By what means did the Byzantine emperors continue or transform the ancient Roman tradition of using art to communicate political messages?
Junius Bassus was an early Christian leader, who after dying in 359 AD, was buried in an artistic marble called Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (Malbon, 2014). He was a senator and was in charge of the government. Synagogue at Dura-Europos was designed in 244 CE (Schenk, 2010). In these two cases, the political traditions of the ancient Roman society vividly depict a society that valued its leaders.
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Being a senator, Junius was considered a very important person in the ancient Roman politically. Before his death, he converted to Christianity (Malbon, 2014). For this reason, the carvings of the sarcophagus were decorated using stories from the Bible. It also signified how crucial Christianity was in the lives of political leaders. Burying Senator Junius Bassus in that manner was symbolic and carried very deep meaning to the then society, and some extent to the modern society. Being a Christian and a political leader at the same time led to great honor from society.
On the other hand, the synagogue at Dura Europos also had several paintings showing stories from the Bible in the form of images (Schenk, 2010). Among them included Samuel anointing David to be Saul’s successor. These images reveal that the ancient Roman society took the preservation of their leadership history seriously. They kept history in the form of paintings for future generations to learn from them.
Arguably, there are a few similarities between the two examples discussed above. For instance, in both cases, stories from the Bible are employed in the art. Additionally, the main aim was to keep history for future generations in both cases. However, there were a few differences between the two. For example, the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus was carvings while the Synagogue at Dura-Europos was painting. Nevertheless, both cases depict a society that valued the leaders. It is an indication that ancient Roman society valued history, and leaders were ornamental.
References
Malbob, E. S. (2014). The Iconography of the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus: Neofitus lit Ad Deum (Vol. 1112). Princeton University Press.
Schenk, K. L. (2010). Temple, community, and Sacred Narrative in the Dura-Europos Synagogue. AJS Review , 34(2), 195-229.
