How Did Greek Influence Roman Art

Greek and Roman culture, although similar, are very different and interesting. Since the Romans adopted culture from the Greeks, many traditions are the same. When the Romans conquered the Hellenistic cities, they became fascinated with the idea of a Greek style of doing things. All things Greek were now considered popular. This is how much of the Greek way of life made its way into the Roman society.

Polybius was a Greek historian during the years 167-119 BCE. He wrote a description of the Roman constitution and talked about the government in this piece of writing. He talked about the different government classes and what power they had, “ Magistrates are the military and supreme court, they have the power to bring debates before the senate. Aristocracy is the role held by nobility, and Despotism is the ruler who holds absolute power.”. What he is saying by this is that normal people can be called up to rule one of these forms of government in Rome, and he described what each one was in The description of the Roman constitution. Another way that the Roman Republic was democratic is by letting people be in the government ,and make big decisions that could affect their whole

Culture is based on one's beliefs that is passed down from generation to generation it all leads back to your ancestors. Culture has broken the world up into many different social groups of people, therefore the world consist of over 1500 different cultures. People around the world are all special one way or another because of their culture. Therefore, the culture of Rome is one of the most amazing cultures out there it’s one of a kind, because the people of Rome have unique religious beliefs and gender roles but there are more reasons to it.

Governments around the world today are based off the design of the Roman Republic for numerous reasons. The reason for following a democratic type government is to allow the people to participate and have a say in their government. The meaning of a republic according to History Alive is, “a form of government in which leaders are elected, to represent the people.” The Roman Republic was not like this however. The plebeians, the majority of Rome’s population, fought for a voice in their government, due to their struggle, it displayed an undemocratic government.

Greece and Rome had a similar system of citizenship and citizen governance. In Rome, in 507 BCE, members of the senatorial class took down the tyrant of Rome at the time. They then created the Republic of Rome, but it lasted until 31 BCE. Under this republic, all of male citizens of Rome were able to vote, but their votes were worth less than those who were wealthy. In Rome, the citizens practiced democracy, where legislative power was from the citizens and the executive power in a Council of 500.

During the Renaissance, Artists were greatly influenced by the Romans. However, the Romans imitated the great works of art from the Greeks. The idea of realism became a part of the artistic culture, where artists portrayed their subjects in a straightforward a manner as possible without following any formal artistic method. However, as time kept passing by, artists implemented humanism in their art. Humanism is the human potential that humans have, that artists portrayed in their art. Artists of the time showed the potential that humans had in becoming like God. Da Vinci was influenced by this movement, and used techniques that showed the movements of people in his paintings so that the viewers can be moved by the emotions of his subjects.

The Roman Republic held vast amounts of power and it employed a variety of democratic and undemocratic methods in its government to keep its power. Although not all Roman citizens could vote, the Roman Republic only was somewhat democratic because it held elections for most positions, it allowed some Romans to vote, and the people held power in the government. A democracy is a system of government in which the people have the most power, everyone is granted a vote, and free elections are held . Similarly, ‘democratic’ means that the people hold the most power, that all people are able to vote, and elections are free and fair. According to Fergus Millar, “every adult male citizen…could vote, and there was no formal exclusion of the poor.” This shows that many people had the opportunity to vote, and those in Rome were able to easily exercise their vote. With this in mind, it was only a partial democracy as women, slaves, and those

The more educated Romans became interested in Greek plays and Greek philosophy that they went to Athens to study Greek philosophy. They learned the nature of gods

