LESSON 3

• Rome as a Republic (509-27BCE)
• Rome's Acquisition of Carthaginian Territory
• Roman Empire
• Roman Art in General


  • Spanned for 1,000 years in three continents – Europe, Asia, and Africa
  • Used broad spectrum of media including marble, painting, mosaic, gems, silver and bronze work, and terracotta
  • Mostly has Greek, Etruscan, and Egyptian influences
• Art in Republican Rome


  • Art was produced in the service of the state, depicting public sacrifices or celebrating victorious military campaigns
  • Portraits depicted the collective goals of the Republic
  • Patrons chose to have themselves represented with balding heads, large noses, and extra wrinkles, demonstrating that they had spent their lives working for the Republic as model citizens, flaunt
• Art in Imperial Rome


  • Aggrandized the ruler and his family
  • Often hearkened back to the Classical art of the past
  • The characteristics of Late Antique art include frontality, stiffness of pose and drapery, deeply drilled lines, less naturalism, squat proportions and lack of individualism. Important figures are often slightly larger or are placed above the rest of the crowd to denote importance
• Minor Art - Jewelry


  • Jewelry equate to richness. Mostly were worn by women but there were also men who wore jewelry
  • Jewelry were mades of precious stones such as opals, emeralds, diamonds, topaz, and pearls
  • Bracelets of bronze, bone and jet are frequently found. Some were made of shale
  • Children and babies also wore bangles
  • Bracelets were often buried with the dead and are therefore found as grave goods
  • Rings were worn by men, women and children. They were made of silver, gold, bronze, iron and jet and sometimes had precious stones and intaglios set in them. Some are plain bands but others have more intricate designs
• Terra sigillata


  Ancient Roman fine wares characterized by red-colored pottery with glossy surface slips
• Terra sigillata flourished in Italy and Gaul (modern-day France) during the Roman Empire
• Pottery


  • Hunting scenes piece found in Kingsmead Quarry (Horton, England), dating to about 120-145 CE
  • Red gloss terra sigillata ware with relief decoration
• Roman Painting


  • Roman interiors were lavishly painted and had stucco. For the 1st century BC and 1st century AD, the largest body of evidence comes from Pompeii and Herculaneum, both destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius
  • Roman wall painters (or perhaps their clients) preferred natural earth colors such as darker shades of reds, yellows, and browns
  • Subjects included portraits, scenes from mythology, architecture, flora, fauna, and even entire gardens, landscapes, and townscapes
• Frescoes


  • Villa of Livia (2nd half of the 1st century BCE)
  • Cubiculum fresco, Villa of the Farnesina
  • Cupid Frieze, House of the Vettii, Pompeii
• Mosaics


  • Mosaics, otherwise known as opus tessellatum, were made with small black, white, and colored squares of marble, tile, glass, pottery, stone, or shells
  • Each individual piece measured between 0.5 and 1.5 cm but fine details, especially in the central panel (emblemata) were often rendered using even smaller pieces as little as 1mm in size
  • Popular subjects included scenes from mythology, gladiator contests, sports, agriculture, hunting, food, flora and fauna, and sometimes they even captured the Romans themselves in detailed and realistic portraits
• Mosaics


  • Mosaic of a Gypsy Girl
  • Alexander Mosaic, House of the Faun, Pompeii
  • The Great Hunt, Villa Romana del Casale
• Roman Sculpture


  • Blended the idealized perfection of earlier Classical Greek sculpture with a greater aspiration for realism and mixed in the styles prevalent in Eastern art
  • They mostly used marble and bronze
  • Sculptures depicted prominent political figures in Rome or wealthy individuals. They were both manifestations of life and death
  • Larger than life sculptures were also carved for gods, emperors, and heroes
• Roman Sculpture


  • The Orator (1st century BCE)
  • Head of a Roman Patrician, 75-50 BCE
  • Augustus of Primaporta, 20 BCE
  • Fonseca Bust, 2nd century CE
  • Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, 175 CE
• Roman Architecture


