Augustan Art

Among the most-dicussed findings of the past decades' excavations in the 'Valle del Colosseo' in Rome are the remains of an Augustan-time version of the 'Meta Sudans', one of largest monumental fountains of the city, situated below the north-eastern slope of Palatine Hill. While the symbolic message of the fountain's architecture and decoration have been well-explained in a series of recent studies as those of a triumphal monument (Apollo Agyieus = Apollo Actius), this article attempts to reconstruct the cultural symbolism of the fountain square in the urban life of Rome, thus shifting the view from the architect's intentions ('Baumeisterperspektive') to the cultural practices attested at this spot of the city, to which communal and imperial festivities (compitalia, religious processions) belong just as well as individual daily activties in urban traffic or private water supply.
The archeological record suggests that the fountain had some relation to the sacred precint of the Roman brass players ('aenatores Romani') across the street. That the activities (from training to religious performance) of musicians around this precint dominated the public connotations of the whole fountain square is demonstrated by the remarks of Seneca - who regards the Meta Sudans as a place of excessive instrumental noise - as well as Propertius, who envisions the area as a symbol of the antagonism of aetiological (Apollonian) and erotic (Dionysiac) poetry in his fourth book of elegies.

This chapter examines Italian images of Dionysus with a view to exploring the dynamics of acculturation of a Greek figure. The aim is to show that images provide major evidence not only for studying art history, but also religious and cultural history; and that far from being representations of cultic ritual, or being mere adaptations of imported iconographic schemes, Roman and Italian images of Dionysus furnish a figurative and reflexive discourse on the very processes of appropriation and domestication. In the case of each representation, the chapter specifies the ways in which Greek forms acquire local inflections, and
identify the ways in which these respond and correspond to Roman or Italian rituals as well as to social and political realities. Where possible, the images are put in the context of Roman literary treatments of related phenomena. Two sets of images are subjected to scrutiny: a miscellaneous cluster from the archaic period, and a more homogeneous body of sacro-idyllic landscapes from the Augustan
era. The early images are particularly sensitive to cultural analysis. The Augustan images show landscape being marked as ritual space through Dionysian and other motifs; and the taming of nature which they evince coheres with the new Augustan view of Dionysus, which is a response to Mark Antony’s cultivation of an exuberant Dionysian persona. The main pieces of evidence on which this chapter draws are: a set of fragments of statuary believed to come from the sixthcentury
sanctuary of Sant’Omobono in the Forum Boarium; some descriptions of
the decorative programme of the late-fifth-century temple of Ceres, Liber and Libera; an image of Liber on an inscribed third-century Praenestine cista (CIL I2, 563. Berlin, Charlottenburg, inv. Misc. 6239); Liber on the fourth-century Cista Ficoroni; a Dionysian fresco from Lanuvium; and frescoes and stucco panels from the Villa della Farnesina, all dating to the early Augustan period.

Os principais objetivos desta pesquisa consistiram em: 1) Compreender a dinâmica interna da visualidade romana durante as transformações políticas que levaram ao fim da República e ao início do Principado, considerando as mudanças pelas quais as imagens passaram desde o Segundo Triunvirato até o fim do governo de Augusto (43 a.C. – 14 d.C.); 2) Compreender o papel que tais imagens, carregadas de agência, tiveram durante esse processo político e como as suas transformações foram responsáveis – a sua maneira – para a edificação e o estabelecimento de uma nova forma de governo em Roma, o Principado de Augusto.

With their conquest of the Greek world in the second and first centuries B.C., Romans increasingly fell under the spell of Greek culture and art.  As a part of this Hellenic acculturation and intellectualization, Roman patrons eagerly sought Greek sculpture for both public and private settings.  Some desired to own original masterpieces or at least replicas of them, while others sought to acquire Greek sculpture appropriate in terms of subject or style for a particular public or domestic environment.  During this period, the Roman patron was particularly interested in Classical models and Classicizing works.  At this time, too, style in art -- like style in language, especially in the practice of rhetoric -- became increasingly politicized.  With the founding of the Principate in 27 B.C., Augustus, who had previously shown a preference for Classicism in his writing and portraiture, now actively promoted a Classicizing style as an expression of a moral and ethical imperative in his program to renew state and society.  Marked by Augustus’ imprimatur and widely received by society, Augustan Classicism not only became the dominant artistic and literary style of the times but also continued to have a profound effect on subsequent artistic and literary currents.

