Chapter Five

(Don’t forget these notes are only part of the lesson. There are a number of films with information on which you are expected to take notes of your own.)

The Founding of Rome

The early Romans admired the Greeks tremendously, so they absorbed much Greek culture. For one thing, they needed an epic poem. To write theirs, the Roman’s chose Vergil (70—19 BC), who composed The Aeneid.

Aeneas was a hero in the Trojan war, his mother having been the goddess, Venus. (We are in Roman literature now, so we need to use the Roman names for the gods.) When Troy fell, Aeneas escaped, carrying his father, the wise old Anchises on his back. He then had many adventures on his own long odyssey to Italy.

Eventually, he landed in Latium through which the river Tiber flows. Aeneas married the daughter of King Latinus, Lavinia. Unfortunately, King Turnus of Rutuli also wanted to marry Lavinia, so Aeneas had to defeat him in a bloody war.

King Numitor, a descendant of Aeneas was ejected by his younger brother, Amulius who murdered Numitor's sons and forced Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, to become a vestal virgin. (Vestal virgins were priestesses to the goddess Vesta and were expected to guard their virginity in the goddess' honor on pain of death.) However Mars, the god of war, became enchanted by her beauty and had his way with her while she slept. As a result of this Rhea Silvia bore twins, Romulus and Remus.

(Rhea Silvia in a painting by Rubens.)

Amulius had Rhea Silvia thrown into the river Tiber where she was rescued by the river god who married her. The twins were set adrift on the river in a reed basket (another one!). They floated downstream until the basket was caught in the branches of a fig tree. They were rescued and suckled by a LUPA.

(“lupa” is Latin for both 'she-wolf' and 'prostitute‘, so there are two versions of the story: that a wolf raised them, like Mowgli, or a former prostitute wife of a shepherd raised them.)

As adults, the twins decided to found a new city close to where they had been washed ashore, caught by the fig tree. They decided to build it on Palatine Hill and made Romulus King. As Romulus was marking the city's boundaries with a plough, Remus however leapt over the furrow, either in jest or derision. Romulus lost his temper and killed his brother.

The new city, had almost no women, so, determined to solve this problem, Romulus invited the neighboring tribe of the Sabines to a harvest festival. Once their guests had arrived, the Romans decided to abduct at sword point 600 Sabine daughters.

(The Rape of the Sabine Women has been a favorite subject for many different artists: Picasso . . . Giambologna . . . David)

It’s even been the subject of the modern story, “The Sobbin’ Women,” by Stephen Vincent Benet, which was the source for the classic film, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The book to which they refer is Plutarch’s Lives, a two volume edition of biographies of Romans and Greeks, which used to be on the shelf right next to The Bible in many homes, as well as a primary source for many Shakespearian plays.

As we have seen, the pendulum of Humanism in Greece had swung way to the left in the Hellenistic period, with classical art and philosophy giving way to entertainment and physical gratification. It would go much the same with the Roman civilization: a grim, self-controlled outlook as the country is building (GRAVITAS) (250—31 BC), followed by a Golden Age of art during a time of peace and stability (31 BC—14 AD), then a Silver Age (14—200 AD) in which art loses its originality, and society becomes more selfish and profane.

In addition to Plutarch and Vergil, other great literary figures included Horace, Ovid, and Juvenal. Horace (65 - 8 BC) Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD)

Horace wrote in the age of Augustus, copying his meter and form from Greek models. An early Roman writer, his work was formal and well-planned. Many Latin phrases in use today come from Horace, such as:

Carpe diem meaning "pluck the day," "enjoy the moment". (Robin Williams' character as a teacher of a boys' boarding school in the film Dead Poets Society uses it.)

Also by Horace:

“A picture is a poem without words.”

“A word once uttered can never be recalled.”

“He who has begun has half done. Dare to be wise: begin.” “He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.”

“It is your concern when your neighbor's wall is on fire.”
“Knowledge without education is but armed injustice.” “The harder you fall, the higher you bounce.”

And, in Latin: aurea mediocritas : “The Golden Mean”

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori : It is a good and proper thing to die for ones country.

