Download Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome
From Republic to Empire
1000 Years of Art
 509 BCE to 330 CE (or later if you through Byzantium
into the mix!)
 Media, Media! Bronze, marble, painting, mosaic, gems,
terracotta are all part of Roman art.
 Rome was as hip then as it is now– a total melting pot.
They embraced many stylistic influences but Greece was
their true love.
Greek Art is to Rome as Chanel
Bags are to Canal Street
 The Roman poet Horace famously said that “Greece, the
captive, took her savage victor captive,” meaning that
Rome (though it conquered Greece) adapted much of
Greece’s cultural and artistic heritage (as well as
importing many of its most famous works).
Doryphoros
Doryphoros (Spear Bearer), Roman
copy after an original by the Greek
sculptor Polykleitos from c. 450-440
B.C.E., marble, 6'6" (Archaeological
Museum, Naples)
Copies are cool in Rome
The copies, however, were more
often variations rather than direct
copies, and they had small changes
made to them. The variations could
be made with humor, taking the
serious and somber element of
Greek art and turning it on its head.
What did Rome look
like?
Let’s take a tour…
Republican Rome

Republican Rome was not led by John Boehner (sorry, AP GOV humor
snuck in there).

A republic is defined as a government where people vote for
representatives who serve in an assembly and speak on behalf of the
constituents.

Not all people in Rome were able to vote. Women and slaves were
disenfranchised.

During the Republican period, the Romans were governed by annually
elected magistrates, the two consuls being the most important among
them, and the Senate, which was the ruling body of the state.
Eventually the system broke down and civil wars ensued between 100
and 42 B.C.E. The wars were finally brought to an end when Octavian
(later called Augustus) defeated Mark Antony in the Battle of Actium
in 31 B.C.E.
Art in Service of the State
 Military victories depicted in public spaces
 Hard work, wisdom, leadership as a soldier or member
of the community were emphasized in portraiture.
 Hyper-realism was used to symbolize the amount of
effort put into communal goals– patrons were depicted
as old, imperfect in terms of features.
Dr. Beth– Take it away…
 Temple of Portunus, (formerly known as, Fortuna Virilis),
travertine, tufa, and stucco, c. 120-80 B.C.E., Rome
 Veristic Portrait, early 1st century B.C.E., marble, life size
(Musei Vaticani, Rome)
 Capitoline Brutus, 4th-3rd century B.C.E., bronze, 69
cm (Capitoline Museums, Rome)