Typifying Augustan Classicism is the period’s premier sculpture in the round, the famous statue of Augustus from Prima Porta, which is generally held to be a copy of a lost bronze original that had been set up in some prominent public place in or shortly after 20 B.C.  Much has been written about the Prima Porta statue, with most of the discussion focusing on the programmatic cuirass and, of course, the portrait head, which has given the name of “Prima Porta” to Augustus’ principal portrait type.  Although long considered to “quote” the Doryphoros of Polykleitos, the Prima Porta sculpture has not been the subject of any in-depth study focusing on the meaning and significance of the Polykleitan model vis-à-vis the Augustan moral imperative and the rhetoric of the Augustan “Bildprogramm.”  For example, it is generally assumed that the proportions of the Prima Porta statue follow the Doryphoros and, in turn, Polykleitos’ Canon, which fixed the ratio of head to body at 1:7.  As it turns out, however, the ratio of the Prima Porta statue can be established as just about 1:7.5. This difference in ratio from the Doryphoros is probably attributable in part to a changed aesthetic and in part to a conscious attempt to correct or improve upon the two principal old Greek ideals types, thereby creating a new heroic type, one mid-way between the Polykleitan and Lysippan canons of ideal proportions.
Also examined is the validity of recent scholarly thinking that Polykleitan works were among those Classical sculptures chosen to be imitated or used for Roman portrait statues because these models could convey the proper authority and dignity and thereby reflect Roman virtues and moral values.  Such a view, however, does not do justice to the Roman contribution of the inherent authority and dignity of the individual portrayed and of the Roman symbols of power that he wore and bore.  Moreover, in addition to the decor supra verum implied in the quotation of the Doryphoros, ideal graceful beauty could be brought out by the adlocutio gesture and “body language” of the Augustus from Prima Porta, as defined in the practice of Roman oratory -- in effect, an orator’s ῥυθμός.  Not considered in previous studies of the Prima Porta statue is the role played by rhetorical theory, especially that genre known as epideictic (laudatio), in transforming the Polykleitan heroic ideal into the new Roman heroic ideal embodied in the Prima Porta.  The need to produce the desired rhetorical imagery in the Prima Porta statue would explain the dramatic alteration of the Doryphoric model, which is then recalled only indirectly. The imagery evoked in the Prima Porta sculpture therefore clearly and consciously establishes a dialectic between an old and new archetype.

Considered, finally, are the questions of whether the Prima Porta statue is an example of rhetorical aemulatio or imitatio and whether one or more archetypes might have been referenced and challenged in this sculpture. In such a brilliant work as the Prima Porta Augustus, it is likely that even though the principal archetype was the Doryphoros, which the Romans believed represented Achilles, some other important model -- like a lost statue of Alexander -- was also being quoted.  Moreover, for certain details of the Prima Porta statue the sculptor may have drawn upon still other Greek works.  For a Roman, ever mindful of comparatio, the statue of Augustus from Prima Porta would have surpassed ideologically its Polykleitan prototype and any other heroic Greek model, including Alexander the Great.

This article considers the complexities of the visual imagery on one of the most celebrated large cameos of Roman art, the Gemma Augusta, and discusses the differences between official and private art of the Augustan Principate.  Besides offering a new way of “reading” the images on the Gemma, I explore for the first time the relationship of rhetoric to the narrativity or narrative potential of the cameo.  In addition, my new ideas on the identification of certain figures on the Gemma now allow the determination of the historical event represented in the upper register.  Discussed in connection with my proposal that a future event is depicted in the lower register are other representations of proleptic imagery in ancient art.  Finally, I offer a new thesis about the Gemma’s function and the implications of that function for the cameo’s intended recipient.

Engraved Gems and Propaganda in the Roman Republic and under Augustus deals with small, but highly captivating and stimulating artwork – engraved gemstones. Although in antiquity intaglios and cameos had multiple applications (seals, jewellery or amulets), the images engraved upon them are snapshots of people's beliefs, ideologies, and everyday occupations. They cast light on the self-advertising and propaganda actions performed by Roman political leaders, especially Octavian/Augustus, their factions and other people engaged in the politics and social life of the past.

Gems can show both general trends (the specific showpieces like State Cameos) as well as the individual and private acts of being involved in politics and social affairs, mainly through a subtle display of political allegiances, since they were objects of strictly personal use. They enable us to analyse and learn about Roman propaganda and various social behaviours from a completely different angle than coins, sculpture or literature.

