Ancient Rome: Roman Art History

The Ancient Roman World

Why Study the Romans?  The Romans borrowed many things from the Greeks before them, including the arts.  Many of today’s surviving Greek art pieces are actually Roman copies made by Greek and Roman artists  The Romans also gave us the system of government known as “Republicanism”  They also made many of their own artistic and technological innovations, most notably the arch, which allowed them to create tunnels, domes and aqueducts  The Romans also invented a stronger form of concrete, which allowed them to build larger structures

Why Study Roman Art?  Because ancient Rome has passed on many artistic traditions used for thousands of years AND still used today.  Most notably, churches continue to reflect Roman architectural innovations

Timeline 950 – 650 BC Geometric and Orientalizing Period BC Archaic Period BC Classical Period GREEKSROMANS BC Roman Republic 27 BC - 14 AD Augustan Period 27 BC AD Roman Empire It should be noted that Roman society began to flourish even as the Greeks entered their “Golden Age”

The Roman Republic: Architecture

 Notice the Ionic columns used in this building  The Temple of Portunus ( BC) is an example of architecture from the Roman Republic period  It continued to use the Greek post and lintel system  This building was very similar to the temples being built in the Greek world

The Post and Lintel System  The Post and Lintel system of the Greeks was limited in the weight that it could support and the distance it could span

The Arch  The invention of the arch by the Romans was a major leap forward in architecture  The advantage of the arch was that it could bear more weight above it by transmitting the load around and down to the piers  It could span a greater distance between the piers

Examples of the Roman Arch

The Arch Cont’d  The invention of the arch made it possible for buildings to also feature tunnels and domes  An arch extended forms a barrel vault (or tunnel vault)  Two barrel vaults intersecting at right angles form a groin vault  An arch rotated around a fixed point to form a dome

The Arch Cont’d  The Aqua Appia was the first Roman aqueduct  It was constructed in 312 BC  It was one of the earliest Roman architectural examples to make use of the arch  Buildings featuring the arch really began to flourish during the Roman Empire period (27 BC – 393 AD)

What is an Aqueduct?  Ancient Rome had eleven major aqueducts, built between 312 BC and 226 AD  It has been calculated that when Rome’s population was well over a million, the distribution system was able to provide over one cubic meter of water per day for each inhabitant: more than we are accustomed to use nowadays  Aqueducts were man-made conduits for carrying water  Simply put, aqueducts were used to conduct a water stream across a hollow or valley and provide citizens with water for daily use

Concrete  All this was possible because the Romans invented a more efficient type of concrete  Although invented much before the Romans, the Romans came up with a mixture that was stronger and more durable  With the addition of pozzolan ash from a nearby volcano, the Romans were able to create a concrete that was light weight, dried slower, and could be formed in wet weather  Concrete allowed the Romans to create larger structures and more elaborate buildings  This is why larger buildings, domes, aqueducts and theatres could be built by the Romans