Modern representations of Roman culture tend to ignore its centuries-long history, assuming consistency throughout ancient Rome. Although there was continuity, Roman architecture and spatial planning witnessed changes over centuries. Changes in politics, religion or knowledge of technology can often be perceived from buildings of different periods, as public constructions remained a major part of imperial propaganda. Topographic changes in the city of Rome during the reign of two important Roman emperors, Trajan (r. 97-117 AD) and Constantine (r. 306-337 AD), unveiled progression in engineering techniques, specific aspects of the emperors’ political propaganda, as well as changes in beliefs held by the people of Rome. Trajan reigned 97-117 …show more content…
As a part of his new Forum, Trajan built a new basilica, Basilica Ulpia, which carried name of his family (Packer 34). On the other hand, the construction of the Constantine’s basilica, known as Basilica Nova, started during the reign of Maxentius, Constantine’s opponent in the civil war but Constantine continued and completed its construction. It was the first basilica built in Rome after the time of the Emperor Trajan and was located on the Via Sacra near the temple of Venus and Roma (Kleiner 296). As part of their political propaganda, both emperors used the basilicas for self-promotion. On the outer part of the Basilica Ulpia stands a statue of Trajan driving chariot with four horses (Packer 34). Likewise, Constantine placed his portrait in the west apse, on the same site where Maxentius planned to place his statue (Kleiner 296). Basilica Nova was slightly smaller in size, 300 feet long and 215 feet wide, compared to Basilica Ulpia which was 400 feet long and 200 feet wide. There was also difference in building materials and roof design. Instead of traditional stone and wood, Basilica Nova was built from concrete. In place of the traditional wooden roof of Basilica Ulpia, Basilica Nova had small coffered barrel vaults in the aisles, which allowed the interior to be better illuminated (Kleiner 297). These differences are reflective of the advances in …show more content…
The Arch of Trajan was placed at Benevento on the road Via Traiana which connected Rome with southern Italy. The Arch depicted Trajan’s achievements during his military campaign, his building successes, and the emperor as pontifex maximus and the benefactor of the poor (Kleiner 165). The Arch of Constantine, however, was built in honor of his victory over Maxentius, an opponent in the civil war. Maxentius was simply referred to as the “tyrant” in the dedicatory inscription, potentially intended by Constantine to erase the opponent’s name from public memory (Kleiner 294). The Arch of Constantine was placed near the Colosseum and in the inscription, Constantine thanks to “divinity” for granting him the victory, not to openly name the Christian God (Kleiner 294). This deliberately vague reference was likely to avoid conflicts with traditional pagan religions and foreshadowed Constantine’s efforts to transform Rome into a Christian
After the Edict of Milan was established, towns went under a slow transformation. Although it continued to focus of urban life, many temples were slowly replaced by Christian buildings. The Emperor highly encouraged Christian art and architecture. Theodosius I, the last Roman Emperor, acknowledged Christianity as the state religion in 380. Art was no longer created secretly underground or hidden inside of churches; it could be displayed openly in front of the public. For the first time, several basilicas were built openly for Christian worship and inside those basilicas, paintings and mosaics of biblical stories were created to be viewed publicly. The Edict of Milan made the Roman Empire become a huge contributor to Christian art and architecture and it created an tremendous revolution in history.
The Hagia Sophia is a stunning, spherical-shaped building made of marble and gold (Doc. 4). Justinian built the Hagia Sophia, which means “Holy Wisdom” in Greek, after a church of the same name was destroyed in riots in Constantinople (outside information). Procopius, Justinian’s court historian, described the church as “suspended from heaven by the fabled golden chain” (Doc. 4). Undoubtedly, visitors to the Hagia Sophia are left breathless by its beauty (outside information). Other churches that Justinian built include the Church of St. Salvator in Chora and the Church of the Apostles (Doc. 5). Justinian’s churches were beautiful; however, they were created to be more than just a display. The churches caused people to feel a connection with God, which helped unify the empire under a single faith. The bonding of the Romans under one faith helped strengthen the entire empire. Moreover, the abundance of churches in Constantinople helped make the city the center of religious power (Doc. 5). Evidence of Justinian’s legacy can be found when one realizes that the Byzantine Empire’s revived culture influenced Orthodox Christianity, a major branch of modern
The Political Decay of the Roman Republic The fall of the Western Roman Empire was the first example in history on the collapse of a constitutional system which was caused by the internal decay in political, military, economics, and sociological issues. The government was becoming corrupt with bribery. Commanders of the Roman army turned their own army inward towards their own Constitutional systems, fueled by their own ruthless ambition. This paper will talk about how the violence and internal turmoil in 133 B.C.-27 B.C. was what provoked the economic stagnation in the city of Rome and to the end of the Republic and the many corrupt politicians and generals who only thought of nothing more than personal gains and glory. The senate lost control of the Roman military and the reason they rose against the senate was because the senate were no longer able to help manage the social problems or the military and administrative problems of the empire.
As early as 526-530 the church of SS. Cosma e Damiano was converted from what had been the offices and audience hall of the city prefect (Krautheimer 71). This building of state was placed in the Roman Forum and had been completed by none other than Constantine...
