1. Augustus Primaporta, Pax Romana (Roman
CHAPTER 7
The Roman World
Augustus Primaporta, Pax Romana (Roman
The Roman World

4. ROMAN ART - AP Art History

5. Establishment of Rome Legend of Romulus and Remus Rome Founded 753 BCE
Indo-European migrants c BCE
Bronze c BCE, Iron c. 900 BCE

6. The Etruscans Originally from Anatolia Colonized Roman regions
Society declines late 6th c. BCE
Greek maritime attacks
Celtic invasions from north

7. The Kingdom of Rome Monarchy through 7th-6th c. BCE
Streets, temples, public buildings
Major center of trade routes

8. Establishment of the Republic
509 BCE Romans overthrow last Etruscan king
Roman forum built
Republican constitution
Executive: 2 consuls
senate

9. Social Conflict Patricians (aristocrats) Plebeians (commoners)
Major class conflict 5th c. BCE
Plebeians allowed to elect tribunes for representation
Rights expanded through 3rd c. BCE
Yet 6-month appointments of dictators

10. controlled government
SECTION 1
Founding the Roman Republic
controlled government
inherited power
farmers / workers
barred from office
Patricians
Plebeians
majority
barred from office
landowners
nobles

11. Expansion of the Republic
Dominated Etruscans
Took over iron industry 5th-4th c. BCE
Expansion via military threat and incentives
Tax exemptions
Trade privileges
Citizenship

12. The Punic Wars Conflict with Carthage, 264-164 BCE
Three major wars over Sicilian grain supply
Later conflict with declining Hellenistic Empires
Rome dominates Mediterranean by middle of 2nd C. BCE

13. Imperial Expansion and Domestic Problems
Land distribution
Perennial problem
Development of large latifundia
Unfair competition for smaller landholders

14. The Roman Empire to 146 BCE

15. The Gracchi Brothers Tiberius and Gaius
Attempted to limit land holdings of aristocrats
Assassinated
Development of private armies made up of landless peasants
Gaius Marius (with reformers)
Lucius Cornelius Sulla (with aristocrats)

16. The Birth of the Roman Empire
SECTION 3
The Birth of the Roman Empire
Gracchus brothers introduce reforms
angry senators kill both Gracchus brothers
violence = primary tool of Roman politics
leaders recruit personal armies
Sulla marches on Rome; civil war
Sulla establishes dictatorship

17. Civil War 87 BCE Gaius Marius takes Rome
Lucius Cornelius Sulla drives Marius out 83 BCE
Reign of terror follows

18. Civil War
The two most important generals were Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Marius sided with social reformers who favored redistribution of land
Sulla sided with the conservative and aristocratic classes
Marius
Sulla

19. Julius Caesar Nephew of Marius Escapes Sulla’s terror
Relatively young, well-timed trip abroad
Rises to popularity
Public spectacles, victories in Gaul
Attacks Rome 49 BCE
Names self Dictator for life in 46 BCE

20. Caesar’s Policies
Centralized military, governance under personal control
Redistribution of land to war veterans, other allies
Major building projects reduce urban unemploymnent
Extended citizenship to provinces
Aristocrats threatened, assassinate Caesar in 44 BCE

21. Augustus Civil conflict follows death of Caesar
Nephew Octavian fights Mark Antony & Cleopatra
Takes title Augustus 27 BCE

22. Augustus’ Administration
Monarchy disguised as a republic
Increasing centralization of political, military power
Stablilized empire
Death in 14 CE

23. Rome Expands Its Borders
Punic Wars
Causes
Results
First Punic War
Carthage was afraid Rome would take Sicily; Rome was afraid Carthage would close the Adriatic Sea and the Strait of Messina.
Carthage asked for peace; had to pay indemnity and give up control of Sicily.
Second Punic War
Hannibal invaded Italy.
Carthage asked for peace; paid an indemnity and lost the Spanish colonies.
Third Punic War
Some Romans passionately hated Carthage; Rome declared war.
Carthage was destroyed.

