Römische Kunst und Architektur

EINLEITUNG *

ARCHITEKTUR *

STADTPLANUNG *

1. Einleitung

Die Kunst und Architektur der römischen Antike, nicht nur im engeren Sinn die offizielle repräsentative Kunst der Stadt Rom selbst, sondern des gesamten Römischen Reiches, das zur Zeit seiner höchsten Blüte den größten Teil Europas und Kleinasiens umfasste. Im Verlauf ihrer Entwicklung integrierte sie verschiedene Einflüsse und Stilmerkmale der altitalischen, etruskischen (siehe etruskische Kultur) und griechischen Kunst. Nach dem Übertritt Kaiser Konstantins des Großen zum Christentum und der Verlegung der Hauptstadt von Rom nach Konstantinopel (330 n. Chr.) wird sie in der Regel als spätantike Kunst bezeichnet. Sie ging Ende des 6. Jahrhunderts in die frühchristliche Kunst über, wobei im Zuge des Auflösungsprozesses des Römischen Reiches dessen einzelne Teile unterschiedliche Entwicklungen nahmen, die prägenden Einflüsse Roms jedoch weiterhin wirksam blieben und sich bis in die Neuzeit in der gesamteuropäischen Kunstentwicklung geltend machten.

Die römische Kunst lässt sich in zwei große Abschnitte einteilen: die Kunst der Römischen Republik seit ihren ersten Anfängen (bis 27 v. Chr.) und die Kunst der römischen Kaiserzeit (27 v. Chr. bis 395 n. Chr.). Während in der Zeit vor dem 2. Jahrhundert v. Chr. eigentlich noch nicht von einer römischen Kunst gesprochen werden kann, begann mit der Erringung der Vorherrschaft über ganz Italien und den Mittelmeerraum durch die Römer der Weg zu einer eigenständigen Entwicklung. Durch Adaption insbesondere griechischer und hellenistischer Stileinflüsse, die mit Eigenschöpfungen verschmolzen, bildete sich ein spezifisch römischer Stil in den Bereichen Architektur, Bildhauerei, Malerei und Mosaikkunst heraus, der zunächst in erster Linie dem Zweck diente, die politisch-militärische Macht Roms zu manifestieren. Die individuelle Leistung des Künstlers trat damit gegenüber dem Repräsentationscharakter des Kunstwerkes in den Hintergrund, so dass trotz bedeutender Leistungen, die die römische Kunst auf den verschiedensten Gebieten hervorbrachte, nur wenige Namen römischer Künstler überliefert sind.

ARCHITEKTUR  

Durch die zahlreichen Überreste römischer Bauten und nicht zuletzt durch die Aufzeichnungen des römischen Architekten Vitruv (De Architectura) aus dem 1. Jahrhundert v. Chr. lässt sich ein klares Bild der römischen Architektur zeichnen, für deren Ausbildung politisch-militärische (Vergrößerung des Römischen Reiches) und repräsentative Gründe ausschlaggebend waren. Große Bedeutung kam deshalb neben dem Sakralbau Ingenieurleistungen wie dem Bau von Straßen, Brücken und Wasserleitungen, der Städteplanung und öffentlichen Bauten wie Versammlungsgebäuden, Thermen und Theatern zu.

STADTPLANUNG  

Während ältere Städte wie Rom, die vor der Zeit einer eigentlichen Stadtplanung gegründet wurden, aus einem Netz verwinkelter Straßen bestanden und unkontrolliert in die Breite wucherten, besaß die planmäßig angelegte Stadt der späten Römischen Republik einen annähernd rechteckigen Grundriss, wobei das römische Militärlager als Vorbild diente: Um zwei Hauptachsen – Cardo (in Nord-Süd-) und Decumanus (in Ost-West-Richtung) – gruppierte sich ein Netz kleiner Straßen, das die Stadt in quadratische Viertel teilte. Die Stadt war mit einer Stadtmauer umgeben, wie in Regensburg, dem römischen Legionärskastell Castra Regina. Den Mittelpunkt jeder Stadt an der Kreuzung der beiden Hauptstraßen bildete das Forum, ein großer Platz in Anlehnung an die griechische Agora, der von Ladenreihen, Tempeln und öffentlichen Gebäuden, wie der Kurie und der Basilika, gesäumt war. Die ersten Basiliken wurden Anfang des 2. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. auf dem Forum Romanum erbaut. Eine gut erhaltene Basilika aus der Zeit um 120 v. Chr. wurde bei Pompeji entdeckt.

Sakralbauten  

Der römische Podiumstempel orientierte sich an etruskischen und griechisch-hellenistischen Bauformen. Er war auf einem rechteckigen Grundriss errichtet und besaß nur an der Vorderseite eine Säulenvorhalle, während die Seitenwände lediglich mit Säulen verblendet waren (so genannter Pseudodipteros). Ein Beispiel dieses Tempeltyps ist die Maison Carrée (spätes 1. Jahrhundert v. Chr.) in Nîmes. Die Römer entwickelten neben der toskanischen Säule, die ebenso wie die traditionellen griechischen Säulenordnungen (dorisch, ionisch, korinthisch) verwendet wurde, die Kompositordnung, die aus einer Mischung ionischer und korinthischer Elemente entstand.

Neben der kanonischen Form des Podiumstempels waren auch Rundtempel mit einfacher umlaufender Säulenhalle (Monopteros) verbreitet. Der größte antike Kuppelbau war das römische Pantheon (118-128 n. Chr.).

Theater und Amphitheater  

Die ersten römischen Theaterbauten entstanden gegen Ende der Republik. Sie besaßen eine halbkreisförmige Orchestra und terrassenartig ansteigende Sitzreihen (Cavea), die durch Gänge und Zwischenreihen in keilförmige Segmente und Zwischenreihen untergliedert waren. Während die griechischen Theater in natürliche Hänge eingelassen waren, wurde es durch die Entwicklung der Bogen- und Gewölbetechnik möglich, monumentale Theater, die durch ein Gerüst aus Pfeilern und Bögen gestützt wurden, auch in den Zentren der Städte zu errichten.

Wichtige Beispiele findet man in Orange (frühes 1. Jahrhundert n. Chr.) und Sabratha (Libyen, spätes 2. Jahrhundert n. Chr.). Amphitheater, die ursprünglich aus Holz, später auch aus Stein erbaut und für Gladiatorenspiele und Tierhetzen genutzt wurden, umschlossen ellipsenförmig einen ovalen Platz. Eines der ältesten Amphitheater (75 v. Chr.) fand man in Pompeji, das größte ist das Kolosseum in Rom (80 n. Chr. geweiht), das ungefähr 50 000 Zuschauer fasste.

Thermenanlagen  

Öffentliche und private Thermenanlagen (thermae, von griechisch thermos: warm, also Warmbäder) zählten zu den aufwendigsten Baukomplexen der römischen Antike. Sie bestanden gewöhnlich aus einer Flucht von Umkleideräumen und Badezimmern mit heißen, warmen und kalten Becken (Caldarium, Tepidarium, Frigidarium) und weiteren Einrichtungen, die der Körperpflege, dem sportlichen Training und der Kontaktpflege dienten (siehe Bäder). Ein ausgezeichnetes Beispiel einer solchen Anlage sind die Thermen von Stabiae am Golf von Neapel.

Die Caracallathermen (um 217 n. Chr.) in Rom, die zu den großartigsten Anlagen ihrer Art zählen, vereinigten Bibliotheken, Lesesäle und großflächige öffentliche Räume unter einem Dach und waren üppig mit Mosaiken, Malereien und Stuck ausgestattet.

Ingenieurbauten  

Zu den bedeutendsten architektonischen Errungenschaften der Römer zählen auch ihre Leistungen im Ingenieurwesen, neben den bereits erwähnten Großbauten besonders im Bereich des Straßen- und Brückenbaues, des Heizungswesens (Hypokaustenheizung) und der Wasserbaukonstruktionen. Durch ein aufwendiges System von Aquädukten, von denen es auch außerhalb Italiens zahlreiche gut erhaltene Beispiele gibt (Pont du Gard, 19 v. Chr., in der Nähe von Nîmes), wurde die Trinkwasserversorgung der Städte sichergestellt.

Wohnbauten  

Stadthäuser  

Das römische Stadthaus (Domus) entwickelte sich aus dem einfachen Atriumhaus, wie es schon die Etrusker kannten. Es war achsensymmetrisch um einen zentralen Innenhof (Atrium) angelegt, der in der Mitte ein Auffangbecken für Regenwasser (Impluvium) besaß und in den man von der Straße aus durch ein Vestibül (Vestibulum) und eine Eingangshalle (Fauces) gelangte. Darum gruppierten sich der Empfangsraum (Tablinium), der Essraum (Triclinium), die Küche und eine Reihe kleinerer Schlafzimmer (Cubicula). Hinter dem Tablinium schloss sich ein Garten (Hortus) an. Gegen Ende der Republik wurden die römischen Häuser architektonisch anspruchsvoller. Insbesondere bei dem als Villa urbana (Stadtvilla) bezeichneten Gebäudetyp wurde der Garten um einen Säulengang (Peristylium) erweitert, der häufig von weiteren Räumen flankiert wurde. Die Wohnhäuser der vornehmen Bürger konnten sich so über ein ganzes Straßenquadrat erstrecken, wie das bekannte Haus des Faun in Pompeji, das zu Beginn des 2. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. erbaut wurde.