“Dolce Et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen (1918)

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!-An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Somewhat younger than Horace, Ovid is more humanistic. His works deal with love and legends, shape-shifting, and romance. The Metamorphoses is his most famous work, but Art of Love is the work that earned him his well-deserved reputation as a writer of pornography.

His famous “Pyramus and Thisbe” was used by Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Not much is known about Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis, (Juvenal), satiric poet of the late 1st century and early 2nd century AD. His satires, although often pornographic, told us much about the way people lived in Rome. His misogynistic work, On Women, speaks against marriage and contains his famous phrase: "Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?", "But who watches the watchmen?“

He also coined the phrase “Bread and circuses” to describe the needs of the Roman mob.

Early Roman art copied Greek work. (Much of the sculpture we’ve already seen have been Roman copies rather than Greek originals.) Roman taste seems to have preferred the more humanistic work, when figures were posed more dramatically and shaped more sensually.

Later, when the Roman sculptors were more self-confident, their greatest contribution was to faces, making Roman art more realistic and less ideal than that of the early Greek.

Copied Greek art was not enough for the Romans, who had great pride and self-confidence, so they tried to improve on the original.

Rome’s greatest cultural achievements were in engineering and architecture.

Rome emulated the skills of the Etruscans.

Roman Roads.

Aqueducts

Cement

Arches and Vaults

Arches became an important part of construction. Even the word “architecture” has the same root word. A Roman arch is a strong, rounded arch that forms a semi-circle. Often made of masonry, Roman arches still stand in the Coliseum.

Other cultures used the same arch, in their own particular style:

A Syrian, or segmental, arch forms a partial curve, or eyebrow, over a door or window. This arch has a slight rise and is semi-elliptical across the top. These appeared in the first century AD.

A narrow, pointed opening is the hallmark of a Gothic arch. The Gothic arch developed as a more sinuous and elegant successor to the Roman arch and was widely used in cathedrals of the Middle Ages such as Notre Dame in Paris.

Tudor arches are often described as "flattened" Gothic arches. They feature a point at the crown, but the span is much wider than the Gothic style. (16th century)

A Moorish, or horseshoe arch, extends beyond a semi-circle. The top of the arch is rounded and then curves in slightly before descending.
(Spain, 700 AD)

A Flat arch, also known as jack or straight arch, extends straight across an opening with no curvature, creating a horizontal emphasis. Popular in England, during the Georgian period (1730-1800 ).

Parts of an arch.

The Flavian Amphitheater (Coliseum)

The Hypogeum

The Roman emperor, Trajan (A.D. 98-117), teamed up with a Greek architect, Apollodorus of Damascus, to create Trajan’s Forum. (Trajan’s fabulous forum was probably the inspiration for the wonderful shops at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.)

The Pantheon

Other Roman Art

Pompeii

Roman Theatre was notable in that it perpetuated the characters from Greek comedy. These were the major playwrights:

LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA (3 B.C.-65 A.D.) Seneca is the only surviving Roman tragedian. He mostly adapted the works of Seneca for the Roman Theatre. As the crowds preferred comedy, Seneca’s works may have only been performed as readings in wealthy homes, and not onstage at all.

Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254 BC-184 BC) : Ignoring the Greek standards such as a chorus and all the trappings, he took the characters from Greek comedy and rewrote them with emphasis on the common man, often taking the audience to exotic locals. His funny play of mistaken identity, the Menæchmi, was used by Shakespeare in The Comedy of Errors.

Publius Terentius Afer (Terence) 190-159 BC

A slave to a Roman Senator, Terence was well educated and his works were more plebian than those of Plautus. His works, still highly comical, dealt more with the wealthier upper class.

The theater in Rome tended to be a rather immoral place, where actors and actresses were usually available for “other entertainments” after the show. This immoral stigma remained with actors until well into the 20th century.

The comedic style of Rome has been used for centuries: mistaken identity, visual farce, over hearings, discoveries, chance meeting, coincidence, sudden reversal, surprise endings, etc.

And most popular of all was the chase. Here’s a typical chase in a more modern film:

While our major concern is Roman Art and culture, rather than history, it might be helpful to to review the major Roman rulers:

The First Triumvirate (unofficially 70—49 BC) a division of power between Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, eventually broken up by civil war and won by Caesar.

