Emperor Augustus
Emperor Augustus, born Gaius Octavius, on the 23 September, 63 BCE. He was the adoptive nephew of Julius Caesar, and so, inherited a large portion of Julius Caesar’s wealth and property, when Julius Caesar was murdered by members of the Roman senate in 44 BCE. Augustus, using the wealth left to him by Caesar, began his journey to becoming the Roman Empire’s first Emperor. From the age of 18, Augustus masterfully navigated Rome’s political arena, eliminating any who tried to rival him, until finally in 27 BCE, he was finally in full control of the Roman Empire.
Augustus was different from rulers before him, in that he was smart to avoid the spotlight. Any praise directed at him personally, he reflected back on the Empire, and the people. He avoided anything that made him look like a King or Emperor. Augustus personally knew the dangers of this; his adoptive uncle, Julius
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Comparing the two statues reveals that there are striking similarities between them. Looking closely at the spear-bearers stance shows us that it is using a contrapposto stance, which is an Italian term that means counterpose. The spear-bearer using this pose, is showing to us a diagonal between tense and relaxed limbs on the statue itself. The overall style of the Prima Porta is Hellenistic, despite having tendencies towards the realism of Roman portraiture.
This Hellenistic style is shown, despite Augustus having quite prominent facial features, which link back to the style of realism. When looking at the statue, one is quick to notice the sombre, dull, and serious tone which is portrayed on Augustus’s face. Augustus is also barefoot in this statue, which combined with the use of cupid riding a dolphin on his armour, is meant to show Augustus’s divine links to Venus, through his adoptive father who also considered himself to have divine
The statue is a Roman reproduction of a Greek work. It shows Venus, the goddess of love, standing bare-breasted and clutching a piece of cloth draped around her hips. At her feet, there is a dolphin that, practically, adds support to the piece and artistically makes an allusion to Venus's birth from the sea. As the notes from the Getty Museum explain, the statue is derived from a very popular Greek statue created by the sculptor Praxiteles around 350 B.C. The statue was so popular that it was copied by many artists.
From an historical perspective, this piece is an excellent example of early classical Rome. You can sense the respect and admiration that the average Roman citizen had for Augustus, in the fine details of the sculpture.
The statues, Heyl Aphrodite and Capitoline Gaul, both contain human-like features, but only one shows the ideal woman figure. By observing Heyl Aphrodite, viewers notice her soft, curvaceous figure. Her body is proportional creating balance and harmony. Fabric hugs the goddess’s body, draping over her right breast, while exposing the left, conveying a sense of sexuality. Her lack of eye contact expresses weakness, while her body posture, with the aid of the fabric, shows movement. Merker compares the artwork in her book, when she writes, “The raised right shoulder gives a sense of movement; although there is no torsion, one feels there ought to be and is reminded of the unstable, twisting movement of the Heyl Aphrodite in
He was a very hostile man, and didn’t want the fame that an Emperor should receive. II. Augustus was the very first and was considered to be the best Emperor of Rome. His uncle, Julius Ceaser, was his guardian and sent Octavian to learn under Aplollodurus who was a distinguished
Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian hereinafter referred to “Augustus”, was given the title of imperium by age of 19, to gain this, he amassed a private army and marched on the Senate in Revenge for his adopted father’s murder. Augustus developed a peaceful and cultural Ancient Rome . In contrast, both Caesar and Sulla before him, were appointed to dictator under the Lex Valeria (Valerian law) , both had ultimate goals of monarchy, but where Caesar, used the people to ascertain if this would be accepted , Sulla ruled with an iron fist.
Polykleitos’ is a Roman statue. It is made out of marble and it is 6 feet 6 inches tall. The statue is of a male who looks to be athletic someone who works out. The statue is standing in a contrapuntal position; it has its left leg slightly bent witch causes his foot not to be flat on the platform under him. That position helps the statue stay balance. It is not rigid. The statue has no facial expression. It is serious. It eyes are deep and expressionless. The statue’s head is facing to the left. His right arm is bent half way and his hands are balled up into a fist his hips are leaning towards the left side to help give him balance. His left arm is straight down by his side. It
The Statue of Asklepios is a classic Greek sculpture that portrays a person of the most perfect and athletic form. The piece is of a man standing beautifully while draped in a toga. The toga is draped over his left shoulder and cuts across to the right side of his body near his lower abdomen and then continues to cover his legs until his ankle. The toga also is draped over the pieces entire back. The piece is missing his head, his left arm and both his right foot and almost its entire right arm. The piece has a smooth, but not glossy, exterior in all of the areas except for the parts that have been broken off. Asklepios is portrayed as an incredible fit and beautiful being. The abdomen is extremely muscular and shows off the miraculous fitness of the model. The toga has many wrinkles, creating a lot of shadow and darks and lights. It also is wrapped in a way that is both loose and tight in different areas of the sculpture. It is tied right next to the left pectoral and the left armpit. This piece emphasizes the muscular body of this man while at the same time portraying him standing in such a nonchalant way through the curvature and relaxed look of the figure. And unlike the Torso of a God, this piece clearly shows movement through the shape of the body and the folds of the toga because
Julius Caesar's reign was an unfavorable and chaotic period for Rome, and after his death, a large portion of the empire was handed down to his adopted son, Gaius Octavian. From the ashes of his father, Octavian was able to build an Empire unparalleled. Later, the name Augustus was given to him by Senate. Augustus ostensibly maintained the form of the Roman Republic while in actuality creating the Roman Empire. He introduced the administrative reforms that led to the Pax Romana with its flourishing of trade and the arts. Although Augustus's ascension to power could have not been without it bequested by Julius, it was his use of art and propaganda that reinforced the legitimacy his position.
