Transcript the roman empire - Point Loma High School

THE
ROMAN
EMPIRE
GARDNER CHAPTER 10-1
PP. 237-244
ANCIENT ROME - BACKGROUND

The Roman Empire -> from Gibraltar to
the Nile to the Tigris and Euphrates to the
Rhine, Danube, Thames and beyond

Multicultural -> Britons, Gauls, Greeks,
Egyptians, Africans, Syrians, Jews, and
Christians

Roman art and architecture -> covers
Europe, Middle East, and Africa

Temples and basilicas, concrete vaults,
amphitheaters, docks, road networks

Law, government, language, coinage,
art to manipulate public opinion,
concrete construction

At the center of it all -> the city of the
Tiber -> Rome -> founded by Romulus
and Remus in 753 BCE
THE CITY OF
ROME
1.
Temple of Portunus
2.
Circus Maximus
3.
Palatine Hill
4.
Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus
5.
Pantheon
6.
Column of Trajan
7.
Forum of Trajan
8.
Markets of Trajan
9.
Forum of Julius Caesar
10.
Forum of Augustus
11.
Forum Romanum
12.
Basilica Nova
13.
Arch of Titus
14.
Temple of Venus and Roma
15.
Arch of Constantine
16.
Colossus of Nero
17.
Colosseum
5
6
9
4
7
8
10
11
1
3
2
15
17
AN OUTLINE OF ROMAN HISTORY

MONARCHY 753-509 BCE -> from
Romulus and Remus to the
overthrow of the Tarquinius Superbus

EARLY EMPIRE 27 BCE – 96 CE ->
begins with rule of Augustus through
his Julio-Claudian successors until the
end of the Flavian dynasty

REPUBLIC 509-27 BCE -> from the
expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus to
Octavian becoming Caesar
Augustus following victory in the civil
war that ended the Republic

HIGH EMPIRE 96-192 CE -> begins
with rule of Nerva and the Spanish
Emperors Trajan and Hadrian
through the Antonine dynasty

LATE EMPIRE 193-337 CE -> from the
Severan dynasty to soldier emperors,
the tetrarchs, and Constantine, the
first Christian emperor
THE REPUBLIC

509 BCE -> Rome becomes a
constitutional Republic -> power
was vested in the SENATE and two
elected CONSULS

In time of crisis a DICTATOR could
be elected for a set time and set
purpose

All leaders came from the
PATRICIANS = wealthy landowners

Later PLEBEIANS = small farmers,
merchants, freed slaves could
hold office
ARCHITECTURE

211 BCE is a turning point for Roman and Roman art -> Marcellus
conquers the Sicilian Greek city of Syracuse -> brings back its art ->
craze begins for all things Greek – sculpture, painting, architecture

Greece becomes a Roman province in 146 BCE

133 BCE the last Attalid king of Pergamon wills his kingdom to Rome
TEMPLE OF
PORTUNUS, ROME

Temple of “Fortununa Virilis”,
Rome, Italy, 75 BCE

Eclecticism -> mixing of Greek and
Etruscan traditions

High podium, and flight of steps
only at front, freestanding columns
only on the deep porch

Columns are not Tuscan but Ionic
with flutes and bases, and a
matching Ionic frieze

Engaged columns on the sides
and back of the cella =
PSUEDOPERIPETAL temple
TEMPLE OF VESTA,
TIVOLI

Roman temple built at Vesta on a
site overlooking a deep gorge in
the early 1st century

Greek inspired -> round or tholos
temple

Travertine Corinthian columns

Frieze is carved with garlands held
up oxen heads

High podium reached by narrow
stairway leading to cella door ->
axial alignment

Cella wall made not of stone
blocks but a new invention ->
concrete
SANCTUARY OF FORTUNA,
PALESTRINA

Late 2nd century

Most impressive use of concrete
during the Republic

Spread out over several terraces
leading up the hillside to a tholos

Use of concrete to construct barrel
vaults of enormous strength to
support the terraces and cover
the ramps leading to central
staircase

Shops aligned on two consecutive
levels -> food and souvenirs
ROMAN CONCRETE
CONSTRUCTION
BARREL VAULT =
semicylindrical
ceiling of parallel
walls -> forms
could be put into
the concrete to
create windows
at any point
GROIN VAULT =
formed by the
intersection at
right angles of
two barrel vaults
of equal size ->
appears lighter
and needs less
buttressing
FENESTRATED
SEQUENC OF
GROIN VAULTS
CONCRETE
HEMISPHERICAL
DOME -> usually
rested on concrete
cylindrical drum ->
sometimes include
an OCCULUS =
circular opening at
the apex

Revolutionized architectural
design

Made of lime mortar,
volcanic sand, water, and
small stones

Builders place mixture in
wooden frames -> left it to
dry -> removed wooden
molds -> created a solid
mass of great strength

Less costly form of
construction
SCULPTURE - VERISM

IMAGINES = portrait busts of
ancestors kept by the aristocratic
patricians in wooden cabinets in
their homes -> paraded/displayed
at funerals of prominent relatives

Subjects of portraits almost always
men of advanced age -> brutally
realistic images with distinctive
features

VERISTIC = superrealistic

Head of an old man/patrician
from Osimo, mid 1st century BCE,
marble, life-size
TIVOLI GENERAL

Portrait of a Roman general from
the Sanctuary of Hercules, Tivoli,
Italy, ca. 75-50 BCE, marble, 6’2”

Idealized Greek style statue of a
hero or athlete but with the head
is a Roman versitic likeness

Eclectic combination is typical of
Republican art
NON-ELITE PORTRAITURE

Funerary relief with portraits of the
Gessii, Rome, Italy, ca. 30 BCE,
marble, 2’1”

Freed slaves could not possess
portrait bust of ancestors because
their ancestors were not people
but property

Roman freedmen often placed
relief sculptures of themselves and
former owners on the facades of
their tombs -> celebrated freedom
and new status as Roman citizens
JULIUS CAESAR

Denarius with portrait of Julius
Caesar, 44 BCE, silver

Julius Caesar was first to put his
own portrait on coinage during his
lifetime

Republican veristic image -> but a
break with Roman coinage
tradition