Ancient Roman Art and Architecture

Ancient Roman Art and Architecture
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The Romans employed art as propaganda to promote oneself, one’s accomplishments, one’s relationship to the Imperial family, or to promote a set of common ideals among citizens. Since citizens were often far from the physical extents of Rome, art enabled the propagandist to reach everyone, even the uneducated roman. One example of the use of art as propaganda is the Arch of Constantine which is situated along the Via Triumphalis in Rome between the Temple of Venus and Roma and the Flavian Amphitheater (the Colosseum). The arch is a connective architecture linking the Roman Forum to the primary entertainment as well as the public bathing facilities of central Rome. To understand the propagandist aspect of the arch along with the ideologies upon which it is founded, it is important to understand the political and material settings in which it was constructed. The arch is dedicated to Emperor Constantine, the empire who put an end to the tetrarchy, a period marked by power-sharing and administrative wrangles. Constantine managed to take control of the Western Roman Empire and become the sole ruler of the empire after conquering his co-emperor Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Constantine was a discerning political leader and having won emperorship of Rome, he wanted to consolidate his power by appeasing both the common people and the elite. One way of doing this was through propaganda which was why the Arch of Constantine was constructed just in time for his entrance to the city in 315. The arch was intended to actively advertise his ruling regime and justify his power and ability to rule after usurping a co-emperor in the tetrarchy. Besides legitimizing Constantine’s rule, the arch was meant to communicate certain ideologies of the emperor.[Jas Elsner. "From the Culture of Spolia to the Cult of Relics: The Arch of Constantineand the Genesis of Late Antique Forms." Papers of the British School at Rome 68, 2000: 149-184.] [P. Pierce. "The Arch of Constantine: Propaganda and Ideology In Late Roman Art." Art History 12, no. 4 1989: 387-418.]
Fig 1: The Arch of Constantine, Rome
The Arch of Constantine uses spolia from statues and monuments of different eras to convey certain ideals. While the Constantinian frames are rather disproportionate and lacking in natural aesthetics, those borrowed from the times of the Roman emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius are realistic and intricately detailed. However, the heads of the three emperors which appear in different spolia frames have been replaced by that of Constantine. While the Constantinian figures are lacking in the idealized naturalism of earlier periods, their clarity of form guaranteed that viewers of the time could understand the message Constantine was conveying. The artistic juxtaposition of spolia and the swapping of figureheads was intended to connect the triumphs of the three great emperors with Constantine’s age of rule. Although promoting the virtues and accomplishments of Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius, Constantine was also appropriating the celebration of their victories and even comparing himself with the three emperors. He was situating himself as one worthy of the same levels of acclaim as the three revered emperors. This message was particularly important to emphasizing Constantine’s legitimacy as the ruler of the Western Empire seeing as he had principally bypassed lawful succession and seized power from his co-emperor. Constantine also wished to promote the ideology of the continuity of the good ruler during the course of the Imperial period. Moreover, the reliefs feature the three emperors engaging in codified undertakings that illustrate the leader’s authority and benevolence including defeating enemies, addressing troops, offering sacrifices, and distributing largesse. Constantine wanted to portray himself as an authoritative and benevolent ruler just like Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius. Constantine was also the first Christian emperor and his legalization of Christianity would have caused massive social upheaval among all social classes. Any religious change was viewed as a threat to the political and ruling classes of Rome. It was important for Constantine to demonstrate how through divine inspiration he was able to defeat the tyrant (Maxentius), while at the same time aligning himself with the well-regarded emperors of Rome’s golden age. Constantine was signaling that his decision to decriminalize Christianity was modeled on the thinking and judgment of earlier, successful emperors who were popular for the major social changes they brought in the empire. All in all, the Arch of Constantine was a useful propaganda tool that communicated Constantine’s divine right to emperorship, his remarkable leadership abilities, and his benevolence that would usher in a new Golden Age for Rome.[Noel Emmanuel Lenski. The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine.Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2006.] [Ross Holloway. Constantine & Rome. New Haven, Conn; London: Yale UniversityPress, 2004.]
