Jump to content

User:Jiarui Liang/sandbox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Article evaluation

[edit]

The article for evaluation I have read is called "Bacchanalia" . This article deals with the ancient Roman festivals of Bacchus. The structure of this article is well-organized, starting from introducing the background & origin to reforms and modern usages. Most of the contents it provides are relevant and neutral with the claims and interpretations of historians such as Livy. The citations are reliable with some links available and supporting the claims the article provides. By looking at the Talk page, I find this article is a part of the WikiProject for Classical Greece and Rome and it has been rated as "High-importance" on the project's importance scale. Some of the discussions on the Talk page talks about the contents and some deals with citation issues. And there are author's replies indicating several revisions with detail of time when the response made in the conversations. By collaborating various online resources and providing a revision system online, Wikipedia demonstrates its advantage compared to discussing topics in class.

In ancient Rome, an adlocutio [1] was an address by a general (usually the emperor) to his massed army and a general salute from the army to their leader. It is often portrayed in sculpture, either simply as a single, life-size contraposto figure of the general with his arm outstretched, or a relief scene of the general on a podium addressing the army. Such relief scenes also frequently appear on imperial coinage. The adlocutio is one of the most widely represented formulas of Roman art. The convention is regularly shown in individual figures like the famous Augustus of Prima porta or can be put into a narrative context as seen in the Aurelian panel. Characteristic of the formula is the outstretched hand of speech as well as the contrapposto pose with the weight clearly shifted to one leg. 

Adlocutio

[edit]

The Latin word adlocutio[2] in ancient Rome means an address given by a general, usually the emperor, to his massed army and legions, and a general form of salute from the army to their leader. It is often portrayed in sculpture, either simply as a single, life-size contraposto figure of the general with his arm outstretched, or a relief scene of the general on a podium addressing the army. Such relief scenes also frequently appear on imperial coinage. The adlocutio is one of the most widely represented formulas of Roman art. Gestures and body languages are crucial for the study of adlocutio as in ancient time, addressing to thousands of soldiers less penetrable in voice sounds compare to body languages and gestures. The convention is regularly shown in individual figures like the famous Augustus of Prima porta or can be put into a narrative context as seen in the Aurelian panel. Characteristic of the formula is the outstretched hand of speech as well as the contrapposto pose with the weight clearly shifted to one leg. Much information about adlocutio can be interpreted by these sculptures.

Consolation Address by the emperor: The Augustus of Prima porta

[edit]
  • The outstretched right hand of Augustus can be seen as purity and dexterity. In the point of view of gods in ancient Rome, right hand represents divinity, and this characteristic is also illustrated by Cancelleria Reliefs with the emperor's right hand raised among the gods. The right hand, by the Hellenistic period, sometimes itself and sometimes in combine with left hand, often found on tombs as warnings to thieves or protections, had been a powerful apotropaic symbol[3].
  • The bare feet of Augustus may seems incongruous as compared with the cuirassed details in the chest. This indicates the heroicization of Augustus could be posthumous.
  • The spear in the left hand is a symbol of Augustus' ruling power over the empire.

Given above details, the messages converted to the army are of power, conquer, divinity and invincibility.

The Augustus of Prima Porta is an example of an adlocutio pose.

References

[edit]
  1. Brilliant, R. (1963). Gesture and rank in roman art. The use of gestures to denote status in roman sculpture and coinage. New Haven: Published by the Academy.
  2. Gleason, M. W. (2010). Making men sophists and self-presentation in ancient Rome. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
  3. Winkler, M. M. (2009). The Roman salute: cinema, history, ideology. Columbus: Ohio State U.P.
  4. Corbeill, A. (2004). Nature embodied: gesture in ancient Rome. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  5. Cairns, D. L. (2005). Body language in the Greek and Roman worlds. Swansea: Classical Press of Wales.
  1. ^ Gizewski, Christian. "Der Neue Pauly, Herausgegeben von: Hubert Cancik,, Helmuth Schneider (Antike), Manfred Landfester (Rezeptions- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte)". BrillOnline Reference Works. Berlin: Koninklijke Brill NV. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  2. ^  
  3. ^ Corbeill, A (2004). Nature embodied: gesture in ancient Rome. Princeton University Press.