Etruscan & Roman Art - Quiz 3

Aureus

The standard Roman gold coin, which under Augustus weighed 1/40 of a pound

Bay

The arcuated passageway of a triumphal arch or city gate

Broken pediment

A half-pediment

Buttress

An exterior masonry structure that opposes the lateral thrust of an arch or a vault.

Classicizing

Imitating the Greek Classical style

Clementia

Clemency - mercy

Clerestory

The fenestrated part of a building that rises above the roofs of the other parts. In a basilica or Egyptian oecus, the clerestory is the second-story set of windows in the nave below the roof.

Coffer

A sunken panel in a ceiling.

Concordia

Concord or harmony, as between husband and wife or between co-rulers.

Cuirass

Leather breastplate; body armor.

Damnatio memoriae

The senatorial decree damning a person’s memory.

Decursio

The ritual circling of a funerary pyre.

Denarius

The standard Roman silver coin, work 1/25 of an aureus.

Dextrarum iunctio

Joining of right hands. The handclasp between a Roman man and woman signifies that they are married. Between two men indicates that they are allies or co-rulers.

Divus

A deified mortal; god.

Dome

A hemispherical vault; theoretically, an arch rotated on its vertical axis.

Encaustic

A painting technique in which pigment is mixed with wax and applied to the surface while hot.

Exempla virtutis

Models of virtue and valor.

Fecunditas

Fertility

Genius

The alter ego or guardian spirit of a person.

Gladiator

A professional fighter, usually a slave who had been purchased to train as a hand-to-hand combatant for public entertainment in an amphitheater.

Lenos sarcophagus

A bathtub-shaped sarcophagus with rounded corners.

Libertus

A freedman/woman.

Optimus princeps

The best princeps; the title conferred on the emperor Trajan.

Paludamentum

A military cloak.

Pater

Father

Patera

An offering plate for pouring a libation at a Roman sacrifice

Pax

Peace

Quadrifrons

A freestanding arch with four sides of equal width and an arcuated opening on each side; a four-sided triumphal arch.

Rostra

The speaker’s platform in the Forum Romanum.

Sarcophagus

A coffin, usually of stone.

Serapeum

A temple dedicated to the Egyptian god Serapis.

Tempera

A painting medium employing pigments in egg yolk.

Tholos

A temple with a circular plan.

Tondo

A relief or painting with a circular frame. Also called a roundel.

Trophy

A tree trunk adorned with the enemy’s captured arms and armor.

Venationes

Wild animal hunts staged in amphitheaters.

Virtus

An Amazon-like woman; the personification of manly valor.