Christian art changed between the 3rd and the 5th c. CE to early 6th c. CE after Constantine’s legalization of Christianity and the religion’s growing prominence in the Mediterranean world. This development called for a change in Christian art along with the context for its images. The earliest Christian iconographies included simple renderings of bread and wine to allude to the Eucharist, fish to invoke Christ, and the anchor to symbolize the safe arrival of a Christian to heaven. Before Constantine declared official acceptance of Christianity, Christian art employed a sketchy style imitative of Roman impressionism and tended to be symbolic. Most of these images were meant to highlight God’s glory and power and were drawn from the Bible, which was the primary source of Christian pictorials. For instance, the image of a fish referenced the biblical story of the feeding of 5000 men where Jesus multiplied five loaves and two fish. Before the edict of Milan when Christianity was still prohibited in the Roman Empire, these simple iconographies were safe marks that allowed members of the Christian faith to identify one another and avoid persecution. Since pagans were not acquainted with the Bible, they would not be able to understand the figurative meaning behind the symbols. The catacombs of St. Peter and Marcellinus are filled with metaphorical Christian art derived from pagan prototypes. For instance, the ceiling decoration from the catacomb illustrates the early figural representations of Christ as the Good Shepherd, a concept that is not particularly Christian but has an extensive Graeco-Roman heritage.[Thomas F Mathews. The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art.Chichester; Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.] [Robert Milburn and Robert Leslie Pollington. Early Christian Art and Architecture.Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1988.]
Fig 2: The Good Shepherd from the catacomb of Calixtus
While bucolic images of Shepherd looking after their flock was a common subject in Roman and Greek art, the image of the good shepherd had a metaphorical meaning founded on the Bible. The overall message is meant to be optimistic and meant to encourage the persecuted Christians to focus on salvation.
However, the imperial sponsorship of Constantine necessitated the production of art on a more ambitious scale, not only to mirror its newfound dignity and social importance but also to accommodate and instruct its new converts. The art of this period was still founded on classical roman art, it transformed into a more nonfigurative, simplified artistic expression. Unlike classical roman art which emphasized physical beauty, the art of this period idealized spiritual feeling. While pre-Constantine art continued to feature many of the earlier themes of eschatology and deliverance, it abandoned the metaphorical psyche of the persecuted religion and grappled openly with the image of Jesus. This was not possible before the edict of Milan when Christianity was illegal. No longer related to figurative images, most Christian art now featured Jesus in the context of biblical miracles. Before the legalization of Christianity, the passion, and especially the crucifixion itself, was rarely depicted in Christian art because it failed to emphasize the glory and power of God. However, post-Constantine Christian art of the late 5th century began to depict the passion and resurrection of Christ to educate its new members of the significance of the event. The human figures in the Christian art of this period became types instead of individuals and were often shown as having large, staring eyes, which were believed to be the windows of the soul.[Routledge Handbooks and Taylor and Francis. The Routledge Handbook of EarlyChristian Art. Boca Raton, FL: Routledge, 2018.]
Fig 3: Mural painting of Jesus from the catacomb of Commodilla (late 4th Century)
Roman symbols were often employed and compositions were both hieratic and flat, so as to underline and clearly portray the primary idea. For instance, Christ was frequently portrayed as a pseudo-emperor to illustrate his regal power and authority. No longer fearing of being persecuted, Christians took up more themes of leadership not only when depicting the kingship of Jesus but also when showing the saints and important personages from the Old Testament such as Elijah and Moses. All in all, while Christian art of this period deliberately departed from previous naturalism and use of figurative images, it communicated its message with greater power and immediacy to the accepted expanding Christian community.[Kurt Weitzmann. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third toSeventh Century. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, 2013.]
One of the principal problems in studying late Roman sculpture is the lack of sufficient materials that detail the history of discovered statues. Only a small fraction of the required exhaustive and authoritative literary sources exist, thereby making the identification of Roman sculptures a bit of a challenge. Most of the existing literature on late Roman sculpture is vague and incomplete and there remains very few sources that can facilitate the accurate and penetrating study of statues from that Roman period. Researchers are also faced with the challenge of understanding the information contained in literary sources of that period, which are often disjointed. While some valuable insight can be gleaned from these materials, most of the notes refer to related sculptures that have been lost over the years and no longer exist. One of ways of addressing this challenge is by acquiring as much material of the specific sculptures as possible. After finding as much information as it at the historian’s disposal, then it becomes increasingly possible to base one’s perceptions on the artistic style of the period and ex...