Villen und Paläste  

Ein weiterer Gebäudetyp ist das römische Landhaus (Villa rustica), häufig ein ganzer Gutskomplex mit ausgedehnten Ländereien und Wirtschaftsräumen. Eine der besterhaltenen römischen Villen ist das Landhaus des Hadrian in Tivoli (Baubeginn 118 n. Chr.), das in seiner weiträumigen Anlage zugleich ein gutes Beispiel für die Verfeinerung des Baustiles in der Kaiserzeit darstellt. Kaiser Augustus (Regierungszeit 27 v. Chr. bis 14 n. Chr.) besaß eine Residenz auf dem Palatin in Rom. Unter der Herrschaft von Kaiser Domitian wurde in der Nähe dieser Residenz ein großer Palast (Baubeginn 81 n. Chr., Fertigstellung 92 n. Chr.) durch den Architekten Rabirius (tätig 63-100 n. Chr.) errichtet. Domitians Domus augustana, das auch einigen Nachfolgern als Kaisersitz diente, verfügte zusätzlich zu den privaten Gemächern über große Empfangshallen, öffentliche Essräume, Brunnenanlagen und einen Park.

Städtische Mietshäuser  

Ärmere Stadtbewohner, die sich kein eigenes Wohnhaus leisten konnten, wohnten in so genannten Insulae (lateinisch: Inseln), mehrstöckigen freistehenden Gebäuden aus Backstein- und Steinmörtel ohne Garten, die Ähnlichkeit mit Mietshäusern unserer Zeit hatten. Die am besten erhaltenen Insulae fand man in Ostia, dem antiken Hafen von Rom, an der Mündung des Tiber. Sie stammen aus dem 2. und 3. Jahrhundert n. Chr.

Grabbauten  

Römische Gräber wurden entlang der Hauptausfallstraßen errichtet. Ihr einfacher funktionaler Anspruch machte sie für die unterschiedlichsten Gestaltungsformen geeignet. Die einfachste Form war der Rundbau, wie beim Grabmal der Caecilia Metella an der Via Appia. Kaiser Augustus ließ sich in Rom von 28 bis 23 v. Chr. sein eigenes Mausoleum in Form eines großen, mit einem Erdwall umgebenen Zylinders aus Steinmörtel errichten, das an die monumentalen Grabhügel der Etruskerzeit erinnert. Kaiser Hadrian errichtete auf der anderen Seite des Tibers für sich und seine Nachfolger ein noch größeres Mausoleum, das im 5. Jahrhundert in eine Festung umgewandelt wurde, die heute als Castel Sant’Angelo (Engelsburg) bekannt ist. Ein wohlhabender Zeitgenosse des Augustus, Gaius Cestius, ließ sich um 15 v. Chr. in einem pyramidenförmigen Grab (Cestiuspyramide) bestatten. Ehemalige Sklaven wurden in städtischen Urnenhallen beigesetzt. Diese bestanden aus Hunderten kleiner Nischen, die mit einfachen Namensschildern versehen wurden.

Baumaterialien  

Naturstein, Holz, Platten aus Terrakotta und Fliesen waren seit Beginn der Republik die wichtigsten Baumaterialien der Römer. Die Auswahl der Steine reichte vom italienischen Kalktuff und Travertin bis zum schneeweißen Marmor aus Griechenland und Kleinasien. Seit der Herrschaft Caesars wurde bevorzugt weißer Marmor aus Luna (heute Luni, in der Nähe von Carrara) verwendet. Häufig benutzte man dünne Platten aus edlem Marmor zur Verkleidung von Wänden.

Die Erfindung des Mörtels ermöglichte die Konstruktion komplexerer Gebäude. Der von den Römern verwendete Gussmörtel, ein betonähnliches Material aus einer Mischung von Kies, Kalk und Puzzolan (Vulkansand), wurde so fest, dass dadurch die Überwölbung großer Grundflächen möglich wurde (siehe Bogen und Gewölbe).

Erst derartige Gewölbekonstruktionen schufen die Voraussetzungen für den Bau von Amphitheatern, Thermenanlagen, Kuppeln, wie der des Pantheons, und anderen Gebäuden an schwierigen, steilen Standorten, wie beim Fortunaheiligtum (spätes 2. Jahrhundert v. Chr.) bei Palestrina.

Die römische Bildhauerkunst fand ihre wichtigste Ausprägung im Historienrelief, das mit seiner Funktion der Machtillustration und politisch-militärischen Propaganda häufig dem architektonischen Kontext untergeordnet blieb, sowie der Porträtskulptur, einer der eigentlich innovativen Leistungen der römischen Kunst.

Triumphbögen  

Zu den wichtigsten Bauten mit propagandistischer und rein dekorativer Funktion gehört der Ehren- oder Triumphbogen (Arcus triumphalis), der überall im Reich zunächst von Feldherren, später vom Senat und während des Prinzipats von den Kaisern selbst errichtet wurde, um einen militärischen Sieg zu feiern. Er war als einfacher Torbau mit einem oder drei Durchgängen gestaltet und häufig von Ehrenmälern in Form größerer Skulpturengruppen gekrönt, die den Geehrten mit seinem Gespann darstellten. Erst in der römischen Kaiserzeit erfuhren sie eine aufwendigere Gestaltung und wurden mit schmückenden Relieftafeln versehen, die den Anlass der Ehrung zuweilen in allegorischer Form darstellten.

Einer der am besten erhaltenen römischen Triumphbögen, zu deren Verzierung in der Regel Säulen der korinthischen oder der Kompositordnung verwendet wurden, ist der Titusbogen (um 81 n. Chr.) auf dem Forum Romanum und der Constantinsbogen (315 n. Chr.) in der Nähe des Kolosseums. Auch außerhalb Roms wurden geschmückte Triumphbögen errichtet, wie der Bogen mit 14 Tafeln zu Ehren Trajans in Benevento (Süditalien, um 114 n. Chr.) oder der Tiberiusbogen (25 v. Chr.) in Orange, der mit Darstellungen von Kriegstrophäen und gefesselten Gefangenen, Kampfszenen zwischen Römern und Galliern, erbeuteten Waffen und Rüstungen geschmückt ist.

Siegessäulen und Altäre  

Gelegentlich wurden auch monumentale Siegessäulen in Form von Obelisken mit gewundenen Relieffriesen errichtet, die erfolgreiche römische Feldzüge illustrieren sollten. Die erste und größte Säule dieser Art, die Trajanssäule, wurde nach 113 n. Chr. auf dem Trajansforum in Rom von dem Architekten Apollodoros von Damaskus errichtet. Auf ihr sind Szenen aus dem Dakerfeldzug des römischen Heeres an der Nordostgrenze des Reiches dargestellt. Durch neuartige Kombination der Bauglieder entwickelten die Römer weitere architektonische Typen, die als Träger von Reliefschmuck mit religiös-allegorischem Sinngehalt dienten. Ein herausragendes Beispiel ist die Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar des Friedensbringers Augustus, 13 bis 9 v. Chr., zunächst verschollen, 1938 wieder entdeckt). Der Altar, der von griechischen Bildhauern geschaffen wurde, verherrlicht in allegorischen Darstellungen die von dem römischen Kaiser gestiftete restaurative Ordnung. #

Stilistische Vielfalt  

Die Reliefplastik der römischen Kaiserzeit zeigt ein weites Spektrum an Stilmerkmalen. Sie reichen von griechischen Einflüssen, wie sie etwa im strengen Klassizismus der Relieffriese der Ara Pacis zum Ausdruck kommen, bis hin zu archaisch-hieratischen Motiven aus der altitalischen und etruskischen Kunst, und werden häufig in eklektizistischer Manier miteinander kombiniert.

Grabreliefs

Sarkophage, die eine aufwendige plastische Dekoration besitzen, wurden zum wichtigsten Träger römischer Grabreliefs in der Tradition der etruskischen Kunst. Sie waren mit Girlanden oder Schlachten- und Jagddarstellungen, dionysischen oder mythologischen Szenen verziert. Häufig wurde dabei der Kopf eines mythologischen Helden durch das Porträt des Verstorbenen ersetzt.

Das beliebteste Material für Reliefskulpturen war weißer Marmor, doch auch billigere Kalksandsteinarten fanden Verwendung. Für kaiserliche Sarkophage war besonders roter Porphyr aus Norditalien beliebt.

Frei stehende Plastiken  

Für frei stehende Plastiken wurden dieselben Steinarten verwendet wie für die Reliefskulpturen, daneben waren verschiedene Gusstechniken verbreitet. Von den zahlreichen Bronze-, Gold- und Silberstatuen haben sich nur wenige Beispiele erhalten, da diese im Mittelalter meist eingeschmolzen wurden. Eine der wenigen Ausnahmen bilden die bronzene Reiterstatue (um 175 n. Chr.) des Kaisers Marcus Aurelius auf dem Kapitol in Rom (sie blieb verschont, da man sie für eine Statue des christlichen Kaisers Konstantin hielt), die Goldbüste Kaiser Konstantins (Musée Cantonal d’Archéologie et d’Histoire, Lausanne) aus Avenches (Schweiz) sowie die Silberbüste des Lucius Aurelianus Verus (161-169 n. Chr., Museo di Antichità, Turin), des Mitkaisers von Marcus Aurelius.

