Glossary

acrolithic: a statue, usually large scale or even colossal in size, in

which the body is constructed of a wooden framework covered
with drapery and only the exposed limbs are carved stone.
acroterion: a decorative ornament, such as a statue, placed on the
roof of a temple, usually above the front pediment but could also
be spaced along the ridgeline.
adlocutio: a public address by an emperor to the army or citizens,
shown by the right arm raised in salute.
adventus: arrival ceremony conducted by civil and religious
officials, usually after a military campaign, welcoming a
commander or emperor back into Rome. These occurred
formally at the city gate.
aedicular niche: a structural framing device in architecture that
creates a space designed like a shrine, usually with a frame
surround and roof structure above.
apotheosis: to become a god, often shown as the elevation to divine
status through bodily ascension or the moment the figure is
welcomed into the company of the gods.
apotropaic: literally to ward off evil, usually with designs, often
grotesque, frightening, and incorporating serpents, placed on the
outsides of buildings or objects to protect those within from harm.
Archaistic: a style of art imitating or reviving elements of Greek
Archaic art (600480 bce). It was a popular revivalist style in
Roman free-standing and relief sculpture.
arcuated pediment: also known as a Syrian pediment, combines the
standard triangular pediment with a semi-circular arch which
usually fills the center of the pediment.
atmospheric perspective: artistic device to create a sense of depth
in painting by shifting the background colors to the blue side of
the spectrum and painting distant objects paler.
atrium: the main or central room of a Roman house, usually directly
accessible from the front door.
barrel vault: a cylindrical architectural feature formed by extending
an arch along an indefinite length, creating a solid roofing
system that is essentially a continuous arch.
basilica: a Roman building characterized by a central hall with
flanking aisles and often a porch on one end and a raised
tribunal on the other, often used for law courts.
biclinium: a Roman dining room or space with two dining couches
rather than the usual three found in a triclinium.
bulla: amulet worn by Roman boys like a locket designed to protect
them from harm until they came of age and stopped wearing it.
caduceus: the wand, entwined by two serpents, generally carried
byMercury. As the protector of merchants, it is associated with
commerce and business occupations.

caldarium: hot room in a Roman bath complex. It usually featured

aheated pool and radiant heat from the walls and floor.
capite velato: Latin, meaning with covered head, referring to the
act of covering ones head while performing a sacred ritual.
caryatid: a female figure used in place of a column to support the
entablature of a building.
cella (pl. cellae): the inner room of a temple. It served primarily to
house the cult statue. It could also hold votive objects and ritual
items such as vessels and braziers.
chthonic: literally of the earth, refers to anything, usually a god
orother powerful being, that dwells under the earth or draws its
power from the earth.
clerestory: the upper level of a building, seen in basilicas, that rises
above the roof level of the outside aisles. Pierced with windows
itfloods the central aisle with light.
contrapposto: counterpoise, gives a figure a dynamic but relaxed
pose by alternating weight-bearing and free arms and legs
coupled with hips and shoulders held at slight angles.
corona civica: the civic crown, a wreath of oak leaves, a tree sacred
to Jupiter, awarded to Roman citizens who saved the lives of
other citizens in battle.
cryptoporticus (pl. cryptoportici): a vaulted covered passageway,
usually open along one side, that creates the support for a
building above. Often used to create large platforms for a Roman
temple or villa.
curule chair: the chair on which senior magistrates such as consuls,
praetors, censors, and all those with imperium were entitled to sit.
dado: the lower portion of the wall of a room, often distinctly
decorated with panels or painted in contrasting colors.
dentil frieze: a series of closely spaced projecting rectangular blocks
that make a molding on a building usually at the top of the wall
just below the roofline.
ekphrasis: a rhetorical device consisting of a self-contained
description often of an event or of a work of art or architecture.
entablature: architectural term for the part of the building above the
columns including cornice, moldings, and friezes.
episodic narrative: a narrative structure in which a series of events
or episodes occur with the same main character, generally
portrayed in each episode.
Etrusco-Italic: refers to architecture, especially temples, shared
bycultures of central Italy. The temples generally featured tall
podiums, deep front porches, wide roofs, small cellas, and
rooftop sculptures.
exedra (pl. exedrae): in architecture semi-circular recesses or bays
often roofed with a half dome.

