4.

Art and architecture under Hadrian

Under Hadrian the neoclassical Antonius -type dominated sculpture. So true is this that sculpture in the round for a while replaces the historical reliefs so beloved by the Romans. Also, its is no doubt true that this was not just "sterile classicism". The artists were putting into practice the sons learned in the preceding century, and they delighted in exhibiting their mastery over difficulties. Sculptors, for instance, did not hesitate to work in hard and intractable materials such as diorite and porphyry. Architecture tells the same story, and perhaps even more emphatically, since it was Something in which the Romans excelled. In architecture the Roman original contributions are notable: one thinks of the Italic temple, whether of the threecella or circularlar type; of the high podium with its flight of steps; of the triumphal arch; of the column with spiral relief and the vault. The material prosperity of the second century provided the wherewithal for extensive building enterprises and great monuments resulted. It was in Hadrian's reign that the Pantheon, in all the perfection of its present beauty, was built. Yet new architectural principles were not evolved. It was rather a case of exploiting earlier conceptions to the full. Hadrian's mausoleum is merely an enlarged version of the traditional Italic circular drum with conical tumulus. The device of a mighty hall spanned by a cross-vault enabled engineers to erect public structures of impressive proportions, yet it had been developed in the time of Nero and had been skillfully employed for Domitian's mighty palace on the Palatine and Trajan's vast Baths.

The unquestioned skill with which the second-century artists and architects made use of the principles evolved in an earlier age produced works of variety and complexity, it is not for nothing that "The Grandeur that was Rome" has become one of our favorite clichs. Nevertheless the fact remains that no new intellectual contributions were being made, and when all the possibilities of the old ones had been exhausted the decline followed quickly. Already in the second century sculpture, for instance, tended to become stereotyped. It is of interest to note that the constitutional evolution of the Empire is reflected in its art and architecture. In the reliefs of the Ara Pacis the Emperor is truly a Princeps, merely the first among various Roman nobles and senators. In later monuments the personality of the Emperor comes to dominate everything.