Last updated 15:52, Wednesday, 30 April 2008

THERE was never any doubt about Dr Neil Faulkner’s enthusiasm for his subject right from the start of his talk on Imperial Roman Art.

Having appeared on BBC2’s Timewatch and Channel 4’s Time Team, his entertaining and effervescent delivery quickly captured the attention of members of the Cumbria Decorative and Fine Arts Society.

Roman art drew upon the Greek tradition of naturalistic art but the Romans had an aristocratic and imperial system of government as opposed to the democratic system of the Greeks. This was seen in the more realistic portraiture which reflected the importance of individuals to the system. Realistic images mattered to the Romans. It was necessary to know who the important people were. Since military command and conquest were linked with political power in Roman society it was necessary to be able to identify the leader. Image was all important!

The Emperor Augustus used portraiture to develop the cult of personality and showed the Emperor in many guises; as military leader, as heroic fighting man and as leader and father of his people. Portraits of the Emperor as military leader show him wearing a breastplate and cloak. Others show him as a fighter with a naked, well toned body, and the statesman was shown wearing a toga which Dr Faulkner described as a useless, impractical garment!

It was impossible to do any practical work in a toga. All the wearer could do was “strut about” and so it was worn by the aristocratic man as a sign of his status. Dr Faulkner said he had invented the word “togate” to describe this state and, tongue in cheek, said he had ambitions to see the word recognised and added to the Oxford English dictionary!

Moving beyond portraiture, this ideology was reinforced on engravings, reliefs, inscriptions and coins.

Images of war and peace were used a lot in Imperial propaganda. Secure frontiers meant peace at home provided there was a stable government, was the message to the masses. Throughout the Roman Empire were monuments and buildings covered with images and inscriptions honouring those in authority who controlled the state.

One building found in every city in the Empire was the amphitheatre. Beast baiting, gladiatorial combat and public executions provided entertainment for the masses. Only non-Romans were dealt with in this area. Gladiators were not Roman but often prisoners of war or enemies of the state, such as Christians, who were trained for combat or faced other grisly deaths and were all highly symbolic of Roman power.

Images glorifying the power of Rome were often used in private houses as well as public buildings. Members were shown slides of exquisite mosaics from the Piazza Armorina in Sicily. This was probably a hunting lodge and, as well as scenes from Roman mythology, showed scenes of fishing, games, races and other aristocratic pursuits. Finally Dr Faulkner showed slides of the famous Bikini Girls mosaics in Piazza Armorina.

In these, female athletes wearing typical sporting garments that resembled leather bikinis, were shown taking part in a range of games.