Darstellungen von Göttern, mythologischen Helden und Sterblichen fanden meist in unterschiedlichen baulichen Kontexten Verwendung, z. B. im sakralen Bereich als Kultfiguren in Heiligtümern. Frei stehende Plastiken – entweder als römische Originale oder als Kopien griechischer Werke – zierten nicht nur öffentliche Plätze oder Thermenanlagen, sondern auch die Atrien und Gärten von privaten Stadthäusern und Villen. Wichtige öffentliche Gebäude waren häufig mit einem Porträt des Kaisers und seiner Familie ausgestattet.

Porträtskulpturen  

Im Bereich der Porträtskulptur bewies die römische Kunst ihre eigentliche Innovationskraft, indem sie – anders als etwa die griechische Plastik – nicht den idealisierten Menschen in den Mittelpunkt rückte, sondern versuchte, den einzelnen Menschen mit individuellen Zügen und typischen Merkmalen wiederzugeben. Römische Porträts sind in Form kleiner Büsten bis hin zu Kolossalstatuen überliefert, wie der des Kaisers Konstantin I. (um 315 bis 30). Die römische Porträtplastik hatte ihre Wurzeln im Ahnenkult, in dem Wachsmasken der Verstorbenen eine zentrale Rolle spielten. Diese Tradition verschmolz mit dem Brauch aus der Zeit der Römischen Republik, Staatsmänner und andere bedeutende Persönlichkeiten (in der Kaiserzeit dann römische Kaiser oder Mitglieder der kaiserlichen Familie) durch die Aufstellung von Porträtskulpturen an öffentlichen Plätzen zu ehren.

Während die Porträtplastik der republikanischen Zeit betont realistische Züge auszeichnen, setzte seit der augusteischen Zeit unter griechischem Einfluss eine klassizistische Beruhigung ein, unter deren Einfluss griechische Skulpturentypen mit römischen Porträtköpfen entstanden, die später besonders im verfeinerten Hofbildnis verstärkt kollektive kulturelle Wesensmerkmale zum Ausdruck brachten.

Malerei  

Obgleich man aus der römischen Literatur von einem reichen malerischen Schaffen weiß, sind Zeugnisse der römischen Tafel- und Leinwandmalerei kaum überkommen. Dabei scheint es sich hauptsächlich um die Reproduktion griechischer Werke gehandelt zu haben. Lediglich in Form von Wandgemälden ist die Malerei der Römer gut dokumentiert.

Porträtmalerei

 Die römische Porträtmalerei lässt sich am besten anhand von hölzernen Tafeln zurückverfolgen, die an Fundorten in Ägypten entdeckt wurden. Für diese Arbeiten (Faijum-Porträts) wurde die Enkaustik verwendet, eine Maltechnik, bei der Farbpigmente mittels heißen Wachses aufgetragen werden. Sie zeugen vom großen technischen Können der römischen Maler. Ein Kaiserporträt aus dieser Zeit (Staatliche Museen, Berlin) zeigt Kaiser Lucius Septimus Severus mit seiner Frau und ihren beiden Söhnen Caracalla und Geta. Getas Kopf wurde nach seiner damnatio memoriae (offizielle Verdammung) vom Senat entfernt.

Wandmalerei  

Gut dokumentiert ist dagegen die römische Wandmalerei, insbesondere in Pompeji, Herculaneum, Stabiae und Oplontis (Torre Annunziata), die 79 n. Chr. durch einen Ausbruch des Vesuv verschüttet wurden. Seit der Frühzeit der archäologischen Grabungen unterscheidet man dort zwischen vier verschiedenen Dekorationsstilen.

Erster und zweiter Stil  

Der erste Stil dominierte in der Zeit zwischen 120 und 80 v. Chr. (Haus des Sallust in Pompeji). Er wird auch als Inkrustationsstil bezeichnet, da die Wände mit gemalten oder stuckierten Quadern dekoriert waren, die marmorverkleidete Wände der Häuser wohlhabender Bürger imitierten. Die Maler des so genannten zweiten Stiles (etwa 80 bis 15 v. Chr.), der auch als Architekturstil bezeichnet wird, ist gekennzeichnet durch die Nachahmung hellenistischer Bühnenprospekte und das illusionistische Aufbrechen der Wand mit den Mitteln der Perspektive. Wandmalereien dieser Epoche sind in großem Umfang ebenfalls in Pompeji zu finden (Mysterienvilla, 50 v. Chr.).

Dritter und vierter Stil  

Der dritte Stil (etwa 15 v. Chr. bis 63 n. Chr.) vermeidet die Illusionsmalerei des zweiten Stiles und bringt die Wand wieder als zweidimensionale Fläche zur Geltung, die mit feiner, geradliniger Ornamentik auf monochromen Untergrund gestaltet wird. Zu den schönsten Beispielen dieses Stiles gehören die Wandmalereien in der Villa des Agrippa Postumus (10 v. Chr.) in Boscotrecase. Der vierte Stil (etwa 63 bis 79 n. Chr.) ist der komplexeste Stil, der sich vor dem Ausbruch des Vesuv ausbildete. Er greift wieder verstärkt auf architektonische Motive zurück, mit denen er raffinierte, bühnenmäßige Fassaden gestaltet. Besonders schön zeigt er sich im Haus der Vettier in Pompeji.

Die Entwicklung der Wandmalerei nach der Zerstörung der Städte durch den Ausbruch des Vesuv ist nur noch sporadisch dokumentiert, jedoch finden sich Wandgemälde aus dem 2., 3. und 4. Jahrhundert in Ostia und insbesondere in den Katakomben, wo sich eine spezifisch christliche Motivik in linearer Flächigkeit entfaltete.

Mosaiken und Kunstgewerbe

 Im 2. nachchristlichen Jahrhundert begannen Bodenmosaiken die Wandmalereien als Dekorelemente zu verdrängen. Auch das römische Kunstgewerbe erlebte seit Ende der Punischen Kriege im 1. Jahrhundert v. Chr. einen bedeutenden Aufschwung, der seinen Höhepunkt in der augusteischen Zeit erreichte.

Mosaiken

 
Im gesamten Römischen Reich wurden Mosaiken entdeckt, die von einfachen Ornamentformen aus schwarzweißen Steinchen bis hin zu mehrfarbigen komplexen Figurendarstellungen reichen. Ein besonders schönes Beispiel ist das Alexandermosaik im Haus des Fauns in Pompeji, das wohl ein griechisches Gemälde aus dem 4. Jahrhundert v. Chr. (Schlacht bei Issos) reproduziert.

Kunstgewerbe  

Im Bereich des Kunstgewerbes waren besonders römische Silberarbeiten, Keramik, Gläser, Gemmen und Münzen im gesamten römisch beherrschten Kulturraum verbreitet. Die Namen der Künstler sind selten bekannt; eine der wenigen Ausnahmen bildet der Graveur des offiziellen Siegels des Kaisers Augustus, Dioskurides (siehe Kamee). Besonders Gemmen und Intaglios (Gemmen mit vertieftem Bild) mit Porträts sowie mythologischen und allegorischen Darstellungen sind in großer Zahl erhalten. Zu den bekanntesten gehören die Gemma Augustea (frühes 1. Jahrhundert n. Chr., Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien) zu Ehren des Kaisers Augustus und die Grand Camée de France (Bibliothèque National, Paris) zu Ehren seines Nachfolgers Tiberius.

Kunstschmiede stellten Schmuckstücke aus Edelmetallen und kostbares Tafelgeschirr her. In einer Villa in Boscoreale und im Haus des Menander in Pompeji wurden wertvolle Silbergefäße gefunden. Auch Gold-, Silber- und Kupfermünzen waren stark verbreitet. Während des Prinzipats trugen sie auf der einen Seite Porträts der herrschenden Kaiser oder ihrer Familien, auf der anderen Seite waren Darstellungen von Göttern, Gebäuden, historischen Ereignissen oder allegorischen Szenen eingraviert.

Auch römisches Glas hat sich trotz seiner Zerbrechlichkeit in großen Mengen erhalten. Die Glasherstellung kannte unterschiedliche Techniken: gegossenes und geblasenes Glas, Kameeglas (Portland-Vase, spätes 1. Jahrhundert v. Chr., Britisches Museum, London), Mosaikglas, von dem sich besonders viele Exemplare erhalten haben, Fondi d’oro (Glas, das mit Gold verarbeitet wurde) und Diatretglas (von lateinisch-griechisch diatretus: durchbrochen), ein besonders aufwendig geschliffenes Glas, das mit einem Glasnetz überzogen ist (Lykurgos-Vase, 4. Jahrhundert n. Chr., Britisches Museum, London).

Einflüsse

Roman Art and Architecture

The art and architecture of Rome and its empire, which at its apogee extended from the British Isles to the Caspian Sea. The earliest Roman art is generally associated with the overthrow of the Etruscan kings and the establishment of the Republic in 509 BC. The point at which the age of Roman art ended and the era of Early Christian, leading to medieval, art began is usually taken, somewhat arbitrarily, to have occurred with the conversion of the emperor Constantine to Christianity and the transfer of the capital of the empire from Rome to Constantinople in AD 330. Roman styles and even pagan Roman subjects continued, however, for centuries, often in Christian guise.

Roman art is traditionally divided into two main periods, that of the Roman Republic and that of the Roman Empire (from 27 BC on), with subdivisions corresponding to the major emperors or to imperial dynasties. When the Republic was founded, the term "Roman art" was virtually synonymous with the art of the city of Rome, which still bore the stamp of its Etruscan past. Gradually, as the Roman Empire expanded throughout Italy and the Mediterranean and as the Romans came into contact with other artistic traditions, notably that of Greece, Roman art shook off its dependence on Etruscan art; during the last two centuries before the birth of Christ, a distinctive Roman manner of building, painting, and sculpture emerged. Nevertheless, because of the extraordinarily wide geographical extent of the Roman Empire and the number of culturally diverse peoples encompassed within its boundaries, the art and architecture of the Romans was always eclectic; it is also characterized by a variety of styles resulting from the influence of diverse regional tastes and the differing preferences of a wide range of patrons.

