Universität Wien

090029 VO Roman Visual Culture and the Hellenistic Greek World (2025S)

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 9 - Altertumswissenschaften
Moodle

An/Abmeldung

Hinweis: Ihr Anmeldezeitpunkt innerhalb der Frist hat keine Auswirkungen auf die Platzvergabe (kein "first come, first served").
Für diese LV an-/abmelden

Details

Sprache: Englisch

Prüfungstermine

Lehrende

Termine (iCal) - nächster Termin ist mit N markiert

Unit 1: Rome and the Hellenistic world

1. 4/3 Roman visual culture and the Hellenistic world (introduction I)
2. 11/3 Rome’s conquest of Magna Grecia and the Aegean (introduction II)
3. 18/3 Visiting the Abgusssammlung

Unit 2: The visual toolbox

4. 25/3 Portraying the human form (gods and mortals)
5. 1/4 Flora and fauna
6. 8/4 Polychromy: the role of colour in Roman visual culture

Unit 3: Genres in Roman visual culture

7. 29/4 Pastoral scenes, gardens and landscapes
8. 6/5 Sacrificial scenes, still lifes and manscapes
9. 13/5 Visualizing Historical narratives
10. 20/5 Depicting “Greek” myths
11. 27/5 Visiting the Kunsthistorisches Museum

Unit 4: The art of building
12. 3/6 The circle and the square: principles of Roman architectural design
13. 10/6 Sacred architecture
14. 17/6 Urbanism and public architecture

Exams:
24/6 Exam (written exam on Units 1–4)
30/9 Exam

  • Dienstag 04.03. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Dienstag 11.03. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Dienstag 18.03. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Dienstag 25.03. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Dienstag 01.04. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Dienstag 08.04. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Dienstag 29.04. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Dienstag 06.05. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Dienstag 13.05. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Dienstag 20.05. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Dienstag 27.05. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Dienstag 03.06. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Dienstag 10.06. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
  • Dienstag 17.06. 10:15 - 11:45 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG

Information

Ziele, Inhalte und Methode der Lehrveranstaltung

This course aims to situate Roman visual culture (painting, mosaic, sculpture and architecture) in a broader Mediterranean context that had been influenced by Greek art for centuries. By observing recurring themes in Roman visual culture (from the Republican period to the High Empire), we will address topics such as the legacy of Hellenistic aesthetics and the reshaping of Roman culture for over half a millennium during its transformation from an insignificant city state to an empire.

We will focus on both individual tropes in Roman visual culture (e.g. depictions of humans, flora and fauna) as well as larger iconographic contexts and their origins. The course also delves into ancient craftmanship by exploring aspects such as polychromy (pigment and painting techniques), sculpting (with excursions to the department’s Abgusssammlung and the Kunsthistorisches Museum) and ancient building techniques. Alongside the materiality of Roman art, we will discuss theoretical aspects such as notions of self-representation, identity, and the impact of Hellenistic aesthetics on Roman patrons and their ideas on the meaning of art and architecture, based both on ancient sources and modern scholarship.

The course intends to expand students’ skills in visually analyzing ancient art and architecture, verbalizing their observations, and understanding them in their contemporary historical and cultural contexts. The course content will be taught through a combination of lectures and individual study of course literature.

Art der Leistungskontrolle und erlaubte Hilfsmittel

Students will be assessed for their knowledge and understanding of Hellenistic influences on Roman visual culture and the developments in Roman art and architecture during the Imperial Period. Of particular importance are commonly used themes/tropes in Roman art and architecture, as well as how they were understood within contemporary culture. The grade is based on four written exams. Only a pen is allowed to be brought to the examinations.

Exam language: English
Exam format: open questions/essay questions/analysis of images of selected art works
Duration of the examination: 90 minutes

Mindestanforderungen und Beurteilungsmaßstab

Students are required to take one written examination and obtain a minimum of 50 points (of maximum 100). 50 points are needed to pass the course.

