12. Arch of Titus vault shows Titus being carried to heaven on the back of an eagle representing his apotheosis (the highest point of glory, power and importance)
Overlooking a deep gorge
Worshiping the Sybils
“…wise women who inhabited shrines, temples, and caves, and who, being blessed "by the gods" with the gift of prophecy, read the signs of nature in order to foretell the future. We call these seers "Sibyls," after the Greek word for prophetess ("sibulla").
Travertine Corinthian columns
Frieze is carved with garlands help up by oxenheads Greek
High podium can be reached via a narrow stairway leading to the cella door.
This introduces an axial alignment not found in Greek Tholoi
Foundations are tufa
Temple is concrete faced with travertine ashlar
Temple is a tholos, in the round
Stands on a podium
18 fluted Corinthian columns support an entablature with continuous frieze of ox heads alternating with garlands.
Steps are located only in front of the entrance.
Not built with Greek masonry blocks, but with concrete, new invention.
Concrete was made from a changing recipe of lime mortar, volcanic sand, water, and small stones (caement, from the English cement)
Builders placed the mixture in wooden frames and left it to dry. When the concrete hardened completely, they removed the wooden molds, leaving behind a solid mass of great strength, rough in appearance, they covered it with stucco or marble revetment (facing)
Concrete walls were less costly than the Greek imported marble and travertine and tufa.
Dedicated to Portuna, Roman god of harbors.
Tufa Porous or volcanic rock that hardens upon exposure to air and travertine (hard limestone), originally overlaid with imitation Greek marble (stucco)
Greek influence in the entablature held up by the thin Ionic columns
The corner columns resemble the Parthenon as they too serve both long and short sides simultaneously
Romans moved away beyond the Greek order that columns had a sole purpose of being load bearing.
Eclecticism is the primary characteristic:
Etruscan pattern with high podium and a flight of steps only at the front, in Greek Architecture steps go all the way around the temples.
Freestanding columns confined to the deep porch.
Ionic columns, Ionic frieze,
Ionic half columns (Pilasters) used to approximate a peripteral (courtyard surrounded by columns) to the sides and back of the cella
The result is a pseudoperipteral temple
All these combinations of Etruscan and Greek mix make it uniquely Roman.
Celebrate Peace of Augustus
Vine scroll traceries (a decorative interlaced design) indicating peace and fertility under Augustus, are represented on the lower half of the frame, while the upper half illustrates the actual procession that took place at the founding of the altar.
On the north side senators and other officials, some with wives and children, are shown proceeding to the entrance.
The south side depicts members of the imperial family
Augustus has hid head draped in the manner of Pontifex Maximus (highest Priest) denoting his role as the state’s religious leader.
His wives’ heads are covered indicating a religious rite.
The presence of children refers to the dynastic aims of Augustus; he hoped to have a stable system of succession for the government. He wanted aristocrats to have large families and offered tax breaks of large families. He also stressed the importance of the family as an institution.
Parian marble
Altar stood on a podium, and was the primitive open air altars of early Roman Times
The reliefs on the exterior were executed in Classical Greek style, with Greek motifs like the processional Frieze, but the subjects are Roman
The procession satisfies the Roman Taste for Spatial illusionism
The highest relief is reserved for the more prominent foreground figures, whose feet project from the base.
An important category of Roman architecture was developed specifically to commemorate the actions of individuals, usually emperors or generals.
Celebrate peace that Augustus made with the Gauls
Resolves the conflict between native tradition and Greek culture and marks the beginning of truly Roman Art.
Each year magistrates, priests and vestal virgins, (virgins consecrated to the service of Vesta, goddess of the hearth) made sacrifices.
They performed the sacrifices while facing east toward the sunrise.
Human nature of children
Age related behavior of a tired child who wants to be carried
Marble
Chubby rolls of fat are around his ankles and dimpled elbows and knees
Age appropriate behavior is consistent with the Roman interest in portraiture
Roman ability to build massive monumental projects
Stone Bridge to carry water
The system maintains a constant decline of 1:3000 feet resulting in a total drop of only 54 feet over its whole length of 30 miles
Constructed in three tiers each with narrow barrel vaults.
Vaults on the first two tiers are the same size, while the third story vault, which carried the channel containing the water, were smaller.
