This book, first published in 2004, develops a theoretical concept for understanding the Roman art of images.

This is a collection of specially commissioned essays exploring the interface between words and images in the Roman world.

Traditional studies of Roman art have sought to identify an indigenous style distinct from Greek art and in the process have neglected the large body of Roman work that creatively recycled Greek artworks. Now available in paperback, this fresh reassessment offers instead a cultural history of the functions of the visual arts, the messages that these images carried, and the values that they affirmed in late Republican Rome and the Empire. The analysis begins at the point at which the characteristic features of Roman art started to emerge, when the Romans were exposed to Hellenistic culture through their conquest of Greek lands in the third century B.C. As a result, the values and social and political structure of Roman society changed, as did the functions and character of the images it generated. This volume, presented in very clear and accessible language, offers new and fascinating insights into the evolution of the forms and meanings of Roman art. "Zanker, one of the foremost ancient Roman art historians, has produced an excellent general study of Roman art and its reception. . . . This book would be ideal for students at all levels interested in Roman art, history, and culture."—Choice

This second edition examines all aspects of Roman history, and contains a new introduction, three new chapters and updated bibliographies.

Visual culture was an essential part of ancient social, religious, and political life. Appearance and experience of beings and things was of paramount importance. In Visual Power in Ancient Greece and Rome, Tonio Hölscher explores the fundamental phenomena of Greek and Roman visual culture and their enormous impact on the ancient world, considering memory over time, personal appearance, conceptualization and representation of reality, and significant decoration as fundamental categories of art as well as of social practice. With an emphasis on public spaces such as sanctuaries, agora and forum, Hölscher investigates the ways in which these spaces were used, viewed, and experienced in religious rituals, political manifestations, and social interaction.

Examines the imperial mythology that was reflected by Roman art and architecture during the rule of Augustus Caesar

An introduction to the study of ancient Roman art in its social context.