Read this article and look at the 360 degree tour.
THE HIGH EMPIRE
"In the second century A.D., under Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines, the Roman Empire reached its greatest geographical extent and the summit of its power. Rome's might and influence were unchallenged in the Western world, although pressure was constantly being applied by the Germanic peoples in the north, the Berbers in the south, and the Parthaians and resurgent Persians in the east. Within the secure boundaries on the empire, the Pax Romana produced an unprecedented prosperity for all those who came under Roman rule."
- Gardner's Art Through the Ages 10th Edition
TORI- Create a response describing (in your own words) the forum in Rome commissioned by Trajan.
TAYLOR- Create a response describing (in your own words) the Arch of Trajan.
JOHN- Create a response describing (in your own words) the Pantheon.
SAMANTHA- Create a response describing (in your own words) Ostia, Rome's harbor city.
JARED- Create a response describing (in your own words) the Antonines the family of Emperors and their influence on Roman art.
THE LATE EMPIRE
Rome was in decline Pax Romana was coming to an end. Order was becoming one and more difficult to maintain on the frontiers. The Antonine dynasty ended with the assassination of Marcus Aurelius's son Commodus. the economy was declining, and the bureaucracy was disentigrating. The official state religion was being challenged by Eastern cults and Christianity. This pivotal historical era leads the world into the Christian Middle Ages.
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome was a huge bathing complex built by the Severans. This complex was built with imperial funds to win the favor of the public. The baths were huge especially in comparison to others throughout the Roman Empire. The concrete walls were up to 140' tall and were covered by barrel vaults, groin vaults and domical vaults. The complex covered almost 50 acres (that's like 50 football fields!). In these baths were landscaped gardens, lecture halls, libraries, a giant swimming pool, and workout spaces. In one of these workout spaces a 10 1/2' tall copy of the Greek statue of Herakles stood, presumably to inspire Romans to exercise vigorously. It was Roman practice to take a dip in the cold pool, the warm pool and then the hot pool. Water was supplied to the baths by a branch of one of the city's major aqueducts. The central heating was supplied by furnaces taht circulted the hot air through hollow walls and floors. It is estimated that 1,600 (every student at NHS) bathers could be accomodated in the baths of Caracalla.
Baths
The Severan Dynasty ends and is followed with the tumult of soldiers declaring their general as emperor only to have him murdered by another general a few years or just a few months later. In 238 co-emperors chosen by the senate were dragged from the imperial palace and murdered in public after ruling for only 3 months. During this crazy time these emperors did not have time to initiate architectural projects so significant building came to a stop. During this time a wall was built for the capitol a sign of the decay of Roman power.
During the third century as architects were going hungry sculptos and engravers were prospering. They were busy creating great quantities of coins, of lesser metals, so that Roman soldiers could be paid in coins reflecting the current Emperor. Also, portrait statues and busts were set up everywhere to display the power of the new ruler.
Third century A.D. portrait busts are known for their truthful likenesses of their subject matter as well as the emotional content.
In 284 A.D. Diocletian (named Emporer by his troops) decide the way to restore order to Rome was to share the power. He established the tetrarchy (ruled by four). He was Augustus of the East, there was an Augustus of the west and then two Caesars. The two Caesars were married to the daughters of the Augusti, thus sealing their allegiance. They ruled without problem until Diocletian's retirement in 305. When this all fell apart the division of the empire into East and West survived and would last through the Middle Ages setting the papacy of the Latin West (Christian) apart from the Byzantine Empire of the East.
After the tetrarcy the next ruler of Rome (after a period of conflict) Constantine emerged as the sole ruler of Rome. He gave credit for his victory to the God of the Christians and eventually issued the Edict of Milan which ended the persecution of Christians. Constantine , shortly after defeating Licinius who had been his co-ruler, founded "new Rome" on the site of Byzantium and called it Constantinople (the city od Constantine). The transfer of power from Rome to Constantinople and the establishment of Christianity as the official religion marks the begionning of the Middle Ages.
Constantine This portrait bust is 8' 6" tall!
For FUN! NOT required- just silly.
Check out this site and several short blurbs on Later Roman Empire ArchitectureLate Roman Architecture
Ancient Rome was a colorful place. Often our current impression is informed by what we see in history books but the reality of the time would have been many buildings most portrait busts, an statues would have been painted bright colors.
The Forum of Rome:
ReplyDeleteTrajan's forum, built in Rome, was built to glorify his victories in the two wars with the Dacians and the funds to build it came from the money from the wars as well. It was about twice the size of the Forum of Augustus and was modeled after it except instead of a temple, the square had a large basilica. The temple, which was a dedication to Trajan,was in a courtyard near the end of the forum with two libraries and a commemorative column. The architect on the project was the well know architect, Apollodorus of Damascus.
The entrance to the forum consisted of an elaborate archway and a statue of Trajan. As the visitors continued inside, the reminders of Trajan's military success continued to a huge bronze equestrian statue of the emperor in front of the basilica.
Ostia, Rome’s harbor City-
ReplyDeleteOstia was a Portus of the Tiber River, meaning a river sea side city that harbored the trafficking of goods. Ostia’s name originated from the Latin word Ostium, meaning the mouth of the sea. Ostia was the main and first port of centralized goods for Rome. Any goods that came from the Tyrrhenian Sea passed Ostia as a check point to Rome; goods included grain, whine, salt, and other items beneficial to Rome and the city. With trafficking of goods from merchants and general travelers, the city was fashioned with warehouses, shops with apartments on top, and many public gathers such as the baths. The harbor city was originally a Castrine, which is a military camp of Rome by Trajan. Based off the Castrine, the camp developed rapidly, along with its population, to a city harbor. The city of Ostia housed around a million people that were of different culture. Ostia was basically the most original and cultured city. It’s amazing to know that this was the core example of the Roman Empire structure. Such as, the configurations of the groin vaults and public gatherings of the baths, like the Baths of Neptune. It is very lucky, of these well preserved structures, that the ash from the eruption of Vesuvius kept this beautiful river city intact.
Love the loony toons video.
ReplyDeleteThe Antonines the family of Emperors and their influence on Roman art-
The family of Antonines were comprised of 7 people Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, and Commodus. This family ruled over Rome from 96 to 192. During Marcus Aurelius reign there was a lot of war with Germanic tribes and the Upper Danube frontier. These wars were later known as the Marcomannic War. These wars lead to a feeling of victory among a lot of artists in this times artwork. Architecture in this time had a lot of columns and triumphal arches which supposedly celebrated military achievement.
The Pantheon-
ReplyDeleteThe pantheon was a temple. The word Pantheon meaning "for all gods". The building was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa. It was rebuilt by Emporer Hadrian in 126 AD. The term "pantheon" is now generically used as a title for a building honoring the dead.
The building is circular surrounded with Corinthian columns around it. And still today has the worlds largest unreinforced dome over it.
Even Christian additions have been made to it. Around 1700 Pope Clement XI added high alters to figures such as Raphael.