Comprehensive Study Notes: Roman Art, Architecture, and Urbanism and Urban Planning, and Domestic Life

Augustus of Prima Porta and Roman Funerary Architecture

• The Augustus of Prima Porta Cuirass (Armored Breastplate):

  • Centered Iconography: The figures in the center of the breastplate represent significant symbolic entities. One figure is potentially a personification of Rome or the goddess Roma.
  • The Parthian Figure: To the right, a Parthian is depicted handing over a standard. This symbolically represents the return of approximately $100$ standards to Rome after a decisive diplomatic/military victory.
  • Representation of Enemies: Romans traditionally depicted opposing groups as giants, half-monsters, or individuals wearing distinct clothing. In this instance, the figure is identified by his pants.
  • Divine and Earthly Figures:
    • Telus (Mother Earth): Positioned below the central pair, she is reclining and holding two twin infants, recurring imagery in Roman sculpture representing fertility and peace.
    • Diana: The goddess Diana is depicted on the side of the breastplate.
    • Captives: Above the divine figures are representations of captives, referring to earlier military victories by Augustus.
  • Polychromy: Evidence suggests the original sculpture was polychromed (painted in multiple colors). Reconstructions show it would have been vibrantly colored rather than plain white marble.

• Evolution of Roman Funerary Architecture:

  • Mausoleum of Augustus: This was built as a response to the late Republican tradition of "heroic" tomb building. During this era, there was escalating competition among Roman elites to construct the largest and most prestigious architectural monuments to secure their legacy.
  • The Tomb of the Baker (Marcus Virgilius Eurysaces):
    • This tomb belonged to a baker and his wife.
    • Frieze Narrative: The decorative frieze explicitly depicts the process of baking.
    • Shape and Symbolism: Scholars argue the shape of the tomb relates to grain storage.
    • Urns: The ash urns were specifically designed in the shape of bread baskets.

Pompeii: The Preservation of Roman Life

• Archaeological Context:

  • Most Roman cities are difficult to study because they have been continuously occupied for centuries. Pompeii is uniquely preserved due to the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
  • Population: Pompeii was a wealthy coastal town with a population between $10,000$ and $20,000$ people.
  • Geographical Shift: During the Roman period, Pompeii was situated on the shore. Today, it is much further inland due to the accumulation of ash and seismic activity from the eruption.
  • The Eruption: Mount Vesuvius erupted on August 24, $79 \text{ CE}$.
  • Timeline and Survival: The eruption lasted over a two-day period, which allowed the majority of the population to escape. Approximately one-tenth of the population was killed. We possess contemporary testimony and accounts of the event.
  • Excavation: Archaeological work began in the mid-$18\text{th}$ century. Excavators discovered voids left by decomposed organic matter and poured plaster into them to create casts of bodies and artifacts.

• DNA Analysis and Narrative Deconstruction:

  • Public narratives often romanticize the casts as family members (e.g., mother and child). However, DNA testing often contradicts these narratives.
  • Many studied bodies are unrelated, predominantly male, and of Eastern Mediterranean origin rather than internal family units.

• Urban Infrastructure:

  • Roads: Streets were paved with large stones, flattened on the top.
  • Raised Crosswalks: Large stones were placed in the street to act as crosswalks. These allowed pedestrians to cross without getting their garments dirty from the detritus and water flowing in the streets, while still allowing cart wheels to pass through the gaps.
  • Sidewalks: Streets featured defined curbs and sidewalks.

The Roman Domus (Domestic Architecture)

• Economic Integration: The facade of many Roman homes featured shops that opened directly onto the street. These were either ran by the family or rented out to others.

• Internal Layout and Rooms:

  • Fauces: The entrance hallway or vestibule.
  • Atrium: The central reception area of the house, intended for public and semi-public interaction.
  • Impluvium: A shallow pool in the center of the atrium designed to collect rainwater through an open-air skylight (compluvium).
  • Tablinum: Located between the atrium and the private courtyard, this served as the family head's office. It was the primary location for displaying ancestral portrait busts.
  • Peristyle: A private, rear courtyard surrounded by columns, often containing a garden.
  • Triclinium: The formal dining room where Romans would recline on couches to eat.

• Public vs. Private Gradients: The front portion of the house (atrium, tablinum) was relatively public and used for business and social obligations. The back portion (peristyle, triclinium) was the private family domain.

• Case Study: House of the Vettii:

  • One of the largest and best-preserved domiciles in Pompeii.
  • Owners: Two freedmen (former slaves) who became wealthy merchants.
  • Features: No exterior windows for security and privacy; all light and air came from internal courtyards. It featured complex irrigation for a central garden.

The Four Styles of Roman Wall Painting

• Methodology: These decorations were created using "true fresco" (buon fresco), where paint is applied to wet plaster so it becomes part of the wall.

• First Style (Incrustation Style):

  • Objective: To simulate expensive materials.
  • Technique: Faux finish or "trompe l'oeil" (trick the eye) masonry. Walls were painted to look like different colors of marble rather than using real marble slabs, allowing elites to save money for imperial taxes while appearing wealthy.

