Transcript the roman empire

THE ROMAN
EMPIRE
GARDNER CHAPTER 10-3
PP. 254-259
EARLY EMPIRE

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Murder of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE
leads to civil war
Octavian, the nephew and
adopted son of Julius Caesar wins
the civil war by crushing the naval
forces of Mark Antony and Queen
Cleopatra of Egypt
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In 27 BCE the Senate grants
Octavian the title “Augustus”
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Augustus is also granted the titles
PRICEPS(first citizen), CONSUL,
IMPERATOR(commander in chief),
and PONITFEX MAXIMUS (chief priest)
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PAX AUGUSTA
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PAX ROMANA
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Commissioning of public works ->
roads, bridges, theaters,
amphitheater, and public baths
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Erection of imperial portrait statues
and monuments
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The use of art and architecture for
propaganda
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(2-43) AUGUSTUS OF PRIMA PORTA
Imperial Roman
Early 1st century C.E.
Marble
FLASHCARD
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AUGUSTUS AS IMPERATOR
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Portrait of Augustus as general, from Prima
Porta, Italy, early 1st century copy of a bronze
orginal
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Portraits of Augustus depict him in many
different roles in the Roman state
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Idealized portraits of Augustus were modeled on
Classical Greek statues and depict him as a
never aging son of a god
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portrait presents him as general/imperator -> he
wears a cuirass decorated with scenes of the
return of the Roman standards from the
Parthians

Cupid at his feet recalls his divine descent ->
Caesar’s family traces their ancestry back to
Venus and Cupid was her son
LIVIA
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Portrait bust of Livia, early 1st
century CE, marble, 1’1” high
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Wife of Augustus
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Sporting the latest Roman coiffure
w/ hair rolled over forehead and
knotted in back
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Youthful appearance and sharply
defined features derive from
images of Greek goddesses
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Coiffure changes in different
portraits, but she never ages
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(2-Additional) ARA PACIS AUGUSTAE
Early Roman Empire
Rome, Italy
FLASHCARD
13-9 C.E.
 Figural reliefs and acanthus tendrils adorn the
walls
 4 panels depict mythological subjects
 Altar of Augustan Peace,
Rome, 13-9 CE
 Monument celebrates his
greatest achievement ->
est. of peace
 Presents his new order as a
Golden Age equaling
Periclean Athens
ARA PACIS AUGUSTAE
 Female personification/Tellus? (mother earth),
panel from east façade of Ara Pacis
 Seated mother w/two lively babies on her lap
-> she epitomizes the fruits of the Pax Augusta
 Earth in bloom, animals living side by side in
peace, flanked by refreshing breezes -> a
picture of peace and fertility
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Procession of the imperial family, detail of south frieze of Ara Pacis
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Inspired by the Panathenaic procession frieze of the Parthenon -> this depicts
a specific event w/ recognizable figures
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Augustus promoted marriage and child bearing -> art to promote social and
political agendas
THE FORUM OF AUGUSTUS
 His most ambitious project in Rome -> new forum built
next to Julius Caesar’s forum -> white marble from
Carrara in Italy, a new source -> from a city of bricks
to a city of marble
 Portrait statues of the Julian family lined the forum -> it
becomes a kind of public atrium filled w/imagines
NIMES – MAISON CARREE
 Maison Carree, Nimes, France, ca. 1-10 CE
 Exceptionally well preserved Corinthian
pseudoperipteral temple exemplifies the
conservative Neo-Classical Augustan style
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(2-Additional) PONT-DU-GARD
Early Roman Empire
Nimes, France
ca. 16 C.E.
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Pont-du-Gard, Nimes, France, ca. 16 BCE
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Aqueducts built to bring water from
mountain sources to cities
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Illustration of the skill of Rome’s engineers
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Transported water 30 miles using gravity only
-> gradual decline to move the water
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3 story structure -> 82 foot arch span ->
upper level has three arches above each
arch below and carries the water channel
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The structure is both practical and aesthetic
FLASHCARD
PORTA MAGGIORE
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Porta Maggiore, Rome, Italy, ca. 50
CE
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Double gateway that supports the
water channels of two important
aqueducts
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Outstanding example of Roman
RUSTICATED (rough) masonry
popular under Claudius
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Augustan style had been smooth
precisely shaped Greek style blocks
NERO’S
GOLDEN
HOUSE
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Severus and Celer, section and
plan of the octagonal hall of the
Domus Aurea/Golden House of
Nero, Rome, Italy, 64-68 CE
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NERO = stepson and successor of
Emperor Claudius -> huge fire
destroys large sections of Rome ->
city is rebuilt using new concrete
construction
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Nero has constructed an
extravagant country villa in the
heart of the city
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“Good, now I can at last begin to
live like a human being!”