From Seven Hills to Three Continents: The Art of Ancient Rome
  
       
  Republic :: Pompeii And The Cities Of Vesuvius :: Early Empire :: High Empire :: Late Empire   Images courtesy of
Saskia Ltd.
       
       
  LATE EMPIRE

A civilization in transition:

At the end of the 2nd century CE the power of Rome was beginning to decline.

The Severans (193-23:5 CE)

An African rules the empire:

The African-born emperor Septimius Severus, his wife, Julia Domna, and their two sons, Caracalla and Geta, appear in a tondo portrait from Egypt painted in tempera. The head of Geta was later erased by Caracalla.

7-64: Painted portrait of Septimius Severus and his family, from Egypt, ca. 200 CE. Tempera on wood, approx. 1' 2" diameter. Staatliche Museen, Berlin.
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A Portrait of a Ruthless Emperor:

A marble head shows the ruthless character and suspicious nature of Caracalla.		    
       
  7-65: Portrait of Caracalla, ca. 211-217 CE. Marble, approx. 1' 2" high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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The NonClassical Style Takes Root:

A relief from the Arch of Septimius Severus in Lepcis Magna shows non-Classical elements such as front-facing and floating figures.

7-66: Chariot procession of Septimius Severus, relief from the Arch of Septimius Severus, Lepcis Magna, Libya, 203 CE. Marble, approx. 5' 6" high. Castle Museum, Tripoli.
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A Gigantic Roman Health Spa:

The huge Baths of Caracalla in Rome were built with brick-faced concrete. The symmetrical design includes a circular domed caldarium, a groin-vaulted frigidarium, and a tepidarium. Also part of the complex were lecture halls, libraries, colonnaded exercise courts, and a large swimming pool.

7-67: Plan of the central section of the Baths of Caracalla, Rome, Italy, 212-216 CE. The bathing, swimming, and exercise areas were surrounded by landscaped gardens, lecture halls, and other rooms, all enclosed within a great concrete perimeter wall.
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7-68: Reconstruction drawing of the central hall (frigidarium) of the Baths of Caracalla, Rome, Italy, 212-216 CE.
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The Soldier Emperors (235-284 CE)

A stormy half century:

During the turbulent third century CE, many emperors ruled only briefly before being murdered.

Imperial soul portraits:

Portraits of the soldier emperors in the third century CE are notable for their emotional content and for their technical virtuosity. The nude, larger-than-life-size bronze portrait of the short-lived emperor Trebonianus shows him with a small head and a thick wrestler's body.

7-69: Portrait bust of Trajan Decius, 249-251 CE. Marble, approx. 2' 7" high. Museo Capitolino, Rome.
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  7-70: Heroic portrait of Trebonianus Gallus, from Rome, Italy, 251-253 CE. Bronze, approx. 7' 11" high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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Barbarians and Philosophers:

The front of the Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus shows a chaotic battle scene filled with writhing and highly emotive figures. The piled-up figures are spread evenly across the entire relief with no illusion of space behind them. The sarcophagus of a philosopher shows a Roman philosopher seated on a throne flanked by two standing women in a frontal composition.		  
       
 
 
       
       
  7-71: Battle of Romans and barbarians (Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus), from Rome, Italy, ca. 250-260 CE. Marble, approx. 5' high. Museo Nazionale Romano-Palazzo Altemps, Rome.
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The insecurity of the time led many Romans to solace in philosophy. On many third century sarcophagi, te deceased assumes the role of the learned intellectual.

7-72: Sarcophagus of a philosopher, ca. 270-280 CE. Marble, approx. 4' 11" high. Vatican Museums, Rome.
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A Critique of the Pantheon:

The Temple of Venus at Baalbek ignores Classical traditions of design in its insertion of an arch into the pediment of the gabled columnar façade and in the introduction of scalloped edges around the circular domed cella.

7-73: Plan and reconstruction drawing of the Temple of Venus, Baalbek, Lebanon, third century CE.
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Diocletian and the Tetrarchy (284-306 CE)

Power Shared, Order Restored:

Diocletian established the tetrarchy and adopted for himself the title of Augustus of the East. He ruled the East together with a Caesar of the East. The other two tetrarchs ruled as the Augustus and the Caesar of the West.

Individuality lost:

The tetrarchs are shown in two pairs of porphyry portraits without any individuality.		  
       
  7-74: Portraits of the four tetrarchs, from Constantinople, ca. 305 CE. Porphyry, approx. 4' 3" high. Saint Mark's, Venice.
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Diocletian's fortress-palace:

Diocletian's walled palace at Split was laid out like a Roman castrum. A colonnaded court leads to the entrance to the imperial residence, which has a temple-like façade with an arch inserted into the pediment.

7-75: Model of the Palace of Diocletian, Split, Croatia, ca. 300-305 CE. Museo della Civiltà Romana, Rome.
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Constantine (306-33:7 CE)

Constantine and Christianity:

Following the defeat of Maxentius at the battle at the Milvian Bridge, Constantine ended the persecution of Christians. In 325 CE, at the Council of Nicaea, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

A new arch with old reliefs:

The Arch of Constantine utilized refashioned reliefs from earlier monuments. The shallow Constantinian reliefs show poorly modeled undistinguished figures that are squat in proportion and have mechanical gestures and repeated stances.		  
       
 
 
       
       
  7-76: Arch of Constantine, Rome, Italy, 312-315 CE (south side).
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7-77: Distribution of largess, detail of the north frieze of the Arch of Constantine, Rome, Italy, 312-315 CE. Marble, approx. 3' 4" high.
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A Colossal in a Colossal Basilica

The colossal marble head of Constantine shows a face with enormous eyes carved in broad and simple planes. The huge Basilica Nova in Rome, where the complete seated statue was originally placed, was a brick-faced concrete structure with a high groin-vaulted central nave and aisles with coffered barrel vaults.		  
       
  7-78: Portrait of Constantine, from the Basilica Nova, Rome, Italy, ca. 315-330 CE. Marble, approx. 8' 6" high. Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome.
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Rome's new basilica:

The reconstruction drawing of the Basilica Nova effectively suggests the immensity of the interior, where the great vaults dwarf not only humans but also the emperor's colossal portrait. The drawing also clearly reveals the fenestration of the groin vaults, a lighting system akin to the clerestory of a traditional stone-and-timber basilica.

7-79: Reconstruction drawing of the Basilica Nova (Basilica of Constantine), Rome, Italy, ca. 306-312 CE.
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Constantine's German Audience:

The basilica-like imperial audience hall at Trier has a brick exterior with boldly projecting vertical buttresses. The simple interior is a wide open space with two stories of large windows and a flat, wooden, coffered ceiling.		  
       
  7-80: Aula Palatina, Trier, Germany, early fourth century CE (exterior).
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  7-81: Aula Palatina, Trier, Germany, early fourth century CE (interior).
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Classical and medieval:

Constantine looks quite different in his official portraits on two coins. The later portrait is also an eloquent testimony to the dual nature of Constantine's rule.

7-82: Coins with portraits of Constantine. Nummus (left), 307 CE. Billon, diameter approx. 1". American Numismatic Society, New York. Medallion (right), ca. 315 CE .Silver. Staatliche Münzsammlung, Munich.
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