9 Augustus Assembles Rome

By Diana E E Kleiner | Roman Architecture Lecture 9 of 24

Lecture Description

Professor Kleiner discusses the transformation of Rome by its first emperor, Augustus, who claimed to have found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble. The conversion was made possible by the exploitation of new marble quarries at Luna (modern Carrara) on the northwest coast of Italy. The lecture surveys the end of the Roman Republic and the inauguration of the Principate and analyzes the Forum of Julius Caesar and the Forum of Augustus. Professor Kleiner shines a spotlight on Caesar’s attempt to link himself to his divine ancestress Venus Genetrix and on Augustus’ appropriations of Greek caryatids and other decorative motifs that associate his era with the Golden Age of Periclean Athens. Finally, she analyzes the Ara Pacis Augustae, a monument commissioned upon Augustus’ return to Rome after achieving diplomatic victories in Spain and Gaul, and serving as the Luna marble embodiment of the emperor’s new hegemonic empire.

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the great buildings and engineering marvels of Rome and its empire, with an emphasis on urban planning and individual monuments and their decoration, including mural painting. While architectural developments in Rome, Pompeii, and Central Italy are highlighted, the course also provides a survey of sites and structures in what are now North Italy, Sicily, France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, and North Africa. The lectures are illustrated with over 1,500 images, many from Professor Kleiner’s personal collection.

Course Index

1. Introduction to Roman Architecture
2. The Founding of Rome and the Beginnings of Urbanism in Italy
3. Technology and Revolution in Roman Architecture
4. Civic, Commercial and Religious Buildings of Pompeii
5. Houses and Villas of Pompeii
6. Habitats at Herculaneum and Early Roman Interior Decoration
7. Painting Palaces and Villas in the First Century A.D.
8. Exploring Special Subjects on Pompeian Walls
9. Augustus Assembles Rome
10. Roman Tombs
11. Nero and His Architectural Legacy
12. The Colosseum and Contemporary Architecture in Rome
13. Imperial Palace on the Palatine Hill
14. Civic Architecture in Rome under Trajan
15. Hadrian’s Pantheon and Tivoli Retreat
16. Roman Life in Ostia, the Port of Rome
17. The Baths of Caracalla
18. Roman North Africa: Timgad and Leptis Magna
19. Baroque Phenomenon in Roman Architecture
20. The Rebirth of Athens
21. Architecture of the Western Roman Empire
22. The Tetrarchic Renaissance
23. Rome of Constantine and a New Rome
24. Discovering the Roman Provinces and Designing a Roman City

• Filmed: Spring 2009
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• Source: Yale Open Courses