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| Roman provincial builders and artists Funerary monument of Lucius Publicius ca. AD 50 marble Römisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne |
"Another form of tomb that became very popular in the Roman towns of Italy and the western provinces during the late Republic and the early Imperial periods was the aediculated grave marker, which consisted of a high base surmounted by a small temple (aedicula), which contained images of the owner and his family, displayed like honorific statues. A good example of such a monument is the tomb of Lucius Publicius in Cologne, which stood by the side of the road leading from Cologne to Bonn and was erected by Publicius's heirs. The aedicula contained the statues of Lucius, his wife, and their two children. This famous tomb (48 feet high) has been almost completely reconstructed in the Römisch-Germanisches Museum in Cologne. It exemplifies the possibilities open to the newly wealthy in a frontier town at the edge of the Empire. Aediculate monuments of a similar kind have been found in almost all provinces of the western part of the Empire."
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| Roman provincial builders and artists Mausoleum of the Julii ca. 50 BC marble St. Rémy-de-Provence, France |
"The desire to be noticed, to have one's name or image visible along the roadside, permeated the elites of large and small towns and settlements (vici) and even affected the "middle classes." The roadside monuments of this period are a visual expression of the burgeoning desire for self-representation on the part of ordinary citizens: in contrast to earlier times, it was desired that one's name should resound far beyond the confines of one's hometown. Many of these tombs, which soon also began to appear in both western and eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, resemble public honorific monuments, with their elaborate architecture and opulent ornamentation. A particularly well-preserved example is the mausoleum (59 feet high) of the Julii in St. Rémy-de-Provence (Glanum) in the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis, dating from the middle of the first century BC. The statues commemorating the deceased family members stand in a small round tempietto perched on two distinct architectural elements piled on top of one another: an edifice of four arched bays (quadrifrons) on a base adorned with scenes of battle and hunting. It was customary in late Republican art and architecture to try to enhance a monument's effect by combining heterogeneous formal elements in new ways."
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| Roman builders and artists Tomb of Caecilia Metella ca. 30 BC marble (outer layer) and concrete Via Appia, south of Rome |
"Caecilia Metella came from an old aristocratic family and was married to a son of C. Licinius Crassus Dives. The magnificent monument served to bolster the reputations of both families. It is located on a rise near the Via Appia and can be seen from afar even today."
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| Roman builders and artists Funerary monument of M. Vergilius Eurysaces (baker) late 1st century BC marble and brick Porta Maggiore, Rome |
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| Roman builders and artists Funerary monument of M. Vergilius Eurysaces (bakery frieze) late 1st century BC marble and brick Porta Maggiore, Rome |
"The funerary monuments of middle-class freedmen, by contrast, lined the side roads like small row houses. M. Vergilius Eurysaces, the wealthy owner of a large bakery, was sufficiently well-off that he was able to have his monument, for which he chose the very appropriate shape of a granary, erected in a prominent position at a crossroads. A long frieze showed his efficient methods of bread production and the impressive scale of his business."
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| Roman provincial builders and artists Stage façade in outdoor theater late 2nd century AD marble Sabratha, Libya |
"The façade of this theater with its beautiful columns of colored marble has been re-erected by Italian archaeologists. Today the theater gives an excellent impression of the original appearance of the three-story scaenae frons (decorated background). In many such theaters, the areas between the columns were decorated with portrait statues or representations of gods, most of them based on Greek models."
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| Roman builders and artists Arch of Constantine AD 315 marble and brick Rome |
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| Roman workshops Trajan vanquishing barbarian army (from the "Great Trajanic frieze" and later incorporated in the Arch of Constantine) AD 100-115 and AD 315 marble Rome |
"This relief from the "Great Trajanic frieze" – now on the Arch of Constantine – shows the emperor in heroic mode at the head of his army, personally putting the barbarians to flight, just like Alexander the Great. In reality, as we gather from Trajan's Column, he would not have endangered himself so recklessly but rather would have directed the battle from a safe distance. By contrast with the column, what we have here is a hyperbolic image of victory, combining selective moments into a single composition. The barbarians, helpless before the Roman onslaught, are already fleeing wildly in all directions. In the background, legionaries hold up the severed heads of Dacians as trophies, and behind the emperor we can see the signiferi bearing the standards of the legions involved. The relief, almost 3 meters (10 feet) high, was later reused in the central bay on the Arch of Constantine, and Trajan's head was altered to resemble Constantine's. Reuse of sculpture of all kinds was common in the third century, and general in late antiquity."