24. Expansion and Integration of Empire
Roman occupation of increasingly remote areas
Gaul, Germany, Britain, Spain
Coordination of crop production, transport of natural resources
Developed infrastructure, cities emerge

25. The Roman Empire, c. 117 CE

26. Pax Romana: “Roman Peace”
Facilitated trade, communication
Roadwork
Curbs, drainage, milestones
Postal service

27. Roman Law Twelve Tables, c. 450 BCE
Adapted to diverse populations under Roman Rule
Innocent until proven guilty
Right to challenge accusers in court

28. Commercial Agriculture and Trade
Latifundia: production for export
Regional specialization increases
Integration of Empire-wide economy
Mediterranean Sea: Mare Nostrum, “our sea”

29. The City of Rome Cash flow Massive construction projects
Taxes, tribute, spoils, commerce
Massive construction projects
Statuary, monumental architecture, aqueducts
Technology: concrete

30. Temple of Athena Nike Classical Greek
Temple of Portunus
Rome, Italy - ca. 75 BC

31. PARTHENON Greek
PANTHEON Rome

32. The travertine columns are Corinthian
Republic Rome
Temple of “the Sibyl” or of “Vesta”
Tivoli, Italy - early first century BC
The Romans’ admiration for the Greek temples they encountered in their conquests also led to the importation of the round, or tholos, temple type.
The travertine columns are Corinthian
In contrast with Greek practice, the cell wall was constructed not of masonry blocks but of a new invention: concrete.

33. The Roman Architectural Revolution

34. Roman Attractions Imported goods Underground sewage Circus Maximus
250,000 spectators
Colosseum
Gladitorial Games

35. Family and Society Pater Familias: “father of the family”
Right to arrange marriages, sell children into slavery
Women not allowed to inherit property
Rarely enforced

36. Roman Society and Culture
stationed along frontiers
soldiers made citizens
kept peace
Roman Army
revised Twelve Tables
provincial official
Strong Empire
encouraged widespread trade
Government and Law
Trade and Transportation
strong emperor
farm goods and luxury goods
enforced law
roads and bridges
kept order

38. Pompeii & the Cities of Vesuvius
Brawl in the Pompeii amphitheater
Pompeii, Italy, ca. A.D
This painting that is found on the wall of a Pompeian house depicts an incident that occurred in the amphitheater in A.D. 59. A brawl broke out between the Pompeians and their neighbors, the Nucerians, during a contest between the two towns.
The fight left many wounded and led to a 10 year prohibition against such events.
The painting shows the cloth awning (velarium) that could be rolled down from the top of the cavea to shield spectators from either sun or rain. It also has the distinctive external double staircases that enabled large numbers of people to enter and exit the cavea in an orderly fashion.

39. Pompeii & the Cities of Vesuvius
Atrium of the House of the Vettii
Pompeii, Italy, second century B.C., rebuilt A.D
Pompeii & the Cities of Vesuvius
One of the best preserved houses at Pompeii, partially rebuilt and an obligatory stop on every tourist’s itinerary today, is the House of the Vettii, an old Pompeian house remodeled and repainted after the earthquake of A.D. 62
The photograph was taken in the fauces. It shows the impluvium in the center of the atrium, the opening in the roof above, and in the background, the peristyle garden with its marble tables and mural paintings.
The house was owned by two brothers, Aulus Vettius Restitutus and Aulus Vettius Conviva, probably freedmen who had made their fortune as merchants. Their wealth enabled them to purchase and furnished houses that would have been owned only by patricians.

40. Pompeii & the Cities of Vesuvius
Dionysiac mystery frieze
Pompeii, Italy, ca B.C.

41. Pompeii & the Cities of Vesuvius
Dionysiac mystery frieze
Pompeii, Italy, ca B.C.
Especially striking is how some of the figures interact across the corners of the room. Nothing comparable to this existed in Hellenistic Greece. Despite the presence of Dionysos, satyrs, and other figures from Greek mythology, this is a Roman design.

42. Early Empire Boscoreale, Italy, decorated ca. 50-40 B.C.
General view of wall paintings from Cubiculum M of the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor
Boscoreale, Italy, decorated ca B.C.
Early Empire
In the early Second Style Dionysiac mystery frieze, the spatial illusionism is confined to the painted platform that projects into the room. This cubiculum is a prime example of mature Second Style designs in which painters created a 3-D setting that also extends beyond the wall.
All around the room the painter opened up the walls with vistas of Italian towns and sacred sanctuaries. Painted doors and gates invite the viewer to walk through the wall into the created world. Their attempt at perspective was intuitive and it not conform to the “rules” of linear perspective that would later be discovered by the Renaissance masters.
Although this painter was inconsistent in applying it, he demonstrated a interest in, but lacking knowledge of linear [single vanishing-point] perspective. It was most successfully employed in the far corners, where a low gate leads to a peristyle framing a tholos temple [see detail on next slide].
Intuitive perspective was a favored tool of Second Style painters seeking to transform the usually windowless walls of Roman houses into “picture-window” vistas that expanded the apparent space of the rooms.