The Romans have had almost every type of government there is. They've had a kingdom, a republic, a dictatorship, and an empire. Their democracy would be the basis for most modern democracies. The people have always been involved with and loved their government, no matter what kind it was. They loved being involved in the government, and making decisions concerning everyone. In general, the Romans were very power-hungry. This might be explained by the myth that they are descended from Romulus, who's father was Mars, the god of war. Their government loving tendencies have caused many, many civil wars. After type of government, the change has been made with a civil war. There have also been many civil wars between rulers. But it all boils
Trajan was the second of the five good emperors. He was considered Optimus Princeps or “best emperor” because he not only renewed the Titus-Nerva oath of protecting senators’ lives, he also respected the people. For instance, Pliny stated that “Trajan behaved as one of us, just like a private citizen” and so he gained the respect of the roman people. Furthermore, he gained even greater respect from the people as he allowed for freedom of speech. Not only did Trajan have a great relationship with the Roman Senate and people, he also benefited the Empire tremendously. He was able to extend the Roman Empire into Dacia, Arabia, and Parthia and his wars with the Parthian Empire allowed him to take over the areas of Armenia and Mesopotamia. Moreover, Trajan’s campaigns resulted in the largest Roman Empire that the world would see. Trajan also made possible the building of the Alcantara Bridge, making travel easier in the Roman province of Spain. Nerva, Trajan’s predecessor, was unable to benefit the Roman Empire in a great fashion, and so he is considered only a...
Politics in Pompeii and Herculaneum was an essential and important aspect of life. Politics enabled the towns to run successfully and smoothly. There were elections held for politicians, which included the election of two Duumviri and two pairs of Aediles. The comitum, which was made up of roman males who were over the age of 25, voted for who they believed should be the next Aediles and Duumviri. People who were running for the positions or people who wanted someone they liked to be elected would leave messages everywhere to promote and advocate them in hopes for them to be elected. There were over 2000 electoral notices found in Pompeii. This can be shown in source B which is the programmata from the House of Loreius Tiburtinus, Pompeii.
One of the most striking uses of architecture for glorification of a Roman emperor is the Arch of Titus. Built specifically upon the highest point of the Via Sacra, or Sacred Road, this arch is a lasting monument to the glorification of Titus. The Arch of Titus was built by Emperor Domitian to honor the capture and siege of Jerusalem by Titus and his apotheosis, or deification. This arch is an outstanding example of one of the most celebrated ways used by the Romans to express the honor and glory of their emperors.
Upon the death of his father and Galerius, the two Roman emperors at the time (approx. 315 CE), Constantine considered himself the new leader of Rome, even though Galerius had attributed Lucinius as ruler of the east. Maxentius opposed Constantine, and a battle would ensue to determine the ruler. Constantine defeated Maxentius, and his adoption of Christianity happened leading up to the battle. Eusebius of Caesarea wrote that Constantine saw a burning cross with the words “In this sign thou shalt conquer,” (Constantine I).
Mouritsen field of study was ancient history at King’s college in London, this was a very interesting topic to him. The author purpose in writing this book was to better understand the political system in the late roman republic. He believes that the populus Romans held absolute power when it came to electing officials for legislation. Mouritsen had a question about the voting structure at the time, that allowed roman citizens to choose the next tribune. The question was based on the size of the crowds that would attend public meeting and vote. Also, if that size influenced how the system worked. Also, the location as to which this meeting was held. He had questioned how long it would take a vote to happened and compared writings from other historians to come up with estimates. Lastly how roman is run and the challenges it faces brought out by the rich
The Roman Empire: one of the most dominant and relentless Civilizations in the world. The Romans were made up of many different backgrounds and ethnicities. Early influence to the Roman Empire were from the Etruscans. Influences from the past civilizations all had an effect on roman culture, for example the Greeks had an influences on roman architecture. The things that romans came up with and invented all came from two groups the Etruscans and the Greeks. One thing that Romans used to build Domes, arches (Etruscans), and columns (Greek) is the invention of Roman concrete. They also used concrete to make baths, temples, and coliseums. During the time of the Roman Empire There were more influences, not just from people but from religions.
The Roman Republic had an upstanding infrastructure, a stable social system, and a balanced constitution that solidified Rome’s greatness. Regardless of its achievements, however, the Roman Republic owes much of its success to classical Greek cultures. These cultures, in conjunction with the fundamental values of Roman society, certified Rome as one of the most significant powers the world has ever seen.
The Roman Republic began approximately around 509 B.C. when the nobles drove the King and his family out of Rome. This monumental incident helped shape the start to the transformation of the monarchy into a republican governmental system. This is known to have begun by that of the Roman nobles trying to hold their power that they had gained. The Republic was “[a] city-state [which] was the foundation of Greek society in the Hellenic Age; in the Hellenistic Age, Greek cities became subordinate to kingdoms, larder political units ruled by autocratic monarchs” (Perry 105)
The first to try to reconstruct Rome was the emperor Constantine. In his capital of Constantinople, Constantine wanted to reconstruct the city to be an exact replication of Rome. In doing so he reconstructed some of the buildings as almost exact duplicates of the originals of early Roman architecture. Or Constantine's drive to reenact Rome's republic, and turn it back to a government ran by the senators for the people. In fact he was quite successful until it was finally demolished. However, Constantine did further the beliefs of Roman Catholic Christianity, which with its advancement of the army, Rome's religion reached many new lands.
The society of the ancient Romans has often been considered the bases for our modern society. When one thinks of the Roman society, pictures of grand villa's and of senators wearing Toga's come to mind. Also, Roman society is often associated with great feasts and extravagance among the rich. There is more to Rome, however, then these symbols and the Classical Roman society is one with a complicated history that covers the history of the ancient city and involves the family, the home, education and much more. The social structure of ancient Rome was based on heredity, property, wealth, citizenship and freedom. It was also based around men: women were defined by the social status of their fathers or husbands. Women were expected to look after the houses and very few had any real independence.