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| Roman workshop Relief fragment with Triumphal Procession of Augustus (from the Temple of Apollo Sosianus) ca 30-20 BC marble Musei Capitolini, Rome |
"Unfortunately, this is the only surviving fragment from the temple that shows scenes from Augustus's triumphal procession. On the left, we see two barbarian leaders, bound to a tropaion, who are to be displayed to the public on a portable platform. In the center is a trumpeter, and to the right comes a procession of sacrificial bulls with their attendants. The procession is supposed to be moving toward the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, where the triumphator will perform the great sacrifice for the state deity."
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| Hellenistic-Roman provincial workshop Augustus as ruler over Land and Sea (from the Sebasteion at Aphrodisias) 1st century AD marble Archaeological Museum, Aphrodisias |
"One of the five wider imperial reliefs (5 feet high) on the third story of the south portico of the Sebasteion at Aphrodisias. We see the emperor Augustus as ruler over Land and Sea, moving dynamically to the right, his head inclined at a forceful angle. In his right hand he is receiving a cornucopia symbolizing prosperity and wealth from the figure representing land, and in his left, a rudder, an allusion to safe travel over water, from the figure symbolizing the sea. The emperor's cloak billows up around him, creating a sort of halo."
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| Roman workshop Apotheosis (Pedestal of the column of Antoninus Pius) after AD 161 marble Musei Vaticani, Rome |
"Apotheosis relief on the front of the marble pedestal of the column erected in honor of Antoninus Pius, after AD 161. A youthful winged genius bears the deceased emperor and his wife, Faustina, up to heaven. At the lower left, we see the personification of the Campus Martius, where the ritual of apotheosis was performed. To make the location clear, the young man is holding the obelisk (erected there by Augustus) as the gnomon of his magnificent sundial. Opposite him, Roma on her throne greets the deified couple. She is armed with helmet, shield, and sword and surrounded by the weapons of her vanquished foes. The young genius is holding a globe in his hand, around which a snake is curled. This attribute was also used in the cult of Mithras and characterizes the youth as Aion (eternity). Above his outspread wings, which encompass almost the whole breadth of the image, are two eagles, the birds of apotheosis."
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| Roman workshop Rituals of Apotheosis (Pedestal of the column of Antoninus Pius) after AD 161 marble Musei Vaticani, Rome |
"On either side of the column pedestal are two almost identical reliefs showing, in a simplified style, the rituals of the apotheosis, namely the thrice-repeated circling of the pyre (decursio) by the cavalry, and the mock combat of the Praetorian guard. Both performances were meant to evoke ancient rituals performed after the deaths of heroes."
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| Roman workshop Ara Pacis (external screen wall with Pax Augusta relief) 13- 9 BC marble Museo dell'Ara Pacis, Rome |
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| Roman workshop Ara Pacis (external screen wall with acanthus-scroll frieze) 13-9 BC marble Museo dell'Ara Pacis, Rome |
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| Roman workshop Ara Pacis (inner screen wall with relief-swags) 13-9 BC marble Museo dell'Ara Pacis, Rome |
"On the Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace), which was erected by order of the Senate in the years 13-9 BC in celebration of Augustus's safe return from a long tour of the provinces, the justly celebrated reliefs depict the blessings of a peaceful reign using poetic and bucolic imagery. In the center of the upper relief we see a beautiful young mother with two small children sitting on a kind of rock-hewn throne. Behind her, ears of grain and poppy heads sprout up suggestively, springs flow out from beneath her, and livestock peacefully rest or graze at her feet. She is flanked by two personifications of favorable winds. The famous acanthus-scroll friezes, which occupy the entire lower zone of the exterior wall, are likewise tokens of the abundance bestowed on the world by the Augustan Peace. Many small creatures live among the leaves. The swans perched on the topmost tendrils are a reference to Apollo. The liveliness of the images obscures the fact that they are rigidly ordered, despite all their variation. The spirit of the Augustan era is manifested in this equilibrium between order and plurality. The wonderful swags on the inner face of the screen wall are composed of various kinds of fruit that ripen at different times of the year : grapes, ears of grain, apples, pears, nuts, olives and many other edible varieties, each with its corresponding leaves and branches. The swags are suspended from the skulls of sacrificial oxen (bucrania) and entwined with sacrificial ribbons. The libation dish (patera) suspended in the center on what must once have been a blue background shows that all these items are gifts for the goddess."
– Paul Zanker, from Roman Art, originally published in 2008, translated by Henry Heitmann-Gordon and published in English by the Getty Museum in 2010