ART & POLITICS IN IMPERIAL ROME ARH 327N MWF 2 3 Dr. Penelope Davies DFA 2.518 Tel. 232-2319 Office hours: M 3-4 Course description: This survey of the public art of Rome begins with Augustus accession to power (27 BCE) and ends in the late antique period in the early fourth century CE. Lectures are primarily concerned with state or imperial works of architecture and sculpture in Rome. The works are assessed within their cultural, political and topographical contexts as vehicles for propaganda, commissioned and designed by the powerful elite, often in the interests of confirming legitimacy. Politics and power changed the face of Rome through these monuments, which in turn provided sculptural, architectural and urbanistic models that influenced western cultures for centuries to come. REQUIRED TEXTS: Steven L. Tuck, A History of Roman Art (Wiley Blackwell 2015) Amanda Claridge, Rome. An Oxford Archaeological Guide (Oxford University Press 2010) Penelope J. E. Davies Death and the Emperor (University of Texas Press 2004) Of additional interest: Fred Kleiner, A History of Roman Art (Wadsworth) Diana E. E. Kleiner, Roman Sculpture (Yale University Press 1992) Frank Sear, Roman Architecture (Cornell 1980) William L. MacDonald, The Architecture of the Roman Empire I. An Introduction (Yale University Press 1982) General information concerning sites in Rome can be found in Larry Richardson Jr s A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Johns Hopkins University Press 1992) and in the more comprehensive Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae (Quasar 1993-2000). Both of these works are available in the Classics Library Reference Room. Other useful sources are listed below under specific topics. Articles are available on blackboard. REQUIREMENTS: Reading assignments are indicated in the schedule of topics listed below. You are strongly advised to keep up to date with the readings as the semester progresses, preferably reading your assignments before the lectures. Attendance of lectures is not mandatory; however, you are responsible for all the material discussed in class, and the texts by no means cover all this material. There is a strong discussion component to the classes, which are designed to encourage you to explore your own reactions to and assessments of the works 1
of art presented in lectures and the ideas of scholars working in the field. This is also the objective of the essay format of the exams. GRADING: There are three exams, held in class time. No make- up exams will be given. The exams are non- cumulative, and each one counts for 30% of your final grade. An eight- page paper may be substituted for one exam, on a subject to be agreed upon. One class presentation will count for 10% of your final grade. Each of the four requirements must be completed in order to pass the course. Grades will include +/, calculated as follows: B+ 87 89, A- 90 93, A 94 96, A+ 97 100 (and so on). The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY. 2
The following is a tentative schedule of subjects to be covered in class and assigned readings: Aug. 24 Aug. 26 Aug. 29 Aug. 31 Sept. 2 Sept. 5 Sept. 7 Sept. 9 Sept. 12 Sept. 14 Sept. 16 Introduction The Republic Tuck 2 112; Claridge 4 12, 33 61 and by monument; Kleiner 1 59 The Republic, cont. Augustus: An Ambiguous Victory Tuck 113 144; Kleiner 61 77; Claridge 124 126, 135 144 Augustus: Finding a Face P. Zanker, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (Ann Arbor 1988) 33 77 Labor Day Augustus: The Problem of Succession