MERIT
MERIT is an acronym for Monuments, Engineering, Realism, Interior Space, and Temples. All of these are important things to the roman art world during their time. They often built large monuments to their leaders. They had the minds to Engineer large buildings and make a new form of building material, called concrete. They also had a craving for realism in their artwork. Interior space was a large phenomena to them, something they experimented with a lot. Temples played an important role to them in worshiping their gods and showing their architectural prowess. Also the theme acronym itself has a lot to do with their use of art for propaganda purposes. All in all, this makes a well balanced theme for remembering the roman art and what it is associated with.
Historical Context
The Ancient Roman empire was one of the largest ancient civilizations, almost all of Europe by itself at the height of its power. It had shifted to many different forms of government, beginning as a monarchy, then to a republic, then to a autocratic empire.
The Romans had conquered ancient Greece and became almost a copycat civilization, taking many of the architectural, artistic, and even their religious elements from them. Like the Greeks, the Romans were polytheistic, and the Greek gods they had begin to worship had their names changed to suit the Roman language Latin. The religions of the Roman empire were also subject to change throughout their time as a ruling civilization. During the early days their primary religion was paganism. Shortly after the reign of the emperor Augustus, Christianity was founded. Then later Emperor Constantine converted to this new religion, and Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman empire by the Edict of Milan.
The social and political structure of Rome was as such,
- Patriarchs (Noblemen that owned land)
- Plebeians (All other free men)
- Slaves
The government body was made up of a Senate, a Assembly, and two consuls annually elected by the Assembly. Consul's had the power to veto decisions made by the Assembly body. Later in the Roman rule, the republic had collapsed and they had moved to a autocratic Empire, ruled under an Emperor.
Roman art was much like the Greek art that they inherited, however it had a much larger emphasis on realism, or the portraying of the everyday figure. Also introduced in Roman art was the use of propaganda in their art, like in the statues of their Emperors, who are obviously idealized to an extreme, to appeal to the masses.
Roman architecture however was much more advanced than the Greeks who came before them. They had the ability to use concrete in their architecture, which was rather cheap to produce and easy to mold into their structures. These structures included large aqueducts to carry water to their cities, or even large buildings such as the Pantheon to glorify their gods. While the Greek roots could easily be traced, the Roman Structures were often built on much grander scales, pushing the boundaries of what had been imagined to have been possible for their time. All of this was thanks to the introduction of concrete, which they manipulated to suit their every architectural need. Also new to the architecture stage was the use of arches. These arches allowed for the architects to span a space and support the materials above it, through the use of a keystone. A single stone that holds the entire arch around it together and allows it to support much more weight than if there was just a flat slap spanning the top.
The Romans had conquered ancient Greece and became almost a copycat civilization, taking many of the architectural, artistic, and even their religious elements from them. Like the Greeks, the Romans were polytheistic, and the Greek gods they had begin to worship had their names changed to suit the Roman language Latin. The religions of the Roman empire were also subject to change throughout their time as a ruling civilization. During the early days their primary religion was paganism. Shortly after the reign of the emperor Augustus, Christianity was founded. Then later Emperor Constantine converted to this new religion, and Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman empire by the Edict of Milan.
The social and political structure of Rome was as such,
- Patriarchs (Noblemen that owned land)
- Plebeians (All other free men)
- Slaves
The government body was made up of a Senate, a Assembly, and two consuls annually elected by the Assembly. Consul's had the power to veto decisions made by the Assembly body. Later in the Roman rule, the republic had collapsed and they had moved to a autocratic Empire, ruled under an Emperor.
Roman art was much like the Greek art that they inherited, however it had a much larger emphasis on realism, or the portraying of the everyday figure. Also introduced in Roman art was the use of propaganda in their art, like in the statues of their Emperors, who are obviously idealized to an extreme, to appeal to the masses.
Roman architecture however was much more advanced than the Greeks who came before them. They had the ability to use concrete in their architecture, which was rather cheap to produce and easy to mold into their structures. These structures included large aqueducts to carry water to their cities, or even large buildings such as the Pantheon to glorify their gods. While the Greek roots could easily be traced, the Roman Structures were often built on much grander scales, pushing the boundaries of what had been imagined to have been possible for their time. All of this was thanks to the introduction of concrete, which they manipulated to suit their every architectural need. Also new to the architecture stage was the use of arches. These arches allowed for the architects to span a space and support the materials above it, through the use of a keystone. A single stone that holds the entire arch around it together and allows it to support much more weight than if there was just a flat slap spanning the top.