Most of Rome's art was borrowed from Greece. Since Rome ruled most of the known world, they had lots of time for other things like art. Since they had lots of time they had a large variety of art such as sculptures, mosaics, carved glass, blown glass, and paintings. They also were able to put lots of detail in their work.

GLASS: Glass blowing was developed in the first century BC.

SCULPTURE: The Romans used sculpture to commemorate and illustrate important and legendary events. Most of their artwork was copied from the Greeks, both in subject and technique. Their sculptures were made of many different materials such as marble, bronze and sardonyx. They did both reliefs and sculptures. A relief is a sculpture carved on a wall or a flat surface that makes it look like parts of it stick out. An example of a relief is "Trojan's Column." It is a marble pillar 125 feet high with about 2,500 carved figures on it. The pillar is covered with lots of war scenes. It is about the many wars the Trojans won. On top of the column there was originally a statue of a Trojan, but now it has been replaced by one of St. Peter.

PAINTINGS: Painters would do portraits of people for decorations. Some painters would mix hot wax with their paints to make the paint thick and creamy.Most of Rome's panel painting has been lost from decaying.

MOSAICS: Mosaics are pictures made of thousands of tiles placed on something. Mosaics can be parts of a wall or even the floor. Mosaics were also used to describe daily life, the empire and special events.