The miniaturism of ancient gems is in inverse proportion to their cultural significance. This book presents an evolutionary model of the use of engraved gems from self-presentation (3rd-2nd century BC) to personal branding and propaganda purposes in the Roman Republic and under Augustus (until 14 AD). The specific characteristics of engraved gems, their strictly private character and the whole array of devices appearing on them are examined in respect to their potential propagandistic value and usefulness in social life.

The wide scope of this analysis provides a comprehensive picture covering many aspects of Roman propaganda and a critical survey of the overinterpretations of this term in regard to the glyptic art. The aim is the incorporation of this class of archaeological artefacts into the well-established studies of Roman propaganda, as well as the Roman society in general, brought about by discussion of the interconnections with ancient literary sources as well as other categories of Roman art and craftsmanship, notably coins but also sculpture and relief.

Este artículo pretende demostrar que Augusto nació en el mes de diciembre astronómico, bajo el signo de Capricornio, en una fecha que se correspondía con el septiembre calendárico debido a las viejas discrepancias del calendario tradicional romano con respecto a la realidad astronómica, así como señalar la endeblez de las demás teorías propuestas acerca de esta cuestión.

Introduzione
Il seguente lavoro si prefigge l’obiettivo di esaminare nello specifico la funzione di una particolare tipologia di elementi, ovvero gli elementi paesistici, che compare nelle rappresentazioni di una determinata classe di rilievi, sviluppatasi nel periodo tra la fine della repubblica e l’inizio dell’impero romano, ovvero la classe dei rilievi “decorativi”.
La volontà di analizzare il ruolo degli elementi paesistici nelle raffigurazioni sui rilievi decorativi nasce dall’interesse per l’analisi di uno specifico rilievo, rinvenuto in uno scavo ottocentesco, nel complesso abitativo di Villa Jovis nell’Isola di Capri. Il rilievo, ascrivibile alla prima età imperiale, era stato oggetto di poche trattazioni e classificato come un rilievo con scena paesistica, una tipologia di raffigurazioni che si ritrova in gran numero a partire dalla tarda repubblica. La ricerca si è indirizzata quindi a tentare di capire se il monumento potesse essere o meno inserito nella tipologia dei rilievi decorativi con scene paesistiche. Per giungere ad un esatto inquadramento della tipologia del rilievo la ricerca si è dapprima focalizzata su due diversi ambiti.
In prima istanza ci si è concentrati sull’analisi della tipologia di rilievi in cui l’esempio di Capri dovrebbe essere collocato, ovvero il genere dei rilievi decorativi. L’analisi ha cercato di circoscrivere i limiti della classe e ha al contempo cercato di capire le tipologie di rappresentazione che potevano trovarsi in questo genere. La ricerca si è dimostrata in partenza difficoltosa poiché la classe nella storia degli studi, fino agli anni ‘60, era stata accostata alle categorie, già individuate per i rilievi greci, dei rilievi votivi e funerari, poiché presentava determinati elementi in comune con queste tipologie. I rilievi di questo genere furono definiti decorativi poiché malgrado condividessero con i rilievi votivi e funerari greci simili rappresentazioni, sembravano non avere una funzione particolare, diversa da quella puramente decorativa, poiché l’ambito in cui erano collocati era l’ambito privato, ovvero ambienti importanti per rappresentanza e visibilità delle dimore dell’aristocrazia romana. Per questo motivo le diverse analisi condotte su questa classe di rilievi sono sempre state caratterizzate da uno studio solo stilistico degli elementi compositivi della scena senza che fosse indagato se, dato che le rappresentazioni su questa tipologia di rilievi sono per la maggior parte di tema sacrale, anche il rilievo nella sua forma potesse avere una valenza sacra malgrado la collocazione non lo fosse.
Si è proceduto quindi ad analizzare nello specifico le tipologie di rappresentazioni che potevano comparire su questi rilievi, analizzando anche quanto influsso in queste nuove creazioni provenisse dalle rappresentazioni nell’arte greca. Al contempo si è cercato di fornire un’analisi dei differenti contesti dove il genere dei rilievi decorativi poteva trovare collocazione. L’importanza dell’analisi del contesto d’esposizione è anche motivata dalla constatazione che numerosi esempi, che possono essere ricondotti alla tipologia, sono rilievi senza contesto di rinvenimento confluiti direttamente nelle collezioni museali.
L’altra direzione della ricerca si è invece focalizzata ad analizzare il ruolo del paesaggio e dei suoi elementi caratteristici nelle raffigurazioni antiche, per cercare di comprendere se essi fossero funzionali, necessari alla scena oppure solo meramente decorativi.
