The culture of ancient Rome briefly message. Culture of Rome during the Republic

According to ancient traditions, Rome was formed in the middle of the 8th century BC. e. The culture, which was considered one of the most influential during the period of antiquity, had a huge impact on European civilization. And this despite the fact that the painting and sculpture of Ancient Rome are based on Greek motifs, and theater and music are inextricably linked with ancient Etruscan traditions.

Characteristics of ancient Roman art

Unlike other ancient countries, the Romans did not assign educational or moral tasks to art. On the contrary, the fine arts of Ancient Rome were more utilitarian in nature, as it was considered just a way to rationally organize living space. That is why important place Architecture occupied the life of the population of this ancient country. The civilization of Ancient Rome still reminds of itself with monumental buildings: temples, arenas and palaces.

In addition to magnificent architectural monuments, the culture of Rome in antiquity can also be judged by the numerous sculptures that were portraits of those who lived at that time. Life in ancient Rome was always subject to strict rules, and in some periods, sculptural portraits were created solely to perpetuate the faces of rulers or famous people. Only after some time, Roman sculptors began to endow their statues with characters or special features. Roman creators preferred to depict important historical events in the form of bas-reliefs.

It is worth noting that the features lie in the almost complete absence of such phenomena as theater - in the usual sense for us, as well as our own mythology. Using the images created by the Greeks for many magnificent Romans, they either distorted events to please their authorities, or did not attach much importance to them at all. This happened primarily because the fine arts of Ancient Rome developed under the influence of the dominant ideology, which was alien to abstract philosophical principles and artistic fiction.

Distinctive features of the art of ancient Rome

Despite the proven existence of Rome as a separate civilization, historians for a long time could not separate ancient Greek art from Roman art. However, due to the fact that many works of the artistic and architectural heritage of Ancient Rome have been preserved to this day, it was possible to determine the main features inherent exclusively in ancient Roman works. So, what achievements and inventions of Ancient Rome in the field of fine art characterize it as an independent phenomenon?

1. The architectural achievement of the Romans was the combination of spatial perception and artistic forms in buildings. Roman architects preferred to erect separate buildings and ensembles in natural lowlands, and if there were none, they surrounded the structures with small walls.
2. In contrast to Greek plastic images, Roman art posed allegory, symbolism and the illusory nature of space. These inventions of ancient Rome in relation to the sculptural and artistic image made it possible to endow with character not only sculptural portraits, but also mosaic or fresco images.
3. Ancient Roman artists developed the easel painting that originated in Greece, which was practically not widespread in its historical homeland.

Despite the abundance of subtle and barely noticeable features to the layman's eye, there is a factor that allows even a non-specialist to determine whether a sculptural or architectural object belongs to the ancient Roman culture. This is his size. The civilization of Ancient Rome is known throughout the world for its grandiose buildings and sculptures. Their value is several times higher than analogues from ancient Greece and other countries.

periodization

The fine arts of Ancient Rome developed in several stages, which corresponded to the periods of the historical formation of the state itself. If evolution ancient greek art historians subdivide into formation (archaic), flourishing (classic) and crisis period (Hellenism), the development of ancient Roman art acquires new features during the change of the imperial dynasty. This phenomenon is due to the fact that socio-economic and ideological factors played a fundamental role in changing stylistic and artistic forms.

The stages of the evolution of art in Rome are considered to be the period of the Roman kingdom (7-5 ​​centuries BC), the republican (5-1 centuries BC) and the period of the Roman Empire (1-2 centuries AD). A real flowering of all arts, including sculpture, theatre, music and art and applied art, came at the end of the 1st century BC. e. and continued until

Art of the Tsarist period

The formation of ancient Roman art dates back to the 8th century BC. e., when the main motives in architecture are the Etruscan methods of planning buildings, masonry and the use of building materials. This can be judged by the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. Painting and making decorative items also closely related to Etruscan roots. Only by the middle of the 7th century BC. e., when the Romans colonized Greece, they got acquainted with the artistic techniques of the Greeks. It is worth noting that the ancient Roman artists already then sought to create their works as close as possible to the originals. Historians attribute this to the tradition of making death wax masks that exactly repeated the features of a person's face. The gods of ancient Rome, whose statues were made during the period of the Roman kingdom, were depicted in the same way as ordinary people.

Art of the Republican period

The Republican period of the Roman state was marked by the final formation of architecture: without exception, all complexes (residential and temple) acquired an axial structure and symmetry. The facade of the building was decorated more magnificently, and an ascent (usually a stone staircase) led to the entrance. Residential development from high-rise buildings is spreading in cities, while wealthy segments of the population are building country terraced houses decorated with frescoes and sculptural compositions. During this period, such types of buildings as the theater of Ancient Rome (amphitheater), aqueducts, and bridges were finally formed.

Visual arts were based on portrait sculpture: official and private. The first served the purpose of perpetuating statesmen, and the second existed thanks to orders for the manufacture of statues and busts for houses and tombs. Public buildings were decorated with bas-reliefs depicting historical scenes or paintings. Everyday life states. In temples, one could most often see paintings (including mosaics and frescoes) depicting the gods of Ancient Rome.

Roman Empire: the final period of the development of art

The period is considered the time of the true flowering of ancient Roman art. The architecture is dominated by arches, vaults and domes. Stone walls are everywhere faced with brick or marble. Large indoor spaces are occupied decorative painting and sculptures. The fine arts of ancient Rome during this period undergoes significant changes. When making sculptural portraits, less attention is paid to individual features, which sometimes look somewhat schematic. At the same time, sculptors tried to depict the swiftness of movements, emotional condition portrayed (position of the body, arms and legs, hairstyle, etc.). Bas-relief images take the form of panoramas with a gradually developing plot.

Unlike the previous period, it becomes more complex due to the introduction of landscape and architectural backgrounds. The paints used for the frescoes are brighter, and the color combinations are more contrasting. In addition to color mosaics, black and white is widely distributed.

The most famous sculptural portraits

Roman portraits of statesmen, gods and heroes are represented by busts or full-size statues. The earliest ancient Roman portrait is considered to be a bronze bust of Junius Brutus. It feels a great influence of Greek art, however, the typical Roman facial features and slight asymmetry make it possible to once again be convinced that the ancient Roman sculptors already then, in the 3rd century BC. e., gave their works a maximum of realism. Despite the absence modern technologies metalworking small details of the bust are perfectly executed. First of all, this is noticeable in the fine engraving of the beard and hair.

