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With the recent official opening of the West Hall of Suzhou Museum, the special exhibition "Rome: City and Empire" supported by the British Museum has also been officially exhibited at the same time, and the exhibition meticulously presents those fascinating Images of the Roman City.
Ancient Rome is the rise of civilization in the middle of the Apennine Peninsula, and the legendary story of the Roman city and empire is still gripping today, nearly 3,000 years after its founding. The first exhibition, "Rome: City and Empire", features more than 200 works of Roman art from the British Museum, telling how Rome grew from a small village to a great empire with an unprecedented territory, leading the audience to explore the construction and maintenance of the Roman Empire and feel the glory of Rome. The Paper's Special Edition of Ancient Art introduces some of the exhibited works.
Suzhou Museum West Hall exhibited at the scene
Statue of a Roman Administrative Officer Marble 70-90 AD (Head), Early 2nd Century AD (Body) Italy 1973,0302.9 All Rights Reserved © British Museum Board of Trustees Text and images in Rome: City and Empire are copyright © The Trustees of the British Museum (2021). All rights reserved.
Ancient Rome was a mature society with a complex political and legal system that revolved around the privileges enjoyed by Roman citizenship. Citizenship was carefully maintained and only slowly granted to the newly conquered people.
Only Roman men with full citizenship were allowed to wear toga robes. Thus, the Toga robe became a symbol of status and status. The statue above represents a high-ranking citizen with political and religious responsibilities who is speaking to the public. The scroll he holds symbolizes the influence of written and spoken writing in Roman society.
Reliefs showing two gladiators marble 1st-2nd century AD Turkish, Halicarnassus (now Bodrum) 1847,0424.19 All rights reserved © British Museum Board of Text and images in Rome: City and Empire are copyright © The Trustees of the British Museum (2021). All rights reserved.
Women sometimes fight as gladiators in the arena. The historian Sutonius recorded that Emperor Domitian (who ruled 81-96 AD) liked to watch women wrestle with each other in the light of a torch. The relief features two female gladiators, Amazon and Achelia, wrestling with shields and swords. This relief plate commemorates the freedom of the two after successful careers. Eventually Septimius Severus (ruled 193-211 AD) banned women from qualifying for gladiatorial competitions.
Prism Bowl Glass 1st Century AD Bahrain, Shakura 1999, 1030.1 © Board of Directors of the British Museum Text and images in Rome: City and Empire are copyright © The Trustees of the British Museum (2021). All rights reserved.
These two ornate glass bowls were most likely made in the same workshop, giving us a sense of the extraordinary skill of Italian Roman craftsmen and giving us insight into the trade and travel network of the vast Roman Empire.
The two bowls are almost identical, but one was found in Rednegie, Buckinghamshire, England, and the other from the grave of a Parthian on the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. Their ridges and relatively thick and sturdy bowl walls allow them to be stacked and transported safely. They can be shipped widely to the empire and beyond.
Tuthira statue statue Silver, gilded circa 150-220 France, Mâcon 1824, 0424.1 © Board of Directors of the British Museum Text and images in Rome: City and Empire are copyright © The Trustees of the British Museum (2021). All rights reserved.
Tuthira was the "guardian goddess" of Gaul, comparable to the city goddess Tikka from the eastern Mediterranean, who wore crowns representing the city walls. On this figurine, each day of the week is represented by their respective deities (Satunus, Thor, Luna, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus); Diana and Apollo appear at the top of The Fertile Corner, while Castor and Pollux are below the seven gods.
Portrait of a Mummified Man Egypt, Lubaia Early 2nd Century BC Oak, Wax Painting Act 1931, 0711.4 Board of Directors of the © British Museum Text and images in Rome: City and Empire are copyright © The Trustees of the British Museum (2021). All rights reserved.
In Egypt, portraits of the dead were painted on the front of thin planks or linen and then placed on the outer shroud of the mummy. Scientific analysis of the mummified head suggests that the portraits were most likely idealized and not rendered with complete precision. Like Roman sculpture, some portraits exhibit a fashionable style derived from the court.
This portrait shows a young man with curly hair, his hair style is fashion-trimmed in the Trajan period, dating back to the early 2nd century AD. He wears a short robe with a cape on his left shoulder. Two dark red stripes on either side. At the seam that extends over the shoulder is a series of small dots.
