Ancient Roman art
Concrete, arch and dome serving the empire; truthful portraits and chronicle reliefs
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How to recognise it
- Concrete arches, vaults and domes
- Columns applied as wall decoration
- Portraits with wrinkles and warts
- Spiral reliefs chronicling campaigns
- Frescoes faking windows and gardens
Why it emerged
A vast empire needed roads, aqueducts, arenas and forums for millions — hence concrete and engineering. Rome took Greek form as war booty but harnessed it to imperial propaganda and ancestral memory.
Examples
Ara Pacis13 BC–9 BCAugustus' family procession in marble — a manifesto of peace after civil war
Colosseum70–80An amphitheatre for 50,000 spectators — the template for every stadium%20September%202015-2.jpg?width=640 "Alvesgaspar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons")
Trajan's Columnc. 107–113 · Attributed to Apollodorus of DamascusA 200 m spiral relief of the Dacian Wars — reportage in stone%20-%20Right%20side%20and%20front.jpg?width=640 "NikonZ7II · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons")
Pantheonc. 113–125A 43 m concrete dome with an oculus — still the largest unreinforced dome
Pont du Gardc. 40–60A three-tier aqueduct bridge 49 m high — the tallest Roman bridgeMore in this style
- 29 BC–19 BC Aeneid — Virgil
- c. 50–250 Fayum mummy portraits
How it spread
- 200 BC Rome
- 100 BC Tarraco
- 16 BC Nemausus (Nîmes)
- 16 BC Augusta Treverorum (Trier)
- 50 Londinium
- 50 Faiyum
- 100 Leptis Magna
Meanwhile elsewhere
- Ancient Egyptian art Africa
- Nok terracottas Africa
- Scythian animal style Eastern Europe & Russia
- Hellenistic art Europe
- Gandhara art Asia
- Classic Maya art Americas
- Byzantine art Europe