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Augustus and the Empire
For most of its history, Rome was a well-ordered Republic, its leaders were elected by
a Senate, they served and then they stepped down, and handed over their power to a
successor. But in the mid-first century b.c., Julius Caesar threatened that tradition.
Julius had been undefeated in four military campaigns and he enjoyed four Triumphsʼ (turns around
the Sacred Way dressed as Jupiter, accompanied by Victory, parading his loot and his prisoners
for all of Rome to see). A cult of personality grew around him, and he was celebrated everywhere.
After that, simply being Caesar didnʼt seem to be enough: so he asked the Senate to name him
“Dictator for Life” and allow him absolute power.
Senators who feared for the future of the Republic assassinated him in March of 44 b.c., and the
resulting power struggle lasted for 13 years, until Juliusʼ designated heir, Octavian prevailed.
Octavian had been sent to Egypt to conquer Antony and Cleopatra, who wanted to
rule the Empire. He defeated them at the battle of Actium in 31 b.c. When he returned, the
Roman Senate named him Caesar Augustus, meaning, “noble, honored, consecrated
one”and “Emperor for Life” without him even asking.
Look up and write down the definition of
irony. Does it apply here? Explain.
Peace was restored, Augustusʼ 45
year reign would bring about Romeʼs
equivalent of Athensʼ Golden Age. The
Pax Romana, or roman peace, would endure
until the second century .
The Augustan Age
In 9 b.c, 20 years into his reign, the
Senate built a an outdoor altar on the
banks of the Tiber and dedicated it to the
Emperor in honor of his accomplishment:
it was an Altar of Peace or Ara Pacis (aerah pachees)
The Ara Pacis was built as an outdoor shrine for animal sacrifices, or where burnt offerings could be
made to the gods.It is an enclosed altar, with four sides, but no ceiling. It is approached by steps
that lead upward to a high porch. The exterior walls are heavily carved in relief with mythological
scenes and portraits of the Emperor.
Everything about this work was intended to glorify Augustus and his accomplishments. One side of
the altar is taken up by a relief panel that depicts his familyʼs procession to the shrine on the day
of its dedication. Each figure in the procession is an individual portrait. No doubt Augustus was
pleased and honored to see his children and grandchildren immortalized in such a way.
Look at this
procession. Put
an example of
the Parthenon
frieze beside it
and compare
them. In what
ways does the
Roman procession
resemble the
Greek one? In
what ways is it
distinctly different
from the Greek?
What do theses
things reveal about
the Romans?
This panel from the East End of the Ara Pacis is a testament to Augustusʼ success. A
mythological figure, usually interpreted as Tellus the earth mother goddess is seated with
two infants on her lap. This
implies that Rome is doubly
rich. One infant offers her a
pomegranate from the tree
behind them, as a symbol
of the fruits of peace. Fat
happy livestock sit at her feat.
She is surrounded by growing
things.
This scene seems to say
that the peace bestowed
by Augustus had restored
richness and good fortune to
the Roman world. Who are
the two figures flanking Tellus
and what part do they play?
Due to his long reign and his semi-divine status, portraits of
Augustus are plentiful. The best-known portrait sculpture
of him is the one found at Primaporta. The original bronze was
done in 20 B.C.. and this marble copy may have been made
posthumously, as a cult statue after he was deified.
His armor is embellished with scenes from his victory over the Parthians. In the center, the
Parthian King surrenders his battle standard to his new sovereign, while victory in a chariot
swoops by with other Gods and Goddesses to crown Augustus
victorious. Whether he was 35 or 65, Augustus never aged in his
portraits as Emperor.
Imperial Roman architecture and engineering
As the Roman Empire expanded under the peace of Augustus, the Greco-Roman style expanded
with it. In art, the Greco (Greek) predominated, in architecture Greek forms were applied with
Roman engineering ingenuity.
From the city of Rome to their provincial capitals, the Romans built roads and bridges so the
army could march effectively. All across the provinces they built Roman cities with temples, and
civic buildings and amphitheaters, and all the other comforts of home, including water.
Roman engineering skills had been making it possible to divert water from the countryside
into the cities through aqueducts since the 4th century B.C. Many of the aqueducts built to carry
water into Rome are still functioning today; keeping Romeʼs public fountains splashing.
Originally the fountains were an important water source for the community; today they create
a charming atmosphere in the ancient city.
The Roman aqueduct was built so
that only gravity was necessary
to ensure a steady flow of water.
This required a “continuous
gradual decline” from its high
source in the mountains, to its low
point of delivery in the city.
