Ancient Rome

===Art, music and literature===
{{Main|Roman art|Latin literature|Music of ancient Rome|Roman sculpture|Theatre of ancient Rome|Art collection in ancient Rome}}
{{See also|Ancient Rome (painting)}}
[[File:Villa of the Mysteries (Pompeii) - frescos 02.jpg|thumb|Frescoes from the [[Villa of the Mysteries]] in [[Pompeii]], Italy, [[Roman art]]work dated to the mid-1st century BC]]
[[File:P. Fannius Synistor anagoria links.JPG|right|thumb|Woman playing a ''[[kithara]]'', from the [[Villa Boscoreale]], Italy, circa 40–30 BC]]
Roman painting styles show [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] influences, and surviving examples are primarily [[fresco]]es used to adorn the walls and ceilings of [[Villa rustica|country villas]], though Roman literature includes mentions of paintings on wood, [[ivory]], and other materials.{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|pp=350–352}}<ref name="MetstuffonRpaint">[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ropt/hd_ropt.htm Roman Painting] from Timeline of Art History. Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2004–10. Retrieved 22 April 2007.</ref> Several examples of Roman painting have been found at [[Pompeii]], and from these art historians divide the history of Roman painting into [[Pompeian Styles|four periods]].

The first style of Roman painting was practised from the early 2nd century BC to the early- or mid-1st century BC. It was mainly composed of imitations of [[marble]] and [[masonry]], though sometimes including depictions of mythological characters.
The second style began during the early 1st century BC and attempted to depict realistically three-dimensional architectural features and landscapes. The third style occurred during the reign of [[Augustus]] (27&nbsp;BC&nbsp;– 14&nbsp;AD), and rejected the [[Realism (visual arts)|realism]] of the second style in favour of simple ornamentation. A small architectural scene, landscape, or abstract design was placed in the center with a [[monochrome]] background. The fourth style, which began in the 1st century AD, depicted scenes from mythology, while retaining architectural details and abstract patterns.

Portrait sculpture used youthful and classical proportions, evolving later into a mixture of realism and [[idealism]]. During the [[Antonines|Antonine]] and [[Severan dynasty|Severan]] periods, ornate hair and bearding, with deep cutting and drilling, became popular. Advancements were also made in [[Relief|relief sculptures]], usually depicting Roman victories.

[[Music of ancient Rome|Roman music]] was largely based on [[Music of ancient Greece|Greek music]], and played an important part in many aspects of Roman life.<ref name="iClassics">{{Cite book |first1=Donald Jay |last1=Grout |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ise5AAAAIAAJ |title=A history of western music |first2=Claude V. |last2=Palisca |date=1988 |publisher=Norton |isbn=978-0393956276 |access-date=31 May 2012}}</ref> In the [[Military of ancient Rome|Roman military]], musical instruments such as the ''[[wikt:tuba#Latin|tuba]]'' (a long trumpet) or the ''[[Cornu (horn)|cornu]]'' were used to give various commands, while the ''[[buccina]]'' (possibly a trumpet or horn) and the ''[[lituus]]'' (probably an elongated J-shaped instrument), were used in ceremonial capacities.{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=89}} Music was used in the [[Roman amphitheatre]]s between fights and in the ''[[odeon (building)|odea]]'', and in these settings is known to have featured the ''cornu'' and the ''[[hydraulis]]'' (a type of water organ).{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|pp=349–350}} Most religious rituals featured musical performances.{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=300}} Some music historians believe that music was used at almost all public ceremonies.<ref name=iClassics/>

The [[graffiti]], [[brothel]]s, paintings, and sculptures found in [[Pompeii]] and [[Herculaneum]] suggest that the Romans had a sex-saturated culture.{{Sfn|Grant|2005|pages=130–134}}

==== Literature and Libraries ====
[[Latin literature]] was, from its start, influenced heavily by Greek authors. Some of the earliest extant works are of historical [[Epic poetry|epics]] telling the early military history of Rome. As the Republic expanded, authors began to produce poetry, comedy, history, and [[tragedy]].