Kleiner 79 101; Claridge 197 207, 214 216 Davies 13 19, 49 74, 136 42 Augustus: A Brave New World Claridge 177 180, 207 213 D. Favro, Reading the Augustan City, Narrative and Event in Ancient Art, ed. Peter J. Holliday (Cambridge 1993) 230-257 Augustus Augustus Review Sept. 19 Exam #1 Sept. 21 Sept. 23 Sept. 26 The Julio- Claudians: Fickle Followers Tuck 145 163; Kleiner 103 114; Claridge 349 350, 383 385 The Julio- Claudians: Nero: God or Man? Tuck 163 167; Kleiner 115 119; Claridge 326 328, 343 344 Edward Champlin, Nero (Harvard 2003) 178 209 4 Emperors and the Flavians: Unrest and Stability 3
Tuck 178 196; Kleiner 121 137, Claridge 121 123 Sept. 28 Sept. 30 Oct. 3 Oct. 5 Oct. 7 Oct. 10 Oct. 12 Oct. 14 Oct. 17 Oct. 19 Oct. 21 Oct. 24 The Flavians: Under your direction, O Caesar, those delights now belong to the people... Tuck 197 205; Claridge 145 159, 169 176, 234 237, 301 306, 312 319; Davies 19-27, 142-58 Kathleen M. Coleman, Fatal Charades: Roman Executions Staged as Mythological Enactments, Journal of Roman Studies 80 (1990) 44-73 Trajan: Princeps Optimus Tuck 211 244; Kleiner 153 169; Claridge 180 186, 193 196 Trajan: The Column Davies 27-34, 120-35; Claridge 186 191 A. Claridge, Hadrian s Column of Trajan, Journal of Roman Archaeology 6 (1993) 5-22 Trajan, cont. Provinces (Dr. Muntasser) Provinces (Dr. Muntasser) Provinces (Dr. Muntasser) Palace architecture (Dr. Thomas) Tuck 14 15, 128 133, 167 177, 205 209 Palace architecture (Dr. Thomas) Palace architecture (Dr. Thomas) The Pantheon Kleiner 181 183; Claridge 226 232; Davies 34-40, 75-101, 158-63 Paul Davies, D. Hemsoll and M. Wilson Jones, The Pantheon: Triumph of Rome or Triumph of Compromise? Art History 10.2 (1987) 133-53 William C. Loerke, "ʺA rereading of the interior elevation of Hadrian'ʹs Rotunda,"ʺ Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 49 (1990) 22-43 L. M. Hetland, Dating the Pantheon, Journal of Roman Archaeology 20 (2007) 95 112 The Pantheon 4
Oct. 26 Oct. 28 Hadrian: The Little Greekling Kleiner 171 181, 184 185; Claridge 118 121, 410 415 Review Oct. 31 Exam #2 Nov. 2 Nov. 4 Nov. 7 Nov. 9 Nov. 11 Nov. 14 Nov. 16 Nov. 18 Nov. 21 Antonines: The Pius Tuck 245 272; Kleiner 183 184, 187 197; Claridge 111 113, 223 226; Davies 40-42, 102-119, 163-65 Antonines: Dividing Rule Kleiner 197 201; Claridge 219 221; Davies 42-48, 165-71 Severans: Dynasty and Damnation Tuck 273 299; Kleiner 203 241 Severans: Dynasty and Damnation Severans: Baths and Bathing Kleiner 243 245; Claridge 324 326, 357 365 Fikret Yegül, Bathing in the Roman World (Cambridge University Press 2010) Third century: A Soldier s Empire Tuck 301 333; Kleiner 247 277; Claridge 369 371 Tetrarchs: From Principate to Dominate Kleiner 279 289; Claridge 115 117, 391 394, 426 430 H.P. L Orange, Art Forms and Civic Life in the Late Roman Empire (Princeton 1965) 3-18 M. Cullhed, Conservator Urbis Suae. Studies in the Politics and Propaganda of the Emperor Maxentius (Stockholm 1994) 45-67 Constantine: Monarchy Revised Tuck 334 362; Kleiner 291 306; Claridge 308 312 N. Spivey, Stumbling Towards Byzantium: The Decline and Fall of Late Antique Sculpture, Apollo 20 (1995) 20-23 P. Peirce, The Arch of Constantine: Propaganda and Ideology in Late Roman Art, Art History 12 (1989) 387-418 D. Kinney, Rape or Restitution of the Past? Interpreting Spolia, The Art of Interpreting, ed. S. C. Scott (University Park, Penn. 1995) 53-67 Constantine, cont. 5
Nov. 23 Nov. 25 Nov. 28 Nov. 30 Dec. 2 Thanksgiving break Thanksgiving break Presentations Presentations Review Dec. 5 Exam #3 6