First mid term paper

Exam 1
How is each object/monument important to the history of Rome? As works of art or architecture, how can we judge their style, artistic influences, or subject matter in the context of the larger Roman rule?
Title: Arch of Titus This monument was important to the history of Rome as it was built to commemorate Titus’s victories. As a work of architecture, we see the arch which is from Tuscan influence. It has very specific and detailed sculpture, for example the quadriga and the soldiers. This kind of art/ architecture was influenced by the Roman culture that they wanted really specific details of the every movement. The Roman was able to do this with their amazing art skills. It was also amazing to build such a large arch considering the engineering technology might not have been so advanced. The writings on the Arch of Titus was written in a way that it not only addresses the senate and the Vespasian family but also the People. This gesture is exactly what is needed to make the people feel good and happy. So it makes the people feel like they were involved in the wars and that the emperor and the whole Roman Empire thank them for their services and their support.
Title: Theatre of Marcellus This monument was important to the history of Rome because it was the largest and most important theatre in Rome at the time. We can see arches and columns with Donic and Ionic orders, these were iconic Roman architecture and artistic style of buildings. In terms of the larger Roman rule, since Rome was the capital of the Roman Empire it is only fair that the largest buildings are built and preserved. The Theatre of Marcellus was the largest theatre and therefore meets that criteria. The Theatre of Marcellus was used to entertain the people of Rome and to make them happy and forget the other painful things that were happening in the city like unemployment and high cost with low wages. The apartments behind the Theatre of Marcellus was built later on so it does not hold that much artistic influences.
Title: Colosseum
This was the largest landmark of entertainment and demonstrates the fine architectural skills of the Roman culture and history. The Colosseum had columns with the Donic, Ionic, and Corinthian orders and it had the Tuscan influenced arches. It was able to handle huge crowd capacity and was made to easily fill the venue or evacuate quickly. The Colosseum had the engineering technology to have a cover top that could be retracted whenever wanted. These architectural and engineering models are used in today’s stadiums. The Colosseum is one of the things that was preserved as monuments and relics of the History of the Roman Empire. In the context of the larger Roman rule, the Colosseum and other stadiums were used to hold events to entertain the people. Rome had unemployment issues along with fire hazards and crimes. The people were not happy so the emperor built Colosseums to entertain the people, to make them happy. The rulers could control the people by offering games and the people would be happy. This kind of structures helped rulers of the Roman Empire understand that happy population leads to more of an obedient population.