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The High Empire
TRAJAN’S COLUMN
Celebration of Victory
against the Dacians
Rome, 113 BC
HIGH EMPIRE ROMAN
The High Empire
This larger-than-life guilded bronze equestrian statue was
selected by Pope Paul III as the center piece for
Michelangelo’s new design.
Most ancient bronze statues were melted down for their
metal value during the Middle Ages, but this one happened
to have survived.
Marcus possesses a superhuman grandeur and is much
larger than any normal human would be in relation to his
horse. He stretches out his right arm in a gesture that is
both a greeting and an offer of clemency (an act that
bestows or shows mercy toward another person over
whom somebody has ultimate power)
Some speculate that an enemy once cowered beneath the
horse’s raised right foreleg begging Marcus for mercy.
The statue conveys the awesome power of the godlike
Roman emperor as ruler of the whole world.
Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius
Rome, Italy 175 A.D.
The Late Empire
The emperor Commodus (the son of
Marcus Aurelius) was probably insane. He
claimed at various times to be the
reincarnation of Hercules and Jupiter. He
order the months of the Roman year to be
named after him and changed the name of
Rome to Colonia Commodiana. He was
eventually strangled in his bath.
The reign of Commodus marked the
beginning of a period of economic and
political decline.
Commodus as Hercules, ca. 191-192
AD, LATE EMPIRE ROMAN
The Late Empire
Painted portrait of Septimius Severus and his family
A.D. 200 LATE EMPIRE ROMAN
When civil conflict following Commodus’s
death ended, an African general named
Septimius Severus was master of the Roman
world. The new emperor proclaimed himself
as Marcus Aurelius’s son. For this reason, he
is depicted with long hair and the “trademark”
beard.
The Severan family portrait is special for two
reasons beyond its mere survival. The
emperor’s hair is tinged with gray, suggesting
that his marble portraits also may have
revealed his advancing age in this way.
Also noticed in the portrait, the face of the
emperor’s youngest son, Geta, was erased.
When Caracalla succeeded his father as
emperor, he had his brother murdered and
his memory damned.
The painted tondo, circular format, portrait is
an eloquent testimony to that damnatio
memoriae and to the long arm of Roman
authority.
The concept of damnatio memoriae is also
evident in Ancient Egypt, when Thutmose III
had all rememberances of Hatshepsut
destroyed after her death.
The Late Empire
Typical sculpture of the ruthless emperor
Caracalla
The sculptor suggested the texture of his
short hair and cropped close beard.
Caracalla’s brow is knotted, and he abruptly
turns his head over his left shoulder, as if he
suspects danger from behind.
He was killed by an assassin’s dagger in the
sixth year of his ruling.
Portrait of Caracalla, ca. A.D. 211-217.
LATE EMPIRE ROMAN
The Late Empire
Portraits of the Four tetrarchs
Saint Mark’s, Venice, A.D. 305
LATE EMPIRE ROMAN
In 293 Diocletian established a tetrarchy
with himself as the Eastern ruler (Augustus
of the East) and Maximian as ruler of the
West. Each had a caesar, a vice-ruler, who
was his heir. This political solution and
attempt to retain order in the Roman Empire
failed after Diocletian retired in 305. Carved
in porphyry, a hard purple stone used
primarily for imperial objects, these four
emperors symbolize the equality of their
rule. No individualized features are
represented; they are dressed identically,
even to their swords, and they are of equal
height. Their embraces also indicate their
unity. The staring eyes, squatty forms, and
absract quality are characteristic of much
late Roman sculpture, where symbolism is
more important than realism and
individuality.
The Late Empire
Arch of Constantine
Rome, Italy A.D. 312-315
LATE EMPIRE ROMAN
Constantine’s decisive victory over Maximentius
at the Milvian Bridge resulted with a great triplepassageway arch in the shadow of the
Colosseum to commemorate his defeat of
Maxentius.
The arch was the largest erected in Rome
since the end of the Severan dynasty nearly a
century before. There is great sculptural
decoration, which was taken from earlier
monuments of Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus
Aurelius.
Sculptors re-cut the heads of the earlier
emperors with the features of the new ruler in
honor of Constantine. They also added labels
to the old reliefs that were references to the
downfall of Maxentius and the end of civl war.
The reuse of statues and reliefs by
Constantinian artists has been seen as a
decline in creativity and technical skill in the
waning years of the pagan Roman Empire.
The Late Empire
Reuse of statues and reliefs by
Constantinian artists shows evidence
of decline in creativity and technical
skill of the waning years of the pagan
Roman Empire.
Reused sculptures, however, were
carefully selected to associate
Constantine with the good emperors of
the 2nd century, underscored by reliefs
above the lateral passageways, one of
which depicting Constantine on the
speaker’s platform in the Roman
Forum flanked by statues of Hadrian
and Marcus Aurelius.
Arch of Constantine (Side View)
Rome, Italy, 312-315 A.D.
LATE EMPIRE ROMAN
The Late Empire
Arch of Constantine
Rome, Italy A.D. 312-315
LATE EMPIRE ROMAN
The Late Empire
Portrait of Constantine, from the Basilica Nova
Rome, Italy, 315-330 A.D.
LATE EMPIRE ROMAN
Built after Constantine’s victory over Maxentius, broke with
tetrarchic tradition and the style of soldier emperors and
resuscitated the Augustan image of the eternally youthful
head of state.
8 1/2 foot tall head that was part of a 30 foot tall statue of
the emperor, made of a brick core, a wooden torso laced
with bronze, and head and limbs of marble.
Emperor once held an orb in his left hand that symbolized
global power
Nervous glance of 3rd century portraits is gone, now with
frontal mask and enormous eyes
The size, likening to Jupiter, and eyes directed to no one
combine to produce a formula of overwhelming power
appropriate to Constantine’s position as absolute ruler
Sat in the western apse of the Basilica Nova in Rome,
dominating the interior and similarly looming over
awestruck mortals who entered the cellas of pagan
temples
The Late Empire
The Late Empire