Shifting landscapes of war: Rome and twentieth century disillusionment

The First World War inspired artworks in which lived experiences were reimagined through visions of the classical world and while some of these guarded against despair others explored feelings of disillusionment. Painting and writing during the Second World War and beyond, and looking back past his own service in Ireland to his years in the trenches, David Jones (1895–1974) turned to ancient Rome to consider modern warfare. By reflecting upon the experience of Roman soldiers Jones attempted to come to terms with his own disillusionment with the British Empire and with the justifications made for the necessity of the First World War. His work provides complication to narratives of commemoration which support a fixed or stable vision of the past. Instead, Jones's memories of conflict gave transhistorical depth to his imagined Roman Empire – a creative landscape in which he could examine the causes and the costs of war.