Page 242 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

art—ancient greece and rome 127

69–79 CE), openly distanced himself from the policies Not until the reign of the emperor Trajan (reigned 98–
and character of his predecessors by changing the bal- 117 CE) is concrete and its protective brick facing pre-
ance in the language of official state art. Instead of rep- sented in unveneered reality as an appropriate surface for
resenting him as Doryphoros, Vespasian’s official monumental architecture.The great curved façade of the
images returned to the style of the old republican Markets of Trajan reflects the molded nature of concrete,
portraits—straightforward, literal, unpretentious, and the unstuccoed, unveneered brick surface reveals the
uniquely Roman—and proclaimed a return to the tra- fabric and techniques of its structure and initiates a new
ditional values of the republic. In architecture he aesthetic in Roman architecture. Appropriately, this vast
encouraged the use of concrete, a purely Roman build- concrete building is dedicated to the practical pursuit of
ing material and the most important Roman architec- business; immediately next door, the contemporary
tural contribution to posterity. The Amphitheatrum Forum of Trajan, whose function is the symbolic repre-
Flavium, the Colosseum, was not only the largest and sentation of the aspirations and accomplishments of the
most elaborate concrete structure in Rome, but it also Roman state under Trajan, is presented in the full glory
denied the divine pretensions of the Julio-Claudian of the classical Greek marble architectural orders.
emperors and their profligate abuse of the Roman Perhaps the most remarkable integration of traditional
treasury for their own individual desires through its Roman and classical Greek architectural forms and sym-
function as an entertainment center for the common bols is found in the Pantheon of Trajan’s successor
people and through the site of its construction, on the Hadrian (reigned 117–138 CE). Here the façade of a
newly filled-in lake in the center of Nero’s notorious Greek temple is wedded to a completely un-Greek and
Golden House, or Domus Aurea. This structure was purely Roman structure, a concrete, domed cylinder. In
built with state funds in the center of Rome as Nero’s addition, the most elaborate architectural symbol of reli-
personal pleasure villa; he appropriated over three hun- gious transition ever created in Greece, the Propylaia (the
dred acres in the center of the city for its construction. great gateway of the Periclean Acropolis), is directly refer-
Paradoxically, Nero’s architects had also made great use enced in the stacked pediments of the façade, which, in
of concrete, but in the private context of Nero’s Golden turn, are combined with the uniquely Roman symbol of
House, where they experimented with the possibilities transition, the triumphal arch, to form the most explicitly
of concrete for molding interior space in new and fan- processional temple entrance ever created in the classical
tastic ways. Their discoveries were profoundly influen- world.The entrance leads into an immense open interior
tial in creating a Roman architecture of interiors. whose dome (representing the vault of the heavens) is the
The ways in which concrete and marble are used in culmination of decades of experimentation and mastery of
Roman architecture can serve as a metaphor for the the techniques and design of concrete architecture. Here,
Roman character. In general, concrete formed the struc- rather than emphasizing the distinct natures of Greek and
ture of the building, marble its veneer: carefully carved Roman architecture, the expressive potential of both is
marble revetment could make a concrete building look consciously synthesized to create a temple uniquely appro-
as elegant as the Parthenon. Like the traditional values of priate to the inclusive, international worship of “all gods,”
the republic, concrete is economical, practical, structural, (pan-theon) and consequently to promote Hadrian’s own
purely Roman. Marble, on the other hand, as employed inclusive, international conception of the Roman empire.
in Roman buildings is expensive, luxurious, superficial, Succeeding emperors continued to create monumental
and foreign. While concrete reflects the native character art and architecture in the tradition of Hadrian and his
of the Romans, marble reflects the aspirations of the predecessors, and continued to explore the possibilities
Romans to the cultural heights of Pericles and fifth- of concrete as a monumental architectural medium. Clas-
century Athens. sical Greek and native Italic elements continued to be