Feb 24 Julio-Claudian period (14-68 CE) PDF

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Professor Jennifer P. Moore...

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julio-Claudian dynasty (14-68 CE) ○ Julian family - Augustus’ adoptive family ○ Claudian family - Augustus’ successor, Tiberius (Claudius) was the son of Livia by her first husband, of the Claudius family ○ Tiberius was adopted in political status and personal property by Augustus Julio claudian emperors ○ Tiberius: 14-37 CE ○ Gaius “Caligula”: 37-41 CE ■ Not much time to make an impact on material culture ■ Therefore not really important ○ Claudius: 41-54 CE ■ No one expected he was to become Emperor ■ A lot older than the previous emperor ■ Break from the Augustan preference of “eternal youth portraiture” ○ Nero: 54-68 CE ■ Came to the throne very young and was corrupted by the power ■ Very poor ruler ■ Starts a series of patterns for dynasties - blood begins to run thin here ○ All referred to by a dynastic name by their family names Examples of Julio-Claudian women ○ Second quarter of the 1st cen CE ○ Mother: Agrippina the Elder ■ Daughter of Agrippa and Julia ■ Mother of Caligula ○ Daughter: Agrippina the younger ■ Wife of Tiberius ■ Mother of Nero ○ Idealized youthful look in the portraiture ○ Hairstyle has changed since Livia’s bust was made ○ Gift exchange of luxury goods - during the reign of the Julio-Claudians ■ Precious stones and metals ■ Involved craftsmanship ■ Fit into the propaganda of the ruling generation Cameos ○ Reliefs carved from precious stones that were naturally layered with different colours ○ Base the sculpture around the colour layers ■ Allow depth and portraits to be made - skin in white, clothing in other ○ Manipulation of the stone - no paint involved ○ Size - from pendant size (jewellry) to large display pieces ○ Context ■ Portrait of a particular person - more for smaller pieces ■ More people, complex scene - larger pieces Gemma Augustae

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15 CE Onyx cameo C. 19 x 23 cm Marks Augustus giving his power to Tiberius upon his death in 14 CE ■ Used to legitimize Tiberius’ claim to the throne ○ Divided into two zones ○ Upper zone ■ Augustus in the guise of Jupiter, seated with Roma (personification of Rome) with Tiberius approaching in a chariot on the left ■ Attributes of Jupiter - staff, eagle, bare chested and drapery on the lower torso ■ Roma - usually depicted as a warrior goddess (different from Minerva) and is looking at Augustus which solidifies what he did for Rome ■ Tiberius: toga, winged goddess behind (Victory), helmet under chariot (military campaigns and returning from somewhere victorious) ○ Lower zone ■ Roman soldiers raising a trophy and gathering enemy prisoners - likely a commemoration of Tiberius’ conquest of the Germans in 12 CE ■ Seated on the ground are those that are conquered - hands are behind back and does not look like Roman (to be able to identify the person as “other”) ○ Sculpting is very detailed - huge amount of skill into this piece ■ Taken months and therefore very expensive ○ Others like it Grand Cameo of France ○ Second quarter 1st cen CE ○ Sardonyx cameo - brown hues ○ 31 x 26.5 cm ○ Three zones within ■ Influence from the last cameo ○ Bottom zone ■ Enemy prisoners captured in war ○ Middle zone ■ Tiberius in guise of Jupiter with his mother Livia ■ Attributes: bare chest, staff and eagle ■ Mother was a large role (not very private) in his rule ■ Clear iconographic parallel with Tiberius being seen as the same as Augustus was ■ Fully established as the emperor ○ Top zone ■ Apotheosis of Augustus -> divus Augustus ■ Augustus is being carried up to the Heavens and that he was worthy of worship with the gods ■ Same thing that happened with Julius Caesar

