Roman Art and Architecture:

From Julius Caesar to Hadrian

HIAA 0340 A

Final Research Paper

General Assignment:For your Roman Art and Architecture term paper, you will choose a topic from within the following categories: ‘Representations of Women in Roman Art,’ ‘Mythology in Roman Art, or ‘Narrative and construction in Roman Architecture.’ The suggested topics below within the broader categories are merely suggestions, and any variation within the theme is possible provided that it focuses on the Roman art and architecture of our course’s time period (from Julius Caesar to Hadrian).

Requirements:

  • 7-10 pages, double-spaced in Times New Roman with 1 inch side margins
  • your paper must have a thesis, not simply report on your topic as a book report
  • you must support that thesis with ancient visual evidence and with modern scholarship
  • your research must include at least 5 non-textbook scholarly sources
  • your paper must include at the end the images you discuss as well asa complete bibliography (this does *not* count towards your 7-10 pages)

Due Date: Friday April29 - your final paper is due in hard copy in section. No Exceptions.

**you are strongly encouraged to take an outline or a rough draft to the Writing Center. If you do so and obtain proof of the visit (a signed and dated official note from the Writing Center employee with whom you worked), you will earn extra credit.

Category 1: Representations of Women in Roman Art

Suggestions Include:

  • Imperial Women
  • Women in Ostia
  • Barbarian women
  • Female personifications (e.g. conquered nations, winged victory, etc)
  • Women in mythological art
  • Artistic representations of motherhood, sisterhood, ‘daughterhood’ across Roman society
  • Women in religious art

Category 2: Mythology in Roman Art

Suggestions Include:

  • A single myth through several media (e.g. Ganymede)
  • Several myths in one media (e.g. wall painting)
  • Use of myth in domestic spaces (wall paintings, mosaics, etc)
  • Mythological sculptural collections (e.g. Villa dei Papiri, Tivoli, etc)
  • The tension between myth in art and myth in text (e.g. Philostratus, etc)
  • Myth and politics (e.g. the Sebasteion at Aphrodisias)

Category 3: The narrative and construction of Roman architecture

Suggestions Include:

  • The use of domed spaces in Roman architecture (the Pantheon, the Domus Aurea, Tivoli)
  • Provincial architecture
  • Domestic architecture
  • Aqueducts in the Roman world