Roman sculpture was an integral part of Roman life, and the Romans placed statues and reliefs in their fora, basilicas, temples, and public baths, as well as in their houses, villas, gardens, and tombs. In this beautifully illustrated book-the first in almost a century devoted solely to Roman sculpture-Diana E. E. Kleiner discusses all the major public and private monuments in Rome, as well as many less well known monuments in the capital and elsewhere in the empire. She examines art commissioned by the imperial elite and by private patrons, including freedmen and slaves, and she also highlights monuments honoring women and children. Kleiner demonstrates that the social, ethnic, and geographical diversity of Roman patronage led to an art that was eclectic and characterized by varying styles, often tied to the social status of the patron. She also examines the interrelations between works produced for different kinds of patrons. Kleiner begins with a long thematic introduction that describes Rome and its empire, characterizes patrons from the capital and the provinces, discusses the position of the artist in Roman society and the materials he used, and presents a history of the study of Roman art. The remaining chapters constitute a chronological examination of Roman sculpture from the foundation of Rome in 753 B.C. to the transfer of the capital to Constantinople in A.D. 330. In each period the monuments are divided by type, for example, portraiture, state relief sculpture, the art of freedmen, and provincial art. Throughout, Kleiner treats Roman sculpture in its cultural, political, and social contexts and, wherever possible, as an element of the architectural complex in which it was set. Published with the assistance of the Getty Grant Program

With the full panorama of her life forever lost, Cleopatra touches us in a series of sensational images: floating through a perfumed mist down the Nile; dressed as Venus for a tryst at Tarsus; unfurled from a roll of linens before Caesar; couchant, the deadly asp clasped to her breast. Through such images, each immortalizing the Egyptian queen's encounters with legendary Romans--Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and Octavian Augustus--we might also chart her rendezvous with the destiny of Rome. So Diana Kleiner shows us in this provocative book, which opens an entirely new perspective on one of the most intriguing women who ever lived. "Cleopatra and Rome" reveals how these iconic episodes, absorbed into a larger historical and political narrative, document a momentous cultural shift from the Hellenistic world to the Roman Empire. In this story, Cleopatra's death was not an end but a beginning--a starting point for a wide variety of appropriations by Augustus and his contemporaries that established a paradigm for cultural conversion.

In this beautifully illustrated book, we experience the synthesis of Cleopatra's and Rome's defining moments through surviving works of art and other remnants of what was once an opulent material culture: religious and official architecture, cult statuary, honorary portraiture, villa paintings, tombstones, and coinage, but also the theatrical display of clothing, perfume, and hair styled to perfection for such ephemeral occasions as triumphal processions or barge cruises. It is this visual culture that best chronicles Cleopatra's legend and suggests her subtle but indelible mark on the art of imperial Rome at the critical moment of its inception.

"As might be expected from the caliber of the contributors, this is a first-rate collection of essays.... Like I, Claudia, this book will appeal to many others besides classicists. The two volumes will be a must for anyone interested in social history or women's history; the treatment, style, and illustrations make this volume accessible to general readers." -- Karl Galinsky, Floyd A. Cailloux Centennial Professor of Classics, University of Texas at Austin

I, Claudia: Women in Ancient Rome-- an exhibition and catalog produced by the Yale University Art Gallery-- provided the first comprehensive study of the lives of Roman women as revealed in Roman art. Responding to the popular success of the exhibit and catalog, Diana E. E. Kleiner and Susan B. Matheson here gather ten additional essays by specialists in art history, history, and papyrology to offer further reflections on women in Roman society based on the material evidence provided by art, archaeology, and ancient literary sources.

In addition to the editors, the contributors are Cornelius C. Vermeule, Rolf Winkes, Mary T. Boatwright, Susan Wood, Eve D'Ambra, Andrew Oliver, Diana Delia, and Ann Ellis Hanson. Their essays, illustrated with black-and-white photos of the art under discussion, treat such themes as mothers and sons, marriage and widowhood, aging, adornment, imperial portraiture, and patronage.