43. Early Empire Boscoreale, Italy, ca. 50-40 B.C.
Detail of tholos from Cubiculum M of the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor
Boscoreale, Italy, ca B.C.
Early Empire
Illusionism:
The Second Style is, in most respects, the antithesis of the First Style. Some scholars have argued that the Second Style also has precedents in Greece, but most believe it is a Roman invention.
The Second Style evolved in Italy around 80 B.C. and was popular until around 15 B.C., when the Third Style was introduced.
Second Style painters aimed not to create the illusion of an elegant marble wall, as First Style painters sought to do. Rather, they wanted to dissolve a room’s confining walls and replace them with the illusion of an imaginary three-dimensional world, which they did only pictorially.
The First Style’s modeled stucco panels gave way to the Second Style’s flat wall surfaces.

44. Republican Era /Early Empire
Gardenscape - Villa of Livia
Primaporta, Italy
ca B.C.
Republican Era /Early Empire
Second Style picture-window wall
Second Style painters favored linear perspective seeking to transform usually windowless walls of Roman houses into “picture-windows” vistas that expanded the apparent space of the rooms.
Recession is suggested by atmospheric perspective, which creates the illusion of distance by the greater reduction of color intensity, the shift of color toward an almost neutral blue, and the blurring of contours as the intended distance between eye and object increases.
- The flimsy fence is the only architectural element
- The wall seems to frame the landscape
- The fence, trees, and birds in the foreground are precisely painted, while the details of the dense foliage in the background are indistinct.

45. 4th style wall painting in room 78 of the Domus Aurea (“golden house”) of Nero 64-48 A.D.
4th style, Rome, Italy
In the Fourth Style the obsession with illusions returned once again.
This style became popular around the time of the Pompein earthquake
In the Golden House of Nero, where this mural is located, all the walls are a creamy white with landscapes and other motifs painted directly on the white walls.
The paintings that are on the walls are “irrational fantasies” They depict fragments of buildings, columns supporting half pediments, double story columns supporting nothing at all.
Architecture became just another motif in the artist’s design.

46. Herculanium, Italy Neptune and Amphitrite wall mosaic 62-79 A.D.
The house of Neptune and Amphitrite takes its name from this mosaic. Shown here are Neptune, sea god, and his wife Amphitrite set into an elaborate niche.
They preside over the running water of the fountain in the courtyard in front of them.
Mosaics were usually confined to floors in the ancient world. In the Roman times, however, mosaics were used to decorate walls and even ceilings. This foreshadowed the extensive use of mosics in the Middle Ages.
The subject chosen for Roman mosaics were diverse although mythological themes were immensily popular.

47. Pompeii and the Cities of Vesuvius
Portrait of a husband and wife; Pompeii,Italy AD 70-79
Pompeii and the Cities of Vesuvius
Originally formed part of a Fourth Style wall of an exedra, recessed area on the opening of the atrium of a Pompeian house.
Standard attributes of Roman marriage portraits are displayed here with the man holding a scroll and the woman holding a stylus and a wax writing tablet. These portraits suggested high education even if it wasn’t true of the subjects.
The heads are individualized to the subject’s features, not simply standard types.
This is the equivalent of modern wedding photographs.

48. Pompeii and the Cities of Vesuvius
Still life with peaches, detail from a wall painting; Heraculaneum, Italy; AD 62-79
Roman painters’ interest in the likeness of individual people was matched by their concern for recording the appearance of everyday objects.
This still life demonstrates that Roman painters sought to create illusionistic effects while depicting small objects. Here they used light and shade with attention to shadows and highlights.
The illusion created here is the furthest advance by ancient painters in representational technique. It appears that this artist understood that the look of things is a function of light. Also, the goal was to paint light as one would strive to paint the touchable object that reflects and absorbs it.
This illusion of light marks the furthest advance by ancient painters in representational technique; it would not be seen again until the Dutch in the 1700’s.
Still Life, Dutch
ca. 1700

49. The Roman House

51. Wealth and Social Change
Newly rich challenge aristocracy
Yet poor class increasing in size
Distraction: “Bread and Circuses”

52. Slavery 2nd c. CE: estimated at 1/3 of Empire population
Customary manumission at age 30
Agricultural work, quarries, mines
Chain labor
Revolt under Spartacus, 73 BCE