Roman art is not just the art of the emperors, senators, and aristocracy, but of all the peoples of Rome's vast empire, including middle-class businessmen, freedmen, slaves, and soldiers in Italy and the provinces. Curiously, although examples of Roman architecture, sculpture, painting, and decorative arts survive in great numbers, few Roman artists and architects are known by name today. In general, Roman monuments were designed to serve the needs of their patrons rather than to express the artistic personality of their makers.

Architecture

A clear picture of Roman architecture can be drawn from the impressive remains of ancient Roman public and private buildings and from contemporaneous writings, such as De Architectura (trans. 1914), the ten-volume architectural treatise compiled by Vitruvius towards the close of the 1st century BC.

Roman Town Planning

The typical Roman city of the later Republic and empire had a rectangular plan and resembled a Roman military camp: it had two main streets—the cardo on a north-south axis and the decumanus on an east-west axis—and a grid of smaller streets dividing the town into blocks, and was surrounded by a wall with gates. Older cities, such as Rome itself, founded before the adoption of regularized town planning, could, however, consist of a maze of crooked streets. The focal point of the city was its forum, usually situated in the centre of the city at the intersection of the cardo and the decumanus. The forum, an open area bordered by colonnades with shops, functioned as the chief meeting place of the town. It was also the site of the city's primary religious and civic buildings, among them the Senate house, records office, and basilica. The basilica was a roofed hall with a wide central area—the nave—flanked by side aisles, and it often had two or more storeys. In Roman times business transactions and legal proceedings took place in the basilica, but the building type was adapted in Christian times as the standard form of Western Church, with an apse and altar at the end of the long nave. The first basilicas were erected in the early 2nd century BC in Rome's own Forum, but the earliest well-preserved example of a basilica (c. 120 BC) is found at Pompeii.

Roman Temples

The chief temple of a Roman city, the capitolium, was generally located at one end of the forum. The standard Roman temple was a blend of Etruscan and Greek elements; rectangular in plan, it had a gabled roof, a deep porch with free-standing columns, and a frontal staircase giving access to its high plinth, or platform. The traditional Greek orders of architecture (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian) were usually retained, but the Romans also developed a new type of capital called the composite capital, a mixture of Ionic and Corinthian elements. An excellent example of the classic Roman temple is the Maison Carrée (c. AD 4) in Nîmes, France. Such temples were erected not only in the forum, but throughout the Roman city and in the countryside as well. Many other types are known; one of the most influential in later times was the type used for the Pantheon (AD 118-128) in Rome, consisting of a standard gable-roofed columnar porch with a domed rotunda behind it replacing the traditional rectangular main room, or cella. Simpler temples based on Greek prototypes, with round cellae and an encircling colonnade, such as that built about 75 BC at Tivoli, near Rome, were also popular.

Markets and Shops

Various secular buildings and shops were dispersed throughout the Roman city. The shops were usually one-room units (tabernae) opening on to pavements; many, including bakeries where flour was also milled, can still be seen at Pompeii and elsewhere. Sometimes an entire unified complex of shops was constructed; the markets built in the reign (AD 98-117) of Trajan still to be seen on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, for example, incorporated scores of tabernae on several levels and a large vaulted two-storey hall.

Theatres and Amphitheatres

Roman theatres first appeared in the late Republic. They were semicircular in plan and consisted of a tall stage building ( the proscenium) abutting a semicircular space for dancers and chorus (the orchestra) and tiered seating area (the cavea). Unlike Greek theatres, which were built into natural hillsides, Roman theatres were supported by their own framework of piers and vaults and thus could be constructed in the heart of the city. Theatres were popular in all parts of the empire; impressive examples may be found at Orange (early 1st century AD), in France, and Sabratha (late 2nd century AD), in Libya. Amphitheatres (literally, double theatres) were elliptical in plan with a central arena, where gladiatorial and animal combats took place, and a surrounding seating area built on the pattern of Roman theatres. The earliest known amphitheatre (75 BC) is at Pompeii, and the grandest, the Colosseum (AD 70-80) in Rome, held approximately 50,000 spectators, roughly the capacity of today's large sports stadiums. Racecourses, or circuses, were also built in many cities; Rome's circus-shaped Piazza Navona occupies the site of one that was built during the reign (AD 81-96) of Domitian.

Public Baths

Large cities and small towns alike also had public baths (thermae); under the Republic they were generally made up of a suite of dressing rooms and bathing chambers with hot- , warm- , and cold-water baths (caldaria, tepidaria, and frigidaria) alongside an exercise area, the palaestra. The baths (75 BC) near the forum in Pompeii are an excellent example of the early type. Under the empire these comparatively modest structures became progressively grander; such late examples as the Baths of Caracalla (about AD 217) in Rome also incorporated libraries, lecture halls, and vast vaulted public spaces elaborately decorated with statues, mosaics, paintings, and stucco.

Public Works

Among the other great public building projects undertaken by the Romans, the most noteworthy are the network of roads and the bridges that facilitated travel throughout the empire, and the aqueducts such as the Pont du Gard (19 BC), near Nîmes, France, that brought water to the towns from mountain sources.

Residences

Although the public buildings were generally the grandest and costliest structures in the city, they comprised but a small area of it. Most of the urban area was occupied by private residences.

The Domus

Family dwellings then as today were built in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but the preference for axial symmetry that characterized most of Roman public architecture was also applied to the Roman domus (home). Early houses dating from the 4th and 3rd centuries BC seem to have been built on patterns established in Etruscan times. The standard domus italica, or early Republican house, consisted of an entrance corridor (fauces), a main room (atrium) open to the sky with a central basin for the collection of rainwater, a series of small bedrooms (cubicula), an office area (tablinum), a dining room (triclinium), a kitchen (culina), and perhaps a small garden (hortus). The front rooms of the house might open on to the street and serve as shops. During the late Republic and early empire, Roman houses became ever more elaborate. Greek-style columns were installed in the atrium, the old hortus was expanded and framed by a colonnade (peristyle), and the decoration became quite lavish. The wealthiest city dwellings might occupy an entire block, as did the so-called House of the Faun at Pompeii, built early in the 2nd century BC.

The Villa and the Palace

Suburban villas, such as those owned by the statesman and orator Cicero and other famous Romans, were often built on estates incorporating fields and lakes, and where there was space enough for the addition of shrines and thermal complexes. The finest surviving imperial villas is that (begun AD 118) of Hadrian at Tivoli. The first emperor, Augustus, who reigned from 27 BC to AD 14, lived in a relatively austere residence on the Palatine Hill in Rome, but under Domitian a great imperial palace (begun c. AD 81, dedicated 92) was constructed near by by the architect Rabirius (fl. AD 63-100). Domitian's Domus Augustana also served as the headquarters of succeeding emperors; in addition to a residential wing, it had grand reception halls, public dining areas, fountains, and a garden in the form of a stadium.

The Insula

In the imperial period, city dwellers who could not afford private residences lived in insulae, multi-storey brick and concrete structures strikingly similar to modern tenement blocks. The best-preserved examples, dating from the 2nd and 3rd centuries, are at Ostia, the port of Rome at the mouth of the Tiber River.

Roman Tombs

One kind of building that was almost always located outside the city proper was the tomb. Roman tombs, usually set up beside the major roads leading in and out of the cities, exhibit an extraordinary variety of forms because they reflect the personal tastes of private patrons and because their simple function—to house the bodies or cremated remains of the dead—could be satisfied by almost any shape. The emperor Augustus had his own huge mausoleum built at Rome between 28 and 23 BC in the form of a great concrete drum surmounted by a mound, recalling the monumental earthen tumuli of Etruscan times. Across the Tiber the emperor Hadrian had an even larger mausoleum built (AD 135-139) for himself and his successors; it was converted (5th century) to a fortress, now known as Castel Sant'Angelo. A wealthy contemporary of Augustus, Gaius Cestius, chose to be buried in a pyramid tomb about 15 BC, while at the same time a successful baker, Marcus Virgilius Eurysaces, had his tomb decorated with grain measures and a frieze detailing the various stages in the baking of bread. People of lesser means, especially freed slaves, were usually buried in communal tombs called columbaria in which the ashes of the deceased were deposited in one of hundreds of small niches marked with simple plaques. Great tower tombs were also erected; that built about 25 BC in honour of the Julii family of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, consists of a large base topped by a four-sided arch and a small circular temple housing two portrait statues. Burial chambers might also be located in mountain cliffs with elaborate façades carved into the sheer faces of the rock, as in the Roman cemetery at Petra, in present-day Jordan.

Building Materials and Methods

Quarried stone, used in conjunction with timber beams and terracotta tiles and plaques, was the essential Roman building material from Republican times on. The stone chosen ranged from central Italian tufa and travertine to gleaming white marble shipped from Greece and Asia Minor—or, from the time of Caesar on, from Luna (modern Luni, near Carrara) in Italy—and multicoloured marbles imported from quarries all over the ancient world. Thin revetment plaques of fine marble were often used to sheathe walls constructed of cheaper stone blocks or rubble.