The top vaults and larger ones are in a ratio of 1:4
The voussoirs ( a wedge shaped brick or stone used to form the curved part of the arch or vault) that make up the arches weigh up to 6 tons each.
They were precisely cut to standard measurements, then fit into place without mortar or clamps
The vault system was well suited to massive engineering projects
With the tunnel vaults arranged in a continuous series, side by side, the lateral thrust of each vault is counteracted by its neighbor so that only the end vaults needed buttresses.
The design on larger vaults on below and smaller ones on top is both structurally and aesthetically sound.
72-80 ACE
Roman colossal architecture
Monumental
provided entertainment of cruelty and violence while making spectators comfortable
Political acumen of Imperial Rome
Concrete, travertine, tufa, brick and marble
Exterior arcades (a gallery formed by a series of arches supporting columns or piers either free standing or blind-attached to a wall)
Three stories of round arches framed by entablatures and engaged columns.
The ground floor columns are Tuscan, a later development of Doric
Second floor columns are ionic
Third floor columns are Corinthian
Fourth floor has small windows and engaged rectangular Corinthian pilasters.(a flattened rectangular version of a column, sometimes load-bearing but often purely decorative)
The system of putting the heaviest columns, Doric, on the bottom was common in Roman construction.
The projecting cornice at the top serves aesthetically to crown the structure.
Travertine, reused during the middle ages, was used for frame work of the piers (a vertical support used to bear loads in arched or vaulted structures)
Tufa (porous yellow rock) and brick-faced concrete were used for the walls between the piers.
Originally there was marble on the interior.
The concrete foundations were 25 feet deep
Both the barrel vault and the groin vault were used in the corridor ceilings.
Upper wall was fitted with sockets into which poles were inserted as supports for awnings that were stretched to protect spectators from the sun.
from the Greek word Amphi meaning “around” and theatron, meaning theater
Amphitheatres were built for spectator sports, games and other lavish spectacles. Gladiatorial contests, combats between man and animals or animal v animal.
It was built over a pond formerly on Nero’s property a drainage system allowed for washing away the blood and guts.
The Colosseum began un Vespasian in 72 ACE
It was inaugurated in 80 ACE by his son Titus.
Colosseum comes from the colossal statue of Nero.
On opening day more than 50,000 spectators proceeded along corridors and stairways through numbered gates to their seats.
Marble over concrete core
Arch of Titus commemorates his capture of Jerusalem and suppression of Jewish rebellion
Triumphal Arch was a Roman innovation commemorating the military exploits of a victorious general or emperor
It marked a ritual passage for the army into a city, but not as the entrance into the city by the populace
Chariots symbolized the triumphal and divine power of the emperor
Elephants, imported from Africa were owned only by emperors, symbolized the emperor’s power and immortality.
Arch of Titus columns are of the Composite Order of Roman Order (combining elements of Ionic and Corinthian)
Spandrels (triangular sections between the arch and the frame) have winged victories holding laurel wreaths
Reliefs on the piers ( large rectangular supports) depict scenes of Titus’s triumphs
Consisted of a rectangular block enclosing one or more round arches and a short barrel vault.
Had one or three openings
Pilasters framed the openings and supported an entablature, which was surmounted by a rectangular attic (a low story placed above the entablature)
The attic supported sculptures of horses, chariots or even elephants, it also bore an inscription
The Latin inscription reads, “the senate and people of Rome dedicate the arch to divine Titus, Vespasian Augustus, son of divine Vespasian.”
Arches stood alone
Demonstrates the spoils of the temple of Jerusalem carried in a triumphal procession
Titus’ warriors carry off their booty from the Jewish wars
Soldiers raise the menorah whose weight and prominence reflect its importance for the Jews and its role as a symbol of Roman Victory.
Marble
Figures project illusionistically from the surface of the relief
The base of the menorah is carved in perspective reflecting the Roman taste for spatial effects and optical illusion
1st Century ACE
Roman Empire Domus (Roman private home)
Functional as well as inviting into the home
Material comforts
Features of the Roman domus
Atrium- large hall entered through the corridor from the street
Atrium roof sloped forward
The compluvium, a primary source of light in the atrium, allowed rain water to collect in to the impluvian, a sunken basin in the floor, from which is was channeled into a cistern
Compluvium is supported by four Corinthian columns
Romans carried out extensive building during the Empire
To accommodate their expanding territory and its growing population
To glorify the state and the emperor
They assimilated and developed building techniques from the Near East, Etruscans, and Greece.