53. Roman Deities Polytheistic Major gods Tutelary deities
Absorption of gods from other cultures

54. Cicero and Stoicism Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-46 BCE)
Major orator, writer
Influenced by Greek thought
Proponent of Stoicism

55. Spread of Christianity Acceptance and Organization
SECTION 5
The Rise of Christianity
Jesus
Spread of Christianity
Acceptance and Organization
personally taught in Judaea
gained followers
crucified
believed risen from dead
disciples deliver message
spreads slowly through empire
outlawed by Romans
Christians persecuted
accepted by Romans, Constantine
made official religion
priests, bishops, patriarchs, pope
church councils set down beliefs

56. Early Christian Communities
Local leaders: Bishops
Regional variation in doctrine and ritual
Nature of resurrection
Role of women
Gradual acceptance of core texts

57. Growth of Early Christianity
Roman persecution
Yet dramatic expansion of Christianity
Especially with dispossessed, disenfranchised classes
Urban poor
women

58. In old Greece as well as in ancient Rome, the most famous recipe was the “puls“ , a kind of spelt flat bread boiled and added with some milk or vegetables. The wheat was a cereal dating back to the Imperial epoch; common people would eat spelt, a kind of wheat richer in fibre and less useful to the bakery 58

59. Besides the “puls”, quite popular were the “lagane“ , a sort of “lasagna“, made with flour and water. The dough was able to be added with eggs or cheese, in this way it held out better to the boiling. 59

60. The Roman people liked fish very much, above all the anchovies
The Roman people liked fish very much, above all the anchovies . The most famous Roman sauce, the “garum“, was made with anchovy meat. The Romans were very skilled at fish breeding. They built fish-tanks by the sea-shore and exploited the fish ability of going up again into the basin. 60

61. Lard was the dressing fat used by the hard workers, however, for all other uses they preferred olive oil. 61

62. Meat was less popular; they preferred the pig meat, either stewed or boiled; pigs grew wildly in the mountain oak woods. Sausages coming from South Italy are already mentioned in one of Orazio’s poems. 62

63. The first Roman picture of a wine’s barrel : found in Spain63

64. Decline of the Roman Empire
SECTION 6
The Fall of the Western Empire
Decline of the Roman Empire
Political/Military
Economic
Social
• inadequate government for size of empire
• expense of defending and maintaining empire
• too many poor
• loss of patriotism, interest in government, and political honesty
• competition for power
• heavy taxes
• loss of income
• army interference made government unstable
• decline of manufacturing and agriculture
• dependence on German troops

65. Etruscan Supremacy: 700-509 BCE
Provided link between Greek and Roman Art KEYWORDS: TERRA-COTTA, COMPOSITE ORDER
Roman Republican Period: BCE
Begins with overthrowing last Etruscan King and ends with Julius Caesar… Major buildings built more for POLITCAL use than for WORSHIP KEYWORDS: TEMPLES, ARA PACIS, HOMAGE TO RULERS
Early Empire Period: 27 BCE-180 CE
KEYWORDS: WALL PAINTINGS, CONCRETE, ARCH, COLOSSEUM
The High Empire: CE
Five Good Emperors (Trajan, Hadrian, etc.) kept things prosperous and peaceful. KEYWORDS: COLUMN OF TRAJAN, HADRIAN’S WALL, PANTHEON
The Late Empire: CE Diocletian had Empire divided into four parts. KEYWORDS: TETRARCHY, ARCH OF CONSTANTINE

66. Augustus
Rome's first emperor. He also added many territories to the empire.
Claudius
He conquered Britain.
Nero
He was insane. He murdered his mother and his wife and threw thousands of Christians to the lions.
Titus
Before he was emperor he destroyed the great Jewish temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.
Trajan
He was a great conqueror. Under his rule the empire reached its greatest extent.
Hadrian
He built 'Hadrian's Wall' in the north of Britain to shield the province from the northern barbarians.
Diocletian
He split the empire into two pieces - a western and an eastern empire.
Constantine
He was the first Christian emperor. He united the empire again chose his capital to be the small town Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople.
Romulus Augustus
He was the last emperor of Rome, nicknamed Augustulus which means 'little Augustus'.
Justinian
He was the last 'great' emperor. He conquered many territories, created the 'Justinian Code' and built the fantastic church Santa Sophia.
Constantine XI
The last emperor of Constantinople. He died defending his great city against the Turks.