Roman Art: Romulus to Constantine

Cambridge Illustrated Histories

by Nancy H. Ramage, Andrew Ramage

Ideal for readers who are studying Roman art for the first time, this exceptionally well-illustrated volume explores Roman art in the traditional historical manner—with a focus on painting, sculpture, architecture, and minor arts. It assumes no prior acquaintance with the classical world, and explains the necessary linguistic, historical, religious, social, and political background needed to fully understand Roman art. The authors present the history of Roman Art from the following time Etruscan Forerunners 100-200 BC.; The Roman Republic 509-27 BC.; Augustus and the Imperial Idea 27 BC-AD 14; The Julio-Claudians AD 14-68; The Savior to Despot AD 69-98; Trajan; Optimus Princeps AD 98-117; Hadrian and the Classical Revival AD 117-138; The Antonines AD 138-193; The Severans AD 193-235; The Soldier Emperors AD 235-284; The Tetrarchs AD 284-312; Constantine AD 307-337 and the Aftermath. For Roman Art enthusiasts.

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction, Art History, Archaeology, Textbooks, Classics

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Dr. Nancy H. Ramage is the Charles A. Dana Professor of the Humanities and Arts Emerita, Ithaca College.

Reviews

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Macht richtig Vorfreude auf den Urlaub in Neapel im Mai!!

Griechische Kunst/Architektur mochte ich lieber aber dafür kann das Buch ja nichts.

Kleiner Abzug weil ich gern mehr Themenzusammenfassung gehabt hätte!

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my second installment in my background reading in Classical Art and Arcaheology. So, having covered Greek Art and Archaeology, unsurprisingly I decided to tackle one of the standard textbooks in Roman art. Ramage's book is an excellent introduction to the topic. She structures it by period, starting with the Etruscans, continuing through the rather scarce remains of Republican Rome and, then, goes by dynasty through the Imperial period. Each chapter gives an excellent overview of the main trends and major art works of the period. She also gives clear context to the political developments which inform the art work.

My only real caveat is that she is inclined, along with most Roman imperial specialists, to assign a prominent role to propaganda to explain the art of this period. That is, to some extent valid, in the sense that the Roman emperors did give attention to their own image and because a (probably) disproportionate amount of Roman art comes from the kind of high art and monumental buildings whose patrons were likely Emperors or imperial family. My only real objection is a similar one that I have in reading, particularly Augustan literature, that these kinds of readings presume the kind of control over media which I don't think the Romans had or, indeed, given the technological limits, could have had. Sometimes, as in the case of Livia's houses, a landscape is a landscape, not a programmatic comment. That is a bit of a hobby horse of mine which feels better for the trot.

However, that is a small point. Ramage's Roman Art is well worth the time, especially as an introduction to Roman material culture.

[Genevieve · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book kind of drives me crazy - it is the best textbook for images of Roman art, but the text leaves a lot to be desired. The discussion of the works is almost exclusively in terms of their aesthetic qualities with little about cultural context or iconography (especially in the early chapters). I still use this book for my classes on Classical and Roman art and archaeology, but have to supplement it heavily with additional readings on these issues.

[Boris · Rating 5 out of 5]

supergedetailleerd en met prachtige afbeeldingen. Aanrader!

[Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

This might be a good visual reference book to Roman art, but not a proper choice for college textbook because, well, its"text" part was quite disappointing. As a visual learner who'd much prefer reading a textbook saturated with high-quality pictures and illustrations, I find its textual contents insufficient when providing relevant information and inconsistent in its style of presentation, leaving the student confused from time to time -- of course I know that you are not supposed to rely on the textbook 100% and the purpose of leaving out certain information might be intended to encourage the readers to inquire on their own, but I think this textbook in particular leaves out too much to be desired. I mean, you know something's wrong with your textbook when you can literally spend 30 seconds browsing through Wikipedia and discover the answer to an question that you've been struggling to come up with using your very textbook.

[Kyo · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the art in this book seemed quite encompassing, it seemed like every single monument and thing was so... independent. There was almost no trends, basically no other explanation for certain pictures except for the description of what we were supposed to see.
Personally I like it better when archeological books focus more on the "art" instead of the buildings and monuments and this book heavily focuses on architecture (like arches, columns and buildings).