Marble lent splendour to Roman buildings, as it had done to those of the Greeks, but it was concrete, a material perfected by the Romans, that revolutionized the history of architecture and enabled them to erect buildings that had been impossible to construct using the traditional stone post-and-lintel system of earlier architecture. Roman concrete was an amalgam of hydrated lime and pozzolana, a volcanic sand, mixed with aggregate. It allowed Roman architects to make use of the arch and vault on a much larger scale than had previously been possible, and to liberate architectural design from the rectilinear framework of Classical architecture.

Concrete vaulting made possible the construction of the great amphitheatres and baths of the Roman world, as well as the dome of the Pantheon and such spectacular hillside temples as that of the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia (late 2nd century BC) at Palestrina. Because concrete walls and ceilings consisted of sections cast in moulds, architects were encouraged to experiment with irregular configurations that lent visual excitement to the interior of buildings. Although Roman concrete could be faced with a variety of materials, the most popular during the empire was brick. Indeed, during the first two centuries AD, brick first came to be appreciated as a facing for buildings in its own right; brick-faced concrete quickly became the favoured material for large buildings such as residential blocks, baths, and horreae, or warehouses (for example, the horrea of Epagathius, AD 145-150, at Ostia).

Sculpture

Throughout the Roman world, statues and reliefs were regularly displayed in, on, and around public and private buildings. In fact, some Roman buildings were little more than monumental supports for sculpture.

Triumphal Arches

Chief among these buildings are the triumphal arches, commemorative monuments that were erected in all parts of the empire. The original purpose of triumphal arches was solely to support honorific statuary, although almost none of the great statuary groups (often chariot groups) that once crowned them has survived. The arches themselves were originally very plain. Under Augustus and succeeding emperors, however, they became more and more elaborate, and were eventually covered with extensive series of relief panels advertising the victories and good deeds of the emperors in whose name they were erected. The reliefs often recounted specific historical events, but frequently allegorical scenes were also depicted; an emperor might appear in the company of the gods or accept the submission of conquered peoples personified by kneeling figures.

Among the most important preserved arches in the capital are those of Titus (c. AD 81), in the Roman Forum, and of Constantine (AD 315), near the Colosseum. In two panels on the Arch of Titus the triumphal procession of the emperor is represented, complete with the spoils from the sack of the great temple in Jerusalem. The Arch of Constantine presents a mixture of reliefs reused from earlier monuments and new reliefs made specifically for the arch. The panels and friezes depict a host of subjects, including scenes of battle, sacrifice, and the distribution of largesse. In the reused reliefs the head of Constantine was substituted for those of his predecessors. Such reuse and refashioning of older reliefs was not uncommon in imperial Rome. The monuments of dead emperors who had suffered official condemnation (damnatio memoriae) by the Senate were either altered or destroyed.

Richly decorated arches are also found outside Rome. At Benevento, in southern Italy, a grand arch with 14 panels honouring Trajan was put up about AD 114. At Orange, in France, the Arch of Tiberius (AD 25) is covered with representations of military trophies and bound captives, scenes of Romans fighting Gauls, and panels of captured arms and armour.

Honorific Columns and Altars

Historiated columns were also occasionally erected, with friezes in spiral relief narrating in great detail the successful Roman military campaigns. The first and greatest of these was erected in the Forum of Trajan (AD 113) in Rome by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus; it recounts the activities of the Roman army in its war against the Dacians on the northern frontier (modern Romania).

Great altars, for sacrifices and other religious ceremonies, were also adorned with historical reliefs. The finest is the Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace, 13-9 BC, Rome), the reliefs of which celebrate the initiation by Augustus of the Pax Romana, the great era of Roman peace and prosperity.

Sculptural Styles

The style of imperial relief sculptures ranges from the conscious neo-Greek classicism of the friezes on the Ara Pacis, to the late antique style, schematic, frontal, and hieratic, as seen in the reliefs on the Arch of Constantine (AD 312-315). On many monuments two or more styles may be seen side by side. As previously noted, throughout its history Roman art was eclectic, and no single period has a unified style that can be described as specifically Roman. In fact, the style of contemporary official and private monuments often differed markedly, as did that of coeval monuments in the capital and the provinces.

Funerary Reliefs

Private commissions for relief sculpture were usually for use in funerary contexts. Successful merchants such as the baker Eurysaces had their business activities immortalized on their tombs. During the late Republic and early empire, group portrait reliefs of freed slaves were frequently placed in the façades of their communal tombs; in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD portrait reliefs were popular for funerary altars set up in or around tombs.

The sarcophagus became the vehicle for the most important class of Roman funerary reliefs, favoured by the upper and middle classes alike from the mid-2nd century on. Sarcophagi were produced in Rome and other major centres around the Mediterranean, including Athens and other cities in the Greek-speaking East. Many of the surviving sarcophagus reliefs are composed solely of garlands and other decorative motifs, but a great variety of narrative themes were also chosen. Mythological tales were especially popular, including the labours of Hercules, the Calydonian boar hunt of Meleager, and the legend of Niobe and her children. Often a portrait of the deceased was substituted for the head of the mythological hero or heroine. The sarcophagus reliefs were also sometimes pseudobiographical in nature, and from a repertoire of stock patterns a patron could choose scenes of war, sacrifice, or marriage. The compositions of these scenes were frequently derived from imperial reliefs showing the emperor offering a sacrifice to the state gods, receiving barbarian emissaries, and the like.

The preferred medium for Roman relief sculptures was white marble, but less costly varieties of limestone were also widely employed. Figural as well as decorative reliefs were generally painted, and coloured stone was occasionally selected; for example, porphyry was favoured in the 4th century, especially for imperial sarcophagi.

Free-standing Sculpture

The same kinds of stone were used for free-standing statuary, although statues were produced in great numbers in bronze and even in gold and silver. Relatively few bronze and almost no gold or silver statues have survived because they were frequently melted down in the Middle Ages and later. Notable exceptions are the bronze equestrian statue (c. AD 175) of Emperor Marcus Aurelius on the Campidoglio in Rome (spared only because it was thought to be of Constantine), the gold bust (Musée Cantonal d'Archéologie et d'Histoire, Lausanne, Switzerland) of the same emperor from Avenches, Switzerland, and the silver bust (Museo di Antichità, Turin, Italy) of Lucius Aurelianus Verus, coemperor (AD 161-169) with Marcus Aurelius.

Statues of deities, heroes, and mortals alike were erected in a wide variety of contexts. Every temple had a cult statue; marble and bronze images of the gods and heroes—Roman originals as well as copies of famous Greek statues—were popular not only for public places such as baths, but for the atria, gardens, and pools of private houses and villas. Important civic buildings were likely to be graced with a portrait of the current emperor and sometimes those of his wife and children as well.

Portrait Sculpture

Roman portrait sculpture forms one of the great chapters in the history of ancient art. Surviving portraits vary in size from miniature busts to colossal statues such as that (c. AD 315-330) of Constantine, placed in his basilica in the Roman Forum. During the Republic it was customary for members of the family to carry images of the deceased during the funeral procession. Recent studies have suggested that the depictions of wrinkled old men and women associated with funerary monuments are not actual likenesses of the deceased but cultural statements about them. This tradition merged with the practice of commemorating statesmen and other notable public figures by erecting their images in public places. In both instances, realistic representations of the individual are subsumed by imbuing the images with artistic conventions connoting an array of Republican virtues. It has been further suggested that these images were sculpted by Greek artists whose inherent antipathy towards the Romans impelled them to exaggerate these conventions until images verged on caricature. The concept of an image imbued with cultural, rather than individual, characteristics continued into the imperial period, as the images of Augustus reveal. When Augustus died in AD 14 at the age of 76, his official portraits still presented him as a young man. Although his image was transformed several times during his life, none represented him as an aged monarch. Nevertheless, in time, images of Roman monarchy became more representational.

Painting

Little survives today of Roman painting on panel, the equivalent of modern canvases, but it is known from ancient literature that Roman painters depicted a variety of subjects, including historical events, myths, scenes of daily life, portraits, and still lifes.

Portrait Painting

A series of wooden panels recovered from sites throughout Roman Egypt are the best surviving examples of portrait painting in the imperial period. These works, traditionally called "Fayyum portraits", after the agricultural district in Egypt where they were first discovered, are examples of the encaustic painting, a method involving pigment contained in a medium of hot wax. These panels are the only Roman portraits that have survived in any number, and even though they are provincial works, they testify to a high level of accomplishment on the part of Roman painters. The images reflect the prevailing tastes of the times and provide a chronological overview of the development of portraiture during the imperial period. One such portrait (Staatliche Museen, Berlin) depicts Lucius Septimius Severus, his wife, Julia Domna, and their sons, Caracalla and Geta. Geta's head was removed after damnatio memoriae (official condemnation) had been passed on him by the Senate.

Mural Painting

Mural painting, by contrast, is well documented, especially in Pompeii and the other cities buried in ash and lava after the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius in AD 79. Four so-called Pompeiian styles have been distinguished.

First and Second Styles

The First Style, which flourished between about 120 and 80 BC (House of Sallust, Pompeii), is based on Greek interior decoration and is sometimes called the Incrustation Style because painted plaster relief is used to imitate the appearance of the lavish marble-reveted walls of the very wealthy. Painters working in the Second Style, from 80 to 15 BC, sought to create the illusion of vast spaces beyond the surface of the wall by using perspective. Colonnades, gardens, theatrical stages, and round temples were popular motifs. Extensive series of murals in the Second Style can be seen today at Pompeii (Villa of the Mysteries, 50 BC), in a magnificent villa at Oplontis (also 50 BC) near by, and elsewhere. Even the house of Augustus on the Palatine Hill in Rome was decorated (c. 25 BC) in this elegant style.

