The document discusses the art and architecture of ancient Rome from the Republican Period through the Late Empire. It describes how the Romans adopted elements of Etruscan, Greek, and other cultures and blended them into their own style. Key Roman innovations included the true arch, which allowed for grander structures than Greek temples, and the widespread use of concrete for construction. The art shifted from idealized Greek gods to realistic portraits honoring Roman rulers and military victories.

1. Power To The
People
The Art of Ancient Rome
Introduction
To
Art
History
I
Professor
Will
Adams

2. The Roman Timeline
§ Roman
Republican
Period
(509-­‐27
BCE):
Begins
with
overthrowing
last
Etruscan
King
and
ends
with
Julius
Caesar.
Major
buildings
built
more
for
political
use
than
for
worship
§ KEYWORDS:
Temples,
Ara
Pacis,
homage
to
rulers
§ Early
Empire
Period
(27
BCE-­‐180
CE):
§ KEYWORDS:
Wall
paintings,
concrete,
arch,
Colosseum
§ The
High
Empire
(180-­‐195
CE):
Five
Good
Emperors
(Trajan,
Hadrian,
etc.)
kept
things
prosperous
and
peaceful.
§ KEYWORDS:
Column
of
Trajan,
Hadrian’s
Wall,
Pantheon
§ The
Late
Empire
(195-­‐400
CE):
Diocletian
had
Empire
divided
into
four
parts.
§ KEYWORDS:
Tetrarchy,
Arch
of
Constantine
2

3. The Republican
Period

4. The Republican
Period
§ One
of
the
cultures
that
the
Etruscans
had
historically
controlled
was
a
tribe
of
people
known
as
the
Latins,
who
inhabited
the
city
of
Rome,
which
was
situated
on
the
Tiber
River
in
western-­‐central
Italy.
§ However,
in
509
BCE,
the
Etruscan
ruler
of
Rome,
Tarquin,
was
deposed
from
power
by
the
Latins.

5. The Republican
Period
§ The
Latins
were
inspired
to
overthrow
their
Etruscan
leader
after
Tarquin’s
son
raped
a
famous
and
beloved
Latin
woman
named
Lucretia.
§ Her
rape
went
unpunished
and,
in
anguish
and
shame,
Lucretia
committed
suicide.
§ Lucretia’s
death
was
the
spark
needed
to
ignite
the
flame
of
revolution
in
Rome.
Titian,
The
Rape
of
Lucretia,
Oil
on
panel,
c.
1518
CE

6. The Republican
Period
§ After
Tarquin’s
expulsion,
the
Romans
sought
to
create
a
new
type
of
just
government.
§ To
do
so,
they
blended
the
public
participation
of
Greek
democracy
with
the
centralized
authority
of
the
previous
Etruscans
kings.
§ The
result
was
a
res
publica,
or
republic,
a
government
of
the
people.

7. The Republican
Period
§ This
new
government
had
three
branches:
§ The
Executive:
The
consulship,
headed
by
consuls
§ The
Advisory:
The
Senate,
populated
by
senators
§ The
Legislative:
The
Assembly,
which
held
two
houses:
The
Assembly
of
Centuries
&
The
Assembly
of
Tribes
§ A
great
blending
of
others’
ideas!

8. The Republican
Period
The
Seven
Hills
Of
Ancient
Rome
1. Quirinal
2. Viminal
3. Esquiline
4. Capitoline
5. Palatine
6. Caelian
7. Aventine

10. The Republican
Period
§ In
fact,
the
Romans
were
not
just
great
adopters
and
synthesizers
of
governments
–
they
did
so
with
many
other
areas
of
culture:
mythology,
literature,
architecture,
sculpture,
or
theatre.
§ In
each
case,
the
Romans
observed
those
of
other
cultures’,
adopted
the
aspects
that
they
liked,
discarded
those
they
didn’t,
and
eventually
formed
a
blended
culture
of
their
own.
§ This
synthesizing
of
cultures
displays
itself
most
prominently
in
the
art,
sculpture,
and
architecture
of
Rome,
with
heavy
influence
coming
from
the
Greeks.
§ Many
times,
this
leads
the
viewer
of
an
artwork
to
wonder:
Is it Greek
or Roman?

