Exam CLAS108 Slide IDs

Hut urns

Pre-Roman Italy, the Etruscans

8th - 7th c. BCE

Clay or bronze

Central Italy, necropolises

Burial method practiced by the Etruscans. Ash placed in the urn in the style of a house. Reflects what houses would have looked like for both the Etruscans and Romans, used for reconstructions of huts from the Palatine Hill.

Reconstruction of Etruscan temple

500 BCE

Likely perishable material like timber

Akroteria/sculpture on the roof made of terracotta

High podium, frontal stairs, deep pronate, tripartite cella, prostyle

Veii

Example of typical Etruscan temple features

Etrsucan sarcophagus

Likely mass produced

2.06 m. long

520-510 BCE

Terracotta

Cerveteri

Man and woman depicted together, equal status

Elements rely on the model of Greek Archaic sculpture

Expressive - shows Etruscan interest in accurately portraying the details of nature

Could depict tradition of dining at a funeral

Shows rapid change from small scale urn to the sarcophagus

Theatre of Pompey

Pompey had it built

When is it from (what period?) 

c. 55 BCE

Stone

Includes Temple of Venus Victrix

Celebrates the military victories of Pompey the Great

First permanent theatre in Rome

Transitional monument between the Republic tradition of temple construction and the grand patronage of the imperial period

Pompey the Great

30-50 CE

Pompey ruled from 106-48 BCE

Marble

Propagandistic image, mostly idealised and inspired by earlier Hellenistic examples e.g. Alexander the Great for hairstyle

Veristic composition with classicising features

Example of verism, the idealisation of wrinkles, furrows and sagging skin

Shows Pompey’s years of experience, wisdom, character and intelligence. Done so he is easily remembered as a great Roman general.

Julius Caesar: veristic portraits

d. 44 BCE

Marble 

Evidence of the veristic style of portraiture depicted through Julius Caesar 

Denarius of Julius Caesar

Caesar had it made 

Roman Republic period - Caesar’s reign

47 BCE

Silver

Evidence of Caesar claiming descent from Venus via Aeneas - depicted on the coin, carrying his father and palladium

Ara Pacis of Augustus

Augustus had it built 

Pledged in 13 BCE and inaugurated in 9 BCE

Marble, would have been painted over

Built in the Campus Martius

Features mythological scenes/figures: Roma, Pax/Italia/Venus Genitrix/Tellus, Aeneas and his sons, Remus and Romulus

Features Augustus and his family - connects himself to the mythological figures, establishes dynasty as legitimate part of his rule

Functions as a temple - offerings, sacrifices

Massive propaganda piece for Augustus - commemorates the piece Augustus brought to Rome

Celebrates Augustus’ traditional Roman values: Piety, family, foreign conquest, honouring Rome’s founders

Altar of the Gens Augusta

1st c. CE

Carrara marble

Carthage 

Functions as an altar for sacrifices and Augustan propaganda

This side features Aeneas with his father and son - Augustus’ ancestor

Family line associated with religion - religious stuff delegated to the family of the emperor. Line between religious practice + pious act has become blurred

Gemma Augustea

19×23 cm 

During Tiberius’ reign 

Date!!! DATE!!! 

Onyx stone

Augustan classicism: Idealised, tranquil, wet drapery

Upper tier: Augustus as Jupiter, Roma resembling Livia, Oikoumene (the civilised world), Tiberius returning to Rome victorious

Bottom tier: Roman victory of Tiberius over the Germans, 12 CE

Tiberius associating himself with the now-divine Augustus

Porta Maggiore

Built by Claudius

Claudian

52 AD

Travertine stone

Eastern Rome

Rusticated style - blocks look “aged” on purpose, alludes to Republican architecture