Third and Fourth Styles

The Third Style, dating from 15 BC to AD 63, is a highly refined style in which the illusionism of the Second Style is suppressed in favour of delicate linear arabesques on monochrome grounds. Probably the finest surviving suite of Third Style rooms comes from the Villa of Agrippa Postumus (10 BC) at Boscotrecase. The Fourth Style, dating from AD 63 to 79, is the last and most complex style developed before the Vesuvian eruption. Architectural motifs were popular, but they were no longer rendered in a rational perspective; instead, fantastic structures that would have been impossible to build in reality adorn the walls of Fourth Style rooms, such as those in the House of the Vettii at Pompeii. In the Third and Fourth Styles the centres of the murals are frequently occupied by imitation panel paintings, usually depicting mythological subjects, although scenes of daily life, portraits, and other themes are also known. The development of mural painting after the eruption of Vesuvius is less well documented, but painted rooms of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries may be found at Ostia and especially in the Roman catacombs, where Christian subjects were popular long before Constantine's conversion to Christianity.

Other Arts

Wherever painted murals existed, coloured floors were likely to be present. They were often simply painted in solid colours, but in many instances they were made up of marble slabs of many hues or covered in mosaics made up of thousands of tiny cubes (tesserae).

Mosaics

Roman mosaics have been excavated in all parts of the empire. They range from abstract patterns of black-and-white tesserae to ambitious polychrome figural compositions. An example of the latter is the great floor from the House of the Faun at Pompeii, which reproduces a 4th-century BC Greek painting, the Battle of Issus, depicting an engagement of the armies of Alexander the Great and King Darius III of Persia. Roman ceilings were frequently painted and on occasion covered with mosaics, but they were also often decorated with stucco reliefs that in turn were generally painted. Particularly fine stuccoed vaults have been found in the Farnesina House (20 BC) and the Tomb of the Pancratii (AD 160) in Rome.

Gems, Cameos, Metalwork, and Glass

In ancient Rome the so-called minor arts of metalwork, cutting gemstones, and fashioning vessels from glass, and the like were highly respected and minor only in scale. Although artists' names are seldom recorded, the engraver of the official seal of the emperor Augustus, Dioscurides, is known to have been one. Cameos and intaglios (engraved gems), with portraits, mythological figures, and the like, survive in great numbers. Some large cameos with narrative and allegorical scenes are also known; chief among them are the Gemma Augustea (early 1st century AD, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), celebrating Augustus, and the Grand Camée de France (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris), honouring Augustus's successor, Tiberius.

Metalsmiths were active in producing gold and silver jewellery as well as sumptuous tableware. Hoards of silver vessels have been found in a villa at Boscoreale and in the House of Menander at Pompeii. Both collections were buried by the Vesuvian eruption and include pieces with abstract, vegetal, and figural ornament. The most widely distributed miniature works of art were the Roman coins struck in gold, silver, and copper. Under the empire, coins bore the portraits of the ruling emperors and their families on the obverse side and representations of deities and buildings or historical and allegorical narratives on the reverse.

Roman glass, despite its fragility, has survived in considerable quantities. It includes moulded and blown glass as well as such luxurious variants as cameo glass (Portland Vase, late 1st century BC, British Museum, London), mosaic glass (many examples, 1st century BC, Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York), fondi d'oro (gold-enhanced glass, many examples, 4th century AD, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), and diatreta (cage cup) glass—one-piece glass vessels consisting of a cup or vase enclosed in a mesh carved from its outer surface (Lycurgus Cup, 4th century AD, British Museum).

Significance

Roman art and architecture had a profound impact not only on the succeeding art of the Early Christian period, but on the Renaissance and Baroque periods as well, and even much of the art produced today has obvious roots in the Roman past.

Arte e architettura Romana

Produzione artistica e architettonica di Roma antica e del suo impero. Gli esordi risalgono all'epoca della cacciata dei re etruschi e della fondazione della repubblica nel 509 a.C., mentre se ne fa coincidere convenzionalmente la fine con la conversione al cristianesimo dell'imperatore Costantino e il trasferimento della capitale a Costantinopoli nel 330 d.C.; di fatto l'eredità dell'arte romana si fece sentire ancora per secoli e alcuni dei suoi temi entrarono direttamente nella tradizione figurativa cristiana (vedi Arte paleocristiana).

L'arte romana viene tradizionalmente divisa in due periodi: repubblicano (509-27 a.C.) e imperiale (27 a.C. - 330 d.C.), quest'ultimo a sua volta suddiviso in base all'alternarsi delle dinastie o degli imperatori. Finché i confini del dominio romano coincisero con quelli della sola città di Roma, determinante nella produzione artistica era l'influenza etrusca. Ma con il graduale espandersi del potere politico e militare romano in Italia e nel Mediterraneo, nel corso dei due secoli precedenti la nascita di Cristo emerse uno stile romano dai tratti propri, che rielaborava in modo originale gli apporti delle tradizioni artistiche (in particolar modo quella greca) con cui gli architetti, gli scultori e i pittori di Roma erano venuti in contatto. Tuttavia, a causa della straordinaria estensione geografica dell'impero e del gran numero di popoli culturalmente diversi compresi al suo interno, l'arte romana ebbe sempre forti spinte eclettiche, stimolate dalle esigenze dei committenti, non solo imperatori, senatori o aristocratici, ma anche militari, mercanti, liberti. Per gli stessi motivi ci è stato tramandato il nome di pochissimi artisti e architetti: in genere, i monumenti dovevano soddisfare i desideri di chi li finanziava e non esprimere la personalità artistica dei loro creatori.

Architettura

L'architettura romana è nota grazie ai tanti edifici privati e pubblici giunti fino a noi, e può essere studiata anche attraverso l'unico trattato del tempo conservato, il De architectura di Vitruvio, della seconda metà del I secolo a.C.

Urbanistica

La pianta di una tipica città tardorepubblicana o imperiale derivava da quella degli accampamenti militari: di forma rettangolare, presentava due strade principali – il cardo massimo sull'asse nord-sud e il decumano massimo su quello est-ovest – e una griglia di strade minori (cardi e decumani minori) che si incrociavano perpendicolarmente e dividevano in isolati regolari l'abitato; la città era inoltre cinta da mura in cui si aprivano delle porte. Tale schema urbanistico è tuttora visibile in molte città fondate in epoca romana, ad esempio Torino o Pavia. Le città più antiche, come la stessa Roma, erano invece formate da un dedalo di vicoli, poiché la loro crescita non era stata pianificata regolarmente. Fulcro della vita civica e usuale punto di ritrovo era il foro, spesso situato all'intersezione tra cardo e decumano principali: era costituito da un'area aperta sulla quale si affacciavano portici colonnati (dove si trovavano le botteghe) e i principali edifici pubblici e religiosi, tra cui il senato cittadino, gli uffici amministrativi e la basilica. Le prime basiliche romane furono erette agli inizi del II secolo a.C., ma il più antico esempio giunto fino a noi si trova a Pompei e risale al 120 ca. a.C.

Templi

Il principale edificio religioso della città, il capitolium, era solitamente collocato a un'estremità del foro. Il tempio romano fu il risultato della fusione di elementi etrusco-italici e greci: generalmente sorgeva su una piattaforma sopraelevata, accessibile tramite una scala, e aveva pianta rettangolare, tetto a doppio spiovente, portico colonnato. Esistevano anche templi a pianta circolare, come ad esempio il Pantheon a Roma (ricostruito durante il regno di Adriano, 117-138 d.C.), nel quale un portico colonnato con frontone precede uno spazio circolare coperto da una cupola. Frequentemente adottati erano gli ordini architettonici greci, insieme a un nuovo tipo di capitello detto "composito", che fondeva elementi ionici e corinzi.

Mercati e botteghe

Nelle città romane molti erano gli edifici adibiti ad attività commerciali. Le botteghe (tabernae) occupavano di solito un unico locale al piano terreno, che dava sulla strada: se ne possono vedere molte (tra cui panetterie con mulino e forno) a Pompei. Talora diverse botteghe venivano costruite vicine l'una all'altra in un'unica area: i mercati eretti durante il regno di Traiano (98-117 d.C.) sul colle del Quirinale a Roma comprendevano decine di tabernae su diversi livelli e un'ampia aula coperta a due piani.

Teatri e anfiteatri

I primi teatri vennero edificati al termine del periodo repubblicano. Erano a pianta semicircolare, con un'alta parete di fondo (la scena), davanti alla quale si aprivano il proscenio (che ospitava gli attori) e un'area a gradinate per i posti a sedere (chiamata cavea). A differenza dei teatri greci, costruiti sfruttando pendenze naturali, quelli romani avevano una struttura portante di pilastri e volte, e sorgevano generalmente in pieno centro cittadino. Ne furono costruiti in tutto l'impero, come provano gli splendidi esempi di Orange (inizi del I secolo d.C.) in Francia, di Sabratha (fine II secolo d.C.) in Libia, di Aspendos (seconda metà del II secolo d.C.) in Turchia. Gli anfiteatri, dove si svolgevano i combattimenti dei gladiatori, avevano pianta ellittica: al centro c'era l'arena e tutt'attorno vari ordini digradanti di posti. Il più antico anfiteatro conosciuto (75 ca. a.C.) è quello di Pompei; il più grande, il Colosseo (75-80 d.C.) di Roma, poteva accogliere circa 50.000 spettatori. In molte città c'erano anche circhi e stadi per le corse di cavalli e carri; l'ellittica piazza Navona a Roma occupa il luogo del circo edificato durante il regno di Domiziano (81-96 d.C.), che talvolta veniva addirittura riempito d'acqua e utilizzato per battaglie navali.