• Second Style (Architectural Style):

  • Objective: Illusionism and the expansion of space.
  • Technique: Creates the illusion that the wall is a window to the outside. This includes landscapes, gardens, and architectural elements like columns and parapets.
  • Examples: A basement triclinium (for summer cooling) might feature a painting of a garden that combines plants from all seasons simultaneously to create a lush, perpetual environment.

• Third Style (Ornate Style):

  • Objective: Decorative and monochromatic.
  • Technique: Rejects illusionistic depth. Features flat, often dark or "moody" backgrounds (like deep purple).
  • Elements: Thin, spindle-like "slender reeds" or columns that couldn't exist in reality. Small, impressionistic floating landscapes or Egyptian "cartouche-like" panels are featured within the decorative framework.

• Fourth Style (Intricate Style):

  • Objective: Combination and eclecticism.
  • Technique: Merges elements of the three previous styles. It includes faux marble (First Style), architectural vistas (Second Style), and decorative motifs/frames (Third Style).
  • Narrative: Often features large-scale mythological narrative paintings within framed segments.

Triumphal Architecture and Public Monuments

• Roman Grid Systems: Roman cities were strictly planned using a grid system (avenues running East-West and North-South in perfect squares). This system originated from Roman military siege camps (base camps).

• The Roman Forum: The civic, judicial, and sacred heart of a city. Every Roman city had one, but the Roman Forum in the capital was the center of the empire.

• The Arch of Titus:

  • Commemoration: Marks the military victory and sack of the Temple in Jerusalem in $70 \text{ CE}$ under Titus (during Vespasion's reign).
  • Function: A victory monument and ceremonial gateway validating the emperor's authority as general.
  • Passageway Reliefs: One side shows soldiers carrying spoils (war booty), including the Great Menorah. The carving is self-referential, showing the soldiers passing through a triumphal arch. The opposite side shows Titus in his chariot.

The Flavian Amphitheatre (The Colosseum)

• Context: Built on the site of Emperor Nero's former artificial lake as a gift to the Roman citizens.
• Dimensions and Capacity: Built using concrete and could accommodate $50,000$ spectators.
• Structure: A "Double Theater" (two Greek theaters combined into a circle/oval).
• Arena: The name comes from the white sand (harena) used to soak up blood from combat.
• Levels and Orders:
  • Bottom: Tuscan columns (similar to Doric but with a base).
  • Middle: Ionic columns (identified by volutes).
  • Top: Corinthian columns (identified by acanthus leaves).
• Hypogeum: The subterranean basement containing cells for gladiators and cages for animals, with hand-pulled elevator systems to lift them to the arena floor.
• Engineering: Utilized barrel vaults (extended arches) and groin vaults (intersecting arches) to support massive weight and allow for quick crowd movement.

The Forum and Column of Trajan

• Forum of Trajan ($112 \text{ CE}$): Surpassed all previous forums in scale and design. It was a massive civic center intended to glorify Trajan via political propaganda.

  • Basilica Ulpia: A multipurpose civic building named after Trajan's family (Ulpia). It featured two apses (semicircular ends), a central nave, and a clerestory (windows above the side aisles for light).
  • Equestrian Statue: A massive bronze statue of Trajan as commander-in-chief in the center of the plaza.

• Column of Trajan:

  • Structure: A spiral relief narrative commemorating the two Dacian Wars (conquest of modern-day Romania).
  • Narrative: Includes $2,500$ figures; Trajan himself appears $28$ times. It shows military procedures like building bridges and forts rather than just combat.
  • Perspective: Uses "legibility" over accurate scale; architecture is shown smaller than people to fit the story.
  • Burial: Trajan's ashes were buried in the base of the column—an exception to the rule forbidding burial within the sacred city boundary (pomerium).

• Markets of Trajan: A multistory concrete commercial complex with $170$ rooms. It is considered the first shopping mall. Built into a hillside, it demonstrated the strength and flexibility of Roman concrete (volcanic rock and seawater mixture).

The Pantheon

• Function and Name: A temple dedicated to all the gods ($Pan$ = all, $Theos$ = gods).
• Patronage: Commissioned under Hadrian, though the facade carries the name of Marcus Agrippa (Augustus's relative) to honor the original builder of a previous temple on the site.
• Architecture:
  • Design: A portico (traditional temple front) attached to a massive rotunda (cylinder) capped by a dome.
  • Geometric Perfection: The interior could hold a perfect sphere.
  • Oculus: A $30$-foot opening at the peak of the dome to let in light and air. It lightens the structural weight at the weakest point.
  • Coffering: Inset square panels in the ceiling that reduce the weight of the concrete and draw the eye upward.
  • Materials: The concrete density decreases toward the top—it transitions from heavy stone at the base to lightweight pumice stone at the oculus.

Questions & Discussion

• Question: Will the architecture study guide from last week be on this week's quiz?

• Response: Yes. If you study the architecture study guide provided last week, you will do very well. The quiz focuses specifically on those architectural points.

• Question: Is the final exam cumulative, including Egypt?

• Response: No. The midterm handled the earlier material. The final covers everything from Ancient Rome (starting where the Etruscans ended) until the end of the course.

• Question: Is "Tuscan" going to be on the quiz? It's listed on the terms.

• Response: Do not worry about Tuscan for the quiz. It was taken off the specific slides, even if it remains on the general definition list. Focus on Ionic and Corinthian.