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Apotheosis comes down to the Senate ■ Vindicated or disputed their legitimacy ■ Also depended on the Senate actually liking the Emperor ○ Caligula tried to get people to worship him while he was alive which is not an actual thing in Roman society ■ Only when you are dead and deified may you be worshipped ■ Most of the Julio-Claudians were not deified - only Julias, Augustus and Tiberius were The Grotto of Tiberius’ Villa at Sperlonga ○ Near Terracina, Italy ○ Spent much of his reign away from Rome to avoid the Senate, who did not like him very much ○ Villa was on the cliff face, with the dining room built into the cave, below the actual villa ○ Natural formations allowed galleries ○ Human modifications were the circular pool and rectangular pool with an island inside ○ Thousands of items - over 7K marble fragments ■ Belonged to 5 large sculptural groups from scenes in the Iliad or the Odyssey ○ Blinding of the Cyclops ■ Odyssey is blinding the cyclops Polyphemus from the Odyssey ■ Hellenistic baroque style ■ Rhodian marble ■ Was set within the cave which is where the “actual scene” took place ■ Was not made for his grotto, in existence in the Greek world and brought by the Romans over to Italy ● Unsure how they REALLY got there, in particular ● Though literary sources say that Greece was ransacked by the Romans after it became a province Claudius in the guise of Jupiter ○ Found at Lanuvium, Italy ○ 50 CE ○ Marble, 2.54m high - over life size (intimidating) ○ Pattern of emperors being depicted as Jupiter (thanks Augustus) ○ Staff - different material and did not survive ○ Offering dish in hand ○ Eagle looking at him - justification ○ Details within the face ■ Lines in the forehead ■ Elements out of the youthful look that Augustus has promoted ■ Head of an older man on the body of a younger man ● Propaganda - emperor is strong and better than you Porta Maggiore

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One of the gates of Rome and bearer of two aqueducts 50 CE Stone is not nicely cut but is more irregular ■ Rusticated architecture - specific to Claudis’ reign ■ Wanted to honour architectural styles long gone (archaic style) ■ Rejecting Augustus’ styles ○ Boundary line between the city of Rome ○ Two monuments outside of the boundary Nymphaeum triclinium at Punto Epitaffio, Baiai (near Naples) ○ Much of this villa is underwater ○ Particular room that was recorded in situ ■ Pool in the middle, with benches on three sides - dining room with an apse at the end with flowing water at the end (fountain) ○ Sculptures - two figures in the apse at the back of the room ■ Odysseus and crew offering wine to the Cyclops Polyphemus ■ Sculptures at pipes going into the wine cup for flowing water to go through ○ Other portraits around the dining room were sculptures of members of the JulioClaudius family ■ Claudius’ grandmother - in terms of the dress and the baby beside her (establishment of Venus Genetrix) - worshipped in the form of Julius Caesar in the temple of Venus Genetrix ● Wow that’s complicated ■ Child - daughter of Claudius Portus Ostiensis (Augusti) - Claudius ○ Solved a major issue with Ostia - create an artificial harbour for the ships in Ostia ○ 42 CE is when it began and unsure how long it took ○ Huge basin for the harbour ○ 800m across and 7m deep - literally a massive bowl ○ Created harbour arms to protect the harbour from rough seas with a lighthouse in the middle ■ Purposely sank ships with cement along those arms to then build up the harbour walls - smart cookie ○ Two canals dug out - small boats to Rome on the Tiber and the second was a drainage canal when the Tiber flooded ○ Nero had the grand opening of the port - stole the thunder from Claudius ○ Became a suburb itself - to work on the docks and provide services for those coming in on the ships etc ○ The concept didn’t work in protecting the ships within the harbour - few more decades to come up with a new idea that was better Domus Aurea (Golden House) - Nero ○ C. 64 CE ○ Architects - Severus and Celer ○ Great fire of Rome in 64 CE

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■ Half of downtown Rome burnt in that fire ■ Afterwards - Nero blamed Christians for the fire but really unsure ○ Nero took over all the land from the fire to create his own villa in the middle of the city ○ Courtyard with a colossal gold statue of Nero ■ Estimated 30m tall ■ Only colossal statues were of gods - not good in Roman society ○ Artificial lake - mock naval battles, go fishing lol ○ Filled his lands with statues all over the Mediterranean ○ Architects were well known for interesting shapes ○ Domus Aurea - 125 acres of land in total ■ Avoidance of regularity - octagonal room ● Oculus skylight, hall ■ Apparently one room had a moving ceiling with constellations ○ Fourth style wall painting ■ Chief panter: Famulus ■ Introduced in the 50’s CE but became popular during Nero’s reign ■ Combination of 2nd and 3rd style ● Monochromatic background - 3rd ○ Broken up by framed paintings or vignettes ● Return of illusionism - 2nd ○ Projecting columns or windows ○ Not where the wall actually is 64-68 CE ○ Nero committed acts of lunacy ○ Not many people wanted to associate with him unless they could get something out of it ○ 68 CE - his bodyguards tried to turn on him, he fled and then killed himself ○ Was still relatively young - no heir to come and therefore the dynasty came to an end CIVIL WAR 68-69 CE ○ 4 different people claiming to be the emperor of Rome ○ “Year of the 4 emperors”...