The Second Triumvirate (43—33 BC) actually a dictatorship established after Caesar’s murder by Mark Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus. Eventually, after Antony’s defeat at the Battle of Actium (31 BC), Octavian became the first emperor of Rome, renaming himself Caesar Augustus.

AUGUSTUS (31 B.C. - 14 A.D.)

Called by some “The Father of his country,” Octavian established much of the government rules of Rome. Additionally, he is responsible for much of the beautiful architecture of Rome, known for replacing brick with marble. Rome’s greatest poets thrived during his reign: Vergil, Horace, Ovid, etc. For 200 years, starting with his rule, Rome enjoyed peace and prosperity.

Tiberius (A.D. 14-37)

The successor to a great ruler, Tiberius, was a rather minor emperor, choosing to spend much of his time on vacation on the Island of Capri, rather than making any major changes in government. He eventually became a paranoiac, completely psychotic, possibly the result of venereal disease.

Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Caligula) A.D. 37-41

Heir to Tiberius, Caligula was probably the most insane of all the Roman rulers. He had incestuous relations with his sisters, ordered the Roman senators to prostitute their wives to raise income, is said to have claimed jus primae noctis (law of the first night), and wanted to make his horse a senator. He was the first to kill Christians in the arena.

Claudius (41-54 A.D.)

Caligula’s successor was a good man who feigned simple-mindedness in order to keep alive during the many poisonings. He is most famous for having annexed Britain into the Roman empire and for being the most famous cuckold in history, thanks to Messalina, Rome’s most lascivious woman.

Nero (54-68 A.D.)

A vile emperor, probably the Antichrist defined in “Revelations,” Nero burned Rome and blamed it on the Christians so he could effect genocide on the Christian Community, had St. Peter Crucified upside down, murdered his wife , his mother, and countless others.

Titus Flavius Vespasianus (A.D. 69-79)

Upon Nero’s death, Rome endured a series of worthless emperors, fighting amongst themselves for power. Finally, Vespasian was named ruler and he brought back stability to the empire—raising taxes, but using all the money for the good of the Roman people.

Trajan (A.D. 98-117)

The next few emperors were unimportant, offering little change. Trajan was important, as we have already said, because he made many architectural improvements to the city.

Hadrian (A.D. 117-138)

Hadrian may have been one of the greatest emperors. He traveled all over the empire, built the famous Hadrian’s Wall in England, finished Trajan’s engineering projects, and designed the Pantheon. He is also Rome’s most openly homosexual ruler, having spent most of his life with a dear friend, Antinous, of whom Hadrian had many sculptures made.

Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161-180)

The last emperor of the Pax Romana, Marcus was a philosopher and a genius. Those of you who have seen Gladiator know that after his death, his son, Commodus, was the first of many incompetent rulers that eventually led to the fall of the empire. For those of you who are interested in such matters, Marcus was an opium addict.

Constantine I (306 - 337 A.D.)

Not much important happens in Rome until the rule of Constantine, who had a vision in 312 which caused him to convert to Christianity and stop forever the persecution of Christians.

Constantine’s mother, Helena, traveled to the east in 327-328. Aided by a Holy vision, she is said to have walked the streets of Jerusalem and pointed out the location of various Holy places, including the site of the crucifixion.

[Paolo Caliari Veronese : “The Vision of Saint Helena” (c. 1580)]

Julian the Apostate (360-363 A.D.)

The next emperor of importance is Julian, vilified by Christians because he was a Hellenist who thought he could return Rome to its former glory by tossing out Christianity and going back to Hellenism. One way he tried to discredit the Christians was to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem.

According to historian Ammianus Marcellinus (A.D. c.330 - 395), “But though Alypius pushed the work on with vigor, terrible balls of fire kept bursting forth near the foundations of the Temple and made the place inaccessible to the workmen, some of whom were burned to death; and since in this way the element persistently repelled them, the enterprise halted.” ("Res Gestae," Book XXIII)

Other historians support this event, calling it “an earthquake”, “flames” from the sky, even “fiery crosses from the heavens.”

In 395, the Roman empire split between Rome and what would later become Constantinople. We shall discuss this period at a later date.