Late Empire - 192-400 A.D.
By the time of Marcus Aurelius, Roman power was beginning to erode. During the third century, Pax Romana, the peace established by Augustus, comes to an end. Rome is invaded by Persians on the East and German tribes on the West. Many of the Germans actually wanted to be Romans, but Rome did not have the ability at that time to assimilate them. Troops from the East brought back plague and killed 20-25 % of the population. Taxes were used to support military — and when taxes could not support them, then the currency was debased and the Romans experienced inflation of 100-200 percent per year. There were constant Civil Wars. No public monuments were erected in the 3rd century A.D. Many leaders were killed.
Philip the Arab, Emperor, 250 A.D.
Philip the Arab was one of the Roman soldier emperors. It is made of stone. We see him as a military man (with a crew cut). With this imperial portrait, we see the first break in the Greek Tradition. The face is anguished and spiritual. We no longer see the solid geometry of the head — the emphasis is on the face. This suggests a movement away from Greek art and return to Italic style, but elevated to Emperor level. The eyes have strongly incised pupils — windows to the soul.
Heroic Portrait of Trebonianus Gallus, 251-253 A.D.
This is a portrait of an Emperor!! It embodies the Greek ideal, but with Roman realism. It seems like a desperate measure!
By the time this was done, life in the Roman Empire was now really rough. Many lost confidence and faith in the Greek approach to life. Romans who lived in Egypt were adopting Egyptian religions. There emerged many other religions, both old and new. Near Eastern Mystery cults became very popular, and Christianity gained followers. Some of the major cults are summarized below.
| Cult of Isis — This was a cult from Egypt that was attractive to Roman women. It had a ten day initiation ceremony where the main event was a play that acted out the death and rebirth of Osiris (review the Egyptian myth of Osiris). It was emphasized that the miraculous resurrection was achieved through the grief and faithfulness of Isis. The followers of the Cult of Isis believed that they would gain immortality. The faience statuette on the right is Isis suckling Horus, the child that she conceived with the resurrected Osiris. |  |
| Cult of Glykon or Glycon — The cult image was a serpent god with a human face, long hair. It was an odd juxtaposition of forms. This snake could look like a human and talk like a woman. The snake was connected with the oracle — which predicted the future and cured certain problems. This cult lasted for about 10 years. There are Roman judicial records which exposed it as a sham. Even so, the Cult of Glykon remained present in what is now Turkey — where is seems to have fulfilled an emotional need. The need for superstition was pervasive, as was the interest in the afterlife. |  |
| Cult of Mithras — this cult came to the Roman empire from Persia.
It is believed to have originated with Indo-European nomads some 2000 years before
the birth of Christ. By the time that the cult appeared in Rome, Mithra was
portrayed with a halo of sunbeams. He was a champion of truth and light.
This was a man’s religion. It had a rigorous initiation ceremony and was extremely secret. It emphasized fraternity and combat. It spread very quickly among Roman soldiers. By the third century, it was the army’s unofficial religion. In a superficial way, it resembled Christianity. For example, followers of Mithras had a sacrament similar to baptism, although it used bull’s blood instead of water. The function was to ensure purification of the worshipper (renewal of spirit). Mithras was a man-god savior, but followers acknowledged other gods as well. The Cult of Mithras promised its believers salvation. Indeed, his own life was a pattern for salvation — he was a hero, who, by dying, conquered death. |
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Below is a 2nd century account of the very strong emotions that were often tapped by these Roman mystery cults.
From: Linnea H. Wren, Perspectives on Western Art (New York: Harper & Row, 1987), 141-42.
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Apuleius, The Golden Ass, 2nd century A.D. Orgiastic Frenzy The next morning the eunuch priests prepared to go out on their rounds, all dressed in different colours and looking absolutely hideous, their faces daubed with rouge and their eye-sockets painted to ring out the brightness of their eyes. They wore mitre-shaped birettas, saffron-coloured chasubles, silk surplices, girdles and yellow shoes. . . . They covered the Goddess with a silk mantle and set her on my back, the horn-player struck up and they started brandishing enormous swords and maces, and leaping about like maniacs, with their arms bared to the shoulders. After passing through several hamlets we reached a large country-house where, raising a yell at the gate, they rushed frantically in and danced again. They would throw their heads forward so that their long hair fell down over their faces, then rotate them so rapidly that it wheeled around in a circle. Every now and then they would bite themselves savagely and as a climax cut their arms with the sharp knives that they carried. One of them let himself go more ecstatically than the rest. Heaving deep sighs from the very bottom of his lungs, as if filled with the spirit of the Goddess, he pretended to go stark-mad. . . . He began by making a bogus confession of guilt, crying out in prophetic tones that he had in some way offended against the holy laws of his religion. Then he called on his own hands to inflict the necessary punishment and snatching up one of the whips that these half-men always carry. . . gave himself a terrific flogging. The ground was slippery with the blood that oozed from the knife-cuts and the wounds made by the flying bones. . . . At last they grew tired, or thought that they had cut themselves about enough for the day; so they stopped. The crowd that had gathered competed for the pleasure of dropping money into the open pockets of their robes, and not only small change, but silver, too. They also gave them a barrel of wine, cheese, milk, barley and wheat flour. |
Diocletian became emperor in 284 A.D., and his reign marks an important shift in the structure of Roman political power. He decided to establish a tetrarchy (that is, a rule by four). As a result, there were now two Augusti and two Caesars — each associated with the West and East, respectively. The idea was that the emperor would rule for 20 years — then the Caesars would became Emperors.