Square plate (from the Treasure of Esquire) 4th Century Silver, Gold Plate Height 2.5 cm, Length 17.5 cm, Width 14.7 cm Board © of the British Museum Text and images in Rome: City and Empire are copyright © The Trustees of the British Museum (2021). All rights reserved.
This square plate is also from the Esquire Treasure and also has prodecta's flower name. The flower characters on the plate are outlined with ooh silver, a black inlay based on silver and plated with gold on the surface.
Little Faustina Bust Circa 152-160 AD Marble Height 56 cm, Width 27 Cm, Thickness 25 Cm Board © of Directors of the British Museum Text and images in Rome: City and Empire are copyright © The Trustees of the British Museum (2021). All rights reserved.
Faustina the Younger (c. 125 or 130–175 AD) was the daughter of Antony Pius and Faustina the Great (Faustina I).
She was married to Emperor Marco Aurelius (reigned 161-180 AD), a bust probably made in 152 AD to celebrate the birth of their son Titus Erius Antonius. Faustina the Younger had another son, Commodus, who later became Emperor (reigned 180-192 AD).
Samos Pottery Bowl Circa 120-200 AD Pottery 9.8 cm tall and 21 cm diameter Made in central Gaul, France, unearthed in London, England Text © and images in Rome: City and Empire are copyright © The Trustees of the British Museum (2021). All rights reserved.
Samos pottery is a red, molded Roman pottery produced in Gaul in the 1st–3rd centuries AD. As a type of tableware, it was widely popular throughout the Roman world and has been found in almost all archaeological sites associated with Roman Britain. Some pottery is beautifully decorated, such as the surface of this pottery bowl depicting birds and animals in the forest.
Horus Seated Statue 1-3rd Century Limestone Height 54.5 cm, Width 31.8 Cm, Thickness 25.8 Cm Egyptian © Board of Copyright Text and images in Rome: City and Empire are copyright © The Trustees of the British Museum (2021). All rights reserved.
The well-preserved limestone statue above blends Roman and Egyptian decorative motifs with cultural elements. For example, the Lord is Horus with a falcon's head, who is the egyptian god of the sky, war and hunting. The feathers on the face of the falcon are carefully carved, and the eyes resemble humans with carved pupils. Unlike the traditional Egyptian image, Horus on the throne was dressed in a Roman armor, and the armor on the short-sleeved lock armor could also be seen as a falcon feather, and the cape was tied with a knotted belt on the right shoulder and fastened with a round tabbed brooch. The entire sculpture was originally painted, and in some places there are still red, yellow, green and black pigments. The statue originally wore a crown, inserted into the tip of the head, probably made of metal, representing that the pharaoh was the king of upper and lower Egypt. Horus sat casually and leisurely, similar to the standard image of the Roman god Jupiter.
Theodo Tombstone May be in the 6th century AD Stone height 32.4 cm, length 96.7 cm, width 8 cm Egyptian Occilinkus All rights reserved © British Museum Board text and images in Rome: City and Empire are copyright © The Trustees of the British Museum (2021). All rights reserved.
The carved slab from Oxilingus, Egypt, from Roman times, commemorates a man named Theodore. "Theodore" means "gift of God" in Greek, and the name was very popular with the early Christians. The Greek on the tombstone, probably filled in red as early as antiquity, reads: "In memory of Theodore, the son of Dimitris of Chinopolis, unmarried and died at the age of 22." Rest assured! ”
According to Sam Mulmedhead, curator of the section, most of the museums of the Ancient Roman Empire only collect artifacts from the region, and the British Museum is one of the few institutions in the world that has a variety of different collections from the entire empire, and is therefore one of the few exhibitions in the world that can try to tell the story of the complete history of Rome from Romulus and Remus in 753 BC to the acceptance of Christianity a thousand years later. The exhibition is also far from these objects, such as a well-made parade helmet that shows the military power of Rome, as well as a large amount of gold, silver, bronze, marble, precious stones and glass.
Mosaic mosaics from the 4th century AD
Domitian Gold Coin (defeating Germania) 86 AD
Editor-in-Charge: Weihua Gu