Early European History Part 52

VERGIL AND HORACE

The half century included within the Augustan Age marks a real epoch in the history of Latin literature. The most famous poet of this period was Vergil. The _Aeneid_, which he undertook at the suggestion of Augustus, is his best-known work. In form the poem is a narrative of the adventures of the Trojan hero, Aeneas, [29] but its real theme is the growth of Rome under the fostering care of the G.o.ds. The _Aeneid_, though unfinished at the author's death, became at once what it has always remained--the only ancient epic worthy of comparison with the _Iliad_ or with the _Odyssey._ Another member of the Augustan circle was Vergil's friend and fellow- worker, Horace. An imitative poet, Horace reproduced in Latin verse the forms, and sometimes even the substance, of his Greek models. But, like Vergil, what Horace borrowed he made his own by the added beauty which he gave to it. His _Odes_ are perhaps the most admirable examples of literary art to be found in any language.

LIVY

The most famous prose writer of the Augustan Age was Livy. His _History of Rome_, beginning with Romulus and extending to Augustus, traced the rise and growth of the Roman state during eight centuries of triumphal progress. It did in prose what Vergil's _Aeneid_ had done in verse.

TACITUS

The period of the "Good Emperors" saw the rise of several important authors, of whom one, the historian Tacitus, was a man of genius. The crowning labor of his life was a history of Rome from Tiberius to Domitian. Of this work, issued under the two t.i.tles of _Histories_ and _Annals_, only about one-half is extant.

SURVIVAL OF ROMAN LITERATURE

Less than two hundred years separate Cicero and Tacitus. During this period Latin authors, writing under the influence of old Greece, accomplished much valuable work. Some of their productions are scarcely inferior to the Greek masterpieces. In later centuries, when Greek literature was either neglected or forgotten in the West, the literature of Rome was still read and enjoyed. Even to-day a knowledge of it forms an essential part of a "cla.s.sical" education.

97. GREEK ARCHITECTURE

CHARACTERISTICS OF GREEK ARCHITECTURE

The existing monuments of Greek architecture--chiefly ruined temples-- afford some idea of its leading characteristics. The building materials were limestone and white marble. The blocks of stone were not bound together by cement, but by metal clamps which held them in a firm grip. It was usual to color the ornamental parts of a temple and the open s.p.a.ces that served as a background for sculpture. The Greeks did not employ the principle of the arch, in order to cover large s.p.a.ces with a vaulted ceiling. Their temples and other public buildings had only flat ceilings, resting on long rows of columns. The column probably developed from the wooden post or tree trunk used in timber construction. The capital at the top of the column originated in the square wooden slab which supported the heavy beam of the roof.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CORNER OF A DORIC FAcADE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CORNER OF AN IONIC FAcADE]

THE DORIC COLUMN

The two Greek orders of architecture, Doric and Ionic, [30] are distinguished mainly by differences in the treatment of the column. The Doric column has no base of its own. The st.u.r.dy shaft is grooved lengthwise with some twenty flutings. The capital is a circular band of stone capped by a square block, all without decoration. The mainland of Greece was the especial home of the Doric order. This was also the characteristic style of southern Italy and Sicily.

THE IONIC COLUMN.

The Ionic column rests upon a base. Its shaft is tall and slender. The beautifully carved capital swells outward into two spiral rolls, the ends of which are curled under to form the "volutes." The Ionic order flourished particularly in Asia Minor. It was well known, too, at Athens.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CAPITALS The highly decorative Corinthian capital, modeled on acanthus leaves, came into fas.h.i.+on in Alexandrian and Roman times. The Composite capital, as its name indicates, combined details from the Ionic and Corinthian into one ornate whole. This and the plain Tuscan capital were quite generally employed by the Romans.]

NATURE OF THE GREEK TEMPLE

The temple formed the chief structure in a Greek city. It was very simple in outline--merely a rectangular building provided with doors, but without windows. Around it was a single or a double row of columns. Above them rose the architrave, a plain band of ma.s.sive stones which reached from one column to another. Then came the frieze, adorned with sculptured reliefs, then the horizontal cornice, and at the ends of the building the triangular pediments formed by the sloping roof. The pediments were sometimes decorated with statues. Since the temple was not intended to hold a congregation of wors.h.i.+pers, but only to contain the image of the G.o.d, the interior usually had little ornamentation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE PARTHENON RESTORATION PRESENT CONDITION After serving as a temple for about nine centuries the Parthenon was turned into a Christian church and later into a Mohammedan mosque. In 1687 A.D. the Venetians bombarded Athens and sent a sh.e.l.l into the center of the building which the Turks had used as a powder magazine. The result was an explosion that threw down the side walls and many of the columns.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURES FROM THE PEDIMENT OF THE PARTHENON]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FROM THE PARTHENON FRIEZE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CORNER OF THE PARTHENON (RESTORED)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CARYATID PORCH OF THE ERECHTHEUM]

UNIQUENESS OF THE GREEK TEMPLE

Greek temples were not very large, for hugeness was no object to the builders. They were not even lavishly decorated. Their beauty lies, most of all, in their harmonious proportions and perfect symmetry. In the best examples of the Greek temple there are, for instance, no straight lines.

