Part II

Pre-Viewing Questions and Activities

• What was the Roman civil war caused by? What did it lead to?

• Look for evidence of continued Greek influences, as well as instances where the Romans made significant changes in Greek styles and/or developed completely new styles.

• Look for evidence of the Roman faith in the strength and ability of the common person, a necessary value for maintaining a republic.

While watching the film find the answers to the following questions

1. What three causes contributed to the civil war during the first century BC?

2. What significant change was a consequence of the unrest and eventually brought an end to the Republican Period?

3. Why is the period after 27 BC called the Imperial Period?

4. Why did generals become more and more powerful public figures?

5. Who turned the Republic into a dictatorship?

6. When was Caesar assassinated?

7. Who was officially handed sole executive power 17 years later?

8. What was erected in honors of Augustus’ most important achievement, the creation of peace?

9. What was the Ara Pacis symbolic of? (to have confidence in, to be proud of one’s emperor)

10. As conservatives the Romans looked back over their shoulders to the Golden Age of Greece for artistic ideals. Yet their art also reflected the vivid realism which was the cultural legacy of their Hellenistic and Etruscan ancestors. Where can you see it?

11. Architecture under Augustus also looks back to classical Greece. Yet when you look closely at Parthenon many subtle differences are discernable. What are they?

12. Compare the Roman and the Greek temples. What is the difference between them?

13. How did the Romans aggrandize the individual?

14. What shows that the personality cult of the emperor was gradually developed?

15. When was the Empire at the height of its success?

16. When was a symbol of an age devoted to organization?

17. The self-importance of the emperor continued to expand, so did his artistic expression. Who surrounded the Emperor? Who were entrusted with important affairs of state?

18. In the Roman tradition many of the scenes describe the practical down-to-earth side of life. What are these scenes?

19. What artistic form proved to be perfectly suited to the typically Roman characteristic of describing their leaders’ exploits in painstaking detail?

Post-Viewing Questions and Activities

• Give a short summary of Part II. (Key: Part Two deals with the creation of the Roman Empire. It describes the Period of Roman conquest and expansion and the government and culture that resulted. Greek influence on art and the increasing importance of the emperor are examined in detail.)

• How do Roman temples differ from Greek ones? How do Roman sculptures, such as those on the Ara Pacis, differ from the Greek ones, such as those on the Parthenon frieze?

• What was the purpose of the Ara Pacis, the Arch of Titus, the Column of Trajan, and similar structures built in Ancient Rome?