  • Continued the legacy left by the earlier Greek architects
  • Largely favored marble especially for state-funded projects. Some of the varieties used were Carrara marble came from Italy, Parian marble from Paros, Pentelic from Athens, yellow Numidian marble from North Africa, purple Phyrgian from Turkey, red porphyry from Egypt, and green-veined Carystian marble from Euboea
  • Some notable architects were Apollodorus of Damascus, Hadrian, Severus, Celer, and Vitruvius
  • Roman Composite - mixed the volute of the Ionic order with the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian
  • Roman Tuscan – a form of Doric column but with a smaller capital, more slender shaft without flutes, and a molded base
• Roman Architecture


  • Arch of Septimius Severus (203CE)
  • Pont du Gard (Middle of the 1st Century CE)
  • Maison Carrée (16 BCE)
  • Pantheon (113-125 CE)
• Roman Theatre - Socio-Cultural Context


  • By 146 BCE, Rome had conquered Greece and absorbed its other territories
  • Romans were uninterested in theoretical questions, but they were among the greatest engineers, military tacticians, and administrators
  • Horace's The Art of Poetry served as a manual on writing good plays – five-act plays; teach and please; unity, grace and decorum
• Roman Theatre - Republic vs Empire


  • Republic (509-27 BCE): Discipline, economy, endurance, military precision, loyalty
  • Empire (27 BCE-476 CE): Power from representatives to the emperor
• In the Republic, drama prospered. In the Empire, drama was abandoned.
• Roman Festivals


  • Ludi – official religious festivals
  • Pompa – religious procession
  • Munera – honorary festivals
  • Ludi Romani – oldest of the festivals in honor of Jupiter every September. The festival started in 6th century BCE
  • Various types of performances – 364 BCE; Tragedy and comedy – 240 BCE
• Livius Andronicus


  Birth of Roman literature. He may have come to Rome as a prisoner of war but was later freed. Originally from Tarentum, a Greek territory in Southern Italy. Known for his tragedies more than his comedies.
• Gnaeus Naevius


  The first native playwright. Began writing in 235 BCE. Known for his comedies more than his tragedies. Added Roman allusions into Greek originals and wrote plays on Roman stories.
• Titus Maccius Plautus


  First important successor to Livius Andronicus and Naevius in comedy. 130 plays were attributed to him. The Comedy of Asses, The Merchant, The Braggart Warrior. Admired for his Latin dialogue, varied poetic meters, and witty jokes.
• Tragic Playwrights of the Republic

  • Quintus Ennius, Marcus Ocuvius, Luccius Accius
• Fabula crepidata


  Tragedies based on Greek originals
• Fabula praetexta


  Tragedies based on Roman subjects
• Lucius Annaeus Seneca


  Seneca's works were the only ones to have survived from this period. Famous for his works in philosophy and rhetoric. The Trojan Women, Medea, Oedipus, Phaedra, Thyestes, Hercules on Oeta, The Mad Hercules, The Phoenecian Women, and Agamemnon. Octavia - only surviving fabula praetexta.
• Roman Actors


  • Histriones – actors
  • Cantores – declaimers
  • Male actors; Women performed in mimes
  • The playwright left the production at the hands of managers
  • Some actors belonged in guilds
  • In the 1st century BCE, emphasis shifted to the "star" performer
  • The most popular performers in late Rome were tightrope walkers, trapeze artists, jugglers, sword-swallowers, fire-eaters, and dancers
• Acting Style in Tragedy and Comedy

  • Delivery in tragedy is slow, stately and declamatory; Delivery in comedy was conversational
  • Proficiency in speaking, singing and dancing
  • Movement in tragedy was slow and dignified; movement in comedy was lively
  • Gestures and movement were considered enlarged
  • Actors specialized in one dramatic form
  • Actors in mime did not use masks