Roman Art: From Republic to Empire

Reading:Stokstad, 168-177

Range:510 BCE-14 CERepublic and Imperial

Terms/Concepts:Latium, republic, senate, verism, patrician, plebian, oligarchy, triumvirate, Augustus, princeps, ara, suovetauralia,

Key Monuments: Portrait of Patrician (“Brutus”)

Roman Republican, c. 1st century BCE

Portrait of Aulus Metellus (“the Orator”), Roman Republican, early 1st century BCE

The Augustus Primaporta, Roman Imperial, 1st century CE

Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace). 13-9 BCE.

Patrician Carrying Two Portrait Heads, Roman Republican, c. 1st century CE

When Are We?

Etruscans: c. 800-300 BCERoman Republic: 509 BCE – 27 BCEAugustus: 27 BCE—14 CEJulio-Claudians: 14 CE – 68 CEFlavians: 69 CE – 96 CEThe Five Good Emperors: 96 CE- 180 CESeverans:193 CE – 217 CESoldier Emperors: 217 CE – 284 CETetrarchy: 284 CE – 313 CEConstantinian: 317 CE – 364 CE

Titian, Rape of Lucretia, 16th Century CE

Roman Republic

Portrait of Patrician (“Brutus”), Probably of Etruscan Artistry, Roman Republican, c. 1st century BCE

Portrait of Aulus Metellus (“the Orator”), near Lake Trasimeno, Roman Republican, early 1st century BCE

Patrician Carrying Two Portrait Heads, Roman Republican, c. 1st century CE

Republican Tomb Relief of the Publius Gessius Family, Via Cassia, 30-13 BCE.

The Rise of Julius Caesar

Bust of Julius Caesar, Roman Republican, 1st century BCE

Sestertius of Julius Caesar, c. 45 BCE

Jean-Léon Gérôme. The Death of Caesar. 1859-67. Oil on canvas, 2’4” x 4’11”. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

Jean-Leon Gerome, Death of Julius Caesar, 1867.

Rise of Augustus

Octavian Marcus Antonius

The Fall of the Hellenistic World

133 BCE

Attalos III

64 BCE

Pompey

80 BCE

Pompey

31 BCE

Augustus

Bust of Octavian, Roman Republican, c. 39 BCE

The Augustus Primaporta, Roman Imperial, 1st century CE (possible copy of 20 CE original).

Augustus Primaporta, Roman Imperial 1st century CE.

Portrait Head of an Elder. Roman Republican, c.80 BCE.

Augustus Primaporta, Roman Imperial 1st century CE.

Polykleitos, Doryphoros, Roman Copy, 5th Century CE

Augustus of Primaporta, Roman Imperial 1st Century CE

Aulus Metellus (The Orator). Roman Republican c. 80 BCE.

Roman soldier

Cornucopia

Parthian soldier

Roman standard with sculpture of eagle

Apollo on a griffin

Diana on a stag

Sol (Sun) on a chariot

Luna (moon)

Personification of Bounty

Cupid(Eros)

Campus Martius

Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace). View from the southwest. 13-9 BCE.

Augustus of Primaporta. Copy of a bronze original of c.20 BCE. Marble, height 6’8”. Vatican Museums, Rome. (Stokstad 6-18)

Augustus as Pontifex Maximus (“Pio Clementio”), Roman Imperial, 1st century CE

Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace). View from the southwest. 13-9 BCE.

Imperial procession. Detail of the relief on the south frieze of the Ara Pacis Augustae. 13-9 BCE.

Imperial procession. Detail of the relief on the south frieze of the Ara Pacis Augustae. 13-9 BCE.

Detail of the Panathenaic festival procession. Parthenon, c.447-438 BCE.

Imperial procession. Detail of the relief on the south frieze of the Ara Pacis Augustae. 13-9 BCE.

Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace). View from the southwest. 13-9 BCE.

Female personification (Tellus?). Panel from the east façade of the Ara Pacis Augustae. 13-9 BCE.

Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace). View from the southwest. 13-9 BCE.

Whether a man aspires to the prize of Olympia's palm and breed horses, or rears bullocks, strong for the plough, let his chief care be to choose the mould of the dams. The best-formed cow is fierce-looking, her head ugly, her neck thick, and her dewlaps hanging down from chin to legs. Moreover, her long flank has no limit; all points are large, even the feet; and under the crooked horns are shaggy ears. Nor should I dislike one marked with white spots, or impatient of the yoke, at times fierce with the horn, and more like a bull in face; tall throughout, and she steps sweeping her footprints with the tail's tip. The age to bear motherhood and lawful wedlock ends before the tenth year, and begins after the fourth; the rest of their life is neither fit for breeding nor strong for the plough. Meantime, while lusty youth still abides in the herds, let loose the males; be first to send your cattle to mate, and supply stock after stock by breeding. Life's fairest days are ever the first to flee for hapless mortals; on creep diseases, and sad age, and suffering; and stern death's ruthlessness sweeps away its prey.

--Virgil, The Georgics

Ara Pacis Augustae, Altar of Augustan Peace, View from the northeast, 13-9 BCE

Ara Pacis, view from the northeast, Roman Imperial, c. 30-13 BCE.

Census Taking Relief, Rome, Roman Republic, c. 2nd century CE

SusOvisTaurus = Suovetauralia

Gemma Augustea. Roman Imperial, Early first century CE

Crowning of Augustus

Erection of a Trophy

Crowning of Augustus

Erection of a Trophy

Augustus / Jupiter

eagle

Livia? / Roma

Capricorn

Oikoumene

Winged Victory

Tiberius

Oceanus

Italia

Critical Thinking Questions

1. How are the ideals of the Roman republic different than the ideals of 5th century Athens? How does this relationship change under Augustus?

2. What is verism? Why is it a problematic term in the interpretation of Roman republican art?

3. How are Roman origin myths present in the art of the early empire under Augustus?

4. How does Augustus manage the transformation between republic and empire. Why must this be done delicately?