The most realistic is still considered to be a sculptural portrait of Vespasian, the Roman emperor. The master not only conveyed his image in the smallest detail, but also endowed the bust with characteristic features. Eyes attract special attention: deep-set and small, they radiate the natural cunning and wit of the emperor. But the most remarkable thing is the fact that the sculptor depicted and the smallest details(tense veins and veins on the neck, wrinkles crossing the forehead), which speak of the strength and inflexibility of the state leader. No less expressive was the bust of the usurer Lucius Caecilius Jucundus, whose greedy eyes and greasy hair are depicted with amazing accuracy.

Great architectural monuments of the ancient Roman era

To date, not a single one of the buildings built in the era of Ancient Rome has been fully preserved. The most famous and famous of them is the Colosseum - an arena where gladiator fights and performances by statesmen took place. different levels including emperors. The temple of Saturn, which was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt again, has a no less vivid history. Unlike the Colosseum, it cannot be seen, since only a few columns remain from the magnificent building. But they managed to save the famous Pantheon, or the temple of all the gods, which is a fairly large building topped with a dome.

Poets of Ancient Rome and their works

Despite the mythology borrowed from the Greeks, the ancient Romans also had their own talents in the field of adding poetry, songs and fables. Most famous poets Rome - Virgil and Horace. The first became famous for writing the poem "Aeneid", which was very reminiscent of the "Iliad" by Homer. Despite the less expressive poetic and artistic component, this poem is still considered the standard of the original Latin language. Horace, on the contrary, had an excellent command of the artistic word, thanks to which he became a court poet, and lines from his poems and songs still appear in the works of many writers.

Theatrical art

The theater of ancient Rome initially bore little resemblance to what we consider to be such today. Almost all performances were held in the genre of competitions of poets and musicians. Only occasionally could ancient Roman connoisseurs of art enjoy the performance of actors, accompanied by a large choir. Often the audience was shown circus numbers, theatrical pantomime and solo or group dances. A distinctive feature of the ancient Roman theatrical performance was the large number of the troupe. Regarding this, the audience said that there were fewer of them than actors.

It is worth noting that at that time they did not pay much attention to costumes and makeup. Only sometimes, playing the role of an emperor or a person significant in the state, the actors dressed in more magnificent clothes of red color. The repertoire consisted mainly of works by Roman poets: Horace, Virgil and Ovid. Quite often, unhurried narrations and chants in the theaters were replaced by bloody gladiator fights, to which the audience went with no less pleasure.

Music and musical instruments

The music of ancient Rome was formed independently of the ancient Greek. During mass events and performances, the most popular were musical instruments capable of producing a very loud sound: pipes, horns, and the like. However, most often during the performance, timpani, harps, and citharas were preferred. It is worth noting that everyone was fond of music, including the Roman emperors. Among the musicians and singers were those who were immortalized in sculpture. The singers and kyfareds Apelles, Terpnius, Diodorus, Anaxenor, Tigellius and Mesomedes enjoyed particular popularity and love among the Roman people in that era. The music of Ancient Rome is still alive, as not only the main motives, but also musical instruments have been preserved.

The influence of ancient Roman art on modernity

Much is said about the influence of Roman civilization on modernity and everywhere. Of course, the characteristics of Ancient Rome, or rather, of its area that relates to art, has not yet been presented in full. Nevertheless, it can already be argued that the architecture, sculpture and fine arts of the ancient Roman era directly influenced the cultural component of almost all European states. This is especially noticeable in architecture, when the harmony and majesty of buildings is enclosed in a clear symmetrical form.

Ancient Roman culture - a set of achievements in the field of spiritual and material culture of the Roman Republic (V-I centuries BC) and the Roman Empire (I century BC - V century AD). The concept of ancient Roman culture in the narrow sense of the word refers only to the culture of Roman Italy, and in the broad sense - to the culture of the Mediterranean united by the Romans.

The ancient Roman civilization went through a difficult path of development from the culture of the Roman community of the city-state, having absorbed the cultural traditions of Ancient Greece, having experienced the influence of the peoples of the ancient East. Roman culture became the breeding ground for the culture of the Romano-Germanic peoples of Europe. She gave the world classic examples of military art, government, law, urban planning and much more.

History of ancient Rome It is customary to divide into three main periods: royal(VIII - beginning of VI centuries BC); republican

(510/509 - 30/27 BC); empire period(30/27 BC - 476 AD).

If for the Greeks in the spiritual life main value - man is a citizen, man is the measure of all things, then for the Romans it is citizen, patriot and the people themselves had a special, God-chosen destiny. A citizen must have courage, steadfastness, honesty, loyalty, dignity, the ability to obey iron discipline in war and the rule of law and the customs of ancestors in peacetime, be moderate in lifestyle.

In Rome slavery reached its highest development in antiquity. A free citizen considered it shameful for himself to be suspected of "slave vices" (such as lies and flattery) or "slave occupations", which here, in contrast to Greece, include not only craft, but also performing on stage, composing plays, the work of a sculptor and painter. Only politics, war, and the development of law were recognized as deeds worthy of a Roman, especially a noble one.

Science were adapted to practical, political, legal, commercial, military and construction activities. Cicero, the first philosopher, orator, theorist of pedagogy and politics, reproached the Greeks for their fascination with speculative sciences, in particular mathematics, guided by practical benefits, considered it right to limit the development of this science to "the need for monetary calculations and land surveying."

The centers of scientific activity remained the Hellenistic and Greek cities: Alexandria, Pergamon, Rhodes, Athens and, of course, Rome and Carthage. Great importance given in Rome in the I-II centuries. geographical knowledge and history. Geographers made a particularly valuable contribution to the development of these areas of knowledge. Strabo(64/63 BC - 23/24 AD) and Claudius Ptolemy(after 83 - after 161), historians Tacitus(c. 58 - c. 117), Titus of Libya(59 BC - 17 AD) and Appian(? - 70s of the 2nd century). By this time, the activity of the Greek politician, writer and philosopher Lucia Seneca(c. 4 BC - 65 AD), author of the Letters to Lucilius, the tragedies Oedipus and Medea, as well as a writer and historian Plutarch(c. 45 - c. 127), whose numerous works are united under the code name "Moralia".

The key to understanding Roman art are the words of the Roman writer Julius Frontinus about the nine grandiose Roman aqueducts: “one cannot compare their stone masses with the useless pyramids of Egypt or with the most famous, but idle buildings of the Greeks.” The pathos of utility in the name of the state is realized in the construction of cities, forums (squares), triumphal arches (for the solemn entry of the winners), temples (to the patron gods of Rome), public baths (places for secular communication), circuses and amphitheaters (for the entertainment of the public ) etc.

