Rome and Etruscan

Sarcophagus of the Spouses

Title

520 B.C.E.

Date

Cerveteri, Italy (Etruscan)

Location

painted terracotta

Material

Temple of Minerva and sculpture of Apollo.

Title

510-500 BCE

Date

Veii, Italy (near Rome, Etruscan)

Location

Wood, mud brick, tufa (Temple); terra cotta (sculpture by Master sculptor Vulca)

Material

Tomb of Triclinium

Title

480-470 BCE

Date

Tarquinia, Italy (Monterozzi necropolis, Etruscan)

Location

Tufa and fresco

Material

House of the Vettii

Title

Second century BCE; rebuilt c 62-79 CE (Imperial Roman)

Date

Pompeii, Italy

Location

Cut stone and fresco

Material

Alexander Mosaic

Title

100 BCE (Republican Roman)

Date

House of Faun, Pompeii, Italy

Location

Stone and glass mosaic (Roman copy of a Greek wall painting of 310 BCE)

Material

Head of a Roman patrician

Title

75-50 BCE (Republican Roman)

Date

Otricoli, Italy

Location

Marble

Material

Augustus of Prima Porta

Title

Early First Century CE (imperial roman)

Date

Prima Porta, Rome, Italy

Location

Marble

Material

Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater)

Title

70-80 CE (Imperial Roman)

Date

Rome, Italy

Location

Stone and concrete

Material

Forum of Trajan (Basilica Ulpia, markets, Column of Trajan)

Title

106-112 CE

Date

Rome, Italy

Location

Brick and concrete (architecture); marble (column); designed by Apollodorus of Damascus

Material

Pantheon

Title

118-125 CE (Imperial Roman)

Date

Rome, Italy

Location

concrete with stone facing

Material

Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus

Title

250 CE (late imperial roman)

Date

Rome, Italy

Location

Marble

Material

(c. 509–27 BCE)

• Government: Senate and elected magistrates

• Art: Veristic (realistic) portraits, strong sense of civic virtue and individuality

• Architecture: Concrete innovation, early temples inspired by Etruscan + Greek forms

• Key works: Head of a Roman Patrician, Temple of Portunus (Fortuna Virilis), House of the Vettii

Roman Republic

c. 27 bce - 476 ce

🏛 Early Imperial Rome (27 BCE–96 CE)

• Begins with Augustus → Pax Romana (peace and prosperity)

• Art: Idealized, propaganda-driven (Augustan Classicism)

• Architecture: Monumental scale, arches, domes, concrete mastery

• Key works: Augustus of Prima Porta, Ara Pacis, Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater), Pont du Gard

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🦅 High Imperial Rome (96–192 CE)

• Height of empire under Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius

• Art: Classical idealism with realism; imperial monuments glorify empire and leadership

• Key works: Forum of Trajan, Pantheon, Column of Trajan, Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius

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⚔ Late Imperial Rome (c. 193–476 CE)

• Crisis of the 3rd century, Diocletian reforms, Constantine’s Christian era

• Art: Abstract, symbolic, hierarchical (spiritual over naturalism)

• Key works: Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus, Tetrarchs, Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine, Arch of Constantine

Imperial Rome (Early, High, Late)