Augustus (63 B.C.-A.D. 14) was the first emperor of Rome. He established the principate, The principate is the name given to mark the period in ancient Roman history when one man takes all political control. Augustus was said to be cruel in his early years but became a little milder in attitude later in life. This may be credited to His position. As His position became secure, the need for brutality lessened. But he was still prepared for ruthlessness when necessary. His whole policy was a policy of conciliation. He wished to wipe out the hatreds of the civil war. He regarded himself as the chief of no party, but as the head of the whole state. He tried to reconcile the conservative and the progressive men of his time. All the cherished forms of the republic he therefore preserved; and he exercised his powers under titles which were not hateful to the senate or the people. We have been accustomed to think of this Augustus as merely a shrewd politician. But when we contrast the distracted condition of Rome during the last hundred years with the peace and prosperity which he brought with him, we shall be inclined to look upon him as a wise and successful statesman
Augustus Caesar was born in 63 B.C , adopted 44 B.C , and died in 14 A.D. He was born as Gaius Octavius, and born Thurinus in Velletri (20 miles from Rome). His mother was Caesar's niece. And was raised by Julia Caesar, Caesar's sister. The country was peaceful under his control. From his birth in 63 B.C. he was Octavius; after his adoption was announced in 44 B.C., Octavian; and beginning in 26 B.C. the Roman Senate conferred on him the name Augustus.
The Augustus Prima Porta was discovered in 1863. The name Prima Porta derives from the city in which it was found at the site of Livia’s Villa in Prima Porta on the Greek island of Paros. It now resides at the Vatican Museum. The sculpture was made entirely of Parian marble- white semitransparent marble popularized for its sculptural uses. The sculpture depicts Augustus as a powerful military figure with the incorporation of divine imagery. The sculpture is both natural and idealistic in its representation of Augustus. The statue exhibits personalized facial features indicating a sense of natural realism. His facial expression is rather stern, evoking a sense of power and prestige. His physique is athletic, predominantly muscular and measuring to approximately 2.03 metres in height ultimately presenting an idealized form.
The First Roman Emperor, Augustus Caesar achieved Rome great glory. From his birth, he had three names Octavius, Octavian, and the Roman Senate consulted him the name Augustus. He had the power to rule Rome’s religious, political and military affairs, with the Senate as an advisory body, successfully making him Emperor. Augustus’s transformation for Rome was tuff but he was able to achieve ultimate power. He really didn’t like being called “emperor”. He never titled himself as that. Augustus was one of the greatest leaders of history.
When examining the statue, there is an old woman bent and weary. Her posture helps clue us in, with her age and the state of her health. The figure is dressed in cloth that drapes off her body as she carries a basket that is filled with what we may think are offerings. On her head, there are vines that create a band around the top of her head used to signify the festival that was going on during that time. The specific detail that is seen on this statue persuades us to want to know the story of this woman. Doing so, the process involves lots of research about the time and art. During the hellenistic period, artists begin to introduce more inner beauty than physical beauty. There is an opportunity to learn more about the structure itself, then settle for what is given and seen.
Julius Caesar was a Roman statesman who lost it all to foolishly becoming a dictator with king like qualities. Caesars great-nephew, Augustus (then Gaius Julius Caesar) inherited through his late great-uncle, a civil-war torn, distressed country. Throughout the next 40 years from the beginning of Augustus’ reign in 27 BCE to his death in 14 AD, he transformed Rome into a place of great peace. Peace in Rome lasted from 27 BCE to 180 AD, long after Augustus’ death because of the development of the Principate, the reconstruction and social reform of Rome and the Pax Romana. Augustus’ Empire was undoubtedly the most important Empire in Roman history and the peace Augustus created was his greatest achievement during his reign.
The overall all renditions are block-like and sculpted with geometric reduction of details. The anatomy is made up of planes, completely symmetrical. The hair, ears, and eyes have been reduced to simple shapes again, all identically symmetrical. Kouros is depicted nude, symbolic of Archaic Greece's emphasis on the ideal individual male and autonomous Greek citizen. In contrast, Aphrodite is a considerably large female (7 feet tall and substantially wider than the Kouros). Given the larger than real-life scale, this statue probably served as a cult image in a temple. The statue's excellent state of conservation also suggests that it was kept indoors. It is free standing but also in an anatomical, not just mechanical sense. The pose is full and rounded, not solely frontal. You get a sense of the body being relaxed, with one hand extended in a gesture that gives a sense of it moving forward.