It is impossible to deny the civilizational mission of Rome. The Romans were not only a nation of soldiers, but also builders and organizers - architects, engineers, lawyers. Together with the power of Rome to hitherto wild peoples Western Europe came the order of aqueducts (water pipes), roads, the Latin school and Roman law.

In the age of empire reached its apogee literature. Among the poets he achieved the greatest fame Virgil(70-19 BC), author of the epic poem "Aeneid". They possessed the perfect form of verse Horace Flaccus(65-8 BC), Ovid Nason(43 BC - 18 AD). The era of the empire became a truly golden age of Roman poetry. Famous for their skill as a satirist Junius Juvenal(c. 60 -
OK. 127), who wrote 16 satires, writer Apuleius(c. 124 -?), the author of a kind of fantastic novel "Meta-morphoses, or the Golden Ass", which did not lose interest among our contemporaries.

As a special phenomenon in the development of world civilization, the Roman right. It included a system of legal norms governing property and other economic relations related to the right of ownership, rules for securing contractual obligations and liability, and very advanced rules on the inheritance of property. Roman lawyers divided law into private, that is, relating to the "benefit of individuals," and public, relating to the "state of the Roman state."

In direct connection with the peculiarities of political life, the oratory. Owning it was considered important and most in an efficient way strengthening authority in society and gaining political success. Roman eloquence reached its apogee in the person of Cicero. interesting Cicero's thoughts on culture. Culture for Cicero is not limited to education, the development of sciences and arts, the care of which he considers rather more characteristic of Greece than of Rome. For the famous speaker, true culture lies in a special structure of life, where the spiritual state of a person and the general interests of the state are in a contradictory, but inseparable unity. For the sake of the highest goal, the prosperity of the republic, citizens and society must go to self-restraint. A man who has forgotten the interests of society, and a ruler who has forgotten the interests of citizens, are not Romans, but barbarians. The opposite of barbarism is culture, and therefore the most important thing in the Roman Republic is that it is - state of culture.

The interaction of Greek and Roman elements in culture created European civilization, European as a cultural phenomenon: the unity of word and deed, idea and embodiment, theory and practice, harmony and benefit - this is the precious heritage of antiquity, which, the further, the more it attracts admiring glances.

It is from antiquity that the current European and American civilizations have inherited:

the foundations of modern sciences, although their individual elements began to form even in more ancient societies - among the Sumerians, in the territories of present-day Egypt, China and India; basic aesthetic forms, as evidenced by the general style of modern Western art and architecture in comparison with the oriental samples that are not at all similar to them; the basic norms of statehood and law, which still constitute the theoretical foundation of Western democracy with its separation of powers, electivity, equality of citizens before the law, etc.; basic moral standards and the main religion - Christianity, arose in the conditions of the crisis of ancient civilization.

The culture of ancient Rome existed from the 8th century. BC e. and until 476 AD. e. Unlike ancient Greek culture, which, as a rule, is awarded the highest words and ratings, the ancient Roman is evaluated differently by everyone. Some well-known culturologists (O. Spengler, A. Toynbee) believed that Rome did not go beyond borrowing and popularizing what was done by the Greeks, never rose to the heights of Hellenic culture. More reasonable, however, is the view that Roman culture and civilization are no less distinctive and original than others.

Roman civilization became the last page in the history of ancient culture. Geographically, it originated on the territory of the Apennine Peninsula, having received the name Italy from the Greeks. Subsequently, Rome gathered into an immense empire those countries that arose as a result of the collapse of the power of Alexander the Great, subjugating almost the entire Mediterranean. The consequence of this was the centuries-long wars with neighbors, in which several generations of Roman citizens participated in a row.

Later Roman legends linked the founding of Rome with the Trojan War. They reported that after the death of Troy (Asia Minor, the territory of modern Turkey), some Trojans, led by King Aeneas, fled to Italy. Aeneas founded a city there. Another legend says that the king was overthrown by his brother. The new king, fearing revenge from the children and grandchildren of Aeneas, forced his daughter Sylvia to become a vestal (priestess of the goddess Vesta), who took a vow of celibacy. But Sylvia had twin sons from the god Mars - Romulus and Remus. Their uncle ordered the boys to be thrown into the river. Tiber. However, the wave washed the twins ashore, where they were suckled by a she-wolf. Then they were brought up by a shepherd, and when they grew up and found out about their origin, they killed their treacherous uncle, returned the royal power to their grandfather and founded a city on the Palatine Hill on the banks of the Tiber. By lot, the city was named after Romulus. Later, a quarrel arose between the brothers, as a result of which Romulus killed Remus. Romulus became the first Roman king, divided citizens into patricians (aristocrats) and plebeians (ordinary people), created an army. The Romans considered April 21, 753 BC, the day of the founding of Rome. e., it was from him that the Romans conducted their reckoning.

In fact, the name "Romulus" was formed from the name of the city, and not vice versa. The territory of the Apennine Peninsula from 2 thousand BC. e. was inhabited by Indo-European tribes who came from Central Europe(Italics, Sabines, Latins, etc.), later the Etruscans (Rasen, Tus) came to the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Italian Tuscany - a tribe of non-European origin, disputes about the origin of which are still ongoing. It was the Etruscans (from the north) and the Greeks (who settled in the southern part of Italy and Sicily) that had the strongest impact on the development of Roman culture. The Etruscans were both experienced farmers and skilled artisans. It was from them that the Romans inherited handicraft and construction equipment, writing, "Roman" numerals, toga clothes, and many others. etc. (It is characteristic that even the "Capitolian she-wolf", which, according to legend, nurtured Romulus and Remus and was a symbol of Rome, was a work of Etruscan masters, taken out as a military trophy).

In the culture of Rome, 2 periods are distinguished:

• 1) the culture of the royal and republican times (from the founding of Rome in the 8th century BC to 30 BC);
• 2) the culture of Imperial Rome (from 30 BC to 476 AD).

