March 11 the Antonines - Professor Jennifer P. Moore PDF

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Professor Jennifer P. Moore...

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Antoninus Pius (138-161 CE) ○ Pius is just a title ○ Antoninus showed so much filial piety to his family and gods that he was received the title pius ○ He encouraged the senate to deify Hadrian ○ In 160, he took Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus on as his junior emperors to give them experience in leading the empire and people could see them Marcus Aurelius (161-180 CE) and Lucius Verus (161-169 CE) ruled together ○ Hadrian hoped Antoninus would choose these to as his heirs ○ They were joint emperors of the Roman world in 161 (when Antoninus died) ○ Verus died in 169 from plague ○ From 169-180 Aurelius lead as the sole ruler and was succeeded by his son Commodus Commodus (180-192 CE) ○ Was adopted as a junior emperor (co-ruler) before becoming ruler ○ Commodus was only 19 years old when Marcus Aurellius died ○ His reign didn’t go to well ○ Commodus was the last ruler of the Antonines and died in 192 CE Only Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius gor deified Bearded, emperors were showing piety to Hadrian Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius were the good emperors End cen CE: a golden era for Rome and its Empire ○ This is when the empire was at its greatest geological extent ○ There was relative peace within the empire ■ There were skirmishes every now and then along the border but were minor ○ Antoninus had major celebrations in 147 CE to celebrate Rome;s 900th birthday ○ The middle of the 2nd cen CE marks a height for Rome’s economy and the resources they had ■ Trade reached its peak during this time as well Britannia ○ Antonius Pius built the Antonine wall in Britain and construction began in 142 CE ■ This pushed Rome’s frontier further north ○ The wall is 63km long and is along the shortest border between Britain and Scotland ○ The wall was 3m high and 5m thick and took 12 years to complete ○ There were regular fortlets (small forts) along the wall to maintain it ○ After the wall was built, they ceded the territory back to Hadrian wall 20 years after the Antonine wall was built (they later reclaimed that territory) Antoninus Pius and Faustina the Elder ○ The statues would have been painted over the marble portraits ○ Faustina the Elder is Antoninus Pius’ wife ○ Faustina died in 141 CE ■ Antoninus would live for another 20 years

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■ Continued to publicly mourn Faustina after she died Faustina the Elder ○ Antoninus made coins of Faustina so she wouldn't be forgotten ○ Got an apotheosis after she died ○ Her temple was built in the Forum Romanum Forum Romanum, Rome ○ Faustina’s temple was built next to the Basilica Aemilia and diagonally across from the Temple of the Divine Julius ○ It was unusual for a temple to be dedicated to a women in the forum because it was normally a men’s only space ■ As all male activities happened in the forum ○ Initially the temple was meant to be just for Faustina but when Antoninus died, he also got an apotheosis and was put in the same temple as Faustina Temple of Diva Faustina (the Elder) ○ Forum Romanum, Rome ○ Begun in 141 CE and rededicated in 161 CE as the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina ○ Got turned converted into a church ○ Monumental staircase, cella, rooms ○ Christian basilica was built in the temple ○ “To the Divine Antoninus and Divine Faustina” - inscription ○ Mussolini excavated the forum out and removed centuries of soil that accumulated there ○ Antoninus not only was worship alongside his wife but got a column Base of the column of Antoninus Pius ○ Rome ○ 161 CE ○ 2.5m high ○ Erected very quickly after he died ○ Designed similarly to Trajan’s column ■ Also a solitary column ○ Have representations of what the column looked like on coins ■ We only have the base now ○ There was a statue of Antoninus on the top and banisters ○ Made from granite ○ Unsculpted ○ Base is decorated on 3 sides and has a dedicated inscription on the 4th side Dedication by Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus to Divus Antoninus Pius ○ Base on the column ○ Inscription enhanced with bronze letters ○ “To the divine augustus Antoninus Pius from Antoninus Augustus and Verus Augustus his sons Apotheosis of Antoninus and Faustina the elder ○ Base of the column

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Both sat on top of a winged, naked guy ■ Eagles were around them (eagles were connected to Zeus) ○ Personification of Roma and a male youth holding to an obelisk to show where they died ■ Link to the obelisk that Augustus brought back from Egypt ○ Obelisk was made by Aurelius and Verus ○ Done in the court style Military review - base of the column ○ Shows people that you were a good leader ○ There were infantry and cavalry in the scene ○ The people were portrayed as short, stubby people ○ On the two sides with military review, we have plebeian art even though it’s on an official item ○ The perspective isn’t something we’d expect than if we saw the review ourselves ○ Proportions between people and horses are also off ○ Would have had to have been a deliberate choice by Aurelius and Verus to put plebeian and court style artwork on the column Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus ○ Aurelius was about 10 years older than Verus and they had different personalities ■ Verus was quite ecstatic about sports and partying ■ Aurelius was a thoughtful philosopher ○ Both fought at the border frontiers ■ Aurelius fought where the Germanic tribes along the Danube, Verus fought along the Eastern Mediterranean ■ Verus and his troops picked something up in the Mediterranean and a plague was brought ● Spread around Rome and Verus died from it ○ Aurelius has more heavily set eyes and his hair was more subdued than Verus’ ■ Split his beard ○ Aurelius had a greater impact on the empire due to his reign and not participating in youthful frivolous activities Gilded bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius ○ Rome ○ 175 CE ○ 3.5m high ○ One of the few surviving bronze statues of an emperor ○ Well preserved in how the statue looks and some of the gilding still survives ○ Everyone had to look up due to its height ○ Statue of Aurelius is a little too big for the horse ○ Statue was misidentified for a long time ■ Early christians thought it was a statue of Constantine (the first Christian emperor) so they wanted to preserve only Christian statues (not pagan emperors) Relief panels from a lost triumphal arch of Marcus Aurelius

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Commemorating his victories on the Danube River frontier Rome 176-180 CE Each 3.2m high Arch does not survive, only panels Triumph, submission of barbarians and justice are shown on the panels ■ Triumph - Aurelius had a triumphal victory and was riding a chariot home ■ Submission - barbarians kneeled to Aurelius on a horse ● Possible the sculpture was thinking of the bronze equestrian horse because they look similar ● Mix between official court style and plebeian style ina single artwork - horse has a short head and even longer legs ■ Justice - barbarians came to Aurelius for help ● His head got replaced ○ Figures are pretty close to life size ○ Panels each had a different theme on the leadership and accomplishments of Marcus Aurelius Arch of Constantine (312-315 CE) ○ Constantine went around town and pulled relief sculptures from other buildings and stuck them on his own arch ■ Some reliefs had no changes done, other reliefs had the head changed to look like Constantine...