by Lian Slayford-Wei

Created on: April 25, 2009   Last Updated: April 27, 2009

The Origins of Roman Art and Architecture.

The art and architecture of ancient Rome is distinctive to the viewer, but once the surface is scratched, we can see the influences from other civilizations that Roman artists and architects used. It is my intention to look at the origins of Roman art and architecture, using archaeological and literary sources.

The Romans were greatly influenced by two main cultures; the Etruscans and the Greeks. The Etruscans were a civilization that can be traced in Italy as far back as 1000 BCE, although they are the least familiar culture in the classical world, but their military and commercial climax was reached around 500 BCE. By 100 BCE, Rome had absorbed many of their cities into its own dominion, but continued to be influenced by the Etruscans for centuries to come.

The Greeks themselves had a strong impact on Etruscan art, as well as the Romans, and there is considerable archaeological evidence that a number of Greek artists worked in Etruria (de Puma, p.55). It was during the Greek Dark Ages (1200 800 BCE) that, for several reasons (political, famine, war, overcrowding etc), colonies were set up all around the Mediterranean, and it was their interaction with the native populations that allowed their influence to spread.

Let us first look at examples of Etruscan and Greek influence on Roman art. For the Romans, all Greek art was decorative; that is to say, it was not a necessary part of their religious or social life. Although statues were sometimes produced as gifts to be set up in Roman temples, they were not used as cult statues. In Greece, such works were dedicated to the gods in their temples and were not seen just as decorations, but as religious, political and memorial symbols (Richardson, p.75).

However, Pliny the Elder in the 1st century CE, states that the Romans were starting to sculpt in marble (Richardson, p.79). Pliny mentions three artists by name (Pasiteles, Arcesilaos and Coponius), two of whom were undoubtedly Greek. We know for certain that Pasiteles worked at Rome, and was one of the first to make marble statues in Rome. This detail is quite interesting when looking at the origins of Roman art, since we can clearly see Greek artists in Rome, working and educating others about their crafts. It is apparent that the Roman artists who used the Greek artistic influences to fashion their own distinct artistic style.

Pliny also mentions our second example of Greek influenced art. A colossal bronze statue of Jupiter

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