Ancient Greek and Roman Civilizations: History and Art

Classical Greece: Historical and Geographical Frameworks

In the Eastern Mediterranean Basin, Greek antiquity occupied the south of the current Balkan Peninsula and the islands and coasts around the Aegean Sea. Its influence also extended to southern Italy, Sicily, and other parts of the Mediterranean coast.

Greek Society and the Rise of the Polis

Before what we know as Classical Greece, there were signs of various stages in the history of Greece. These historical periods prior to the onset of the polis were: the first settlements of civilization, the Minoan civilization (XVII–XX centuries BC), and the Mycenaean civilization (XIII–XVI centuries BC).

Ancient Greek Painting and Ceramics

To speak of Greek painting, it is necessary to refer to ceramics, since precisely in the decoration of vases, plates, and vessels—whose marketing was very productive in Ancient Greece—was where this art developed.

Evolution of Greek Sculpture

Early Greek sculptures (9th century BC) were made as small human figures in very malleable materials such as clay, ivory, or wax. It was not until the Archaic period (7th and 6th centuries BC) that the Greeks began to work with stone.

Classical Greek Architecture

The temple was, undoubtedly, one of the most important legacies of Greek architecture to the West. It was fairly simple: a rectangular room which was accessed through a small portico (pronaos) and four columns supporting a roof quite similar to the current pitched roof. In the beginning, this was the pattern that marked the canons.

Greek Mythology and Rituals

Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and meaning of their own cults and ritual practices.

Roman Historical and Geographical Framework

Latinos settled in the plain of Latium, devoted to agriculture and livestock. However, harassment from the Volscians and Aequi forced them to cluster in the Alban Hills, where they founded their first city, Alba Longa.

Public Works and Urbanism: City or Field

Latinos settled in the plain of Latium, devoted to agriculture and livestock. However, Volscians and Aequi harassment forced them to cluster in the Alban Hills, where they founded their first city, Alba Longa. Regarding public works and city planning: for the Romans, city life was much higher than rural life, despite the many inconveniences that sometimes came with the city (noise, insecurity, intrigue, and lack of privacy), and they cherished the rich country villas they built. In the Roman world, as in current times, education was synonymous with civility and culture.

Roman Society and the Empire

The Roman society and the Empire represented a new political regime created by Octavian Augustus and continued with variations until the end of the 4th century AD. It possesses two main characteristics: