22. Rome Redux: The Tetrarchic Renaissance

Roman Architecture (HSAR 252) Professor Kleiner characterizes third-century Rome as an “architectural wasteland“ due to the rapid change of emperors, continuous civil war, and a crumbling economy. There was no time to build and the only major architectural commission was a new defensive wall. The crisis came to an end with the rise of Diocletian, who created a new form of government called the Tetrarchy, or four-man rule, with two leaders in the East and two in the West. Diocletian and his colleagues instituted a major public and private building campaign in Rome and the provinces, which reflected the Empire’s renewed stability. Professor Kleiner begins with Diocletian’s commissions in Rome--a five-column monument dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the formation of the Tetrarchy, the restoration of the Curia or Senate House, and the monumental Baths of Diocletian. She then presents Diocletian’s Palace at Split, designed as a military camp and including the emperor’s octagonal mausoleum, followed by an overview of the palaces and villas of other tetrarchs in Greece and Sicily. Professor Kleiner concludes with the villa on the Via Appia in Rome belonging to Maxentius, son of a tetrarch, and the main rival of another tetrarch’s son, Constantine the Great. 00:00 - Chapter 1. Crisis in the Third Century and the Aurelian Walls 11:47 - Chapter 2. The Rise of the Tetrarchy 18:21 - Chapter 3. The Decennial or Five-Column Monument in the Roman Forum 28:48 - Chapter 4. The Senate House or Curia Julia 37:57 - Chapter 5. The Baths of Diocletian 47:52 - Chapter 6. The Palace of Diocletian at Split 57:30 - Chapter 7. Tetrarchic Palaces Around the Empire Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: This course was recorded in Spring 2009.