Roman Art and Architecture

ROMAN ART
AND
ARCHITECTURE
Roman
art is traditionally divided into two

main periods, that of the Roman Republic
and that of the Roman Empire (from 27
B.C. on)
When the Republic was founded, the term
Roman art was virtually synonymous
with the art of the city of Rome.
Roman
art is not just the art of the

emperors, senators, and aristocracy, but
of all the peoples of Rome's vast empire,
including middle-class businessmen,
freedmen, slaves, and soldiers in Italy and
the provinces.
Few Roman artists and architects are
known by name today.
In general, Roman monuments were

designed to serve the needs of their patrons
rather than to express the artistic personality
of their makers.
The Temple of Hera at Paestum, in Southern Italy, is the bestpreserved temple in the Roman world, and a fine example of the
Doric order in Roman architecture. The building is fronted by 6
columns and flanked by 13 columns. Paestum was designated a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998
Architecture
A clear picture of Roman architecture can be drawn from

the impressive remains of ancient Roman public and
private buildings and from contemporaneous writings
Roman Town Planning
The typical Roman city of the later Republic and empire had a
rectangular plan and resembled a Roman military camp: it had
two main streetsthe cardo on a north-south axis and the
decumanus on an east-west axisand a grid of smaller streets
dividing the town into blocks, and was surrounded by a wall with
gates.
The forum, an open area bordered by colonnades with shops,
functioned as the chief meeting place of the town.
the site of the city's primary religious and civic buildings, among
them the Senate house, records office, and basilica)
The Basilica of Maxentius was begun by Emperor Maxentius

between 307 and 310 and completed by Constantine after 312.
Roman
Temples
The traditional Greek orders of architecture

(Doric, Ionic, Corinthian) were usually
retained, but the Romans also developed a
new type of capital called the composite
capital, a mixture of Ionic and Corinthian
elements.
Pantheon in Rome, commissioned by Hadrian in 118-128, is one of the greatest of all

surviving Roman temples and one of the most famous buildings in the world. A
colonnaded court once led up to the portico. The dome of the rotunda (round building)
behind the portico (covered entrance or porch) is 43.2 m (142 ft) in diameter. Its
centre is pierced by an oculus (a circular opening) 8.5 m (28 ft) in diameter, which
provides the only source of light for the interior.
Markets and Shops
The shops were usually one-room units (tabernae)

opening on to pavements; many, including bakeries
where flour was also milled, can still be seen at
Pompeii and elsewhere.
Theatres and Amphitheatres
Roman theatres first appeared in the late Republic.

They were semicircular in plan and consisted of a tall
stage building (the proscenium) abutting a
semicircular space for dancers and chorus (the
orchestra) and tiered seating area (the cavea).
The imposing Colosseum in Rome (70-82) was, in its original state, a four-storey
oval amphitheatre with tiers of marble seating for about 45,000 people. Its real
name is the Flavian Amphitheatre, but it is better known as the Colosseum, after a
colossal statue of Nero that once stood nearby. Gladiatorial combats took place in
the arena and, reputedly, Christians were thrown to lions.
Emperor Nero
Nero was emperor of Rome

from AD 54 to 68. He had
many of his political
enemies murdered or
executed, and he even
ordered the execution of his
wife and mother. In 68 the
Roman Senate declared
him a public enemy and he
committed suicide.
Public Baths
Large cities and small towns alike also had public

baths (thermae); under the Republic they were
generally made up of a suite of dressing rooms and
bathing chambers with hot-, warm-, and cold-water
baths (caldaria, tepidaria, and frigidaria) alongside
an exercise area, the palaestra.
Residences
Most of the urban area was occupied by private

residences.
The Domus
Family dwellings then as today were built in a wide

variety of shapes and sizes
The standard domus italica, or early Republican
house, consisted of an entrance corridor (fauces), a
main room (atrium) open to the sky with a central
basin for the collection of rainwater, a series of small
bedrooms (cubicula), an office area (tablinum), a
dining room (triclinium), a kitchen (culina), and
perhaps a small garden (hortus). The front rooms of
the house might open on to the street and serve as
shops.
Villa and Palace
Suburban villas, such as those owned by the

statesman and orator Cicero and other famous
Romans, were often built on estates incorporating
fields and lakes.
Mosaics decorated the floors and walls of Roman houses, temples, and public
buildings. The themes they depicted were taken from mythology or history, or referred
to everyday life. This floor mosaic, from Ostia, once a major Roman port, may depict
a hunting scene.
Hadrian's Villa, at Tivoli, constructed between ad 118 and 134, was the
largest Roman villa ever built. It was surrounded by a landscaped garden
with a pool, the Canopus, named after the two-mile canal connecting
Canopus and Alexandria in Greece. The Canopus, seen here, is bordered
with classical columns and arches interspersed with copies of Greek
sculptures.
Hadrian
The Roman emperor Hadrian

was a capable administer who
reformed the civil service and
tried to strengthen the empire's
defenses. Rome faced a
constant threat from barbarian
invasions, so Hadrian
consolidated some of Rome's
territory and built new military
roads as well as a series of
defense fortifications, including
the famous Hadrians Wall in
England.
Roman
Tombs
Usually set up beside the major roads leading

