• This led to a civil war

that led to the downfall of the Roman Republic.

The Roman Republic

• Roman Art– They copied the Greeks.– They focused on “larger

than life images.”– They also displayed real

people as opposed to mythical and perfect figures.

– They also created imagines, death-masks.

The Roman Republic

• Roman Art– Architecture• Composite order were

columns in which they combined the acanthus leaves and the volutes.• Corinthian columns were

commonly used in Rome.• Engaged columns were

aesthetic columns that had no structural support.

The Roman Republic

• Roman Art– Architecture• Engineering Advances

– Concrete– The Arch– The Dome

The Roman Republic

• Roman Art– Architecture• Engineering Advances

– The Aqueduct which brought fresh water to Rome from mountains seven miles away.

– Road construction.

The Roman Republic

• Roman Literature– Catullus wrote love poems.– Plautus and Terence both wrote comedic-dramas.

Catullus Plautus Terence

The Roman Empire

• Octavian Caesar (r. 27 B.C.E-14 C.E.)– He was Julius Caesar’s

adopted son and nephew.

– He ended the civil war, avenging his uncle, and eventually became the Augustus.

The Roman Empire

• Octavian Caesar– His administration and conquest would develop

the Pax Romana or “Roman Peace.”– Within the empire, trade and the economy were

escalated.

The Roman Empire

• The Decline of the Empire– Rome would experience

approximately 170 years of successful emperors.

– However, with the rise of Commodus, the empire began to slowly crumble.

The Roman Empire

• The Decline of the Empire– Emperor Diocletian divided

the empire into a tetrarchy which helped to prolong the downfall of Rome.

The Roman Empire

• The Decline of the Empire– Emperor Constantine

• He restored the empire.• However, he moved the

capital to Byzantium, which became known as Constantinople.

• This move would save the Eastern Empire (Byzantium) but destroy the Western Empire.

The Roman Empire

• The Decline of the Empire– Romulus Augustulus• He was the child emperor.• He was deposed by the

Goth, Odovacer in 476 C. E.• This brought the official

end of the Western Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire

• Music of the Empire– It was loud and aggressive

(militaristic).– Instruments• Tuba• Hydraulos (water power

organ)

The Roman Empire

• Architecture of the Empire– Roman Forum was the center of city life and

resembled the Greek agora.

The Roman Empire

• Architecture of the Empire– Colosseum was an amphitheatre (amphi = both

and theatre = semicircle) used for sporting events.

The Roman Empire

• Architecture of the Empire– Pantheon • It has an interior circular room and is dedicated to all

the gods.

The Roman Empire

• Architecture of the Empire– Pantheon • The top has an oculus

(eye) that allows light in.• Coffers are the square

indentation that were overlaid with gold, reflecting light into the interior.

The Roman Empire

• Sculptures of the Empire– Augustus of Primaporta

The Roman Empire

• Sculptures of the Empire– Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace)• First real use of perspective in

sculpting.

The Roman Empire

• Sculptures of the Empire– Column of Trajan• Roman columns were built

to celebrate victories.

The Roman Empire

• Sculptures of the Empire– Equestrian Statue of

Marcus Aurelius

The Roman Empire

• Sculptures of the Empire– The Head of Caracalla• One of the first

sculptures to show stress.– Pupils and irises carved.– Brow is contracted and

the head furrowed.

The Roman Empire

• Sculptures of the Empire– The Head of

Constantine• Shown as both mystical

and majestic.

The Roman Empire

• Sculptures of the Empire– The Arch of Constantine

The Roman Empire

• Paintings of the Empire– The only type of paintings to survive were murals

(wall paintings).– First Style: The wall is given the illusion of marble.

The Roman Empire

• Paintings of the Empire– Second Style

(cubiculum): creates open spaces using perspective, which is inconsistent.

The Roman Empire

• Paintings of the Empire– Third Style: is ornamental or ornamented with an

emphasis on monochromic.• Red• Black• White

The Roman Empire

• Paintings of the Empire– Fourth Style: is a

blending of all three previous styles.

The Roman Empire

• Stoicism of the Empire– The two main adherents of stoicism in the empire

were Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.

Epictetus Marcus Aurelius

The Roman Empire

• Historians of the Empire– Sallust • He wrote about the

corruption of Roman politics.

The Roman Empire

• Historians of the Empire– Livy • He wrote Rome’s

most extensive history.

The Roman Empire

• Historians of the Empire– Tacitus • He analyzed the decline

of political freedom and the increasing role of dynastic power.

The Roman Empire

• Literature of the Empire– Virgil• He wrote The Aeneid, a

Roman epic recounting the founding of the city and its history.

The Roman Empire

• Literature of the Empire– Gaius Lucilius• He was one of the best

known satirists (this was the only new contribution the Romans made to writing).

The Roman Empire

• Literature of the Empire– Horace• He was well known for his odes (lyrical poems).

The Roman Empire

• Literature of the Empire– Ovid• He was wrote witty and ironic poems.

The Roman Empire

• Literature of the Empire– Seneca• He wrote revenge

tragedy.

The Roman Empire

• Literature of the Empire– Petronius• He created a realistic picture of the manners, luxuries,

and vices of the age.