Conlin questions the long-held assumption that the friezes' sculptors were anonymous Greek masters, directly influenced by the reliefs carved on the Parthenon. Through close analysis of the sculptures, Conlin demonstrates that the carvers of the large processional friezes were actually Italian-trained sculptors influenced by both native and Hellenic stonecarving practices. Her conclusions rest on a systematic examination of the evidence left on the marble by the sculptors themselves - the traces of tool marks, the carving of specific details, and the compositional formulas of the friezes.
David Castriota examines one of the most important monuments of early Roman Imperial art, the Ara Pacis Augustae, the sculptured marble altar built to celebrate the peace, prosperity, and stability initiated by the reign of Augustus in the later first century b.c. Castriota argues that the floral decoration of the altar enclosure was profoundly significant, operating as a visual counterpart to the technique of metonymy in language. It utilized an array of realistic plants and flowers as allusive elements associated with various gods and goddesses, which together symbolized the support and blessing of the Roman divinities for the Augustan regime. Supporting his argument with evidence from Greek and Roman literature and religion, Castriota shows that the planners of the Ara Pacis adapted and expanded a long tradition of symbolic floral decoration from Greek monumental arts. Throughout his work, Castriota demonstrates that the Roman absorption of Greek precedent enabled viewers to recognize the intended message of divine sponsorship. By examining the origins of the Ara Pacis within its broader historical setting, the author provides new insights into a crucial period that witnessed the emergence of a distinctly Roman Imperial art.
Political image-making—especially from the Age of Augustus, when the Roman Republic evolved into a system capable of governing a vast, culturally diverse empire—is the focus of this masterful study of Roman culture. Distinguished art historian and classical archaeologist John Pollini explores how various artistic and ideological symbols of religion and power, based on Roman Republican values and traditions, were taken over or refashioned to convey new ideological content in the constantly changing political world of imperial Rome. Religion, civic life, and politics went hand in hand and formed the very fabric of ancient Roman society. Visual rhetoric was a most effective way to communicate and commemorate the ideals, virtues, and political programs of the leaders of the Roman State in an empire where few people could read and many different languages were spoken. Public memorialization could keep Roman leaders and their achievements before the eyes of the populace, in Rome and in cities under Roman sway. A leader’s success demonstrated that he had the favor of the gods—a form of legitimation crucial for sustaining the Roman Principate, or government by a “First Citizen.” Pollini examines works and traditions ranging from coins to statues and reliefs. He considers the realistic tradition of sculptural portraiture and the ways Roman leaders from the late Republic through the Imperial period were represented in relation to the divine. In comparing visual and verbal expression, he likens sculptural imagery to the structure, syntax, and diction of the Latin language and to ancient rhetorical figures of speech. Throughout the book, Pollini’s vast knowledge of ancient history, religion, literature, and politics extends his analysis far beyond visual culture to every aspect of ancient Roman civilization, including the empire’s ultimate conversion to Christianity. Readers will gain a thorough understanding of the relationship between artistic developments and political change in ancient Rome.
Weaving analysis and narrative throughout an illustrated text, the author provides an account of the major ideas of the Augustan age, and offers an interpretation of the creative tensions and contradictions that made for its vitality and influence.
The first complete history of the Altar of Peace dedicated in ancient Rome to the emperor Augustus Caesar. The monument was restored under the auspices of Benito Mussolini in 1938 to commemorate the bi-millennial birth of Augustus. It is now being refurbished in the Ara Pacis museum in Rome by the American architect Richard Meier. The author disputes the date of this monument, as well as the integrity of the reconstruction, He brings an avalanche of evidence to bear on its reassignment as a commemorative monument assembled not under the reign of Augustus but rather under that of his successor, the emperor Tiberius. The author also offers new interpretation of the iconography of the many relief sculptures that adorn the monument.
