Portrait of Augustus as General

SHELDON
NODELMAN
 from
 E.
D’Ambra,
ed.,
Roman
Art
in
Context.
NY:
Prentice
Hall.
1993
pp.
10‐20
 Like all works of art. the portrait is a system of signs; it is often an ideogram of “public’ meanings condensed into the image of a human face. Roman portrait sculpture from the Republic through the late Empire-the second century BCE. to the sixth CE -constitutes what is surely the most remarkable body of portrait art ever created. Its shifting montage of abstractions from human appearance and character forms a language in which the history of a whole society can be read. Beginning in the first century B.C., Roman artists invented a new kind of portraiture, as unlike that of the great tradition of Greek

The tenor of his auto-biographical account is one of propaganda. Augustus, in truth maintained power for himself yet portrays his reasoning in Res Gestae that he ruled wisely and with the consent of his people. Augustus claims he “handed over the state from [his] power to the dominion of the senate and Roman people” and “had no greater power than the others who were colleagues with me in each magistracy.” He later proclaims he is awarded by vote the moniker father of Rome. Clearly the tone is one of propaganda since it is his perception of reality, thus a biased account of the actual methods in which he gained his title, Emperor of

An example of Augustus’ artistic propaganda is the statue Augustus of Primaporta from 20 BCE. The statue is a depiction of Augustus as commander of the army. Augustus is depicted as very youthful and perfect. The statue is very idealized but does include some of Augustus’ true features. He is dressed in military clothing while standing in a pose as if he is addressing his troops. Augustus is portrayed barefoot with cupid riding a dolphin at his side which represents his divinity. His armor also endorses the political agenda that the gods are

In the early official and private portrait of the Etruscan- Roman tradition, the achievement of sculpture from the identity of the ideal Republican demonstrated motivation behind the virtus, veristic, and gravitas qualities. The Etruscan Roman portrait sculpture of the “Patrician Carrying Portrait Busts of Two Ancestors” is a life-size marble statue that was dated to the period of the Emperor Augustus somewhere at the end of the 1st century BCE or the beginning of the 1st century CE, reflecting the practices that have originated from the past by Polybius.

In this paper, I will describe the sculpture, Augustus of Primaporta, beginning with the Emperor’s head, one would note the definition of Augustus’ hair, individual locks that coalesce to form an idealized, dome-shaped style. His forehead displays two proportional, prominent bumps, likely muscles that control brow movement. His pencil-thin eyebrows are set quite low and impress a calm disposition.

To sum up the art in the period of Augustus, a Shakespearean quote immediately comes to mind. “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts…” Augustus was both the master manipulator in making sure his family looked not just respectable, but irreparably virtuous (despite the reality being vastly different). However, Augustus and art went farther than his family he helped shape a whole new era of art culture.

In the year 63 B.C Augustus became the first emperor of Rome, after the assassination of his adoptive father Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. Augustus raised an army at the age of 19 to overthrow the tyrant leader Mark Antony, whom gained power of Rome after the assassination of Julius Caesar. After overthrowing the tyrannical system, Augustus liberated his father, and was offered dictatorship by the people of Rome. Augustus rejected the title of dictator on more than one occasion; he instead titled himself princeps civitatis: the first among citizens. In his reign Augustus completed many building projects, including the repair and rebuilding of aqueducts, roads, and sewers that had been neglected over time. The expansion of the Roman Empire under Augustus was extensive, stretching from Egypt to Spain including