Terme

Piccole e grandi città erano dotate di bagni pubblici o thermae, dotate di acqua corrente, che in epoca repubblicana erano costituite da una serie di spogliatoi e di locali (frigidaria, tepidaria e calidaria) e da una palaestra. Nel periodo imperiale le terme divennero sempre più grandi e lussuose: quelle di Caracalla (215 ca. d.C.) a Roma comprendevano biblioteche e grandi spazi pubblici coperti, riccamente decorati da statue, mosaici, affreschi e rilievi in stucco.

Opere pubbliche

I romani realizzarono un efficace sistema viario e di ponti che facilitava fortemente i collegamenti all'interno dell'impero, e realizzarono lunghi acquedotti, che approvvigionavano le città con l'acqua proveniente da sorgenti anche molto lontane (come nel caso del Pont du Gard, costruito nel 19 a.C. vicino a Nîmes in Francia).

Abitazioni

La domus, cioè l'abitazione privata, si ispirava generalmente ai medesimi criteri di simmetria assiale tipici dell'edilizia pubblica, trasposti ovviamente in strutture di dimensioni ridotte. Le case più antiche, risalenti al IV e III secolo a.C., riprendevano probabilmente modelli etruschi. La tradizionale domus italica prevedeva un corridoio d'ingresso (fauces), uno spazio centrale (atrium) a cielo aperto con al centro una vasca per la raccolta dell'acqua piovana, camere da letto (cubicula), un soggiorno (tablinum), una sala da pranzo (triclinium), una cucina (culina) e talora un piccolo giardino (hortus). I locali che davano sulla strada potevano ospitare botteghe. In epoca tardorepubblicana e imperiale, le abitazioni divennero più articolate e i singoli ambienti furono decorati sfarzosamente: nell'atrio vennero poste colonne di stile greco e il giardino fu ampliato e cinto da un colonnato (peristilio). Le case delle famiglie più ricche potevano occupare un intero isolato, come la Casa del Fauno di Pompei, datata agli inizi del II secolo a.C.

Le ville nei dintorni della città, come quella di Cicerone a Tuscolo, sorgevano spesso al centro di grandi tenute comprendenti campi e laghi, e talvolta anche templi votivi e terme; l'esempio più grandioso è la villa di Adriano a Tivoli, iniziata nel 118 d.C. L'imperatore Augusto (27 a.C. - 14 d.C.) viveva in un'austera dimora sul colle Palatino (da cui il termine palatium, "palazzo"); sotto Domiziano (81-96 d.C.) nella stessa area fu costruito, su progetto dell'architetto Rabirio, un grande palazzo, che da allora fu la residenza imperiale ufficiale: era composto da una parte destinata ad abitazione, da ampie sale per le udienze o per i banchetti, e da un grande giardino con fontane. In epoca imperiale i cittadini meno abbienti abitavano nelle insulae, edifici a più piani in mattoni e cemento, molto simili ai nostri condomini. Gli esempi meglio conservati, risalenti al II e III secolo, sono a Ostia, il porto di Roma alla foce del Tevere.

Tombe

I luoghi di sepoltura si trovavano quasi sempre fuori dell'abitato, lungo le principali vie d'accesso. Le tombe presentano una grande varietà di tipologie, dipendenti dalle diverse richieste dei committenti e dalla specifica destinazione (inumazione dei corpi o conservazione delle ceneri dei defunti). A Roma, l'imperatore Augusto fece costruire per sé un mausoleo dove riposare dopo morto, a pianta circolare e sormontato da un tumulo che ricordava quelli etruschi. L'imperatore Adriano volle che in riva al Tevere sorgesse un mausoleo (135-139 d.C.) ancora più grande per sé e i suoi successori: nel V secolo tale struttura fu trasformata in fortezza, l'attuale Castel Sant'Angelo. Un facoltoso contemporaneo di Augusto, Gaio Cestio, si fece costruire una piramide a Roma intorno al 15 a.C.; nello stesso periodo un ricco panettiere, Marco Virgilio Eurisace, fece decorare la sua tomba con misure di grano e un fregio che illustrava i vari momenti della panificazione. Per i meno abbienti e per i liberti esistevano i "colombari", tombe comuni formate da centinaia di nicchie segnate da una semplice targa, in cui venivano deposte le ceneri dei defunti. Talora le camere funerarie erano scavate nel fianco di una montagna e le loro facciate erano incise a rilievo nella viva roccia.

Materiali e metodi di costruzione

Pietra, travi di legno, tegole e mattoni d'argilla furono i principali materiali da costruzione romani fin dai tempi della repubblica. Molto usati erano il tufo e il travertino centroitaliani e, per costruzioni più ricche e prestigiose, il marmo bianco importato dalla Grecia e dall'Asia Minore o, a partire dall'epoca di Cesare, da Luni, vicino a Carrara; marmi multicolori giungevano inoltre a Roma da tutto il mondo antico, usati spesso per rivestire muri realizzati con materiali più economici.

Il marmo diede vita a monumenti splendidi; ma fu il calcestruzzo, la cui formula fu messa a punto dai romani, a rivoluzionare la storia dell'architettura: grazie a questo conglomerato a base di calce, pozzolana e materiali inerti fu superato il tradizionale linearismo dello stile classico, basato sul sistema trilitico (a pilastri e architravi in pietra). Con l'uso di archi e volte in calcestruzzo si potevano erigere edifici un tempo impensabili: grandi anfiteatri e terme, cupole come quella del Pantheon e templi come il santuario della Fortuna Primigenia (tardo II secolo a.C.) a Praeneste. Poiché le armature entro cui si colava il calcestruzzo potevano avere forma varia, gli architetti furono spinti a sperimentare configurazioni irregolari che rendessero più mossi gli interni. Il calcestruzzo poteva essere rivestito con materiali diversi: in epoca imperiale si usò soprattutto il mattone, in particolar modo per le facciate. L'abbinamento di struttura in calcestruzzo e facciata in mattoni divenne molto frequente per grandi edifici, complessi abitativi, terme e magazzini.

Scultura

L'epoca imperiale fu caratterizzata da molti stili scultorei, dal consapevole classicismo "neogreco" dei fregi dell'Ara Pacis Augustae (13-9 a.C.) alla frontalità, schematicità e ieraticità delle figure dell'arco di Costantino (315 ca. d.C.). L'eclettismo fu comunque la tendenza dominante: due o più stili possono convivere nello stesso monumento, e in una medesima epoca si possono registrare differenze marcate tra decorazioni pubbliche e ritratti privati, o tra le opere realizzate nella capitale e quelle delle province. In tutto il mondo romano, statue e rilievi erano parte integrante dell'architettura, sia pubblica sia privata, e addirittura alcuni edifici possono essere considerati meri supporti monumentali per la decorazione scultorea.

Archi trionfali

Gli archi trionfali sono monumenti celebrativi nei quali la struttura architettonica costituisce essenzialmente la base per una ricca decorazione, composta di statue, bassorilievi, gruppi in bronzo o marmo. Inizialmente molto semplici, durante l'impero divennero molto più elaborati: estesi bassorilievi illustravano le vittorie e celebravano le imprese di colui al quale l'arco era dedicato. Le scene raffigurate si rifacevano solitamente a eventi storici o a temi mitologici: l'imperatore vi appariva in compagnia degli dèi, o nell'atto di accettare la sottomissione dei popoli conquistati, simboleggiati da una figura inginocchiata. Tra i più importanti archi rimasti ricordiamo quelli romani di Tito (81 d.C.), nel Foro, e di Costantino (315 d.C.), vicino al Colosseo. Nei due grandi rilievi del primo è rappresentato il corteo trionfale dell'imperatore, con il bottino della distruzione del tempio di Gerusalemme. I numerosi rilievi del secondo, in parte prelevati da altri monumenti (di Traiano, Adriano, Marco Aurelio) e in parte scolpiti per l'occasione, raffigurano scene di battaglia o di sacrifici. Il riutilizzo delle decorazioni scolpite, tolte ad altri monumenti, era piuttosto frequente; quando il senato decretava la damnatio memoriae (cioè la condanna ufficiale, persino nel ricordo) di un imperatore, tutte le sue effigi dovevano essere distrutte: spesso tuttavia veniva eliminata sola la testa, opportunamente rimpiazzata con quella del successore.

Gli archi sorgevano in tutto l'impero. A Benevento se n'è conservato uno imponente, eretto nel 114 d.C., con quattordici rilievi che commemorano le imprese di Traiano; quello di Tiberio (25 ca. d.C.) a Orange, in Francia, è scolpito con trofei militari, figure di prigionieri, scene di guerra tra galli e romani, armi e armature prese al nemico.

Colonne celebrative e altari

Colonne istoriate con fregi a spirale narravano nei dettagli le vittoriose campagne militari romane. La più celebre è la Colonna Traiana (113 d.C.) a Roma, opera dell'architetto Apollodoro di Damasco: nel fregio si raccontano le imprese dell'esercito romano nella guerra contro i daci, lungo la frontiera orientale dell'impero. Anche i grandi altari, che servivano per sacrifici e cerimonie pubbliche, erano decorati da bassorilievi. I più belli sono quelli della già ricordata Ara Pacis Augustae, che commemorano la pax romana, l'epoca di tranquillità e prosperità iniziata con l'ascesa al potere di Augusto.