1 (very good) 100–90 points
2 (good) 89–81 points
3 (satisfactory) 80–71 points
4 (sufficient) 70–51 points
5 (not sufficient) 50–0 points

Attendance of the lectures is not mandatory but strongly recommended to support your exam preparation.

Prüfungsstoff

The literature on the reading list and the lectures + slides are exam materials. The questions of the exam are based on the four units of the course:

Unit 1: Rome and the Hellenistic world
The development of Roman visual culture during the Republican period in contact with the Hellenistic world (Lectures 1–3). Students are expected to understand Rome's gradual cultural intertwining with its neighbors (both peaceful and through conquest).

Unit 2: The visual toolbox
This unit focuses on visual tropes in Roman art (Lectures 4–6). Students are expected to demonstrate basic knowledge of key elements in depictions of humans, flora and fauna, as well as their antecedents. The unit includes an understanding of polychromy and Graeco-Roman ideas of naturalistic representation.

Unit 3: Genres in Roman visual culture
The third unit deals with genres within Roman visual culture such as pastoral scenes (Arcadian and Egyptian landscapes), still life, religious settings (sanctuaries and sacrifices), gardens and representations of architecture, mythological and historical scenes (Lectures 7–11). Students are expected to be able to visually analyse a selection of ancient images; identify the genre and the individual elements of the composition; and place it in its Roman cultural context.

Unit 4: The art of building
The final unit covers Roman architecture and its dependence on Hellenistic building types and construction techniques (12–14). Students are expected to have a basic understanding of the origin, style and use of common types of buildings such as houses, basilicas and public baths, and their development during the High Empire.

Literatur

The PowerPoint presentations from each lecture will be shared on the Moodle and should be referred to during exam preparation.

1. Houses and monuments of Pompeii; (OV:) Le case ed i monumenti di Pompei disegnati e descritti, Niccolini, Fausto, Niccolini, Felice, Kockel, Valentin; Schütze, Sebastian, Williams, Karen, Fruhtrunk, Wolf, Köln: Taschen; 2016. [as a reference for images and architecture]

2. Art and archaeology of the Roman world, Fullerton, Mark D., London: Thames & Hudson; 2020, 11–313 [as a reference for Roman art and architecture’

3. Greek myths in Roman art and culture: imagery, values and identity in Italy, 50 BC-AD 250, Newby, Zahra, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2016. Read the introduction and chapters 1–4, 7 (pp. 1–227, 320–347).

4. Griechische und römische Mosaiken; (OV:) Mosaici greci e romani by Pappalardo, Umberto, Ciardiello, Rosaria & Pedicini, Luciano, München: Hirmer Verlag GmbH; 2012, pp. 11–242.

5. The splendor of Roman wall painting, Romano, Luciano, Pappalardo, Umberto, Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum; 2009. Read the entire book.

Ancient sources (in Loeb Classical Library online or in any other translation you prefer):

1. Pliny the Elder, Natural history. Read Books 34–37.

2. Vitruvius, On Architecture. Volumes I & II. Read books 3.1 (including the preface), 6.2–3, 6.5, 6.7, 7.5–13.

3. Theocritus, Idylls. Read Idylls 7 and 14.

4. Virgil, Eclogues. Read Eclogue 2 and 8.
https://usearch.univie.ac.at/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=UWI_alma51585585470003332&context=L&vid=UWI&lang=de_DE&search_scope=UWI_UBBestand&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&isFrbr=true&tab=default_tab&query=any,contains,virgil%20eclogues&offset=0

Zuordnung im Vorlesungsverzeichnis

Anrechenbar: im Fachbereich Römische Archäologie, Bilder und Materielle Kultur:
im BA: M3, M10, M11, M13;
im MA: PM1, PM3, PM4, PM5;
im EC 597
Im EC 598 (alt und neu): IntEC AKA PM 2, Themenschwerpunkt 2

Letzte Änderung: Di 10.06.2025 18:05