Décor as a form of social belonging in Ancient Rome

Abstract

The purpose of the article consists of exploring the category of décor as a form of social belonging in ancient Rome. The methodology consists in the application of analytical method – to determine the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of the décor in the works of Roman architects and philosophers: Vitruvius, Cicero, Seneca, Epicurus; formalization method – to clarify the concept of "décor" within the subject field of art history; the hermeneutic method – for interpreting the semantic load of the notion "décor" in the context of the culture of Ancient Rome; method of comparative studies – for analyzing approaches to understanding the category of décor as a form of social belonging in Ancient Rome. The scientific novelty of the work is that for the first time the essence of the décor as a form of social belonging in Ancient Rome. Conclusions. In Ancient Rome, the phenomenon of "Entertainment" was an important component of the socio-cultural life of this period, there was not a single sphere where this phenomenon did not act as the main decoration, the triumphs of emperors, the luxurious life of the patricians, all this was expressed in one definition of Juvenal – "Bread and circuses", Which became a defining marker in the culture and art of Ancient Rome. Décor, as an integral part of this phenomenon, becomes a form of social belonging, reflecting the characteristics of the corresponding lifestyle. The transformation of the concepts "décor" and "ornare" is considered, the first - in the ideological aspect of respect for the imperial power, the second - in the traditional decoration of Roman armor for legionnaires, as a means of emphasizing their belonging to the military. The most striking example of décor was the Arc de Triomphe, built in honor of the emperors (the Arc de Triomphe of Titus, Trajan, Constantine, etc.). On the example of the works of Vitruvius, Cicero, Seneca, the meaning of the category "décor" was considered as "Decor ornamentorum", the correspondence of details in relation to the whole, individual, special beauty that organically combines the combination of individual parts of an object into a single whole, situation or setting. Defined "décor" as a form of social belonging in the context of the transformation of the four Pompeian styles based on the decoration of insula and domus for different segments of the population (Domus aurea, "Villa of the Mysteries" in Pompeii, the house of Marcus Lucretius Frontinus in Pompeii, the villa in Oplontisi, the house of Menander in Pompeii, "House with Red Walls", "House of the Century" and "House of Julius Polybius").

Keywords: décor, interpretation, a culture of Ancient Rome, Vitruvius, Entertainment, Seneca, mosaic.