Characteristics of ancient Roman culture

Ancient Rome and ancient Greek art are very close. Ancient Roman art is the extension, inheritance and development of ancient Greek art, which together laid the foundation of western civilization and became the cradle of western civilization. Ancient Greece includes the Greek Peninsula in southeastern Europe, the Aegean Islands and the western coastal areas of Asia Minor, and he left many myths and legends for future generations. Most of the ancient Greek sculpture buildings were drawn from it. Ancient Greek sculpture is beautiful in realism and artistic conception, and is called a model of western classical realism. Ancient Greek sculpture can be divided into three periods: the "Daedalus style" from the 7th century BC to the 6th century BC, during which the contact with the East promoted the development of sculpture. Although immature, his works are dull and lifeless, and his characterization is rational and rigorous. During the "classical period" from the 5th century to the 4th century, artists explored human anatomy, which established the important position of ancient Greek sculpture and made it more dynamic. "Classical period" is the most glorious period of Greek sculpture. During this period, the sculpture art gradually matured and formed its unique artistic characteristics, reaching its peak. Most of their sculptures are naked men and women, but they look magnanimous and innocent, showing a noble simplicity between gestures. Excellent works include Madonna of Athena, Three Fates, Discus Thrower, Warrior with Spear, etc. In the late classical period of the 4th century BC, due to the infighting among the city-states, the economic recession and the intensification of class contradictions, the sculpture art changed the original lofty and solemn spirit and replaced it with a beautiful and soft style, reflecting people's yearning for real peace and life. The last period of ancient Greek sculpture is the Hellenistic period from the 4th century BC to the 2nd century BC, which is the inheritance and development of the classical period. As social contradictions become more and more complicated, social life is not calm, and sculpture themes are also diversified. Some keep the characteristics of classical art, such as the Statue of Venus, and some reflect maple trees on the screen door. It has become the mainstream to express physical pain and passion in style, such as laocoon statue, dying Gaul and other ancient Greek architecture, especially temple architecture. There are various architectural styles: simple, vigorous and harmonious Dorian style behind it, light, soft, free and fluent Ionian style, gorgeous and exquisite Collins style. Greek architecture is most famous for the Acropolis in Athens. It does not win by grandeur, but is famous for its dignity, elegance, symmetry and beauty. The acropolis building of white marble shows the beauty of inhumanity and uncleanness. Most Greek paintings are oblivious and unpredictable, but the only remaining bottle paintings are vivid in image, balanced and full in layout, and have made great achievements in arts and crafts and have a certain artistic status. In 146 BC, Rome conquered the Greek mainland and defeated the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt in 30 BC. Since then, the vast areas originally ruled by Greece, including the Greek mainland, have all been incorporated into the territory of the Roman Empire. After Greece, Rome became the center of western politics and culture.

After Rome conquered Greece, there was a Greek craze. They regard Greek literary works as models, imitating and even copying them. A large number of artworks, especially sculptures and paintings, were brought to Rome as trophies, which decorated and enriched the city. At the same time, many well-educated artists, craftsmen, craftsmen, etc. Being gathered in Rome as slaves and hostages provided superior conditions for the prosperity of Roman culture. As Horace, a famous poet in ancient Rome, said, "The captured Greece made the master of barbarians a prisoner, and she brought art to rude and uncivilized Latin. Rome conquered Greece, and in another sense, Greece conquered Rome. " After all, Roman culture developed on the basis of Roman politics and economy, and the huge empire created a unique Roman culture on the basis of absorbing and integrating eastern and western cultures. For a long time, the Romans directly used masks to make portrait sculptures. This portrait resembles a real person and has no artistic creativity, but it lays the foundation for Roman portraits to pay special attention to facial details. The spiritual temperament of Roman portraits is mainly expressed through the head, while the Greeks convey it through body movements. Therefore, without the head, the rest of the Roman statue is meaningless, while the life of the Greek statue is full of all parts of the body, even if only the broken arm and stump are left, it can still give people a unique life and beauty. Ancient Roman architecture is modeled after Greece, but it has unique style and characteristics. Roman architecture is dominated by domes and long spans, and adopts arch coupon structure. The building is large in scale and spectacular in shape, which embodies heroism and symbolizes power. Ancient Rome emphasized the combination of hero, man himself and beauty and strength. The Colosseum, as an important representative of ancient Roman architecture, reveals an unusually majestic domineering of the Roman Empire, a kind of rough and seemingly slovenly. Although the Pantheon is an outstanding representative of ancient Roman temple architecture, I think the arena is more temperament and can better show the characteristics of ancient Rome. Rome and Greece are both slave countries and peninsular countries, but the Romans mainly made a living from agriculture, and cultivated the spirit of calm thinking and seeking truth from facts in the struggle with nature, so pragmatism is the style of the Romans, which is different from the romantic temperament of the "export-oriented expansion" Greeks. This determines that the Roman view of art is realistic, realistic, lacking fantasy and imagination, and closer to practicality, which is the embodiment of realism. In form, Rome pursues grandeur, which is different from the emphasis on "harmony" in ancient Greece. The general aesthetic thought in ancient Rome was "sublime", and there was a spirit of daring to participate in the world to win, which was very different from the tranquility and idealized perfection of ancient Greece.

The Greeks and Romans jointly created western classical culture, which constituted the origin of western civilization. They are all democratic and scientific, but Greece and Rome have their own characteristics: Greece is more idealistic than Rome; Compared with Greece, Rome is more realistic. To sum it up in one sentence: glorious Greece, great Rome!