Altera Roma: Art and Empire from Merida to Mexico

by Claire L. Lyons (Editor), John M. D. Pohl (Editor)

Overview

Altera Roma explores the confrontation of two cultures, European and Amerindian, and two empires, Spanish and Aztec. In an age of exploration and conquest, Spanish soldiers, missionaries, and merchants brought an array of cultural preconceptions. Their encounter with Aztec civilization coincided with Europe's rediscovery of classical antiquity, and Tenochtitlan came to be regarded a "second Rome," or altera Roma. Iberia's past as the Roman province of Hispania served to both guide and critique the Spanish overseas mission. The dialogue that emerged between the Old World and the New World shaped a dual heritage into the unique culture of Nueva Espana. In this volume, ten eminent historians and archaeologists examine the analogies between empires widely separated in time and place and consider how monumental art and architecture created "theater states," a strategy that links ancient Rome, Hapsburg Spain, preconquest Mexico, and other imperial regimes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781938770012
Publisher:	Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press
Publication date:	07/15/2016
Series:	Monographs , #83
Pages:	385
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

John M. D. Pohl has directed numerous archaeological projects in North America and in Europe. He teaches in the Department of Art History at the University of California, Los Angeles. Claire L. Lyons is the curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum and an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Art History at the University of Southern California.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Table ix

About the Authors xxi

Acknowledgments xxv

Introduction John M D. Pohl Claire L. Lyons 1

Chapter 1 Rome, Tenochtitlan, and Beyond: Comparing Empires across Space and Time Walter Scheidel 21

Chapter 2 The Visualization of Imperial Dominance: Hobbes's Leviathan, the Mexica Templo Mayor, and the Materialization of Authority Eulogio Guzmán 33

Chapter 3 Monuments of Empire in Roman Spain and Beyond: Augusta Emerita (Mérida), the "Spanish Rome" Jonathan Edmondson 69

Chapter 4 Aztec Art in Provincial Places: Water Concerns, Monumental Sculptures, and Imperial Expansion Emily Umberger 109

Chapter 5 Dramatic Performance and the Theater of the State: The Cults of the Divus Triumphator, Parthenope, and Quetzalcoatl John M. D. Pohl 147

Chapter 6 Aztec and Roman Gods in Sixteenth-Century Mexico: Strategic Uses of Classical Learning in Sahagún's Historia General Andrew Laird 167

Chapter 7 The Mexica Pantheon in Light of Graeco-Roman Polytheism: Uses, Abuses, and Proposals Guilhem Olivier 189

Chapter 8 Toward a New World's Laocoön: Thoughts on Seeing Aztec Sculpture through Spanish Eyes Thomas B. F. Cummins 215

Chapter 9 Death in the Hands of Strangers: Aztec Human Sacrifice in the Western Imagination Cecelia F. Klein 257

Chapter 10 Alia Herculanea: Pre-Hispanic Sites and Antiquities in Late Bourbon New Spain Leonardo López Luján 313

Index 343