The Column of Sulpicius Rufus: Rome’s Worst Emperor
“The Column, or more accurately, the Column Pedestal of Sulpicius Rufus is a window back in time to the woeful reign of Emperor Sulpicius Rufus. Sulpicius Rufus, who ascended into command after Caracalla, was thought to have been Rome’s Worst Emperor. The Column, originally placed in the Forum Romanum, has not survived, but we can learn a lot about Rufus’ character through what remains. The base of the column has scenes from Sulpicius Rufus’ reign carved in high relief on three of its four sides. The column was believed to have been oriented so that one standing at the north of the Forum Romanum would be viewing it from the front. The relief believed to be the front of the monument, and the most important, depicts Sulpicius Rufus as Bacchus. From Suetonius, we know that during his reign, Sulpicius Rufus wanted to be worshipped as a god and ordered for many pieces of art depicting Bacchus to replace Bacchus’ head with his own (Osgood 2020, 125-7). Bacchus is believed to have been his favorite god, as Sulpicius Rufus was known for his wild ways and love of wine. The Sulpicius Rufus’ head, which replaced Bacchus’ is now a roughly cut circle. Shortly after he was assassinated by the praetorian guard, Sulpicius was damnatio memoriae, and little to no depictions of his face remain (one notable exception being on this very monument). The relief of Bacchus is quite interesting. It is not done in a high classical style that was popular for the emperors preceding him to use in their imperial monuments. Bacchus appears more cartoonish with a rounder and less defined shape. There does not appear to be much attention paid to anatomical realism. This is not dissimilar to plebian art of the time.”
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This assignment was for my Roman Art and Archaeology class and it certainly proved interesting. We were tasked with designing an Imperial Monument and explaining it to an unfamiliar audience. Along with a written reflection about the monument we designed, we were also required to create visuals. As I was in the “Beware the Ides of March” class concurrently, I decided to make a monument dedicated to my senator (who I promoted to emperor) for this class. However, I decided that my senator would not be a very good emperor. In making that choice, I was able to further research Roman emperors we talked about in class and I was able to research some of the most ridiculous things that they did. I believe this assignment created an interesting opportunity to both flex my knowledge of imperial monuments and creativity. Unfortunately, my biggest regret with this project is that I am not a natural artist, and I have not improved through art classes. The visual portion was challenging. I did decide to use AI to help create the images, and that in and of itself, was a thought provoking exercise as I had to choose my words carefully to get my desired outcome. On the other hand, I don’t think there was a single visual that I was completely happy with. I tried to use Photoshop to rectify any imperfections, but I am also not at all experienced in Photoshop. Despite this, I had a great deal of fun with this assignment.
This project exemplifies the following learning goals of the Skidmore College Classics Department:
- conduct research by traditional and digital methods
- identify and assess selected artifacts and monuments within their cultural contexts
- read critically and analyze closely literary texts and modern scholarship
It also reflects the following literacies:
- Information
- Visual
- Technology