L’interesse degli studiosi per il genere paesistico parte da un lavoro di Th. Schreiber , della fine del diciannovesimo secolo, dove lo studioso tentò di raggruppare una serie di rilievi con elementi del paesaggio a supporto della sua tesi che voleva riconoscere la genesi dell’interesse per la rappresentazione più marcata e dettagliata del paesaggio nell’arte ellenistica, in particolare nell’arte alessandrina. Le ricerche successive mostrarono che numerosi rilievi raggruppati dallo studioso erano in realtà copie romane, ma l’entrata in scena ad un certo periodo della storia dell’arte greca del paesaggio in maniera così preponderante e marcata spinse comunque numerosi studiosi a sostenere l’esistenza del “problema” del rilievo paesistico: era possibile individuare un centro propulsore di questa tendenza o essa era solo una diretta conseguenza degli sviluppi e delle innovazioni artistiche?
In base a queste considerazioni di partenza si è analizzato in primo luogo come fosse concepito il paesaggio dagli antichi ed in che modo essi lo rappresentassero nelle loro arti figurative. Inoltre si è anche cercato di chiarire se il paesaggio rappresentato dagli antichi fosse un paesaggio reale oppure basato su elementi indicatori del paesaggio, i famosi topia citati da Vitruvio  e Plinio . Si è anche analizzato se nello specifico caso dei rilievi decorativi la rappresentazione del paesaggio fosse solo funzionale all’ambientazione della scena o se gli elementi del paesaggio diventassero anche portatori di un diverso significato.
Per giungere a risultati completi e soddisfacenti l’indagine è partita dall’analisi di rappresentazioni del paesaggio nei monumenti dell’arte greca, per volgersi poi a considerare come la raffigurazione di elementi paesistici venga recepita nell’arte romana. L’analisi puntuale di esempi di rilievi conservati ha permesso di constatare che nelle rappresentazioni a carattere paesaggistico dall’età ellenistica in poi compaia incisivamente un determinato tipo di tema scenico, che sono le rappresentazioni idillico-bucoliche. Gran parte dell’analisi su questa tipologia di rappresentazioni è stata dedicata a quei rilievi che, ascrivibili al primo periodo imperiale, mostrano rappresentazioni in cui ad essere raffigurata è una un’ambientazione rurale. La domanda alla quale si è cercato di rispondere era se la scena rappresentata trasmettesse negli animi degli osservatori antichi anche tematiche connesse alla politica augustea oppure si trattasse solamente di scene “di genere” esposte dai proprietari delle abitazioni per mostrare una condizione di felicità che aspiravano ad attuare anche per loro stessi anche attraverso l’esposizione di determinate immagini. L’analisi dettagliata della presenza degli elementi paesistici nelle raffigurazioni è servita come base per cercare di evidenziare se fossero o meno gli elementi del paesaggio a farsi portavoce di tematiche sociali e politiche augustee, connesse con il periodo di pace introdotto per tutti i membri della società romana, l’aurea aetas, o se invece fosse al contrario la scena rappresentata a trasmetterle.
La constatazione che nel genere dei rilievi decorativi con rappresentazioni di paesaggi del periodo augusteo vi fosse un’alternanza tra immagini che rappresentavano tematiche più innovative e immagini più fedeli alla tradizione precedente secondo una chiara e precisa volontà di richiamare tematiche e repertori già codificati in precedenza ha promosso anche un’indagine volta a chiare se il ruolo degli elementi del paesaggio cambiasse anche in base alla rappresentazione in questi differenti tipi di rilievi.
La ricerca si è infine focalizzata nello specifico sull’analisi del rilievo proveniente da Capri. L’indagine su un particolare elemento dell’arredo di una residenza imperiale costituisce un punto di vista di estremo interesse poiché com’è ovvio le dimore degli imperatori sono luoghi di esibizione e sperimentazione in ambito artistico e per le modalità dell’abitare; ambientazioni che diventano inevitabilmente anche modelli da imitare da parte di membri della corte e di singoli privati nelle loro case di città e ville d’otium.  Dopo una puntuale descrizione e analisi del contesto di rinvenimento si è cercato di constatare se il rilievo in analisi condividesse con i rilievi decorativi il contesto di impiego ed esposizione. Si è analizzato, in base alle constatazioni generali del ruolo del paesaggio nell’arte romana, il ruolo che gli elementi del paesaggio presenti nella scena svolgono; è stata avanzata anche un’indagine delle unità figurative che compongono la scena e un’analisi stilistica per cercare di fornire una datazione basata sia sulla datazione del contesto di rinvenimento ma anche sullo stile del rilievo. La ricerca si chiude con una proposta di interpretazione della scena, in quanto, sebbene diversi studi ne abbiano avanzate diverse, l’esegesi della scena è sempre stata alquanto ipotetica e controversa.
La possibilità di effettuare uno studio particolareggiato e analitico del rilievo è derivata anche dalla visione diretta e autoptica del monumento, conservato nei magazzini del Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli e attualmente esposto al pubblico in occasione della mostra “Augusto e la Campania” in svolgimento presso il Museo. Si desidera quindi ringraziare il Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli nella persona della dott.ssa Valeria Sampaolo e la Soprintendenza dei beni Archeologici di Napoli nella persona della dott.ssa Teresa Elena Cinquantaquattro che, con il permesso di studio concessomi, mi hanno consentito di concludere questa ricerca.