Unlike the ancient Greeks, mythology did not become the basis for the development and flourishing of Roman culture. The ancient Romans had a custom to lure the gods of hostile tribes with the help of a certain formula and establish a cult for them. So, many gods of the Italic and Etruscan cities moved to Rome, and later - the anthropomorphic gods of the ancient Greeks, whom the Romans renamed, retaining their functions: so Zeus became Jupiter, Aphrodite - Venus, Ares - Mars, Poseidon - Neptune, Hermes - Mercury, Hera - Juno, Athena - Minerva, Dionysus - Bacchus, etc. The original Roman gods indicated in the priestly books were the deities of sowing, seed growth, flowering, ripening, harvesting, marriage, the first cry of a child, etc. The Romans also believed in souls the dead, patronizing their kind (mana), into unburied souls that do not find peace for themselves (larvas or lemurs), into deities guarding the house and family (lares), into guardians hearth(Penates). The guardian of a person, who forms his character and accompanies him all his life, was the Genius, to whom the birthday of a Roman citizen was dedicated. Cities, communities, families had their own Genius-patron. Janus was considered the most ancient Italian god, who took over the overthrown Saturn, the father of Jupiter, the god of farmers and harvest. He was depicted as two-faced.

The Romans treated their gods with disinterestedness. But the main thing for every Roman was not the gods, but historical legends and traditions that were formed during the formation of Roman statehood.

From an early age, a Roman citizen was instilled with the ideas of concor - consent, internal unity, legality, developed in the course of the development of Roman law, and his patroness - the goddess of Justice, fidelity to the morals of ancestors, valor. Real historical figures of early Rome became role models. Thus history became myth, and myth became history.

In the first period of Roman history and culture - the era of the reign of seven kings (Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Gastilius, Ankh Marcius, Servius Tullius, Tarquinius the Proud) there was a transition from the primitive communal system to the early class society. In 510 BC. e., after the expulsion of Tarquinius the Proud, Rome became a city-state (civitas), which was ruled by a senate of 300 people, a popular assembly (comitia), headed by two consuls, elected for a period of 1 year.

Formed in 510 BC. e. The aristocratic slave-owning Roman Republic lasted until the 1930s. n. e. Then came the period of empire, culminating in the fall of the "eternal city" in 476 AD. e.

The Romans were in many ways similar to the Hellenes, but at the same time they differed significantly from them. They created their own system of ideals and values, the main ones among which were patriotism, honor and dignity, fidelity to civic duty, veneration of the gods, the idea of ​​the Roman people being specially chosen by God, of Rome as the highest value, etc. The Romans did not share the Greek glorification of a free person, allowing violation of the established laws of society. On the contrary, they in every way exalted the role and value of the law, the immutability of its observance and respect. For them, the public interest was above the interests of the individual. At the same time, the Romans intensified the antagonism between the free-born citizen and the slave, deeming unworthy of the former not only the occupation of a craft, but also the activity of a sculptor, painter, actor or playwright. The most worthy occupations of a free Roman were considered politics, war, development of law, historiography, and agriculture. The Romans in their own way and more clearly defined the qualities free man, excluding from them such "slave vices" as lies, dishonesty and flattery. Rome reached the highest level of development of slavery.

One of the highest virtues of the Romans was military prowess. Military booty and conquest served as the main source of livelihood. Military prowess, feats of arms and merit were the main means and basis for success in politics, for obtaining high positions and employment. high position in society.

Thanks to the wars of conquest, Rome turned from a small town into a world empire.

A real revolution in the cultural life of the Roman Empire occurred by the 1st century BC. e. after the conquest of Hellenistic Greece. The Romans begin to study the Greek language, philosophy and literature; they invite famous Greek orators and philosophers, and they themselves go to Greek policies to join the culture before which they secretly bowed. However, it should be noted that, unlike Greek, Roman culture is much more rational, pragmatic, aimed at practical benefit and expediency. This feature was well shown by Cicero on the example of mathematics: "the Greeks studied geometry in order to know the world, the Romans - in order to measure land."

Greek and Roman cultures were in a state of strong interaction and mutual influence, which, in the end, led to their synthesis, to the creation of a single Greco-Roman culture, which later formed the basis Byzantine culture and had a huge impact on cultures Slavic peoples and Western Europe.

Architecture played a leading role in Roman art during its heyday, the monuments of which, even in ruins, conquer with their power. The basic principles of Roman architecture were used during the Renaissance and remain relevant today. Its essential difference from the Greek one consisted in the orientation not on the order system, but on the widespread use in the construction of arches, domed and vaulted ceilings, as well as the creation of structures that were round in plan. On the basis of arched structures, viaducts were built for the movement of pedestrians, carts and troops, and aqueducts that supplied cities with water from sources sometimes located tens of kilometers away.

The Romans marked the beginning of a new era of world architecture, in which the main place belonged to public buildings, designed for huge numbers of people. Throughout the ancient world, Roman architecture has no equal in terms of the height of engineering art, the variety of types of structures, the richness of compositional forms, and the scale of construction. The Romans introduced engineering structures (aqueducts, bridges, roads, harbors, fortresses) as architectural objects into the urban and rural landscape. This happened due to the discovery of a completely new building material - concrete. First, 2 parallel brick walls were erected, the space between which was filled with alternating layers of gravel and sand. When the mass of concrete hardened, it formed a solid monolith with the walls. The Romans used cladding made of stone blocks or marble slabs rather than building with these materials like the Greeks did. The most gigantic spectacular building of Ancient Rome is the Colosseum (75-80 AD), in its amphitheater (it differed from the theater in that it had a closed oval plan with rows of seats around the arena, gradually rising and surrounded on the outside by a powerful ring wall ) could accommodate 50 thousand spectators at the same time. Until 405, gladiator fights were held in the Colosseum.

Spectacles occupied a very important place in the life of the Romans. Roman architects turned to those types of public buildings that most fully embodied the ideas of the power of the state and imperial power: forums (from the Latin “fora” - the center of the city), triumphal arches, basilicas, circuses, baths, amphitheatres. During the imperial period, each of the emperors, following the example of Julius Caesar, built his own forum, decorated with triumphal arches, memorial columns and monuments that glorified the deeds of the emperor. The ensemble of the forum also included temples and libraries, squares for mass gatherings. New types of housing are also being created: villas ( country houses for patricians), domusi (city houses for wealthy Romans), insulae (multi-storey buildings for the Roman poor).

One of the most visited places in Rome, especially during the Roman Empire, were the terms (baths). This is a complex of buildings surrounded by gardens, stadiums, promenades, libraries; works of art were exhibited in the baths, rhetoricians and poets performed. Of the 11 terms of Imperial Rome, the baths of the emperors Titus and Caracalla became famous for their luxury, wall paintings and mosaics.

Great are the achievements of the Roman artistic genius in the field of sculptural portraiture, which originates from the Etruscans, in whom the image of the head of the deceased covered the urn with ashes (canopa), as well as from the wax masks of the dead Romans. Unlike the Greeks, who strove for typification, Roman sculptors try not to flatter their models even when they create perfect image, accurately conveying the most remarkable features of the external appearance. It was the Roman portrait that laid the foundation for the European sculptural portrait.