Throughout art history, artists have shown not only their cultural beliefs, but they have also shown their religious perspectives as well. Artists have shown images of deities through sculptures, paintings, and even buildings. An example representing a deity would be the bronzed sculpture Zeus or Poseidon from 460-450 BCE. Different from Egyptian religions, Greek gods were always created in a human form due to the fact that they felt higher and much more greater to followers of religions that worshipped animals or mountains. Greek gods were responsible for many parts of the natural world and human life, for example, love, warfare, and the seasons. The first images were very firm, portrayed no movement, and were very straightforward, but later in time these images shaped the human body with much detail and precision, as we see with Zeus or Poseidon, as well as showing movement. Zeus was the leader among the Greek gods and is shown with an ideal and godlike body. Due to his right hand appearing as if he is holding an object, it is said that he could be holding a thunderbolt, representing Zeus or the God of sky and thunder, or possibly a trident, representing Poseidon or the God of Sea. His stance is slightly back, representing movement or action, and he appears

Before Rome was an empire, it was a republic with a long history of “democratic” rule. After ousting the Etruscans and their king, city-state was ruled by a Senate and/or an assembly with elected magistrates - consuls

Even though Rome created many things in science engineering and architecture, the Romans were large copycats, they stole many ideas from different civilizations, especially from Greece. The Romans started to fall in love with Greek Architecture. According to study.com, Rome’s buildings and houses were having more Greek features than Rome’s. In newer Roman developments of homes and buildings; they included porches, and rows of columns.

When studying the ancient world, Greek art and Roman art are often separate discussions. Each civilization was at its height at different times. There was, however, a brief period of shared history. Because they also shared the same geographic region, it is no surprise that one culture heavily influenced the other.

History has rarely seen a civilisation that has been as impressive, progressive and triumphant as the Roman Empire. Also remarkable in the fact that it did not conform to Western democracy. Comprised of sizeable portions of the world that ran from the Mediterranean Sea to areas surrounding continental Europe and the Middle East. It was the largest spanning empire the world had ever seen and succeeded in cultural control on the lands and of the people, lasting centuries. The Roman republic lasted from 507 to 31 BCE, the Republic unlike other major historic civilisations, was not run on the idea of democracy. The word Republic comes from the Latin word, res publica. This translates into public business. The Republic was not a democracy in the modern sense whatsoever, however, the similarities are vast and many see the republic as a developed democracy or as Thorkild Jacobsen called it a “primitive democracy.” The class struggle of the empire resulted in a somewhat unusual mixture of democracy and oligarchy. Rome was originally a city-state, an autonomous state, consisting of a city and the area around it that possesses its own government. Citizenship was granted by birth and there was the opportunity to gain citizenship through the process of naturalization. This however led to conflict between the elite, ‘patricians’ and the majority of the population known as ‘plebeians, which became known as the Conflict of the Orders. The basis of Roman law also worked heavily on the

Concomitant with the Athenian system, in the city of Rome popular government was introduced as well, albeit under a different name, respublica (from "res" – thing and "publicus" – public). Consequently the republic was similar with Greek demokratia. At the beginning only aristocrats or patricians were allowed to participate at the governing act, but "after much struggle the common people [….] also gained entry" (Dahl, 1998: 13). Only male patricians, later lower castes as well, were able to govern, meaning that women, same as in Athens, were denied any political rights. Starting as a city-state, the Roman Republic conquered territories far beyond its initial borders and gave Roman citizenship to the conquered people. Even though this system might seem sturdy, the impossibility to adjust the institutions of popular government to the increasing number of citizens and the ever-growing Republic is a major flaw. In order to exert their political rights, the conquered people turned into Roman citizens had to participate in meetings in the city of Rome, a tedious and expensive effort, which corroborated with the increase in

This isn’t much of a surprise, you would expect the work of the Romans to be structurally similar to those of the Greeks, considering the Greeks came first. The Romans experimented with different types of architecture and materials from the Greeks to develop their own extravagant style. For example, the Romans looked to the Greek architectural orders, or style, and developed their own. The three basic orders of columns, pillars that supported the weight of structures, that were used by not only the Greeks but the Egyptians and Assyrians as well, were expanded upon by the Romans (“Column”). The monolithic columns used in ancient Rome were not only utilized to support temples and other structures, but were also stand-alone works of art; canvases where architects could recreate historic scenes. Composite columns mixed