The book is available to order from: https://reichert-verlag.de/schlagworte/altaegyptischer_stil_schlagwort/9783954902439_ancient_engraved_gems_in_the_national_museum_in_krakow-detail

This book is a catalogue raisonée of a rich collection of ancient engraved gems housed in the National Museum in Krakow. It offers a thorough insight into ancient glyptic art through the considerable range of almost 780 so far unpublished objects – cameos, intaglios, scarabs and finger rings of various styles, workmanship and cultural circles: Egyptian, Near Eastern, Minoan, Greek, Etruscan, Italic, Roman, Sassanian and early Christian, dated from the second millennium BC to the seventh century AD.

Many pieces in this cabinet are notable not only for their top quality in terms of craftsmanship and design, but also for the materials used and engravings involving complex iconography illustrating religious beliefs, political allegiances, needs and desires that ancient people wished to be fulfill, fears, dangers and terrors from which they sought protection and even their daily occupations. The collection provides with a fascinating gallery of portrait studies presenting Hellenistic rulers and their queens, Roman emperors and members of their families as well as some private individuals. Some specimens are exceptional and unparalleled like the onyx cameo portraying Drusus Maior, likely executed by the hand of Eutyches, son of famous Dioscurides (cover) or a tiny but remarkably cut emerald cameo with a laureate portrait bust of Livia Drusilla as goddess Venus. Some objects have been preserved in their original settings (gold, silver, bronze, iron rings), which contributes to the study of ancient gems’ chronology and indicate their users, while others have been later re-set into eighteenth- and nineteenth-century collectors’ rings and sometimes more elaborated mounts. There are also pieces discoloured due to contact with considerable heat, which may suggest them to have been burnt with other personal objects on the funeral pyres and later deposited in burials. Noteworthy is the number of Greek and Latin inscriptions appearing on intaglios and cameos forming this cabinet. They span from owners’ names to the subtle messages communicated between lovers and invocations to the God.

Each gem is thoroughly analysed, described and exhaustively commented as to the device it bears, chronology and possible workshop attribution. A vast number of parallel objects is referenced too. This combined with provenance study presented in the first part of the book enabled to establish where a number of intaglios and cameos were manufactured, including almost 140 objects most likely to origin from the most important Roman workshop located in Aquileia. It ought to be singled out that many gems in this volume once constituted a part of distinguished collections formed by such personalities as Tobias von Biehler, Alessandro Gregorio Capponi, Auguste le Carpentier, Alessandro Castellani, Comte de Caylus, Count Nikolai Nikitich Demidoff, Baron Albert de Hirsch, Jean François Leturcq, Sibylle Mertens-Schaaffhausen, Dr. George Frederick Nott, Benedetto Pistrucci, James-Alexandre de Pourtalès (Comte de Pourtalès-Gorgier), Paul von Praun, Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky, Jacques Meffre Rouzan, Philipp von Stosch, Antonio Maria Zanetti and many more. They seemed lost for more than 130 years, but now have been brought back and are accessible to everyone. Consequently, the volume presents three intriguing stories of collectors whose donations contributed to the Krakow assemblage. They not only provide the reader with a sort of background for the objects discussed further, but also illustrate nineteenth- and early twentieth-century collecting practices and the art market for engraved gemstones, contributing to our knowledge of the history of scholarship and collecting. In summary, this book is intended to be useful not only for scholars interested in gems, but also those who study the history of the art market and collecting as well as all the enthusiasts of Classical art and archaeology.