Besides carrying water, the Pontdu-Gard is a bridge for traffic
across the Gard River just outside
the city of Nimes in southern
France. (“Pont” is French for
bridge.)
Nimes was a major provincial city and capital of that part of the Empire, so it is not surprising that
there are significant Roman structures still there. The Maison Carre is similar to the Temple of
Portunus in Rome, because they both exemplify
the Roman adaptation of the Greek temple style.
This structure (ʻmaison carreʼ means old house in
French)was built in the Corinthian style and is
larger in size.
The Romans expected their subjects to follow
Roman law, but beyond that, they had no special
interest in assimilating the locals into the Roman
way of life, in fact they sometimes embraced
whatever local customs appealed to them.
In contrast to the Greeks, no one set of
characteristics dominates Roman style, instead many stylistic touches come in and out of play
according to the demands of a particular situation: eclecticism.
The Empire at its height
Through the first and second centuries ad.
the Empire grew to its greatest size and
power. Some of the great monuments that are
synonymous with Rome were built during this
time: the Colosseum, Trajanʼs Column, and the
Pantheon.
This was an era of strong Emperors, whose
powers were expressed in larger- than-life-size
portrait sculptures and monumental building
projects.
In the year 81, the Emperor Domitian decided to honor his late
brother the former Emperor Titus. Domitian built a triumphal
arch dedicated to Titus in the Roman forum below the
Capitoline hill.
The Roman forum and the arch of Titus
This Roman Forum had been the symbolic center of the
city since Republican times. It was the site of many sacred
buildings like the temples of Castor and Pollux, and the temple
of Vesta who was the Roman goddess of the hearth,( where
her devotees, the Vestal virgins, kept an eternal flame burning).
The Via Sacra, (Sacred Way) was the road that entered at
the far end and made a loop through the forum to the foot of
the Capitoline hill, then led back out again.
Upon their return from successful
military campaigns, the Emperors of
Rome were given a “Triumph”.
They were dressed like the god Jupiter
and were driven in a four-horse chariot
along the via sacra, past the shrines and
through the triumphal arches to the foot
of the Capitoline Hill to make offerings of
thanks to the Gods for their victory. How
many Triumphs did Julius Caesar have?
They would be followed on foot by their soldiers; their
captives who were now slaves, and their other spoils
of war. Legend has it that fear of being displayed in
Octavianʼs Victory procession prompted Cleopatra to
suicide.
Titusʼ Arch was built to span the Via Sacra, and all
Triumphal Emperors after him would pass through it.
It has the traditional design of the early commemorative
arch: its form is a rectangular block, with columns
framing a central barrel vault.
Above the arch is an inscription testifying to his great
deeds. Here Titus is proclaimed a god, a customary
posthumous honor for Roman Emperors.
On both sides of the
barrel vault there are
life-size reliefs of Titusʼ
military victories. On
the side you see here is
a record of one of Titusʼs
Triumphs.
In this panel, Titus is being driven in the four-horse chariot,
behind him is a figure of victory who holds a laurel wreath over his
head. He has been defaced, probably by the Romans in the early
Christian period who tried to eradicate Romeʼs pagan past.
In the Jewish Wars of 70 ad. Roman troops under Titus
had destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off its
treasures to Rome. This panel shows the procession of Hebrew
captives walking in front of the Templeʼs treasures, while the
menorah is prominently displayed as a symbol of his conquest.
Trajanʼs Forum and
Column of Trajan
Before long, living
emperors stopped waiting
to be celebrated. and
began ordering their own commemorative monuments. Trajan reminded Rome of his victory
over the Dacians, (an ethnic tribe of Northern Europe) by commissioning his own public
monument.
He intended it to be the centerpiece of a new forum he was building across the road from the old
one. Trajanʼs new forum became necessary because the old Roman Republican forum at the foot
of the Capitoline was too crowded for new building projects.
His column was decorated with
a spiraling band of relief
sculpture winding its way up
the round column like a ribbon
, and illustrating every aspect of
Trajanʼs military campaign.
Rome, and return home victorious.
Close to the bottom soldiers
prepare to travel, then they march
out, farther up they build bridges
over rivers, they overrun cities and
convert the barbarians to Roman
law and order, eventually at the
top, they eliminate any threat to
Though the Romans win the war, they portray their Dacian enemies as
worthy adversaries much as the Greeks had portrayed the Gauls.
Very little remains of Trajanʼs forum,
today but this is how it originally
looked. In front of the column
was the Basilica Ulpia. All that
remains of the Basilica Ulpia are its
columns and a trace of its floor plan.
