The Origins of Roman Historical Commemoration in the Visual Arts
This book analyzes the mentality that required the invention of history to commemorate the achievements of aristocrats at the dawn of the Roman Empire. By investigating classical literary sources as well as the visual arts, this book helps us understand how the Romans justified their action to themselves and to their conquered subjects. It investigates how the Romans interacted with the artistic traditions of the ancient Greeks, Etruscans, and other Italian peoples.
- Features first published photos of several restored Roman paintings, also fourteen original drawings commissioned specifically for book
- Analysis of mentality that required historical commemoration and its art forms in the Republican period
- Only book in English to consider source material from diverse artistic traditions, thus expanding basis for discussion of Roman historical art
Reviews & endorsements
"...an invaluable reference source...that is both useful and stimulating. It will continue to provide an essential overview of this difficult material for a long time." New England Classical Journal
Product details
September 2002Hardback
9780521810135
310 pages
244 × 170 × 19 mm
0.7kg
111 b/w illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Images of triumph
- 2. Scenes of battle, emblems of conquest
- 3. Funerary commemorations
- 4. The religious and civic duties of magistrates
- 5. The effectiveness of historical commemorations in the Republican milieu.