Ancient Rome's literary contributions are still recognized today and the works by ancient Roman authors were available in bookshops as well as in public and private libraries. Many scholars and statesmen of Ancient Rome cultivated private libraries that were used both as demonstrations of knowledge and displays of wealth and power.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Dix |first=T. Keith |date=1994 |title="Public Libraries" in Ancient Rome: Ideology and Reality |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25542662 |journal=Libraries & Culture |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=282–296 |jstor=25542662 |issn=0894-8631}}</ref> Private libraries were so commonly encountered that Vitruvius wrote about where libraries should be situated within a villa.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vitruvius Pollio, The Ten Books on Architecture, BOOK VI, CHAPTER IV: THE PROPER EXPOSURES OF THE DIFFERENT ROOMS, section 1 |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0073:book=6:chapter=4:section=1 |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> In addition to numerous private libraries, the Roman Empire saw the establishment of early public libraries.

Although Julius Caesar had intended to establish public libraries to further establish Rome as a great cultural center like Athens and Alexandria, he died before this was accomplished. Caesar's former lieutenant, [[Gaius Asinius Pollio]], took up the project and opened the first public library in Rome in the [[Atrium Libertatis]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XXXV. AN ACCOUNT OF PAINTINGS AND COLOURS., CHAP. 2. (2.)—THE HONOUR ATTACHED TO PORTRAITS. |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plin.+Nat.+35.2&redirect=true |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> Emperors Augustus, Tiberius, [[Vespasian]], Domitian, and Trajan also founded or expanded public libraries in Rome during their reigns.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Library - Ancient Rome, Collections, Archives {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/library/Rome |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Houston |first=George W. |date=2008 |title=Tiberius and the Libraries: Public Book Collections and Library Buildings in the Early Roman Empire |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/15/article/247571 |journal=Libraries & the Cultural Record |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=247–269 |doi=10.1353/lac.0.0032 |s2cid=161471143 |issn=2166-3033}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Staikos |first=Konstantinos Sp |title=The History of the Library in Western Civilization, Volume II: From Cicero to Hadrian: The Roman World from the Beginnings of Latin Literature to the Monumental and Private Libraries of the Empire |date=2021-10-25 |url=https://brill.com/display/title/26053 |work=The History of the Library in Western Civilization, Volume II |access-date=2023-11-29 |publisher=Brill |language=en |doi=10.1163/9789004473508 |isbn=978-90-04-47350-8}}</ref> These included the [[Ulpian Library]] in Trajan's Forum and libraries in the [[Temple of Apollo Palatinus]], the [[Temple of Peace, Rome|Temple of Peace]] in the Roman Forum, the [[Temple of Divus Augustus]], which was dedicated to Minerva when it was &nbsp;rebuilt under Emperor Domitian's orders.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=The Roman forum: its history and its monuments / Ch. Huelsen ; translated by Jesse Benedict Carter. |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101076187390?urlappend=%3Bseq=19 |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=HathiTrust | hdl=2027/njp.32101076187390?urlappend=%3Bseq=19 |language=en}}</ref> Some of these, including the library at the Temple of Divus Augustus also served as archives.<ref name=":2" /> By the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city of Rome had more than two dozen public libraries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boyd |first=C. E. |title=Public Libraries and Literary Culture in Ancient Rome |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1915 |isbn=9781164833970}}</ref> Rome was not the only city to benefit from such institutions. As the Roman Empire spread, public libraries were established in other major cities and cultural centers including Ephesos, Athens, and [[Timgad]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |title=Libraries in the Ancient World |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1428/libraries-in-the-ancient-world/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pfeiffer |first=Homer F. |date=1931 |title=The Roman Library at Timgad |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4238558 |journal=Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome |volume=9 |pages=157–165 |doi=10.2307/4238558 |jstor=4238558 |issn=0065-6801}}</ref>

Most public libraries of this time were not built expressly for that purpose, instead sharing space in temples, baths, and other community buildings. In addition to serving as repositories for books, public libraries hosted orations by authors.<ref name=":1" /> These recitations served as social gatherings and allowed those who may not be literate to be entertained by poetry, epics, philosophical treatises, and other works.