Serves as a bridge over the road for the aqueducts

Proclaimed boundaries of the city

Aqueducts announced power and generosity of Claudius

Frescoes of Nero’s Domus Area

Built by Nero

Designed by Severus and Celer

Covered 300 acres, front portico is 1 mile long

64-84 AD

Concrete and brick, colour mixed with water

Preserved throughout ruined underground rooms

Architectural frame - multi-story decorated backdrop of the Roman theatre stage

Flavian Ampitheater

Built by Vespasian and Titus

188×156 m. and 50 m. high

Period of the Flavians

Made between 72-80 AD

Concrete structural support, skeleton of travertine blocks

Network of tunnels + stairs freed up space, 45000 spectators to move quickly to and from seats

Conservative and traditional facade

4-story

Half columns carved in the blocks separated the arches – Doric on GF, Ionic on 2F, Corinthian on 3F

Below ground level = cages for animals, gladiators, passageways

Animal hunts, gladiator fights, executions, music

Largest, grandest, most important amphitheater in Rome

Themes: Power of Flavian emperors + their control over empire resources + benefits of the rule over Romans

Arch of Titus

Built by Domitian

Dedicated in 81 AD

Material type 

Place it was found 

Depicts victory parade with menorah (candles)

Commemorates Titus’ victory in Judaea

Going into a triumphal arch - viewer brought into the scene as they are also passing through a triumphal arch
Depiction of Roman triumph - spoils being carried around Rome

Bound Dacians

Trajan likely had them made

Trajan’s period

Built 105-107 AD

Inaugurated 112 AD

Marble

Forum of Trajan

Trajan had military victories in Dacia in 101-102 and 105-106 AD - sculptures of Dacian captives were placed in his forum to commemorate them

Trajan’s Markets

Built by Trajan

Designed by Apollodorus of Damascus

Trajan’s period

100-112 AD

Brick-faced concrete terraces

Six levels of streets rising up the side of the Quirinal Hill

170 rooms 

Fenestrated sequence, so well-lit

Series of groin vaults

Architecturally ambitious - used a massive amount of concrete to keep the dirt in place, if not a landslip would’ve occurred below the Quirinal

Pantheon

Rededicated to Agrippa

c. 125 AD

Concrete containing basalt, floor and walls decorated with marble veneer

Porch: monolithic granite columns in Corinthian order - Greek influence

Main building (cella) - cylindrical domed drum - Roman structure

Functions as temple to all the gods

Walls are 6.1m thick

Lighter materials used from bottom to top

Relieving arches

Light through oculus travels in a beam across the dome - sun

Dome becomes vault of the heavens

Each coffer had a gold rosette + exterior of the dome was gilded

Column of Antoninus Pius

Built by Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus

Dedicated to Antoninus Pius

Antonine period

Dedicated in 161 after his death

Marble

Built in Campus Martius

Base of the column

Relief sculpture depicting infantry in a parade activity - riding in a circle, infantry in the center

Italic style - shows shift from classical styles preferred by other Roman emperors - people want something new, so move away from Classicizing

Bird’s-eye-view + shown in profile = 2 different perspectives in the same scene

Rocks underneath figures so it doesn’t look like they’re floating

Horses + costumes = High-class

Cape = general

Centurion = breast plate = higher status

Commodus

Commodus likely had it made 

During Commodus’ rule, 180-190 AD

Marble

Commodus depicted as Hercules - Lion skin, apples of Hesperides, club

Example of using art/sculpture as propaganda

Severan Tondo

Severan dynasty period

c. 200 CE

Wooden panel

Likely Egypt

Depicts Septimius Severus with his family - wife Julia Donna and children Caracalla and Geta

Geta’s face has been removed by Caracalla - evidence of damnatio memoriae, “condemnation of memory”

Valerian and Persian Emperor Shapur I

Who made it 

How big? (maybe) 

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Diocletian and the Tetrarchy

Who made it 

How big? (maybe) 

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Arch of Constantine

Who made it 

How big? (maybe) 

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Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus

Who made it 

How big? (maybe) 

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Missorium of Theodosius I

Who made it 

How big? (maybe) 

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Date!!! DATE!!! 

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Significance to the time period