Roman science had an applied character. The greatest scientists of the era of the Roman Empire were the Greeks Ptolemy, Menelaus of Alexandria, Galen, Diophantus. A huge work of Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) became a kind of encyclopedia that summarized natural scientific knowledge about the world and man. Natural history in 37 books.

One of the brightest and most significant pages of world history and culture is Roman law. On the one hand, it put the interests of the individual owner at the center of legal relations, and on the other hand, it developed the value basis of the legal order, the content of which was:

• - justice, equality;
• - expediency;
• - conscientiousness;
• - good morals.

Roman law was characterized by precise formulations, it reaches perfect legal forms, his decisions are justified, and the terms and concepts form the basis of modern jurisprudence. Analysis of cases from ancient Roman legal practice even today contributes to the development of legal thinking, sharpens the arguments “for” and “against”, systematizes logical generalizations.

In the 1st c. BC e. in Rome, rhetoric, or the art of political and judicial eloquence, is developing powerfully, which was the result of reflecting a stormy social life transitional era from the Republic to the Empire. Achieving authority in society and a successful political career were impossible without a virtuoso mastery of the living word.

Rhetoric becomes a stepping stone on the path to entry into the Roman elite. The most prominent orator of Rome was Mark Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC). Being, moreover, a fine connoisseur of philosophy, he did much to introduce the Romans to the classical Greek philosophy Plato and the Stoics.

The population of the empire was characterized by a high level of literacy. The system of school education and upbringing included 3 levels - primary, secondary and higher. Graduates of the highest level prepared for state, practical and cultural activities. Higher education began to emerge.

The development of Roman literature went through several stages. During the tsarist and partially republican periods literary creativity existed in the form of cult chants, generic epic, primitive drama, legal texts. The first known Roman writer whose name has come down to us was Appius Claudius Caecus (c. 300 BC). Livius Andronicus, a Greek slave, a freedman (end of the 3rd century BC), translated the Odyssey and thus laid the foundation for the creation of Roman literature on the Greek model. Significant development was later achieved by dramaturgy (the comedies of Plautus and Terence). The first Roman prose writer is Cato the Elder, who wrote in Latin the history of Rome and the Italic tribes. Cicero, with his writing and oratory, opened the era, which is commonly called the era of "Golden Latin". During the time of the first Roman emperor Octavian Augustus (1st century BC), the flourishing of literature, called the "golden age of Roman poetry", was associated with the names of Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Seneca, Petronius. famous poem Virgil's "Aeneid" about the mythical divine ancestor of the Roman aristocracy and Augustus himself (King Aeneas) exalted the special historical mission of Rome, glorified the Roman spirit and Roman art. In comparison with Greek samples, the works of Roman authors were distinguished by greater drama, a more sober analysis of reality.

At the end of the 2nd c. n. e. a crisis began in the Roman Empire: a frequent change of emperors, the separation of provinces, the emergence of independent rulers in various parts of the empire. From the 1st century n. e. in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire (in Palestine), Christian ideas began to spread, proclaiming the equality of all before God, which was essential for consolidating a society torn by contradictions. The emergence of a new myth about the possibility of universal achievement of the kingdom of God on earth and the idea of ​​rewarding the suffering and disadvantaged with happiness in the kingdom of heaven became very attractive, especially for the lower social strata of Rome. Christianity adopted many elements of Eastern cults and religions, and also included the achievements of Hellenistic philosophy in its ideology. Cruelly persecuted and persecuted at first, Christianity gradually captured the Roman aristocracy and intelligentsia with its ideas, and in the 4th century. AD became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

From 410 to 476 Rome is being defeated by barbarians - Goths, Vandals, Franks, Huns, Germans, etc. The eastern part of the Roman Empire (Byzantium) lasted another thousand years, and the western part, having died, became the foundation for the culture of the emerging Western European states.

Greco-Roman antiquity (9th century BC - 5th century AD) left the following achievements as a legacy to world culture:

the richest myth-making;

experience of a democratic structure of society;

the system of Roman law;

enduring works of art;

the laws of truth, goodness and beauty;

variety of philosophical ideas;

acquisition of the Christian faith.

Personalities: Herodotus, Aesop, Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, A. Macedonian, J. Caesar.

Control tasks

• 1. Consider the differences between Greek and Roman architecture.
• 2. Why is Greek culture called "the culture of philosophers" and Roman "culture of rhetoricians"?
• 3. List 7 wonders of the world in the view of ancient society.
• 4. Name the outstanding figures of literature and science of ancient Greek culture, accompany your story with a description of their works.
• 5. Name the outstanding figures of literature and science of Roman civilization, accompany the story with a description of their creations.
• 6. Prepare a presentation on any aspect of the topic.
• 7. What made the Greek miracle possible? Submit your version.

Ancient Roman culture went through a difficult path of development from the culture of the Roman community to the city-state, absorbing cultural traditions ancient Greece, having experienced the influence of the Etruscan, Hellenistic cultures and cultures of peoples ancient East. Roman culture became the breeding ground for the culture of the Romano-Germanic peoples of Europe. She gave the world classic examples of military art, government, law, urban planning and much more.

The history of ancient Rome is usually divided into three main periods:

− royal (VIII - beginning of VI century BC);

- Republican (510/509 - 30/27 BC);

- the period of the empire (30/27 BC - 476 AD).

Early Roman culture, like Greek culture, is closely connected with religious beliefs population of ancient Rome. The religion of that time was characterized by polytheism, very close to animism. In the view of the Roman, every object and every phenomenon had its own spirit, its own deity. Each house had its own Vesta - the goddess of the hearth. The gods were in charge of every movement and breath of a person from birth to death. Another curious feature of the early Roman religion and worldview of people is the absence of certain images of the gods. The deities were not separated from those phenomena and processes that they were in charge of. The first images of the gods appear in Rome around the 6th century BC. e. influenced by Etruscan and Greek mythology and its anthropomorphic deities. Before that, there were only symbols of the gods in the form of a spear, arrow, etc. Like other peoples of the world, the souls of ancestors were revered in Rome. They called them penates, lares, mans. feature religious outlook Romans is their narrow practicality and utilitarian nature of communication with the deities on the principle of "do, ut des" - "I give that you give me."

