6,040 Miles
Roughly 6,040 miles apart, in completely different cultures, and having nearly polar opposite appearances, it would seem that the Forum of Augustus and Todai-ji have absolutely nothing in common. Todai-ji is flaked with wood and is surrounded by nature, whereas the Forum of Augustus uses grandiose marble and is surrounded by a bustling city. It truly seems that these two pieces are completely unrelated. In reality, though, this reaction is like opening a book and judging it by its cover page. Although Todai-ji and the Forum of Augustus may be located in completely different areas and have nearly opposite form, their content and function are undeniably similar through their unity of secular and religious life.
At a first glance, it is easy to determine that the form of Todai-ji and the Forum of Augustus are very different. One of their most obvious differences in form is the material of which they are made. Todai-ji utilizes wood, and is able to contrast white and dark colors very well (Cartwright, “Todai-ji”). It completely embraces the great quantity of wood that is used to create it, and is able to blend its color naturally into the intricate color scheme of the temple. The Forum of Augustus, on the other hand, uses white marble, one of the staples for the Greek and Roman art period. Through its use of marble, the forum stays with tradition in its very simple color scheme, as opposed to the intertwining of colors used in Todai-ji. Another great contrast in form between these two structures is their utilization of the area around them. Todai-ji allows its 2,200 acres of forest to flow through it (“Todai-ji”). Its use of wood allows the temple to blend in harmoniously with the nature around it. The Forum of Augustus differs from this through its urban location in Rome. This central location allowed many people to utilize the temple; however, it does not incorporate any nature around it. Rather, it blends in with the bustling city that engulfed it. The ceilings of Todai-ji and the Forum of Augustus are also vastly different. The Todai Temple uses Daibutsu-yo ceiling, including hipped ridge roof of tiles supported by timbers (Britannica). In a quite different style, the Forum of Augustus has a coffered ceiling, with each coffer containing rosettes in their center (“The Forum of Augustus”). Their differences in style highlight the incredibly different form that these two pieces have.
Although these structures may appear nothing alike, the Forum of Augustus and Todai-ji are very similar in content. For starters, they both have statues dedicated to important figures. At Todai-ji, the Great Buddha statue glorifies the founder of Buddhism, and is a central piece in the temple. Viewers are rendered insignificant next to this massive bronze piece. Similar to the Great Buddha, the Forum of Augustus proudly displayed an immaculate statue of Mars. This statue of Mars glorified this god of war and stood over everyone who entered into the temple. Not surprisingly, each of these structures features a temple. Todai-ji features a temple to practice Buddhism. Here, Buddhists can pray and look up to Buddha, who is not a supreme being but rather the founder of Buddhism. At the Forum of Augustus, there is a temple dedicated to Mars, the god of war. Romans could pray to Mars and glorify him before going out on their own into battle (Cartwright, “Temple of Mars”). This inspiration was a great way to unite the Roman people, especially their army. Not only do these two works of art feature temples, but they also both have guardian statues and depictions of military figures. Todai-ji features several guardian figures in contrapposto, towering over the viewer with grimaces on their faces and appearing ready to jump out and attack them. These intimidating figures stood protecting the temple. In a similar way, the Forum of Augustus had sculptures of mythological and real figures in Roman history lining the sides of the walkway up to the main area in the forum (“Fori-Imperiali.info”). Although they lacked the grimaces that the Todai-ji guardian figures had, these strong and powerful figures intimidated and inspired viewers on their walk into this immaculate structure. Through their incorporation of statues, temples, and guards, both of these structures not only featured similar content, but also shared very close functions.
Todai-ji and the Forum of Augustus have similar functions through their unity of secular and religious life. One way in which they are able to do this is through their use of education. Each of these two structures became a center for learning. Todai-ji was a school that was able to instill Buddhist values and properly educate children of the era (Cartwright, “Todaiji”). The Forum of Augustus, though similarly used to educate people, was used to inform and train many military members, and to prepare them to go into battle. By educating in a religious environment, these two structures allowed children to become well rounded individuals both religiously and socially. Todai-ji and the Forum of Augustus were able to combine secular and religious life once again with their involvement in the government. Todai-ji became the central temple, and was a way for the heads of power to influence religious life as well as social life. Likewise, the Forum of Augustus was the center of military strategy for Augustus and allowed him to control the military and push religious and social views onto his people (Cartwright, “Temple of Mars”). At both of these structures, one would not only become educated and be influenced by government views, but also could worship and pray in the temples. Through the Forum of Augustus’ use of large open space and Todai-ji’s incorporation of nature into its building, these two pieces naturally provided people with a serene place to pray and pay homage. This way, the government could foster religious unity while pushing their own political agendas through these two different, yet incredibly similar structures.
Although the appearance of both the Forum of Augustus and Todai-ji are far different from each other, their connecting pieces are both their content and function. They both united secular and religious life into one structure, and were used as a platform by their governments. These two structures played a very large role in the ideologies of both the Romans and Japanese people, and were influential for generations to come. Todai-ji and the Forum of Augustus will continue to teach humanity that similarities are not always found in appearance — sometimes it takes a little bit of digging deeper.
Works Cited
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Tōdai Temple.” Encyclopædia Britannica,
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 19 Feb. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/Todai-Temple.
Cartwright, Mark. “Temple of Mars Ultor, Rome.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History
Encyclopedia, 18 Dec. 2018, www.ancient.eu/article/617/temple-of-mars-ultor-rome/.
Cartwright, Mark. “Todaiji.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 18 Dec.
2018, www.ancient.eu/Todaiji/.
“Fori-Imperiali.info.” Foriimperialiinfo, fori-imperiali.info/en/002-2/.
“The Forum of Augustus.” CreatingHistory.com,
www.creatinghistory.com/the-forum-of-augustus/.
“Todai-ji” Khan Academy, Khan Academy,
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/south-east-se-asia/japan-art/a/todai-ji