Picard discusses the Ara Pacis from 328 ff.  I was interested in the French view (1960) of the monument.  However, P is lazy about making mistakes in FN citations several times.  I caught all I could (nor does he put the titles of articles, just the journal).  As usual, I have added many photos relevant to the text.  This article is part II of a 4 part series in R.É.L.

Jens Fischer untersucht den Ursprung der Beziehung zwischen Princeps und dem Gott. Während Apollon gemeinhin als seine Schutzgottheit gilt, ist bisher wenig erforscht, wann und warum Augustus sich für ihn entschied. Indem Fischer die Beziehung der beiden im Kontext der Verehrung des Apollon in Rom allgemein untersucht, wird deutlich, dass viele Entscheidungen – beispielsweise der Entschluss zum Bau des Apollontempels auf dem Palatin oder die dortige Aufbewahrung der sibyllinischen Bücher – deutlich früher als bisher angenommen zu datieren sind.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR TO THE READER:

In Part I of my 1978 UC Berkeley dissertation, the chapters on the three principal monuments (the Statue of Augustus from Prima Porta, Ara
Pacis Augustae, and Gemma Augusta) were later reworked, updated, and published as articles, sometimes with a different focus than that in the dissertation. There is also material in the dissertation that was not included in these publications.

Two of these principal monuments were published in English and can be found under my name in Academia.edu, along with a great number of my other articles:
1) “The Gemma Augustea: Ideology, Rhetorical Imagery, and the Construction of a Dynastic Narrative,” in Narrative and Event in Ancient Art, ed. P. Holliday (Cambridge 1993) 258-98:
https://www.academia.edu/34344371/John_Pollini_The_Gemma_Augustea_Ideology_Rhetorical_Imagery_and_the_Construction_of_a_Dynastic_Narrative_in_Narrative_and_Event_in_Ancient_Art_1993_258-98.pdf
2) “The Augustus from Prima Porta and the Transformation of the Polykleitan Heroic Ideal,” in Polykleitos, the Doryphoros, and Tradition, edd. B. Hughes and W.G. Moon (Madison 1995) 262-82:
https://www.academia.edu/34343234/John_Pollini_The_Augustus_from_Prima_Porta_and_the_Transformation_of_the_Polykleitan_Heroic_Ideal_The_Rhetoric_of_Art_in_Polykleitos_the_Doryphoros_and_Tradition_1995_262-82.pdf

The chapter on the third monument, the Ara Pacis Augustae, I revised and wrote in German with a new focus:
3) “‘Frieden-durch-Sieg’ Ideologie und die Ara Pacis Augustae: Bildrhetorik und die Schöpfung einer dynastischen Erzählweise,” in Krieg und Sieg: Narrative Wanddarstellungen von Altägypten bis ins
Mittelalter (Internationales Kolloquium 23. - 30. Juli 1997 im Schloss Heindorf, Langenlois; Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften XXIV), edd. M. Bietak und M. Schwarz (Vienna 2002) 137-59:
https://www.academia.edu/40351158/John_Pollini_Frieden-durch-
Sieg_Ideologie_und_die_Ara_Pacis_Augustae_Bildrhetorik_und_die_Sch%C3%B6pfung_einer_dynastischen_Erz%C3%A4hlweise_in_Krieg_und_Sieg_Narrative_Wanddarstellungen_von_Alt%C3%A4gypten_bis_ins_
Mittelalter_edd._M._Bietak_und_M._Schwarz_Vienna_2002_137-59

I translated this last work on the Ara Pacis into English as chapter V in my 2012 book, From Republic to Empire: Rhetoric, Religion, and Power in the Visual Culture of Ancient Rome. This chapter is also previewed under my name in Academia.edu.:
https://www.academia.edu/37249785/John_Pollini_Preview_of_Book_From_Republic_to_Empire_Rhetoric_Religion_and_Power_in_the_Visual_
Culture_of_Ancient_Rome_Norman_2012_

Briefer discussions of the statue of Augustus from Prima Porta and the Gemma Augustea are also to be found in my 2010 book. In all four publications mentioned above, page references to my 1978 dissertation are to be found in the footnotes.