Four Tetrarchs, St. Marks, ca. 305 A.D.
The four tetrarchs were often portrayed together — both on coins and in sculpture in the round. This particular sculpture is executed in porphyry — an expensive purple marble. The drapery static, and there is no emphasis on anatomy. There was also no emphasis on individuality. To the contrary, individuality was subordinated. The four tetrarachs were depicted as physically equal and essentially identical. Not only did they look alike, but the Augustae celebrated their birthday on the same day, and the Caesars celebrated their birthdays on the same day. It was an abstract, symmetrical form of government.
Arch of Constantine, Rome, 312-315
When Diocletian retired in 305, the Roman empire again entered a period of conflict which lasted for two decades.
Constantine was the son of Dioclesian’s Caesar. When he was in the position of becoming an Augustus of the West, one of his rivals was Maxentius, his father-in-law. Constantine had a vision that was accompanied by the words, “Conquer by this.” The sign was the cross, the sign of the Christians. Constantine fought Maxentius at the Milvian Bride at the gateway to Rome in 312. Constantine won and emerged as the Western Augustus. Constantine attributed his victory to the Christian God. The Eastern Augustus was Licinius.
In 313, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which ended persecution of the Christians. This arch was meant to celebrate the victory of Constantine over Maxentius on the river banks of the City of Rome. It stands adjacent to the Colosseum. It has a triple passageway. It is an honorific monument which was meant to say that there was support for Constantine, even though there had not been such support.
Much of the sculptural decoration for this monument was taken from other monuments — from monuments dedicated to Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius. The columns were also salvaged from older monuments. By the 4th century, beauty and style were less important in many works of Roman art, even at the highest levels of patronage. At the same time, it is true that the carvings that were reused were carefully selected to associate Constantine with “good emperors.”
This is the last triumphal arch. Thereafter, these were viewed as incompatible with being Christian. It is also the largest triumphal arch — so we also see a magnification of scale.
Distribution of largess, detail from Arch of Constantine, 312-315
This is a detail from one of the relief sculpture on the Arch of Constantine. It shows Constantine seated and in the center distributing largess or money to his grateful citizens. The figures are short and stocky. We see simple drill lines for drapery. The sculpture lacks a plastic, modeled quality, and the body beneath the drapery is essentially denied. This style is very typical of Roman 4th century carving.
Constantine, from the Basilica Nova, Rome, ca. 315-300 A.D.
After his victory over Maxentius, Constantine’s official portraits adopted a new style. He returned to the tradition of the eternally young emperor. It is sort of a neo-Attic style — sort of a “god-king.” His expression is serene. He displays the visionary gaze, and his enlarged eyes convey spiritualism.
The head alone is over 8 feet high. Note that the head was not really three-dimensional because the back of head was built of bricks and mortar; it's really half a head. These fragments were part of a seated, semi-nude portrait of the emperor that was akin to Roman images of Jupiter. He held an orb (which may have had a cross on top) in his extended left hand. Most of the construction was brick with a wooden torso that was covered with bronze, except for the flesh. The flesh was rendered in marble. Originally, this statue was located in the Basilica Nova.
Basilica Nova (Basilica of Constantine)
As discussed in the context of the forum, the basilica was a large public structure which housed the law courts. The Basilca Nova was an enormous space — 300 feet long and 215 feet long. It was constructed from concrete. Notice the use of large barrel vaults and groin vaults to open up the interior space.
Ultimately, Constantine was the first Christian Emperor. He legalized the church, showered it with gifts, and turned it into establishment. Constantine also moved the capital from Rome to Constantinople, which was in northern Greece. This will have future consequences!