Recognized the potential of concrete and used it in monumental construction.
They also used Tavertine, a hard, durable limestone that mellows to a golden yellow
And the Etruscan Tufa
Roman interest in material comforts led sophisticated domestic architecture
Vesuvius erupted in 79 ACE over a seaside Roman Resort of Herculaneum. Ash covered Pompeii a commercial and agricultural center.
Herculaneum was covered with lava and mud and was difficult to excavate.
Pompeii was easier and that is where the excavation began in 1592 and continues in both places today.
Both sites have given history an insight into Roman domestic (from the Latin domus meaning “house”) architecture.
Huge size and innovative engineering by Apollodorus of Damascus . Concrete core faced with brick
Concrete made it possible to build on a slope.
Apollodorus was the master of post and lintel, stone and timber architecture.
The basic unit was the taberna a single room shop covered by a barrel vault
Each taberna had a wide doorway, usually with a window above it that allowed light to enter a wooden inner attic used for storage.
Shops were on several levels opening onto a hemispherical façade winding around one of the great exedras (ancient Greece and Rome, a room for relaxation or conversation, especially a semicircular recess in a larger hall with a continuous bench along the wall) of Trajan’s forum
Total urban renovation included Trajan’s forum, which was faced with marble
Market contained over 200 rooms Administrative offices and shops linked by a complex system of stairways and arcades
Tiered, apsidal spaces with barrel vaulted ceilings, groin vaults used in the main hall, clerestory windows in the basilica
Shifting axes, flowing masses and spaces, patterns of light and shadow, served as a social and commercial function for large numbers of people.
Apollodorus departed from traditional columns and colonnades.
Marble
Originally had a bronze statue of Trajan
Column is unique to Romans with its documentary, ribbonlike narrative frieze.
Column consists of marble drums cut horizontally and imperceptibly joined together
Inside is a spiral staircase illuminated with cuts into the marble
Background figures raise above the foreground eliminating any empty space
Zig zagging buildings faced with brickwork patterns and boats add to the sense of surface movement
Supporting the column is a podium decorated with sculptures illustrating the spoils of war and containing a repository of Trajan’s ashes
The first three bands is the Roman Army preparing for its campaign
On the first band the giant bearded river god of the Danube appears under the arch of a cave
He watches as Trajan leads the Roman army out of a walled city
Boats and soldiers fill the river.
The second level contains army camps, war councils, reconnaissance missions and the capture of a spy.
This frieze is one of the most informative historical documents of life in the Roman army
Total Propaganda
Trajan built a new road called Via Traiana in southern Italy in 109
Several years later the Senate erected a great arch honoring Trahan at the point where the road entered Benevento.
Structurally it is similar to the Titus arch in Rome.
Relief panes cover both facades of the arch giving it a billboardlike function. Every inch of the surface heraldes the emperor’s achievements. In one panel he enters Rome after a successful military campaign
In another he distributes largesse to needy children
He is also portrayed as a founder of colonies for army veterans and the builder of a new port at Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber River.
He is presented as a guarantor of peace, security, benefactor of the poor and patron of soldiers and merchants. He is ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE according to this arch
HE also freely intermingles with divinities and on the arch’s attic Jupiter hands his thunderbolt to the emperor awarding him dominion over Earth.
Depicting the ruler as divine then became the norm in Rome
All things to all people
Public Buildings:
Complex life in Rome required public buildings for civic and administrative functions
These activities led to the Forum and the Basilica
First forum was built during the 6th century
First century ACE the Forum Julium became the prototype for all imperial forums.
Julius Caesar planned it and Augustus completed it.
It’s now in ruins
Forum
Plan of the Roman and Imperial Forums, Rome
Political, religious, social, and commercial center
Shops went elsewhere and forum was only a civic and social activity
Meetings for the town council (the curia) and the popular assembly (the comitium)
Basilica (from the Greek word basilikos meaning “royal”)
Roofing was made of timber and covered with tile, the interior was adorned with marble and bronze
Basilicas were rectangular in plan with an apse ( a projecting part of the building usually semi circular and topped by a half dome or vault)
The apses contained statues of gods or emperors, provided space for legal proceedings, and included a throne for the current emperor.