From the 5th century BC e. a serious influence of Greek culture and religion begins, going through the colonies of the Greeks in Italy. The rich mythology of the Greeks, all poetic, colorful world Greek legends enriched the dry and prosaic soil of the Italo-Roman religion in many ways. Under the influence of the Greek and Etruscan mythological tradition, the supreme deities of the Romans stood out, the main of which are: Jupiter - the god of the sky, Juno - the goddess of the sky and the patroness of marriage, the wife of Jupiter; Minerva is the patroness of crafts, Diana is the goddess of groves and hunting, Mars is the god of war. The myth of Aeneas appears, establishing the relationship of the Romans with the Greeks, the myth of Hercules (Hercules), etc. To a large extent, the Roman and Greek pantheons are identified. Around the 4th century BC. e. the Greek language spreads, mainly among the upper strata of the population. Some Greek customs are gaining popularity: shaving beards and cutting hair short, reclining at the table while eating, etc. In the 4th century BC. e. in Rome, a copper coin is introduced according to the Greek model, and before that they paid simply with a piece of copper. The development of Roman civilization led to a significant growth and elevation of the capital of the state, the city of Rome, which in the I-III century BC. e. numbered from one to one and a half million inhabitants. After the conquest of the western part of the Hellenistic world by Rome, such large cultural centers as Alexandria of Egypt, Antioch in Syria, Ephesus in Asia Minor, Corinth and Athens in Greece and Carthage on the northern coast of Africa entered its borders. Rome and other cities of the empire were decorated with magnificent buildings - temples, palaces, theaters, amphitheatres, circuses. Amphitheaters and circuses, in which animals were poisoned, gladiator fights and public executions were held, are a feature of the cultural life of Rome. The fertile soil of these cruel spectacles was endless wars, a colossal influx of slaves from conquered lands, the ability to feed and entertain the plebs through predatory wars.

A distinctive feature of the cities of the era of the empire was the presence of communications: paved roads, water pipes (aqueducts), sewers (cesspools). There were 11 aqueducts in Rome, two of which are still in operation. The squares of Rome and other cities were decorated with triumphal arches in honor of military victories, statues of emperors and prominent public people states. Magnificent buildings of public baths (terms) with hot and cold water, gyms and rest rooms were built. In many cities, houses of 3-6 floors were erected, called insuls.

art The Roman Empire absorbed the achievements of all the conquered lands and peoples. palaces and public buildings were decorated with wall paintings and paintings, the main plot of which was episodes of Greek and Roman mythology, as well as the image of water and greenery. During the imperial period, portrait sculpture received special attention, characteristic feature which was exceptional realism in the transfer of the features of the depicted person.

Great success achieved in Rome education and scientific life. Education consisted of three levels: elementary, grammar school and rhetoric school. The latter was a higher school, and it taught the art of eloquence, which was highly valued in Rome. Emperors appropriated large sums on the maintenance of schools of rhetoric.

The centers of scientific activity remained the Hellenistic and Greek cities: Alexandria, Pergamon, Rhodes, Athens and, of course, Rome and Carthage. Great importance was attached in Rome in the I-II centuries to geographical knowledge and history. A particularly great contribution to the development of these areas of knowledge was made by the geographers Strabo and Claudius Ptolemy, the historians Tacitus, Titus Livius and Appian. The activity of the Greek writer and philosopher Plutarch belongs to this time. In the era of the empire, the literature of ancient Rome reached its apogee. During the time of Emperor Augustus, Gaius Cylnius Maecenas lived. He collected, supported financially and took care of talented poets of his time. Among the poets, Virgil, a member of the circle of Maecenas and the author of the immortal epic poem "Aeneid", had the greatest fame during his lifetime. Another poet of the circle of Maecenas is the master of the perfect form of verse Horace Flaccus. The fate of Ovid Nason, a wonderful lyric poet, the author of the poem "The Art of Love", which caused the wrath of Emperor Augustus and the poet's exile far from Rome, is dramatic. Black Sea city Volumes (Constanza), where he created two collections of lyrical poems "Sorrow" and "Messages from Pontus". Wrote poetry and the famous Emperor Nero. Truly the era of the empire was the golden age of Roman poetry. The satirist Junius Juvenal, who wrote 16 satires, and the writer Apuleius, the author of a kind of fantastic novel Metamorphoses, or the Golden Ass, about the transformation of the young man Lucius into a donkey and his adventures, also became famous for their skill during this period.

Roman culture is pagan culture. But the era of the late Roman Empire was marked by the wide spread within its borders of a new creed - Christianity, which won the final victory in Rome under Emperor Constantine (324-330). The fourth century of our era was the heyday of Christian eloquence. The abundance of church disputes and polemics with pagans gave rise to an extensive Christian literature, created according to all the rules of ancient rhetoric. Special sharpness ideological struggle between Christians and pagans adopted in the 5th century AD. e. - in the last decades of the existence of the great Roman power.

In the crisis that engulfed the Roman world in the 3rd century A.D. e., one can detect the beginning of the upheaval, thanks to which the medieval West was born. The barbarian invasions of the 5th century can be regarded as an event that hastened the transformation, gave it a catastrophic run, and profoundly changed the whole appearance of this world. But along with the death of the Roman state, ancient culture did not disappear, although its development as a single organic whole did stop. The potential of ancient culture, its treasures, despite the long oblivion, were appreciated and claimed by descendants.

Thus, ancient culture is a unique phenomenon that gave general cultural values ​​in literally all areas of spiritual and material activity. Only three generations of cultural figures, whose lives practically fit into classical period history of ancient Greece, laid the foundations European civilization and created role models for millennia to come. Distinctive features ancient Greek culture: spiritual diversity, mobility and freedom - allowed the Greeks to reach unprecedented heights before other peoples began to imitate the Greeks and build a culture according to the patterns they created.

The culture of Ancient Rome - in many respects the successor of the ancient traditions of Greece - is distinguished by religious restraint, internal severity and external expediency. The practicality of the Romans found a worthy expression in urban planning, politics, jurisprudence, and military art. The culture of Ancient Rome largely determined the culture of subsequent eras in Western Europe.

Literature

6. Akimova I. A. Culturology. - M., 2004. - 712 p.

7. Andreev Yu.V. The price of freedom and harmony. - St. Petersburg, 1999. - 399 p.

8. Antiquity as a type of culture: Sat. Art. / Rev. ed. A. F. Losev. - M., 1988. - 333 p.

9. Gurevich P. S.. Culturology. - M., 2004. - 335 p.

10. Culturology: lecture notes / ed. A. A. Oganesyan. - M., 2004. - 283 p.

11. Ostrovsky A. V. History of civilization. - St. Petersburg, 2000. - 359 p.

Questions for self-control

1. What does the term "antiquity" mean?

2. What states can be classified as ancient?

3. Name the time frame of ancient culture.

4. Antiquity was the prototype of what culture?

5. Why can't the culture of Ancient Rome be characterized as exclusively pagan?

Chapter 18. EUROPEAN Culture of the Middle Ages

There is no other culture in which own life- line by line and by duty would be so important for the living, for he must verbally give an account of everything.