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2015 Steven L. Tuck. Published 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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GLOSSARY

frigidarium: the cold water room in a Roman bath complex,

generally found in the core of the building away from the
furnaceor the sun.
hemicycle: literally a half-circle. In architecture, a hemicycle is a
wall, building, or architectural feature constructed in the shape
of a half circle.
herm: a type of Greek statue, originally of Hermes, with a squared
stone pillar supporting a carved upper body and head; used as
boundary markers in Greek cities and sanctuaries.
hierarchy of scale: an artistic convention in which higher status or
more important figures are portrayed as larger than lower status
or subsidiary figures in a scene.
hieros gamos: from Greek, literally holy marriage, may refer to a
marriage between a god and goddess, for example Jupiter and
Juno, or to a ritual re-enactment of that by elites.
horror vacui: from Latin meaning fear of empty space, the filling
of the entire surface of a work with details, often ones that are
extraneous to the narrative or the main scene.
imbrication: an overlapping pattern like roof shingles or fish scales.
insula: literally in Latin island, refers to an apartment building that
filled an entire block in a Roman city, with shops on the ground
floor and apartments above.
isocephaly: artistic convention of portraying figures, whether seated
or standing, with all of their heads on the same level.
lectus: Roman couch used by the elite to recline while dining,
sleeping, and to display the body in a funeral.
loggia: a roofed gallery open on one side and generally supported by
columns, often found on an upper floor of a building.
mimesis: literally to imitate in Greek, especially refers to the goal
of accurate representation of the human and natural world in art.
necropolis (pl. necropoleis): from Greek, literally a city of the
dead. Refers to the extramural cemeteries often mimicking real
cities organized by family tombs shaped like houses, sometimes
with roads, sidewalks, and drains.
negotium: Latin term for business (literally not leisure), including
both public and private business.
obsonia: literally spoils or prizes, prepared food as a subject for
painting in Hellenistic art.
oculus: from the Latin meaning eye, refers to a circular open
skylight in the center of a dome to provide light into the building.
opus incertum: a facing of irregularly shaped, fist-sized tufa stones
commonly applied to concrete structures in the late second and
early first centuries bce.
opus sectile: literally cut work. Refers to the decorative use of cut
stone, usually colored imported marble, in patterns to create
decorative floor and wall treatments.
Orientalizing: style of art based on ideas, forms, and materials from
the Near East and Egypt. In Greek art, it dominates the period
700600 bce.
orthogonal planning: the type of city plan in which the streets run
at right angles to each other, forming a grid.
orthostates: squared stone blocks of greater height than depth.
These upright standing stones were used to make the bases of
walls and then topped with courses of smaller cut stones.

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otium: Latin term for leisure, it includes time spent on reading,

writing, and academic activities, including rest. Often associated
with the Roman villa as the space for otium.
paradeisos: a walled park where wild animal hunts took place.
APersian concept adopted by the Greeks after the conquests
ofAlexander the Great.
pediment: the triangular gable found below a pitched roof on either
end of a building. On ancient temples these were often filled with
sculptures or relief decoration.
peripteral: refers to a building, usually a temple, with a single row
ofcolumns surrounding it.
peristyle: refers to a structure with columns that enclose it, such
asa peristyle temple with columns on all four sides of the
exterior or a peristyle courtyard with colonnaded porches on
allfour sides.
pinacotheca: literally a picture gallery. In Roman houses a room
decorated with mural paintings that replicate Greek panel
paintings, often copies or variations of famous pictures.
polychromy: the use of many colors in decoration, especially in
architecture and sculpture. Refers to the brightly painted
multi-colored buildings and sculptures of the ancient world.
pomerium: the sacred boundary of Rome. In legal and religious
terms Rome consisted only of that part of the city within it.
Burials were forbidden inside the pomerium.
porphyry: a hard purple stone quarried by the Romans at one spot
in Egypt, Mons Porphyritis, and used extensively by emperors
since its purple color denoted royalty.
post and lintel architecture: a building system with a horizontal
feature (lintel) supported by two vertical features (posts or
columns) to create open space such as rooms or doorways.
Praetorian Guard: the bodyguard of the Roman emperors, formed
by Augustus. They guarded the emperor, his palaces, and
sometimes acted to remove or create emperors.
profectio: a ritual departure, generally of a Roman commander from
the city to war. It was essentially the opposite of the adventus,
also taking place at the city gates.
protome: a form of art that consists of a frontal view of an animal
head or human bust.
provenance: the place of origin or earliest known history of
something. In art it can refer to the chain of ownership of a
piecefrom origin to the present day.
pseudoperipteral: refers to a building that mimics the peripteral
colonnades that completely surrounded Greek temples. It has a
porch with free-standing columns but engaged half columns
around the sides and back.
psychopomp: psychopompos, literally guide of souls, a descriptor
of the god Mercury who guided the souls of the newly dead into
the underworld.
quadriga: four-horse chariot, used for chariot racing and by
successful generals in triumphal processions. A general in a
quadriga was a common subject in victory monuments.
register: division of an artistic field into parallel columns or rows.
These, usually horizontal bands, act as groundlines and aid in
creating narrative.

