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Roman Architecture

Yale,, Spring 2009 , Prof. Diana E. E. Kleiner

Updated On 02 Feb, 19

Overview

Introduction to Roman Architecture - It Takes a City: The Founding of Rome and the Beginnings of Urbanism in Italy - Technology and Revolution in Roman Architecture - Civic Life Interrupted: Nightmare and Destiny on August 24, A.D. 79 - Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous: Houses and Villas at Pompeii - Habitats at Herculaneum and Early Roman Interior Decoration - Gilding the Lily: Painting Palaces and Villas in the First Century A.D - Exploring Special Subjects on Pompeian Walls - From Brick to Marble: Augustus Assembles Rome - Accessing Afterlife: Tombs of Roman Aristocrats, Freedmen, and Slaves - Notorious Nero and His Amazing Architectural Legacy - The Creation of an Icon: The Colosseum and Contemporary Architecture in Rome - The Prince and the Palace: Human Made Divine on the Palatine Hill - Paper Topics: Discovering the Roman Provinces and Designing a Roman City - The Mother of All Forums: Civic Architecture in Rome under Trajan - Rome and a Villa: Hadrian's Pantheon and Tivoli Retreat - The Roman Way of Life and Death at Ostia, the Port of Rome - Bigger Is Better: The Baths of Caracalla and Other Second- and Third-Century Buildings in Rome - Hometown Boy: Honoring an Emperor's Roots in Roman North Africa - Baroque Extravaganzas: Rock Tombs, Fountains, and Sanctuaries in Jordan, Lebanon, and Libya - Roman Wine in Greek Bottles: The Rebirth of Athens - Making Mini Romes on the Western Frontier - Rome Redux: The Tetrarchic Renaissance - Rome of Constantine and a New Rome

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Lecture 24: Rome of Constantine and a New Rome

4.1 ( 11 )

Lecture Details

Roman Architecture (HSAR 252)

Professor Kleiner presents the architecture of Constantine the Great, the last pagan and first Christian emperor of Rome, who founded Constantinople as the "New Rome" in A.D. 324. She notes that Constantine began with commissions that were tied to the pagan past (the Baths of Constantine in Rome) but built others (the Aula Palatina at Trier) that looked to the Christian future. Professor Kleiner makes an impassioned case that some of the finest and most innovative Roman buildings date to the Constantinian period. The "Temple of Minerva Medica," a garden pavilion, for example, is decagonal in shape and the colossal Basilica Nova was inventively modeled on the frigidaria of Roman imperial bath complexes. In addition, the Arch of Constantine, a triple-bayed structure commemorating Constantines victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, serves as a compendium of Constantines accomplishments in the context of those of the "good emperors" of the second century A.D. In conclusion, Professor Kleiner asserts that the transfer of the Empires capital from Rome to Constantinople diminished Romes influence, at least temporarily, but not the impact of its architecture, which like the city of Rome itself, is eternal.

0000 - Chapter 1. The End of the Tetrarchy and the Rise of Constantine the Great
1524 - Chapter 2. The Baths of Constantine in Rome and the Porta Nigra at Trier
2700 - Chapter 3. The Basilica or Aula Palatina at Trier
3436 - Chapter 4. The Temple of Minerva Medica in Rome
4239 - Chapter 5. The Basilica Nova in Rome
010012 - Chapter 6. The Arch of Constantine and the Enduring Impact of Roman Architecture

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website httpopen.yale.educourses

This course was recorded in Spring 2009.