Augustus is known to be the first Roman emperor, and the founder of Rome, known for politically transforming the Roman republic to the early Roman Empire. During his rule his influence on artwork and architecture illustrated a classical style, and often they was a reflection of the “public image” of his rule, as well as his “new agenda”. (115) Augustus was quickly seen as a restorer of Rome. Augustus commissioned many large scale building projects such as the Campus Martius, as well as elaborate pieces of portraiture that illustrate his power and the peace of the new Rome under his rule. Augustus acknowledged his power and wealth but at the same time never formally declared himself emperor in order to maintain his citizenship. Although he was keen on denying title of emperor, he emphasized that he was a descendant of the great Julius Caesar considering himself his adopted son and his predecessor, in which he reinforces in some of the temples he commissioned. Overall Augustus was seen as a man of change and power, the one who brought prosperity to Rome when it became shaken by the assassination of Julius Caesar. The age of Augustus brought forth a classical style, influenced by Greeks, and the usage of marble and concrete to create complex buildings and sculptures. This was important because as a result of Augustus’ reign Rome obtained a very classical style, in which would later be reintroduced in order to mimic his greatness by other Emperors.

In the late 1st century BC, the Republic of Rome was turning into a disaster, prone to greed, fighting over classes, powers, etc. There were many issues, the Republic was almost always in a crisis and this turned into many civil wars. Even though the idea of a republic is a good idea, no one knows how to deal with power or someone usually generals took to much power. Augustus was a great ruler because the republic was only

14 As Stamper argues, this is a significant aspect of portraying authority when one an emperor uses precedent of Rome’s founding 15 and this is shown by Augustus in commemorating the temple to Julius Caesar as a sign of celebrating his own triumph. The Temple of Julius Caesar sat on an elevated podium with rostra in front of the colonnade where prows of the ships captured from the Battle at Actium were hung.16 Similarly, the public rostra erected at the opposite site of the Forum also consist of captures obtained from the Battle of Actium and these rostra that faced each other act as a reminder of the glories of the old Republic and the achievements of the restored Rome under its new leader, Augustus.17 To reflect more of the idea of power, Augustus uses different architectural elements to deliver them. Similar to the nearby Temple of Castor and Pollux erected during the Republic, the Temple of Julius Caesar had a pycnostyle composition that consisted of six closely arranged columns with

The Arch of Titus conveys to the viewer that the Romans are favored and supported by the gods. Many deities can be seen on this sculpture aiding Roman leaders, and behaving as equals to the Roman emperor Titus. Winged women, symbolizing victory fly in the spandrels, representing that the divine victory is belonging to Rome. On the north panel, divinities are again present with the personification of valor, “virtus”, leading a chariot holding

In 27 BC Augustus began his political career with a “new policy which embodied a national and Roman spirit” (Galinksy, 1996, 225) and “represented new heights in creativity and sophistication” (Galinksy, 1996, 225). Augustus created a new political propaganda campaign that used art and architecture to promote and enhance his regime. The most fundamental message can be regarded as to establish the legitimacy of his rule and to portray him as the natural successor of Rome, as this is consistently presented throughout the visual programme. Yet factors such as the restoration of the Republic, reviving the old religion, nationalism and militaristic triumph can also be seen to be communicated prominently through art and architecture.

On the 23rd of September 63BC a baby boy was born. Little did his family know that this amazing child was going to be one of the greatest politicians in Rome, he was also going to touch the lives of many Roman Citizens and to be remembered by thousands of people many years after his death. He was to rule an empire that stretched from Spain to Judea. Turn the Mediterranean Sea into a peaceful Roman Lake and was eventually to be worshipped as a god. The future Emperor of Rome was called Gaius Julius Octavious, whom we all know now as Augustus.

Gaius Octavius, better known to historians as Augustus, succeeded his great uncle Julius Caesar following his assassination. In his wake, Augustus would become the first Emperor of the newly formed Roman Empire and bring massive, sweeping revisions to Roman law as well as centralize the government, military and economic currency of the Empire. He also reemphasized the importance of art, music and literature in Roman culture, bringing about a new era of historically important artists, poets, sculptors, scribes and philosophers. While the beginnings

The form of art has been around for thousands of years. There has been many different types of art form found from the ancient greece times. These time are the earliest times that are recorded and are placed in museums. These early art forms teaches us a little bit about the human race and how they were back in the roman times. There are some painting and sculptures that represents different people from their time lines. These art form can explain how they were back in their times and with the statues you can see how far they were allowed to do.