Also, it was quite a boring read, so meh..

[Μ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πολύ καλό εισαγωγικό βιβλίο για μια ολιστική εποπτεία της ρωμαϊκής τέχνης, ειδικά για όσους γνωρίζουν ελάχιστα σχετικά. Χωρίζεται σε κεφάλαια ανά περιόδους δυναστειών και καλύπτει το φάσμα αρχιτεκτονικής, γλυπτικής και μνημειακής τέχνης, ενώ περιλαμβάνει και κάποια ιστορικά στοιχεία για καλύτερη κατανόηση του πλαισίου. Στα αρνητικά θα έβαζα το μαλακό εξώφυλλο, καθώς το εσωτερικό είναι πολυτελές χαρτί και η ανάγνωση ήταν κάπως δύσκολη, ωστόσο το φωτογραφικό υλικό είναι πλούσιο, έγχρωμο και καλής ανάλυσης.

[Fiona Montgomery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much different than any other textbook on Greek art. I think that if I really wanted this information, I would just check out a book from the library instead of buy my own because it really doesn’t have any out-of-this-world ideas that it brings up.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Fantastic images, and a good way to get your feet wet in Roman art.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, both the pictures and the accompanying explanations.

[Ellis · Rating 2 out of 5]

read for my class: Ancient Art

I hated this class, but the reading was okay. I felt that Ramage spent too little time on some very important monuments on which entire books an theses have been written but then doddled on some works which I felt were rather insignificant. It had lots of illustrations and schematic plans, however, which are always helpful when discussing Ancient monuments which are frequently in ruin. The most strange thing about this book was the apparent phallic obsession the authors had, as they seemed to always pick out obscure works of art that I had never seen before that had huge, central phallic references. Yeah, let's just not even go there...

[Grigoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for the researchers of Art in Ancient Rome, well illustrated and with a holistic approach to art and architecture. As it happens with most books about history, though, new researches are being made and new facts surface that are not included, so I would suggest to the reader to double check when inquiring on specific dates and facts. Also, I felt that the analysis of the subject-matter of some works, from time to time, was more subjective than it should be. Otherwise, I managed to get form it most of the essential information I needed about that place and period and I know I will use it as reference in future studies on this subject.

[Merinde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it's a very clear oversight and contained many pictures. So it's definitely useful to own as a reference. However, the text really irritated me at times, like when they insisted on talking about how Julia Domna's scheming personality was obviously reflected in her facial features...what? Physiognomy hasn't made a big comeback yet, right? Or so I thought. It's not just Julia, by the way - I just thought that one was the most obviously ridiculous one, as she didn't really have a particularly strange expression at all.

[Maura Dechtiaruk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything you want to know about Roman Art and then some.
I actually used an earlier edition for my Ancient art course in college. Very clear and straightforward, which can be a little tedious. Good coverage of the development of Roman Art from its Etruscan forerunners through the reign of Constantine the Great. Would benefit from more color photos. My favorite aspect was the development of portraiture by studying the images of Roman emperors.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book, surveying Roman architecture, paintings, sculpture, sarcophagi, and engravings. The pictures were beautiful and informative, and the authors do a great job of pointing out detail and providing interpretation. I especially enjoyed learning about Roman architecture.

[Laurelyn Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-reading segments of this to supplement some other reading. It's a good resource with many pictures. I suppose it's a testament to it's quality that both Classical Studies departments I have studied under use this an their introductory text (CU Boulder and RMWC in case you're curious).

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good basic text. Excellent starting place for beginners.

[Teodora Nikolova · Rating 5 out of 5]

very readable, perfect for beginners

[Elon Slootweg · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to read this for uni. Beautiful pictures, but that’s pretty much it. Incredibly basic, to the point where it’s fairly useless, but still so expensive! Unbelievable.

[Tori]

Roman Art: Romulus to Constantine (Trade) (4th Edition) by Nancy H. Ramage (2004)

[Jean-michel Pigeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livre intéressant sur l'archéologie romaine