The columns are not set at equal intervals, but closer together near the corners of the building. The shafts of the columns, instead of tapering upward at a uniform rate, swell slightly toward the center. The artistic eyes of the Greeks delighted in such subtle curves. These characteristics make a cla.s.sical temple unique of its kind. [31]

98. GREEK SCULPTURE

THE GREEK GENIUS IN SCULPTURE

The greatest achievement of the Greeks in art was their sculpture. Roman artists surpa.s.sed them in the creation of ma.s.sive architectural works; modern artists have surpa.s.sed them in painting. In sculpture the Greeks still remain unexcelled.

LOSS OF THE MASTERPIECES

The existing remains of Greek sculpture are very scanty. The statues of gold and ivory vanished long ago. The bronze statues, formerly numbered by thousands, have nearly all gone into the melting pot. Sculptures in marble were turned into mortar or used as building materials. Those which escaped such a fate were often ruined by wanton mutilation and centuries of neglect. The statues which we still possess are mainly marble copies, made in Roman times from Greek originals. It is as if the paintings by the old masters of Europe, four centuries ago, were now known only in the reproductions by modern artists of inferior powers.

MATERIALS

The Greek sculptor worked with a variety of materials. Wood was in common use during primitive times. Terra cotta was employed at all periods for statuettes a few inches in height. Productions in gold and ivory, from the costliness of these objects, were extremely rare. Bronze was the favorite material of some of the most eminent artists. The Greek sculptor especially relied on the beautiful marbles in which his country abounded.

TECHNICAL PROCESSES

The methods employed by the ancient sculptor differed in some respects from those followed by his modern successors. A Greek marble statue was usually built up out of several parts. The joining was accomplished with such skill as to escape ordinary observation. The preliminary work of hewing out from the rough was done by means of chisels. The surface of the marble afterwards received a careful polis.h.i.+ng with the file, and also with sand. Marble statues were always more or less painted. The coloring seems to have been done sparingly, being applied, as a rule, only to the features and draperies. Still, it is worth while to remember that the pure white statues of modern sculptors would not have satisfied Greek artists of the cla.s.sical age.

VARIETIES OF GREEK SCUPLTURE

Greek sculpture existed in the two forms of bas-reliefs and statuary in the round. Reliefs were chiefly used for temple pediments and friezes, and also for the many grave monuments. Statues consisted of the images of the G.o.ds set up in their shrines, the sculptures dedicated as offerings to divinities, and the figures of statesmen, generals, and victorious athletes raised in public places and sanctuaries.

IMPORTANCE OF THE SCULPTOR'S ART

This list will show how many were the opportunities which the ancient sculptor enjoyed. The service of religion created a constant demand for his genius. The numerous athletic contests and the daily sports of the gymnasium gave him a chance to study living models in the handsome, finely-shaped bodies of the contestants. With such inspiration it is not remarkable that sculpture reached so high a development in ancient Greece.

[32]

99. ROMAN ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE

THE ARCH AND DOME IN ROMAN BUILDINGS

In architecture the Romans achieved preeminence. The temples and other public works of Greece seem almost insignificant beside the stupendous edifices raised by Roman genius in every province of the empire. The ability of the Romans to build on so large a scale arose from their use of vaulted constructions. Knowledge of the round arch pa.s.sed over from the Orient to the Etruscans and from them to the Romans. [33] At first the arch was employed mainly for gates, drainage sewers, aqueducts, and bridges. In imperial times this device was adopted to permit the construction of vast buildings with overarching domes. The principle of the dome has inspired some of the finest creations of ancient and modern architecture.

ROMAN USE OF CONCRETE AND RUBBLE

The Romans for many of their buildings made much use of concrete. Its chief ingredient was _pozzolana_, a sand found in great abundance near Rome and other sites. When mixed with lime, it formed a very strong cement. This material was poured in a fluid state into timber casings, where it quickly set and hardened. Small pieces of stone, called rubble, were also forced down into the cement to give it additional stability.

Buildings of this sort were usually faced with brick, which in turn might be covered with thin slabs of marble, thus producing an attractive appearance.

TEMPLES

The triumphs of Roman architecture were not confined chiefly to sacred edifices. Roman temples, indeed, are mostly copies from the Greek. In comparison with their originals, they lack grace and refinement. There is less accuracy in the masonry fitting and far less careful attention to details of construction. A frequent departure from Greek models is found in the restriction of the rows of pillars to the front of the building, while the sides and rear are lined with "engaged" columns to give the idea of a colonnade. [34] More characteristically Roman are vaulted temples, such as the Pantheon, [35] where the circular dome is faced with a Greek portico.