O. Spengler

The Middle Ages is a fairly long period in history. In classical chronology, it occupies a place from the 5th to the 17th century, or more precisely, the era from 476, the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, to 1642, when the English bourgeois revolution began. In the traditional historical science the Middle Ages are usually characterized as a decline compared to antiquity. This applies especially to the period early medieval. However, not all so simple. Apparent drop in level common culture was nothing more than the birth of a young, qualitatively new cultural organism, with its own unique features.

The environment where the culture of the Middle Ages was born consisted of the so-called barbarian peoples: Celts, Germans, Slavs, etc., who undoubtedly came into contact with ancient culture, but often as a military or not free. The heritage of antiquity influenced them, but it was purely external in nature, for even then typically barbarian (in the sense of special) elements formed the basis cultural development these many tribes. The process that took place in Europe in the I-IV centuries AD. e., known as the Great Migration of Peoples, forced the essentially agricultural tribes to constantly move from place to place, plus the development of a particular territory was accompanied by endless military clashes in which entire peoples and languages ​​\u200b\u200bare killed. All this gradually led to the formation of a qualitatively different, in contrast to antiquity, ideas about the world, about the universe. This world seemed vast and boundless, full of mysteries and secrets, having large spaces and equally great opportunities, but they must be defended in endless wars and skirmishes. In contrast to the calm and measured ancient "cosmos", the world of the Celts and Germans was dark and mysterious, inhabited by many creatures, mysterious, incomprehensible, evil and good, living and dwelling in a variety of places. This mythical world dwarves and elves, goblins and trolls, disembodied spirits, where human personality, in addition to limitless possibilities, feels at the same time lonely and abandoned. The life of people together was not only a necessity, but also an opportunity to more fully reveal their qualities, and together with their people, comrades-in-arms, friends. Initially, it turned out that big role in the life of the barbarian tribes, the leader and his retinue played - the guarantor of the protection of the tribe and the guarantor of its survival in the event of a crop failure, because military affairs in such a saturated world were cornerstone honor, valor and just the real thing.

Historically, a situation has developed in which the system of seeing the world of barbarians in terms of their external and inner manifestations surprisingly flexibly correlated with the Christian idea of ​​the Incomprehensible and Beginningless God and his creation - the infinite universe. Therefore, it is not surprising that Christian missionary activity among the wild and cruel barbarians was more successful than in the enlightened ancient world. Most of the Germanic and Celtic tribes adopted Roman Christianity. Gradually, many monasteries arose on the territory of Western Europe, which, like oases in the desert, became the centers of a new, emerging culture. It was from the monasteries that the most brilliant preachers came out, literate and widely educated people, not only in religious terms, concentrated in the monasteries, it was the monastery that was the ideal and center of real, true life for those around. Of course, pagan beliefs came into contact with and came into conflict with Christian beliefs, but the latter prevailed with surprising ease. Moreover, the Church showed amazing flexibility in accepting those rites that did not harm the act of faith and farsightedly left in the form of Christian holidays.

Monasteries were not only the center new culture. Their closed, closed, ascetic, full of inner spirituality rhythm of life was an example and formed the basis for the structure of a new, medieval society. The outward isolation and inaccessibility of the monastery was reflected in the isolation and hierarchy of the class medieval society. The leaders with their retinues gradually turned into an aristocratic elite, which in turn also had an internal hierarchy. The leader became the king, and his subordinates formed a hierarchy of dukes, counts, barons, knights, etc. The possession of territory became a symbol of power and nobility. The king gave his warriors a plot of land for service. The one who received it took an oath of allegiance to the king. The Christian "In the beginning was the Word ..." began to play a decisive role in society. From now on given word decided everything. The giver of the land was called señor (senior). The recipient of the land is a vassal. Vassals took an oath of allegiance to the lord and this oath was stronger than any document or agreement. This was all the more relevant in conditions of almost total illiteracy. The vassals, in turn, did the same with the land, that is, they recruited their servants, as a result of which a kind of hierarchical ladder developed, where each vassal was subordinate only to his lord. "The vassal of my vassal is not my vassal" - this was the unwritten law of the medieval hierarchy. However, it is wrong to represent the relationship between the lord and the vassal as the relationship between master and servant. These are precisely friendly relations, because loyalty is the main criterion for friendship. The lord is more of a patron than a lord. It often happened that the lord had more duties to the vassal than vice versa. Before us is emerging a unique civilization in which the economic element recedes before personal, friendly relations. Neither in the cultures preceding this era, nor in subsequent cultures, such a phenomenon is seen.

At the end of the 1st century BC. Ancient Rome becomes a world power. Roman culture was formed as a result of the interaction of the culture of local Italic tribes and peoples, primarily the Etruscans, with Greek culture, carried out first through Great Greece (Greek colonial cities in southern Italy and Sicily), then it intensified as a result of the conquest of Greece by Rome.

The culture of Ancient Italy and Ancient Rome breaks up into three main periods:

• 1) the culture of pre-Roman Italy (3 thousand - III century BC);
• 2) the culture of the Roman Republic (III-I centuries BC);
• 3) the culture of the Roman Empire (I-V centuries AD).

The forerunner of the culture of ancient Rome was etruscan culture, whose country stretched from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Apennine Mountains in the east, and its northern border in the 7th century. BC. reached the river Po. Etruria was a union of 12 city-states with a slave system based on the undivided domination of the aristocracy. The heyday of Etruscan culture dates back to the 6th-5th centuries. BC, when she was strongly influenced by Greek culture.

Greek influences are visible in the painting and sculpture of the Etruscans (statue of Apollo from Vei, master Vulka, VI century BC; paintings of tombs in Corneto, Chiusi, Vulci, Cervetri, Orveto, VI-V centuries BC .), but there were actually Etruscan traditions, which are most clearly expressed in monumental terracotta sarcophagi with figures of the dead (sarcophagus from Cervetri, VI century BC), bronze casting (Capitoline she-wolf, VI century BC. ), making clay vessels bucceneros("black earth").