in and out of the cities, exhibit an
extraordinary variety of forms because they
reflect the personal tastes of private patrons
and because their simple functionto house
the bodies or cremated remains of the dead
could be satisfied by almost any shape.
People of lesser means, especially freed
slaves, were usually buried in communal
tombs called columbaria in which the ashes of
the deceased were deposited in one of
hundreds of small niches
This monument, known as a tower tomb, was erected to mark the mausoleum (4030 bc) of the Julii family in Saint-Rmy-de-Provence, France. It consists of
superimposed geometric sections comprising a cube on the bottom, followed by a
rectangle, a cylinder, and a cone. The purpose of such tombs was to impress the
living with the wealth and power of the family of the deceased.
Sculpture
Throughout the Roman world, statues and

reliefs were regularly displayed in, on, and
around public and private buildings.
Triumphal Arches
Chief among these buildings are the triumphal

arches, commemorative monuments that were
erected in all parts of the empire.
The original purpose of triumphal arches was solely to
support honorific statuary.
The Arch of Constantine, in Rome, was built between 312 and 315 to
commemorate Constantine the Greats victory over Maxentius, making
Constantine the absolute monarch of the Roman Empire. The triple arch
has four free-standing columns and elaborate sculptural ornamentation.
Constantine
Constantine the Great

was the first emperor of
Rome to convert to
Christianity. During his
reign, Christians,
previously persecuted,
gained freedom of
worship. He gave huge
estates and other gifts to
the Christian church. He
established a capital in
the eastern provinces,
naming it Constantinople
(now stanbul, Turkey).
Honorific
Columns and Altars
Historiated columns were also occasionally erected,

with friezes in spiral relief narrating in great detail the
successful Roman military campaigns.
The Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace), erected in Rome in 9 bc, stands
as a monument to the Pax Romana, an era of peace and prosperity throughout the
Roman Empire ushered in by the Emperor Augustus.
AUGUSTUS
Augustus was born Gaius

Octavius and granted the title of
Augustus by the Roman Senate,
becoming the first emperor of
Rome. The adopted son of Julius
Caesar, he became consul after
Caesars assassination. Augustus
consolidated his power with the
defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at
Actium. As emperor, he instituted
social reforms and encouraged
education, art and literature.
Free-standing
Sculpture
The same kinds of stone were used for freestanding statuary, although statues were
produced in great numbers in bronze and
even in gold and silver.
Statues of deities, heroes, and mortals alike
were erected in a wide variety of contexts.
This bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which until recently stood in
the Campidoglio on the Capitoline Hill in Rome (it is now in the Palazzo dei
Conservatori), was erected in ad 175.
Portrait Sculpture
Roman portrait sculpture forms one of the great chapters in the

history of ancient art. Surviving portraits vary in size from
miniature busts to colossal statues
In this marble bust dating from

ad 215, Caracalla (the emperor
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus) is
depicted as the burly,
suspicious man that he was
known to be.
Caracalla was his nickname
because he introduced into
Roman fashion a long cloak
or tunic from Gaul called the
caracalla.
Painting
Roman painters depicted a variety of subjects,

including historical events, myths, scenes of
daily life, portraits, and still life.
The Citharist from Stabia is one of a series of frescoes from Pompeii painted in
what is known as the First Style (c. 120-80 bc). This particular series of panels
tells the life story of a musician. The panel shown here depicts three musicians
playing an aulos (double flute), small cymbals, and a frame drum.
Mosaics
Roman mosaics have been excavated in all

parts of the empire. They range from abstract
patterns of black-and-white tesserae (mosaic
piece) to ambitious polychrome (multi or
varied colors) figural compositions.
The Grand Hunt, a detail of which is shown here, is one of a number of large
floor mosaics found in the Roman villa at Piazza Armerina, Sicily. The
mosaics, covering a total of 651 sq m (7,000 sq ft), depict various scenes
from life in the late Roman Empire.
Gems,
Cameos, Metalwork, and Glass
In ancient Rome the so-called minor arts of

metalwork, cutting gemstones, and fashioning
vessels from glass, and the like were highly
respected and minor only in scale.
The Portland Vase, made in

the 1st century A.D., is a tour
de force of Roman
glassmaking and a superb
example of glass cameo. It
was made by blowing blue
glass into shape and, while it
was still warm and viscous,
casing it with a layer of white
glass, which fused with the
blue glass. The piece is in the
collection of the British
Museum, London.

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ROMAN ART

art is traditionally divided into two

art is not just the art of the

In general, Roman monuments were

A clear picture of Roman architecture can be drawn from

The Basilica of Maxentius was begun by Emperor Maxentius

The traditional Greek orders of architecture

Pantheon in Rome, commissioned by Hadrian in 118-128, is one of the greatest of all

Markets and Shops

The shops were usually one-room units (tabernae)

Theatres and Amphitheatres

Roman theatres first appeared in the late Republic.

Nero was emperor of Rome

Large cities and small towns alike also had public

Most of the urban area was occupied by private

Family dwellings then as today were built in a wide

Villa and Palace

Suburban villas, such as those owned by the

The Roman emperor Hadrian

Usually set up beside the major roads leading

Throughout the Roman world, statues and

Chief among these buildings are the triumphal

Constantine the Great

Columns and Altars

Historiated columns were also occasionally erected,

Augustus was born Gaius

Roman portrait sculpture forms one of the great chapters in the

In this marble bust dating from

Roman painters depicted a variety of subjects,

Roman mosaics have been excavated in all

Cameos, Metalwork, and Glass

In ancient Rome the so-called minor arts of

The Portland Vase, made in

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