In Part II of my dissertation there is an overview of the three principal monuments mentioned above, along with a great variety of other works of art (coins, gemstones, vessels, paintings, sculptural reliefs, statues) of the Second Triumviral period and of Augustan Principate: For the three principal monuments in Part I and these other works of arts in Part II,     
I discussed their differences and evolution in Octavian/Augustus’ official art and coinage as opposed to non-official/private media both before and after the founding of the Principate in 27 BCE. Some of these
monuments and works of art can found in other publications of mine that are also on Academia.edu, as well as in my 2012 book.

With regard to the illustrations in the dissertation, I originally kept these to a bare minimum because Michigan Microfilm-xerography, which reproduced my dissertation in 1979, could not reproduce images in a successful manner. In this online version of my dissertation, I was able to insert at the end of this work the original photos of objects that I included in my 1978 dissertation

Paper on the use of the military image in Capua and in Campania in the age of the civil wars and in the first phase of the Augustan age. Also on the image of the Navarch and on the cuirassed statues in the funerary monuments of the triumviral age in Campania.

This treatise / monograph proposes that the Ara Pacis celebrates the Lares in accord with Augustus's religious reforms.  The article shows where scholarship was in 1907, and is only to be believed here and there (I like his thoughts on the Penates, for example).  I have added a critique at the very end, and as usual the photos are my addition.

I upload two early English pieces on the Ara Pacis from 100 years ago:  Henry Beauchamp Walters, The Art of the Romans (1911), 53-56.
  I added the color photos to replace black and white where possible.  The well head sheep, the photo on page 31, and Fig. 28 came directly from the original text.

This 1906 German dissertation _Roman Statues of Clothed Females_ is surprisingly critical of Augustan Era art and Petersen's work on the Ara Pacis.  Heckler did not give the friezes much scrutiny but only a few passing generalizations.  It is not really of any value for Ara Pacis scholarship as it makes no contributions, but it shows that not everyone was taken by Petersen's many mistakes.  The dissertation was finished in 1906, it was published in  1908.

This paper examines the meanings and uses of Roman female jewellery during Augustan times. The article aims at a critical assessment of the ornamenta muliebria and its social function. An analysis of the archeological evidence or the literary sources shows that these necklaces, rings or bracelets had more than a decorative function. In ancient Rome, these ornamenta become a complex gender marker. They clearly indicated wealth, rank and merit, too. Specially, the ornamenta muliebria, also called ornamenta feminarum, have a specific significance in the Saeculum Augustum. We study some female garments from Carthago Nova.

Este artigo se propõe a expor, resumidamente, os principais pontos levantados por uma pesquisa de iniciação científica homônima, financiada pela FAPESP e realizada no decorrer de 2018. Tal investigação tomou por objetivo fazer uma análise iconográfica que considerasse as imagens, não como meros produtos ou reflexos, mas como agentes motores no processo de ascensão da figura de Augusto no cenário político romano da virada do milênio. Em diálogo com as novas tendências de pesquisa iconográfica e debruçando-se em problemáticas elencadas pela teoria da imagem, o estudo se atém a imagens produzidas entre os períodos republicano e imperial da Roma antiga, tendo como recorte específico o segundo Triunvirato e a formação do Principado de Augusto (de 43 a.C. até 14 d.C.).

(Also: Heldenschau). From the Intro:
“Arms and the Man I sing…”  So Vergil begins his epic tale of Aeneas, who overcomes tremendous obstacles to find and establish a new home for his wandering band of Trojan refugees. Were it metrically possible, Vergil could have begun with “Cities and the Man I sing,” for Aeneas’ quest for a new home involves encounters with cities of all types: ancient and new, great and small, real and unreal. These include Dido’s Carthaginian boomtown (1.419–494), Helenus’ humble neo-Troy (3.349–353) and Latinus’ lofty citadel (7.149–192).  Of course, central to his quest is the destiny of Rome, whose future greatness—empire without limit (1.277–278)—Jupiter prophesies to Venus as recompense for the destruction of her beloved Troy, but whose foundation ultimately depends on Aeneas’ success at establishing a foothold in Italy (1.257–296).

