Art and identity in the Roman world - Eve D'Ambra

Continuing the tradition of the Everyman Art Library, combining learned yet lively text by acknowledged scholars in the field withhigh quality illustrations in colour throughout. This eminently readable and engaging book vividly captures the fascination of the art of Imperial Rome. It examines that art particularly as a means to the understanding of the nature of Roman social identity , in the sense of both the city and the Empire. The influence of Greek art on Rome was huge, but Roman art was not solely derivative, and as the size and ambitions of the Empire increased art became more important as a symbol of the aspirations and hopes of the elite. Art existed in a number of contexts, public and private, secular and sacred, and the development of different styles in these varied spheres is also touched upon.