Roman Art Research Paper

Greek and Roman architecture is truly amazing. They each had great ideas, and fabulous productions. It is said that the Pantheon is to Italy what the Parthenon is to Greece. Both are tremendous monuments that reek of culture and history. Each had a purpose which was displayed by the design and construction of each. There are such great meanings behind each of these architecural structures. The Romans and the Greeks alike worshipped and dedicated their structures and designs to the Gods and Goddess they believed in.

The first part of culture that the Romans adopted was the Greek art. Scores of Greek paintings were stolen from Greece and imported into the Roman Empire. Roman artists began adopting the Greek style of art, from the emotional intensity to the great detail. “In many cases, it is very difficult to distinguish between Hellenistic

Many centuries before the birth of Christ, the city of Rome grew, prospered, and developed into a thriving Republic. As in most cultures, Rome's buildings became more elaborate and impressive. They developed fantastic building technologies and ideas. The feats of Roman engineers were groundbreaking, and many structures built by this culture still stand today. With knowledge borrowed from the Greeks, Rome made impressive architectural achievements, these were namely major attributes of buildings, colossal structures, and a legacy that would influence later buildings (Cornell and Matthews 11).

Who were the Romans influenced by? The Romans were clearly heavily influenced by the Greeks. The Romans adopted the Greek style of architecture. For example they borrowed dome architecture from the Greeks, and improved upon it. The Romans also borrowed their intense use of columns from the Greeks. The Romans did not just borrow architecture from the Greeks, but they also heavily borrowed from Greek mythology, and philosophy. The Roman gods and the Greek gods are eerily similar; Jupiter and Zeus

The Romans thought of themselves as a united, simple minded people. They were powerful for many reasons including, their military force and their government system. The ideal Roman citizen was one who held the Roman values, defended themselves and defended the state. The Romans were able to be unified because they were the popular group of that time. They were the state that everyone wanted to have citizenship granted to.

Although most who used Roman public facilities were not educated, and remained largely unfamiliar with the world outside the capital city, the patrons were not necessarily concerned in accommodating to public use (Martin, 34). In deriving their building construction from Greek culture, the patrons were neither concerned with the artists they may have plundered from. The Roman elite wanted to build "ideal cities," to create imposing buildings that impressed both inhabitants and visitors with a sense of noble magnificence. For instance, Cicero wanted to have a gymnasium built, a place where students of philosophy would study (Martin, 30). With deliberation, those who designed the buildings crafted marble facades and set out consistent rows of colonnades. Many forms of architecture, such as libraries, public baths, temples, and fountains, began to emulate the Greek style that inspired most of the patrician class (Martin, 35). Roman replica series of Greek artwork extended to both sculptures and architectural works, and the Romans, who first collected Greek artwork as war booty, used certain sculptures and conventions to create different replica series

The achievements and contributions of ancient Romans are extensively present in many aspects of modern day society. The impact that Roman inventions have in areas like science, philosophy, politics, military strategy, architecture, engineering, law or art is broad and full of detail. The aim of this paper is to cover a little portion of the Roman heritage. Through this pages the author will expose some of the Roman contributions to civil engineering and architecture. The paper intention is to illustrate how this advancements helped and contributed to enhance the life of Roman society. With this purpose in mind the author selected the Segovia aqueduct and the road system developed by romans as illustrative examples for his research.

From the beginning of time until this very moment many new people groups have joined to form new civilizations. This all then led to new ideas which they formed new concepts of how to do things such as farming, living, government, etc. Throughout this paper, I will be talking a little bit about the early Roman way of living, government, and their armies ways and changes, then at the end about the “scutum” which is the roman shield.

Rome has been known to be around for a long time, for this reason it has gotten the name “the eternal city”. It is also considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the entire world. The city of Rome used to be home to one of the most powerful empires in the world as well, the Roman Empire. Throughout history, Rome has created amazing works of art, architecture, and an amazing culture. Simply by walking down the street a tourist is able to see wonderful works of art by many well known artists such as, Michelangelo, Caravaggio and Bernini. One will also be able to few the magnificent buildings that lay within the city. Tourists can also see beautiful masterpieces displayed in art galleries or in the museums scattered throughout the city.

Unfortunately, much of the legacy from the Greek art world has been lost. Luckily, the Roman Empire took many of the same fundamentals used by the Greeks and adapted it to their own style. There are many examples of Roman sculpture and architecture still existing in the world today. Each of these pieces showcases how the Romans struggled to achieve perfection in their own way.

In the beginning of Rome, etruscans imitated Greek art and language. Some of Romans art included, portrait sculptures that their families carried onto for generations. Death masks used during funeral processions. And, wall paintings and frescos. Romans adopted Greek architectures as well: columns, colonnades, rectangular structures, and post-and-lintel construction.

The Romans had art in their daily lives. They were influenced and mimicked the Greek art. The Romans made statues, sculptures, mosaics and murals. They added a sense of style to their lives. They had metalwork, gem cutting, and they added designs to furniture.

Columns, as noted, were a prominent feature of Roman architecture, which was drawn from the Greeks. Although Rome did not copy Greek columns exactly, “Greek influence is evident in the use of columns,”18 nevertheless, which is to be expected since Romans greatly admired Greek columns.19 Rome also adopted the Greek's mortar and ashlars.20 Additionally, since Greeks believed “that beauty lies in mathematical harmony,” Greek influence is seen in Imperial temples which contained set, mathematical ratios of design. As noted, when Rome began producing sculpture, they began producing Hellenistic-influenced idealistic sculptures.21 The reversion to older Greek forms is not a surprise if one considers Rome's admiration for Greek sculpture. Such admiration of Greek sculpture is evidenced by Rome's copying of Greek sculptures, such as the Venus di Milo.22

Many aspects of Roman culture were not created in a vacuum, but instead were adapted from elements of other cultures. The local groups in Latium provided the basis for the smaller settlements outside of Rome to flourish. The Etruscans brought architectural influences as they expanded through Southern Italy, and the Romans were no exception to the draw of Greek inspiration. The Romans included foreign elements and innovative construction methods in the forms of their public and private spheres. The components of form include layout, location and materials. The forms of these spheres were intended to suit practical and aesthetic functions, which were political, economic and social motives. Essential to the Romans was attaining personal glory

The Romans engrossed some crucial know-how from the Etruscans. The article states “this included the “arch” and the ”vault”, which were destined to carry Roman engineering into a development directly away from that of ancient Greece” (Roman architecture [sa]). The vaulting techniques used by the Romans were the simple geometric forms: the groin vault, the segmental vault, and the semi-circular barrel vault. The vault surfaces were customarily covered with stucco or tiles as recommended construction techniques.