Rilievi funerari

Se i ricchi commercianti facevano illustrare la propria attività sulla tomba, tra la fine della repubblica e l'inizio dell'impero sulle lastre delle tombe dei liberti iniziarono a comparire ritratti di gruppo; nel I e II secolo i ritratti erano ormai comuni, collocati su altari funerari eretti sulle tombe o nei loro pressi.

A partire dalla metà del II secolo il sarcofago rappresentò la migliore base per la scultura funeraria romana, presso le classi più abbienti. I sarcofagi venivano prodotti a Roma e in altri grandi centri del Mediterraneo, tra cui Atene e alcune città dell'Asia Minore. Tra quelli pervenutici, alcuni sono ornati da semplici ghirlande e motivi decorativi, altri dallo sviluppo di temi narrativi, soprattutto mitologici, come le fatiche di Ercole, la caccia di Meleagro al cinghiale calidonio, la leggenda dell'uccisione dei figli di Niobe (in questo caso il protagonista ha le fattezze del defunto). Talvolta i rilievi sono di natura pseudobiografica: scene di guerra, di sacrificio o nuziali sono generalmente ispirate ai fregi raffiguranti l'imperatore in situazioni analoghe. Solitamente questi bassorilievi erano in marmo bianco, ma se ne conoscono anche di più economici in calcare. Le figure e i rilievi decorativi venivano normalmente dipinti, salvo quando fossero state usate pietre già colorate, come per i sarcofagi imperiali del IV secolo, per i quali venne impiegato il porfido.

Statue

Le statue potevano essere in marmo, ma anche in bronzo e persino in oro e argento; pochi esemplari di queste ultime sono sopravvissuti, perché nel Medioevo e nelle epoche successive le statue furono quasi tutte fuse per recuperarne il metallo. Notevoli eccezioni sono il monumento equestre in bronzo di Marco Aurelio sul Campidoglio (175 ca. d.C.), un suo busto in oro, rinvenuto ad Avenches in Svizzera (Musée Romain, Avenches), e un busto in argento di Lucio Vero da Bosco Marengo (Museo di antichità, Torino), che regnò insieme a Marco Aurelio dal 161 al 169 d.C. Statue di divinità ed eroi, originali romane o copie di celebri opere greche, in marmo o in bronzo, sono state rinvenute in contesti diversi, sia privati, come negli atri o nei giardini di ville e palazzi, sia pubblici, come terme, templi o edifici di spettacolo; nei luoghi pubblici, inoltre, erano collocate l'effigie dell'imperatore in carica e talora quelle dei suoi familiari.

Ritratti

I numerosi ritratti che ci sono giunti hanno dimensioni molto varie: esistono busti in miniatura e statue colossali, come quella di Costantino (315-330 ca.), un tempo nella basilica da lui edificata nel foro romano. Durante l'epoca repubblicana era consuetudine che i membri di una famiglia portassero immagini del defunto durante il corteo funebre; uomini di stato e personaggi di rilievo erano inoltre commemorati da ritratti collocati in luoghi pubblici. In entrambi i casi, a una rappresentazione realistica delle fattezze degli individui si preferiva un'immagine fortemente codificata, che testimoniasse le loro virtù repubblicane attraverso tratti convenzionalmente fissati. Questa propensione celebrativa e idealizzante continuò anche in epoca imperiale, come rivelano le statue di Augusto: quando morì aveva 76 anni, ma i suoi ritratti presentavano ancora il viso di un giovane. In epoche successive, la ritrattistica imperiale divenne più realistica e mimetica.

Pittura su tavola

Sono giunti fino a noi solo rarissimi esempi di pittura su tavola, ma ne abbiamo notizie abbastanza precise grazie ai testi dei contemporanei: si rappresentavano vari soggetti, tra cui eventi storici, miti, scene di genere, ritratti e nature morte. Una serie di dipinti su tavola provenienti da varie località egiziane, noti come "ritratti del Fayyum" (dal nome della regione agricola in cui furono rinvenuti i primi), sono le uniche testimonianze pervenute della ritrattistica di epoca imperiale: furono realizzati a encausto, un metodo che prevedeva la stesura di cera calda insieme ai colori per dare maggiore profondità alla composizione. Benché di gusto provinciale, mostrano il notevole livello qualitativo raggiunto dalla pittura del tempo. Una di queste tavole raffigura Settimio Severo, sua moglie Giulia Domna e i loro figli Caracalla e Geta (Staatliche Museen, Berlino): la testa di quest'ultimo venne cancellata dopo che il senato ne decretò la damnatio memoriae.

Pittura murale

La pittura murale è ben documentata dagli esemplari rinvenuti a Pompei, a Ercolano e nei centri vicini: lo studio di questi reperti ha portato all'individuazione dei quattro cosiddetti "stili pompeiani".

Il primo stile, che fiorì tra il 120 e l'80 a.C. ed è testimoniato nella Casa Sannitica di Ercolano, riprende le decorazioni di epoca ellenistica, con rilievi in stucco dipinto che imitano i marmi delle dimore più ricche.

Negli affreschi del secondo stile, risalenti agli anni fra l'80 e il 15 a.C., l'uso della prospettiva crea l'illusione di vasti spazi al di là delle pareti: frequente è la rappresentazione di colonnati, giardini, palcoscenici teatrali e tempietti circolari. Ve ne sono esempi nella Villa dei Misteri a Pompei, del 50 a.C., e in una villa della vicina Oplontis, anch'essa del 50 a.C.; ma anche la dimora di Augusto sul Palatino (25 ca. a.C.) era decorata secondo questo stile elegante.

Il terzo stile, adottato dal 15 a.C. al 63 d.C., è testimoniato dalle stanze della villa di Agrippa Postumo (10 a.C.) a Boscotrecase: tipici sono i delicati arabeschi lineari e le grottesche su fondo monocromo, di gusto molto raffinato.

Il quarto stile, risalente al periodo 63-79 d.C., è il più complesso: si caratterizza per la rappresentazione di motivi architettonici ed edifici fantastici e inverosimili, quali quelli della casa dei Vettii a Pompei. Sia nel terzo sia nel quarto stile, è usuale che il centro degli affreschi sia occupato da "finti" quadri, solitamente di soggetto mitologico, talvolta copie di originali famosi della pittura greca. Lo sviluppo della pittura ad affresco dopo il 79 d.C. è meno documentato, anche se sono stati rinvenuti ambienti affrescati risalenti al II, III e IV secolo, a Ostia e specialmente nelle catacombe romane, dove i temi cristiani erano già presenti ben prima della conversione di Costantino.

Mosaici

Agli affreschi si abbinavano spesso pavimenti colorati, talora semplicemente dipinti, oppure ricoperti di marmi policromi o di splendidi mosaici. Sono stati rinvenuti mosaici in ogni parte dell'impero, con decorazioni che vanno da motivi astratti in bianco e nero a grandi scene narrative: si veda ad esempio il pavimento della Casa del Fauno di Pompei, sul quale le migliaia di tessere colorate riproducono un dipinto greco del IV secolo a.C., raffigurante una battaglia fra gli eserciti di Alessandro Magno e del re persiano Dario III. Anche i soffitti potevano essere ornati da mosaici, ma erano più frequenti i rilievi in stucco dipinto, come quelli della Casa della Farnesina (20 a.C.) e della tomba dei Pancrazi (160 d.C.) a Roma.

Gemme, cammei, oggetti in vetro e in metallo

Nell'antica Roma le cosiddette arti minori come la lavorazione dei metalli (toreutica), delle gemme (glittica) e del vetro erano molto apprezzate e considerate di pari dignità rispetto alle altre espressioni artistiche. Sebbene i nomi degli artisti romani venissero raramente tramandati, conosciamo quello di Dioscoride, l'incisore del sigillo ufficiale dell'imperatore Augusto.

I cammei e le gemme intagliate (che potevano recare incisi ritratti, scene mitologiche o narrative, allegorie) si sono conservati in gran numero. Tra i più belli ricordiamo la Gemma augustea (inizi del I secolo d.C., Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) e il Grand camée de France (Bibliothèque Nationale, Parigi), che celebra il successore di Augusto, Tiberio.

Gli orafi creavano fini gioielli in oro e argento e ricchi corredi da tavola con ornamentazioni astratte, vegetali e a figure: vanno citati almeno quelli d'argento trovati nella villa di Boscoreale e nella casa di Menandro a Pompei, entrambi sepolti dall'eruzione del Vesuvio. Tra le opere di oreficeria più note sono da annoverare comunque i conii per le monete d'oro, d'argento e di rame. In epoca imperiale le monete riportavano il ritratto dell'imperatore e della sua famiglia su un lato e figure di divinità, monumenti e scene storiche o allegoriche sull'altro.

Nonostante la fragilità del materiale, ci sono giunti moltissimi manufatti in vetro: pezzi in vetro stampato o soffiato, a cammeo, a fondo d'oro e traforati. Caratteristici i diatreta, formati da un unico pezzo: erano coppe o vasi sui quali era applicata o incisa tutt'attorno una sottile reticella, sempre in vetro (coppa di Licurgo, IV secolo d.C., British Museum, Londra).

Quelle: Microsoft Encarta