ROMAN ART – EARLY EMPIRE

          Ancient Rome refers to the Roman civilization from the founding of the city of Rome by Romulus in 753 BCE to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE. Ancient Rome encompasses the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire until the fall of the western empire. In 509 BCE, Rome became a republic but collapsed in a civil war thus triggered the beginning of a new period. Roman Empire began in 31 BCE when Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, defeated Cleopatra and Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium and was granted overarching power and the new title ‘Augustus’. The imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history.

          When you think of Roman art, the Colosseum and the ruins of the Roman Forum immediately spring to mind. You may also think of all the public sculpture that decorated ancient Rome. Those are called public arts. These public works of art functioned as political propaganda and advertised the accomplishments of the emperor to all Romans. However, the emperor also commissioned small private works of art such as gems, and cameos. Unlike art in the public sphere, only a selected few would have been granted access to private arts. However, despite the fact that private art would not have been seen by the majority of Roman citizens, the messages contained within these works would have functioned in much the same way as their public counterparts.


Gemma Augustea
37 -41 CE

          Gemma Augustea is an example of cameos. Typically cameos were made of a brown stone that had bands or layers of white throughout, such as sardonyx. It is commonly agreed that the gem cutter who created the Gemma Augustea was either Dioscurides or one of his disciples, in the second or third decade of the 1st century CE. This layered stone was then carved in such a way that the figures stood out in white relief while the background remained the dark part of the stone. Most cameos were small and functioned as pendants or rings. But there are a few examples of much larger cameos that were specifically commissioned by the emperor and members of his imperial circle; Gemma Augustea is one of it.

          The Gemma Augustea is divided into two registers that are crammed with figures and iconography. The upper register contains three historical figures and a host of deities and personifications. At the center of the upper register, there are two large enthroned figures, Roma (the personification of the city of Rome) and the emperor Augustus. What does the top register mean, with its grouping of mortals, deities, and personifications? In short, everything praises Augustus. The emperor expresses his domination throughout the Roman Empire and his greatest accomplishment, the pacification of the Roman world, which resulted in fertility and prosperity.

          The lower register is significantly smaller than the upper, but it nevertheless has plenty of figures in its two scenes, both of which show captive barbarians and victorious Romans. At the left, Roman soldiers raise a trophy while degraded and humiliated barbarians sit at their feet. At the right is a similar scene, showing barbarians being brought into submission by Roman soldiers. While the upper register focuses on peace, the lower register represents the wars that established and maintained peace throughout the Roman Empire.

           So, even though the Gemma Augustea is a work of private art, the cameo nevertheless offers a political message and thus serves a purpose similar to public art. The Gemma proclaimed Augustus’s greatest accomplishment, the Pax Romana, his military victories, his connections to the gods and his god-like status, and his hopes for dynastic succession.



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