Teaching unit: the Roman art

1. Teaching unit:the Roman art Class: V gymnasium Age of the students:14-15 years old Duration: 4 hours

2. Objective: • To know the historical coordinates within which to frame the artistic period. • To individualize the historical-cultural coordinates within which the work of art is expressed. • To gather the specific aspects related to the technique and to the style of the Roman art. • To know and to know how to chronologically put the principal sculptural, architectural and pictorial works of the republican period and the imperial period. • To know the specific terminology. • To know how to contextualise the work in the historical and partner-cultural circle.

3. Contained disciplinary: • Historical signs. • The Romans and the art: the constructive techniques used by the Romans. • Installations and infrastructures. • The Roman city. • Typologies of the Roman residence (domus, insula and villa), public and religious buildings (temple, theatre, basilica, amphitheatre, forum, thermal baths, arcs). • Examination of the more meaningful architectural testimonies. Pantheon and Colosseum.

4. Methods and tools : • Frontal lessons. • Graphic-expressive activity done in relationship to the analysis of the manufactured articles and finalized to the individualization of the characters of the work and their interpretation. • Interactive lesson. • Use of videocassettes and CD-ROM. • Guided visits.

5. Tests : • Types of tests: individual and collective interviews, interrogations, layout of brief essays, questionnaires, graphic exercises regarding the work of art.

6. Performance

7. Historical signs: The origin of Rome is connected to the myth of Romulus and Remus : the two twins, born from the relationship between Mars and Rea Silvia, according to the tradition they were nursed by a she-wolf. In 753 B.C. after killing Remus for personal contrasts, Romulus founded upon the Palatine hill the first installation from which Rome would have been born.

8. At its origins, Rome was driven by the famous "seven kings": • Romolus • Numa Pompilio • Tullo Ostilio • Anco Marzio • Tarquinio Prisco • Servio Tullio • Tarquinio the Superb

9. Repubblican Rome: In the 509 B.C., after the last etruscan king, Tarquinio the Superb was driven out, the republic came into being. This period marked the destruction of Cartagine as well as the conquest of Greece, of Sicily and of the major part of southern Italy.

10. Portugal Romania Bulgaria Turkey Greek Italy Imperial Rome: After Caesar's killing in 44 B.C. his nephew, Ottaviano Augusto, established a new monarchy. Since then many emperors followed. The Roman empire of the west fell in 476 B.C. under the emperor Romolo Augustolo, after having reached its maximum expansion during the kingdom of Adriano.

11. The Romans and the art: the constructive techniques used by the Romans. For Roman art it's intended the art in the ancient Rome, from the foundation to the fall of the empire of the west, both in the city of Rome and in the rest of Italy and in the oriental and western provinces.

12. The Romans, very careful to the practical and organizational aspects of the common life, gave their attention to the architecture. The architects designed great public buildings (theatres, basilicas, temples) and important works of engineering (bridges, roads, aqueducts).

13. Architecture

14. The amphitheatre in Syracuse The amphitheatre Romano of Syracuse is one of the most representative building realizations of the first Roman imperial age. Placed in the monumental area, it was found after the excavations of the duke of Serradifalco in 1839.

15. The theatre of Afrodisia The Roman theatre of Afrodisia was inaugurated in the 27 B.C., but it suffered some changes in the II century, due to the gladiator games . Following the collapse of the superior part, caused by the earthquake of the VII century, it was covered by earth and residences were built over it. The theatre had an capacity for 12 thousand people.

16. The acqueducts

17. The Domus The Domus was a typology of residence used in the ancient Rome. It was an urban private domicile and it distinguished itself from the suburban villa, which instead was a private residence situated outside of the boundaries of the city, and from the rustic villa, situated in the country and endowed with special environments for the agricultural jobs

18. The Villa of the Hamlet of Armerina Plaza The Roman Villa of the Hamlet was built among the end of the III century and the beginning of the IV century A.D. it was a hunting residence made famous by its mosaic decorations , made by the African teachers of Massimiliano Erculeo the colleague of Diocleziano.

19. Cardo Decumano From the Castrum to the city: the Roman urban system The cities founded by the Romans had all similar characteristics. The urbanistic scheme adopted by the Romans in the construction of the city is characterized by the orthogonally meeting of the roads, (from south to north) and (from west to east), that divide the city in quadrangular blocks. The inspiring model was the Roman "castrum" or the military camp.

20. The Temples ThePanteon The Pantheon (temple of all the gods) is a building in ancient Rome, built as a temple devoted to the divinities of the olimpia. It was built around 126 A.D. under the emperor Adriano.

22. The colosseum The Colosseum, originally known as Amphitheatre Flavio. It is situated in the centre of the city of Rome. Its construction was initiated by Vespasiano in 72A.D. and it was inaugurated by Tito in 80A.D., with further changes brought during the kingdom of Domiziano

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