Art and War of the Classical World

Greek Period• Battles were between compact

phalanxes –Embodied civic ideal – equality

among citizens

• Made up of hoplites – foot soldiers

• Advanced in close formation, protected by overlapping bronze shields

Detail from Chigi Vase, c. 650 - 640 BCE

Greek Period• Most archaic art shows single combat

–Reality of warfare – once phalanxes clash, phalanx breaks apart

–Soldiers – very isolated during battle, especially because of Greek helmets

–Face-to-face fighting becomes ideal of valor – much like interaction in Greek politics, rituals, sports

Detail from Attic vase, c. 560 - 550 BCE

Detail from Attic vase, c. 560 - 550 BCE

Attic vase, c. 530 BCE

Greek Period• Until Persian War – Greece did not

have foreign enemies–Wars among city-states savage, but

they were all Greeks

–Fought with shared rules, practices and rituals of war

–Representation in art shows equal opponents, never de-humanized

Roman Period• Development in military strategy

–Generals used units of army like chess-pieces in a strategic plan - all parts had different tasks and movements, and were coordinated in a complex collective enterprise

–Roman units attack in closed formation – art shows realistic battle scenes

Roman Period• Experience of autonomous fighting

and individual glory reduced

• Much like Roman world – integration of autonomous cities and autonomous citizens into large territorial states ruled by distant kings

Alexander Mosaic, Pompeii, c. 100 BCE

Detail of Alexander the Great, Alexander Mosaic, Pompeii, c. 100 BCE

Detail of Persian king, Darius III, Alexander Mosaic, Pompeii, c. 100 BCE

Detail from Trajan’s Column, Relief, 113 CE

Turtle Formation, Trajan’s Column, 113 CE

Battle between Roman and Germanic armies, Relief from marble sarcophagus, 180 – 190 CE

Roman Period• Rome was seen as center of civilized

world between two poles of barbarism –northern/western barbarians of

Europe were stereotyped as rough and without civilization

–Eastern barbarians of Asia and Middle East were effeminized by luxury and full of deceit

Roman Period• In art, enemies were distinguished by

their ethnic physiognomies and their equipment

• Depicted without dignity or status – things which defined Roman superiority

• Enemies shown in utter humiliation – distorted by pain and despair, kneeling in servile attitudes

Ludovisi Gaul, Gaulish chieften committing suicide after killing his wife, c. 220 BCE

Marcus Aurelius hands down justice to barbarians, identifiable by belted tunics and long beards, one of eight panels later incorporated into the Arch of Constantine

Marcus Aurelius surveys his victory, as barbarians beg for mercy at his feet, one of eight panals later incorporated into the Arch of Constantine

Trajan viewing severed heads of Dacians, Trajan’s column, 113 CE