Basilicas were large roofed building usually located at the end of the forums
Divided into three aisles. A large central aisle was flanked by two smaller aisles on each side, separated with one or two rows of columns in a colonnade used for socializing or awaiting trial, or transacting business.
The nave (from the Latin word navis, meaning “ship” and derived from the idea of an inverted boat) permitted the construction of a second story wall above the colonnades separating the nave aisles
Clerestory windows admitted light into the basilica. A clerestory is a high wall with a band of narrow windows along the very top. The clerestory wall usually rises above adjoining roofs.
It was used for commercial transactions, municipal hall, and law court
Emperor Hadrian’s Villa, tell of Hadrian’s lover, wife, travels, beard
Opulence
Power
Consisted of
Libraries containing Greek and Latin literature
Courtyards
Temples Visiting Alexandria Egypt he admired the Serapaeum, a temple dedicated to Serpis, the Egyptian god who combined Osiris, Zeus, and Hades.
Plazas
Theatre
Occupied more than a square mile
He constructed a canal.
He used Ionic columns in the Serapaem and Corinthian columns in the Canopus that supported the round arches alternating with lentils and sculptures to occupy the arched spaces.
The entrance contained fountains
Country Villa was built as an escape from the city.
Most elaborate Villas belonged only to the emperors
Dedicated to the five then known planets (Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, and Venus) and all (pan) gods (theoi)
Played a role as a symbol of the sky
Dome of heaven
Symbolic equation between the sun and the eye of Jupiter, the supreme celestial deity of Rome
Dedicated to all the gods
Consists of two main parts
Traditional rectangular portico supported by massive granite Corinthian columns
Huge concrete rotunda faced on the exterior with brick.
The entire Pantheon stands on a podium with steps leading to the portico entrance.
The Pantheon’s portico is Greek
Rotunda is truly Roman, absence of symmetry between the rectangular portico and the mass cylindrical rotunda
Vast dome is illuminated from the open, centered oculus (Latin for eye)
The dome and the drum (the circular or polygonal wall of a building surmounted by a dome or cupola) are in perfect proportion, the distance from the top of the dome to the floor being identical the diameter of the drum.
The circle is inscribed in a square
Marble floor is patterns of circles and squares
The walls contain niches, each one for a different deity, with Corinthian columns supporting alternating triangular rounded pediments
Between each niche is a recess with two huge columns flanked by two corner pilasters
A circular entablature forms the base of a short “second story,” which bears the whole weight of the dome, the weight is channeled down to the eight piers. (the vertical support used to bear loads in arched and vaulted structures)
The dome has five coffered bands ( a recessed geometrical pattern in a ceiling) that diminish in size toward the oculus. The coffers reduce the weight of the structure and create an optical illusion of greater height. They were originally painted blue and each had a gold rosette in the middle,
Dome tapers toward the top from approximately 20 feet to 6 feet
There are stepped buttresses on the lower half of the dome
The most monumental ancient Roman Temple
Build during the reign of Hadrian
Inscribed on the pediment of the portico is the name of Augustus’s friend Marcus Agrippa, who had dedicated an earlier temple on the same site.
Enormous Corinthian columns supported the Groin vaults of the ceiling in this central hall
Commemorated Constantine’s assumption of sole imperial power in 312.
Marble
Largest triumphal arch
Decorated with original reliefs and those removed from earlier monuments in honor of other emperors, Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius
The juxtaposition of reliefs from different periods illustrates changes that took place in Roman sculpture
Elaborate arch with three openings
The arch was built after Constantine defeated his rival, Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge.
Medallions, and Frieze from the Arch of Constantine, Rome
Three riders hunt a boar (left)
Three worshipers stand before an altar of Apollo
Honoring Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius,(both were influenced by Greek culture) and Constantine while he makes a public speech
Medallions are spolia ( pieces taken from older reliefs and reused in new ones)
Lined up and listening to Constantine are figures accented by arches and columns
The style is less naturalistic, more stylized and patterned than the medallions
The proportions of figures are stubbier, their heads are enlarged, their poses are repetitious and their carving is flatter
Constantine’s reign developed abstract reliefs, not Classical naturalism.
The use of the medallions, which is Classical naturalism next to the stylistic relief is unknown and no iconographic relationship can be determined.