Trajanʼs remains were originally
entombed in the vaulted room at
the columnʼs base, but disappeared
some centuries ago. His statue
which originally stood at the top was
removed and replace with an image
of St. Paul)
Trajan was succeeded as Emperor
by his chosen heir: Hadrian.
Hadrian and the Pantheon
Hadrian, like Trajan before him, was not ethnically Italian, but was from the
Roman province of Spain. He became Emperor at age 41 and ruled for 20
more years. His portraits show a mature man who never grows any older.
He wore a crown of curls and a beard, which might be called a Hellenistic
affectation. We know that Hadrian was a lover of the arts, an aesthete
(lover of beauty) and an Emperor with knowledge of architecture.
Shortly after he became Emperor, Hadrian commissioned a new temple dedicated to all the
Roman gods and work on the Pantheon began in 118 ad.
Since the second century B.C.. The Romans had known and used an earth material called
pozzolana as natural cement. When pozzolana was mixed with gravel it became much like the
concrete we know today. Concrete, which could be poured into forms and was lighter than stone,
made the building of the Pantheon possible.
The Pantheon was designed to be a cylinder supporting a
dome.
Outside, entrance
to the Pantheon
is made through
a Greek temple
porch with
Corinthian
columns.
The dome of
the Pantheon
is supported
by a series of
intersecting arches much like the spokes of an umbrella. In order to support the domeʼs weight,
the lower walls must be very thick and the dome itself rather thin. Where the dome leaves the
drum, the walls are 20ʼ thick, at the oculus they are 6ʼ.
In contrast to the Greeks whose
architecture was focused on the exterior,
the Romans created buildings that
emphasized great interiors. The
interior space of the Pantheon is
conceived as a perfect sphere. The
curve of the dome and the drum that
supports it enclose a round ball of
space, 144ʼ in diameter.
Its dome is coffered with indented
decorative squares that recede visually
in an upward direction to the oculus at the center.
This oculus is a 30 foot wide opening, an eye to the heavens
that admits sun or rain depending on the weather. The Romans
built drains into the beautifully inlaid marble floor to prevent
standing water.
Since its completion, the Pantheon has been considered
one of the worldʼs greatest
works of architecture. It successfully combines Greek and
Roman forms into a new synthesis of styles. Its influence is seen in every dome on a state capital
or church, and in every temple-style façade of a bank building or mini-mansion.
The mood of the Pantheonʼs interior varies, it can be bright or dim, dry or wet, but it possesses
a mystical calm and inspires a sense of awe due to its monumental scale and geometric
perfection.
The Egyptians knew the round arch, but the Romans realized and developed its potential.
As early as late Etruscan times, arches were combined with Greek Classical elements.
When the barbarians sacked Rome off and on over the centuries, they left the Pantheon relatively
undisturbed. Perhaps even they could not be indifferent to its beauty.
Centuries later, at Hadrianʼs Villa, built in the countryside at Tivoli, arches were set atop Greek
Corinthian columns in a semi-circular line to enclose one end of a pool.
Perhaps the most impressive use of the Roman arch
that can be seen today is in the Colosseum in Rome.
Officially named the Flavian amphitheater after the ruling
family, who sponsored its construction, it was more
popularly named for a colossal statue that once stood
nearby in the heart of Romeʼs entertainment district.
The Colosseum, universal symbol of Rome and
its Empire was a public arena for spectacle and
entertainment.
It was so successful it is still a prototype for
sports arenas to this day. It had a capacity
for 50,000 spectators who entered and
exited from the 76 arches around its base.
It is not circular,
but oval, as
if two Greek
theatres had
been pushed
together.
,
A wooden floor
which has
long since disintegrated, originally hid a network of subterranean
chambers. In these lower tunnels athletes and animals and machinery
could be housed until needed. These chambers are now visible within
the innermost circle of the Colosseumʼs lower level.
The floor could also be flooded to stage mock sea-battles
with real ships and men at the oars. This spectacle was part of
the amphitheaterʼs opening in 80 ad.
On the outside, three levels of arches are flanked by columns
to give the amphitheater a distinctly classical exterior. Each level
of columns represents a different Greek order. The bottom
are Doric, the middle Ionic, and the top Corinthian.
Ironically, these columns do not support the structure. They
are engaged into the wall and are purely decorative.
Made of a core of concrete
and faced with marble, the
Colosseum has been ruined by
earthquake, neglect, and for
centuries has been exploited
as a quarry for stone to supply
the building of other Roman
structures.
Only a small section has been
restored for tourists and the rest
remains in ruins.
Next: The Late Empire