Although Rome’s notional/traditional foundation will occur several centuries after Aeneas’s final victory, Vergil has his hero interact with the future city in several ways, including two well-known passages. In the first (8.95–369) he tours Evander’s Pallanteum, the physical site of future Rome, taking delight in his surroundings and learning local lore (8.310–312, 359), yet fails to perceive that this place will become the imperial metropolis. In the other (8.625–731), he examines a creation of Vulcan, a shield engraved with vignettes of Rome’s future history from Romulus to Augustus triumphant, the action-packed imagery of which Aeneas also fails to comprehend (8.730).  Of course, references to Rome (and its culture) are not restricted to Jupiter’s prophecy and the iconic events in Aeneid 8: James Morwood cogently argues that, elsewhere in the Aeneid, Vergil’s descriptions of, or allusions to, structures built or rebuilt by Augustus give Rome a strong presence throughout the poem.  The present essay expands upon his concept in significant ways to argue that Augustan Rome—its history, its aristocratic culture, and the city itself—is completely present, albeit in palimpsestic form, in Aeneid 6–8.

Overview:
“Rome in the Underworld” demonstrates that Vergil’s description of Elysian topography, combined with Anchises’ censorial activities in Aeneid 6, characterize this section of the Underworld as a ‘premortal’ version of Rome’s underlying landscape in which important religious and political activities take place simultaneously. “A Didactic City-Walk” examines the visual inspiration for the Parade of Heroes (also Aeneid 6), and how Vergil’s descriptions and groupings of Rome’s future leaders allow his audience to visualize Anchises leading Aeneas through key commemorative zones in Rome’s (future) historic center, areas heavily populated by statues of great men in Vergil’s day.  It concludes with an examination of the simultaneously chiastic and linear structure of themes, activities, people and topography through which Anchises, Aeneas and the Sibyl ‘travel’ on their journey of discovery. “Palimpsestic Rome” explores the features of Latinus’ city (Aeneid 7), the terrain of Evander’s Pallanteum (Aeneid 8) and the cityscapes engraved on Aeneas’ shield (Aeneid 8) which, when (re)integrated with the ‘premortal’ Rome of Aeneid 6, comprise a comprehensive vision of Augustan Rome, its aristocratic culture, and its future-perfect history.

The Augustan Roman temple at Barcino has been a key element during the last 60 years in the research of the colony's urban development. Its peculiar elongated and narrow plan, first proposed in 1835, and its location at the highest point of the ancient city have dictated our understanding of the urban layout of Barcino by conditioning the shape of the city's forum and affecting the interpretation of the archaeological excavations carried out in the area since then. This paper proposes an alternative plan of the temple, based on data drawn from recent archaeological excavations, topographical analysis, typological comparisons, and the study of written sources. Our alternative hypothesis for the temple permits an in-depth reinterpretation of the plan of the forum and the evolution of the urban plan.

English:
In this essay, “Frienden-durch-Sieg” Ideologie und die Ara Pacis Augustae: Bildrhetorik und die Schöpfung einer dynastischen Erzählweise,” John Pollini examines how the exemplary emblematic or iconic images arranged as staccatos on the Ara Pacis Augustae  could have induced an informed and highly educated Roman observer to create for himself a coherent “dynastic narrative” of the Julio-Claudian House, thereby becoming a viewer-narrator.” Besides discussing aspects of narratological theory, audience response, and Augustan ideological themes, Pollini explores the relationship between verbal and visual modes of expression and likens the Ara Pacis’ sculptural ensemble to the structure, syntax, and diction of Latin language, as well as to a number of ancient rhetorical figures of speech.  In his concern with the manner of viewing and reading the sculptural program of the Ara Pacis, Pollini considers not only the way in which an ensemble of images is physically displayed within a given structure or complex of structures (“structural enframement”) but also how an ancient observer might have seen, comprehended, and contextualized various images in one place at one time (“synoptic enframement”).  Although very much has been written about the Ara Pacis, Pollini advances a number of new ideas about the nature and reading of its complex Bildprogramm. 

Note: I have translated the original German version into English and expanded it in my book, "From Republic to Empire: Rhetoric, Religion, and Power in the Visual Culture of Ancient Rome (2012) 204-70. This chapter of my book is available on academia.edu in a preview of the same book.