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 GLOSSARY

repouss: a type of artwork, generally of metal, that features a

design in raised relief created through hammering the material
from the reverse side.
scaenae frons: the elaborate background for a Roman theater stage,
usually two or three stories in height with multiple entrances,
balconies, and alternating projecting and receding elements
articulated with columns.
spandrel: the roughly triangular space between the curve of an arch
and the surrounding molding that frames it. Spandrels on
triumphal arches are usually filled with figures of Victory.
sulcus primigenius: The ritual furrow plowed to mark the pomerium
and the subsequent line of walls at Rome by Romulus and later
by other Romans at Rome and its colonies.
suovetaurilia: a sacrifice made up of a bull, sheep, and pig,
traditionally made to Mars, it was one of the oldest and most
sacred Roman rituals.
symposium: a Greek elite male drinking party at which men would
recline on couches to drink wine, listen to entertainment, sing, or
discuss philosophical, cultural, or political topics.
tablinum: a room in the Roman house off the atrium and directly
opposite the front door. It was the major formal reception room,
used to receive clients and conduct business.
tepidarium: the warm water room in a Roman bath complex,
usually the largest and most central room of the bathing suite.
terminus post quem: literally time after which referring to the
notion that a datable object or event only tells us the date after
which something might have occurred.
tesserae: small handcut cubes of stone used to make mosaics.
torque: large neck ring, often made of twisted strands of gold wire,
worn by elite ancient Celts or Gauls.

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triclinium: Roman dining room laid out for nine diners reclining on
three couches (in Greek: tri cline) from which the room gets its name.
triglyph-metope frieze: element of Doric architecture with
rectangular panels (metopes), often used for sculpture, separated
by projecting blocks (triglyphs) with three vertical portions
separated by two channels.
triumphal procession: victory parade granted by the Senate to a
conquering general, who rode in a quadriga. It began at the city
gates and concluded at the Temple of Jupiter.
trompe loeil: literally, to fool the eye. A technique in art to create
the optical illusion of objects existing in three dimensional space.
tumulus (pl. tumuli): a type of tomb with a mound raised over it.
Etruscan examples cover chamber tombs that belonged to
extended families. Large tumuli resemble small hills.
tympanum: a semi-circular area over an entrance bounded by the
lintel below and an arch above. It often contains sculpture,
usually in relief.
veristic: from the Latin verus meaning true, refers to a style of
exaggerated naturalism or hyper-realism found in Roman portraits,
often to emphasize the age-dependent virtues of the subject.
Victory: based on the Greek Nike, a winged female personification
of Roman success in war or sports, identifiable by the palm
branch and victors crown she often carries.
votive: something offered in fulfillment of a vow. These range from
small statuettes to pieces of armor or altars or temples, all
demonstrating the piety of the dedicant.
xenia: guest gifts, a class of paintings described by the Roman
architectural author Vitruvius, including provisions such as
poultry, eggs, vegetables, fruit, and the like.

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