The culture of Ancient Rome developed as a synthetic one, which included Etruscan, Greek and Roman traditions and features characteristic of the culture of the peoples conquered by Rome, sometimes standing at a higher level of development. Like the Greeks, the Romans did not conceive of life outside of the civil community, to serve which is a duty and good, outside of freedom and independence, outside of connection with the gods and demigods.

Not having their own developed mythology, the Romans almost completely adopted it from the Greeks, calling the gods by their proper names: Zeus - Jupiter, Aphrodite - Venus, Ares - Mars, Dionysus - Bacchus, etc.

The Romans introduced features of a more sober worldview into ancient humanism. Accuracy and historicism of thinking, harsh prose are the basis of their artistic culture. The Romans believed that the gods needed not the feelings of people, but sacrifices (wine, blood, smoke, etc.), and the Latin word itself "religion" (religion) means originally connection between man and the gods (I give you to give me).

The practical warehouse of Roman culture is reflected in everything: in the sobriety of thinking, the normative idea of ​​the expediency of order, scrupulousness Roman law(closely associated with religion), which took into account all life phenomena, gravitation towards accurate historical facts. Scientific and philosophical ideas, literature and art - everything was rethought from the point of view of "Rome is the center of the World."

Roman law evolved over several centuries. It was a system of norms and legal laws of the slave-owning state, included private and public law, regulated property, private property and civil relations.

The Romans were equal in their responsibility before the law, but they were not equal in political and social spheres. The nobles and the wealthy had a monopoly on rights, but they also bore duties to a greater extent. Unlike the Greeks, simple people could not count on high posts, but any Roman citizen had the right to land ownership.

In the heyday of Roman art, the leading role was played by architecture, which embodied the ideas of the power of the state. The main place in it belonged not to the temple (as among the Greeks), but to social and civil construction. The Romans invented waterproof concrete; widely used arched, vaulted and domed structures; introduced new engineering structures (aqueducts, bridges, roads, harbors, fortresses); improved the planning of large cities. Public life was

forum - a square decorated with temples, basilicas, merchants' shops, statues of eminent citizens, markets. The forum was the center of trade, political and social life of the Romans (Roman Forum or Forum Romanum, the forums of the emperors Caesar, Augustus, Vespasian, Trajan).

The needs of Roman society also gave rise to such types of structures as amphitheaters (Colosseum), baths (baths of Caracalla, Diocletian), triumphal arches (Tyaga arch) and columns (Trajan's column). In the architecture of Ancient Rome, new types of palaces, country villas and tombstones appeared.

Giant spectacular building of ancient Rome - Coliseum(from lat. colosseum- colossal) was intended for grandiose performances and gladiator fights. The Colosseum, built of tuff, could accommodate up to 50,000 spectators. Began the construction of the amphitheater who came to power after civil war 68-69 years AD Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian(9-79 AD). Its construction was completed during the reign of Vespasian's son - tita(from 79 to 81 AD). In honor of the opening of the Colosseum, a hundred-day gladiatorial games were arranged. In plan, the Colosseum was a closed oval (524 m in circumference), dissected by transverse and annular passages. Its central part, the arena, is surrounded by stepped benches for spectators. The appearance of the Colosseum, monumental and majestic, is determined by the ring wall, designed in the form of a multi-tiered order arcade: below - Tuscan, above - Ionic, in the third tier - Corinthian, above which Corinthian pilasters were placed.

In order to drain sewage and dirty water in Rome, an underground pipe was built - cloaca. The Romans stepped far ahead in the construction of buildings necessary for the economy. Public baths were built in Rome terms, having a constant supply clean water; pools with warm and cold water.

The best in the heritage of Roman culture was the portrait as an independent form of creativity from the beginning of the 1st century BC. BC. The Romans showed realism in the depiction of facial features specific person. Roman portrait painters historically recorded changes in the appearance of people, their customs and ideals.

In the painting of the Roman Empire, one decorative style replaces another. The first Roman pictorial portraits created by Greek artists appear. Their distinguishing feature is the use of the form tondo - circle. Painting II century. AD - these are mainly murals of tombs, frescoes of residential buildings and nympheons (pools), which are distinguished by the severity of patterns and static figures.

In ancient Roman art, it is also worth mentioning the monumental wall painting known from the excavations of houses in the city of Pompeii in Italy. The frescoes depicted colorful paintings on mythological, historical, everyday subjects and resembled Greek ones.

roman theatre, unlike the Greek, was little associated with religious cults. The mime played the main place among the stage performances. The actors were free to improvise. Dance and gesture played an important role.

According to the Greek model in Rome were rebuilt stage performances. The authors usually took Greek tragedies and comedies as models. The comedies of Plautus and Terentius have been fully preserved. Comedy Plautus(c. 254-184 BC) were very popular. The main character of his works was a clever, inexhaustible slave who helped the owner's son to deceive his stingy father, defrauding him of money. The performances were accompanied by flute playing and masks were used. The lyric poetry of republican Rome reached its highest development in the work of Catullus(87-54 BC). The Roman poet highlights spontaneous, contradictory, emotions beyond the control of reason, refers to inner world man sings of love.

In the era of the first emperor Augustus, his associate Maecenas provided material support and patronized outstanding poets- Virgil, Horace and Ovid. Virgil

(70-19 BC) published Bucoliki, a collection in which he glorified Augustus; "Georgics" - a poem dedicated to rural life. And fame brought him the poem "Aeneid". Horace(65-8 BC) sang antiquity in verse and also praised Augustus. He wrote love poems and satires that ridiculed the vices of Roman society. Ovid(43 BC - 17 AD) became famous for love poems and the poem "Metamorphoses", built on the basis of myths.

In the 1st century BC. appeared in Rome and philosophical works. The most prominent of the Roman thinkers was considered a materialist philosopher Lucretius Kar(c. 98-54 BC). He outlined his views on the emergence of the universe, nature, and man in the poem "On the Nature of Things", where with brilliant skill he described complex philosophical problems in an accessible form, in verse.

In the 1st century AD in the bowels of the Roman Empire Christianity was born. A tough internal struggle for power and changes in the socio-economic and political conditions of life of the peoples of Europe led the Roman Empire to decline. Christian church negative and hostile attitude towards ancient culture considering it barbaric. This factor accelerated the death of the culture of Ancient Rome.

In 395, the Roman Empire split into Western and Eastern. The Western Roman Empire ceased to exist in 476. The Eastern Roman Empire, called Byzantium, lasted another thousand years. Destroyed and plundered by the barbarians in the IV-VII centuries. Rome is deserted; new villages grew up among its ruins, but the traditions of Roman art continued to live.