11. Is It Greek Or Roman?
11
ELEMENT GREEK ROMAN
Preferred
Structure
Temples
to
Glorify
Gods
Civic
Buildings
to
honor
Empire
Walls
Made
of
cut
stone
blocks
Concrete
with
Ornamental
facing
Trademark
Forms
Rectangles,
Straight
Lines
Circles,
Curved
Lines
Support
System
Post
and
Lintel
Rounded
Arch
Column
Style
Doric
&
Ionic
Corinthian
Sculpture
Idealized
Gods
&
Goddesses
Realistic
(Verism)
humans,
idealized
officials
Painting
Stylized
figures
floating
in
Space
Realistic
images
with
perspective
Subject
of
Art
Mythology
Civic
Leaders,
military
triumphs

12. Is It Greek Or Roman?
12
Temple
of
Athena
Nike
Classical
Greek;
c.
427
BCE
Temple
of
Portunus
Rome,
Italy;
c.
75
BCE

13. Is It Greek Or Roman?
13
The
Parthenon
Athens,
Greece;
c.
420
BCE
The
Pantheon
Rome,
Italy;
c.
126
CE

14. Is It Greek Or Roman?
14
Polykleitos,
Doryphoros,
High
Classical
Greek
Augustus
Of
Primaporta,
Pax
Romana
(Roman)

15. Is It Greek Or Roman?
15
Athena
and
Alcyoneus
Frieze
from
the
Altar
of
Zeus
at
Pergamon,
c.180
BCE,
Hellenistic
Greek
Spoils
from
the
Temple
of
Solomon,
Jerusalem
Relief
on
the
Arch
of
Titus;
81
CE,
Early
Empire
Rome

16. Roman Revolution: The
Arch
Plinth
Pier
Impost
Springer
Voussoirs
Keystone
Spandrel
Intrados

17. Roman Revolution: The
Arch
17
The
Roman
invention
of
the
true
arch
with
its
voussoirs
and
central
keystone
allowed
the
Romans
to
create
grander
arcuated
structures
than
the
Greeks
had
ever
conceived
of
building
with
their
trabeated
style.
Barrel
Vault
Groin
Vault
Fenestrated
Groin
Vault
Sequence
Hemispherical
Dome
With
Central
Oculus

18. Republican Art
§ The
Temple
of
Portunus
is
an
example
of
Roman
synthesis.
§ It
follows
the
Etruscan
design
pattern:
§ High
podium
is
accessible
only
at
the
front,
with
its
wide
flight
of
steps.
§ Freestanding
columns
are
confined
to
the
deep
porch.
§ The
structure
is
built
of
stone
and
was
originally
overlaid
with
stucco
in
imitation
of
the
white
marble
temples
of
the
Greeks.
18
Temple
of
Portunus
Rome,
Italy;
ca.
75
BCE

19. Republican Art
§ The
columns
are
Ionic,
complete
with
flutes
and
bases.
§ In
an
effort
to
approximate
a
peripteral
Greek
temple
-­‐
while
maintaining
the
Etruscan
plan
-­‐
the
architect
added
a
series
of
engaged
Ionic
half-­‐columns
around
the
cella’s
sides
and
back.
§ The
result
was
a
pseudoperipteral
(“peripteral-­‐like”)
temple.

20. Republican Art
§ The
Romans’
admiration
for
the
Greek
temples
they
encountered
in
their
conquests
also
led
to
the
importation
of
the
round,
or
monopteral,
temple
type.
§ The
travertine
columns
are
Corinthian.
§ In
contrast
with
Greek
practice,
the
cella
wall
was
constructed
not
of
masonry
blocks
but
of
a
new
invention:
concrete.
20
Temple
of
the
Sibyl
(or
Vesta)
Tivoli,
Italy;
c.
90
BCE

21. Republican Art

22. Republican Art
§ L’Arringatore
(Aulus
Metellus),
Hollow-­‐cast
bronze,
c.
75
BCE
§ Artists
of
the
Republican
Period
sought
to
create
very
realistic
images
of
their
rulers.
§ Dressed
in
the
traditional
draped
toga,
Aulus
Metellus
poses
with
authority
and
persuasiveness.

23. Republican Art!
§ The
sculptural
portraits
of
prominent
Roman
Republican
figures
are
literal
reproductions
of
individual
faces.
§ Republican
portraits
are
one
way
the
patrician
class
celebrated
its
elevated
status.
§ Yet
when
freed
slaves
died,
they
often
ordered
portraits
for
their
tombs.
§ This
image
depicts
former
slaves
who
have
gained
their
freedom
and
right
to
have
their
portraits
created.
Funerary
Relief
with
Portraits
of
the
Gessii;
Rome,
Italy;
c.
30
BCE
§ Slaves
could
not
have
portraits,
because,
under
Roman
law,
they
were
property.

24. Republican Art
§ Patrician
portraits
were
typically
of
men
of
advanced
age
(generally
these
elders
held
the
power
in
the
state).
§ One
of
the
most
striking
of
these
so-­‐called
veristic
(super-­‐
realistic)
portraits
is
of
an
unidentified
patrician.
§ We
are
able
to
see
this
man’s
personality:
serious,
experienced,
determined-­‐
virtues
that
were
admired
during
the
Republic.
Head
of
a
Roman
Patrician,
from
Otricoli,
Italy;
c.
75-­‐50
BCE

25. ACTA EST FABULA