Ara Pacis

The (Latin, "Altar of Augustan Peace"; commonly shortened to ) is an altar in Rome dedicated to the Pax Romana. The monument was commissioned by the Roman Senate on July 4, 13 BC to honour the return of Augustus to Rome after three years in Hispania and Gaul and consecrated on January 30, 9 BC. Originally located on the northern outskirts of Rome, a Roman mile from the boundary of the pomerium on the west side of the Via Flaminia, the Ara Pacis stood in the northeastern corner of the Campus Martius, the former flood plain of the Tiber River and gradually became buried under of silt deposits. It was reassembled in its current location, now the Museum of the Ara Pacis, in 1938, turned 90° counterclockwise from its original orientation so that the original western side now faces south.

Significance

thumb|View of the opposite (eastern) side with Tellus Panel at the left and Roma Panel at the right

thumb|Map showing the original location of the Ara Pacis

The altar reflects the Augustan vision of Roman civil religion. The lower part of the wall is carved to imitate wooden planks, connecting the monument to earlier altars traditionally placed at the boundaries of Rome’s pomerium and reinforcing its link to Rome’s ancestral ritual practices.

Exterior wall decoration

thumb|upright|Ara Pacis: the so-called [[Tellus (goddess)|Tellus panel]]

thumb|upright|Sculpted detail of the (Altar of Peace), 13–9 BC

The exterior decoration of the Ara Pacis Augustae is divided into two main zones: the lower register, which contains the vegetal frieze, and the upper register, which features the processional and mythological panels. Together, these elements communicate both the natural prosperity associated with the Pax Augusta and the human and divine figures who supported Augustus’s political authority. Early interpretations emphasized fertility and cosmic symbolism, while more recent scholarship has examined how these images relate to Augustan ritual practice and ideological messaging.

Lower register

The lower register shows a continuous frieze of acanthus scrolls filled with animals, small birds, insects, and mythological creatures. Scholars often interpret the twisting vines as symbols of growth, abundance, and the renewed prosperity associated with Augustus's rule.

Another panel portrays a bearded figure performing a sacrifice. This figure was traditionally identified as Aeneas, the Trojan ancestor of Rome’s founders, but modern scholars argue that he may instead represent Numa Pompilius, Rome’s second king, whose association with peace and religious rites aligns closely with the altar's themes. thumb|Relief showing a sacrifice performed by [[Aeneas or Numa Pompilius.]]On the opposite side, a female figure commonly interpreted as Roma sits on a pile of captured weapons (war trophy), symbolizing victory and the peace that made the Pax Augusta possible.

A fourth, now-fragmentary panel also depicts a female figure linked with themes of foundation and peace, although its poor preservation makes the original composition uncertain. The general compositions of these panels have been reconstructed through comparisons with coins, literary descriptions, and related Augustan artwork. thumb|Ara Pacis: detail of the processional frieze showing priests at right and the Germanic hostage/guest (north face).

thumb|Ara Pacis: processional frieze showing members of the Imperial household (south face)

Processional friezes: The long processional friezes on the north and south walls depict a state ceremony held for the dedication of the altar. The figures are advancing toward the west side, where the sacrificial ritual would have taken place. The procession includes members from major priestly colleges (the Pontifices, Septemviri, and Quindecimviri), Roman magistrates carrying fasces. to show authority, attendants, and identifiable members of the imperial household (Augustus, Agrippa, Livia, Tiberius, and Julia). The participants of the procession represent the religious and political power structure that supported Augustus and legitimized his rule. Women and children appear prominently in these scenes, a notable change from earlier Roman public monuments. Scholars often interpret their presence as reinforcing Augustus's social and moral reforms, particularly his emphasis on family life and generational continuity. Fragmentary sculptures from the Ara Pacis were first rediscovered in 1568, when portions of the frieze were uncovered beneath the Palazzo Peretti in Lucina (also known as Palazzo Fano-Almagià), near the basilica San Lorenzo in Lucina and the modern Via del Corso. Many of these early finds were eventually moved to collections such as the Villa Medici, the Vatican, the Uffizi and the Louvre.

Further fragments were found in 1859 during excavations beneath the Teatro Olimpia, another property belonging to the Peretti family. Scholars recognized that these newly uncovered pieces belonged to the same monument as the earlier finds.

A major turning point happened in 1903, when, after Friedrich von Duhn's identification of the reliefs as belonging to the Ara Pacis (1879–81), the Ministry of Public Education received a formal request to continue the excavations. Progress was made possible by the generosity of Edoardo Almagià, who gave permission for the exploration and funded the work. However, the excavations soon encountered structural risks to the Teatro Olimpia. After recovering 53 fragments, approximately half of the surviving material, the excavation was called to a halt for safety reasons.

Urban redevelopment plans also influenced the site's history. In 1909, the Italian government approved the demolition of several buildings surrounding the Mausoleum of Augustus to bring the mausoleum back to view. After the First World War, in 1918, Oreste Mattirolo, the President of the Piedmontese Society of Archaeology and Fine Arts, proposed assembling all known fragments to reconstruct the altar.

Demolition of buildings around the mausoleum officially began in 1932, part of broader transformations occurring throughout Rome at the time. In February 1937, the Italian Cabinet ordered the excavation and reconstruction of the Ara Pacis for the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Augustus. Engineers employed innovative techniques, including freezing approximately seventy cubic meters of soil under what was by then the Cinema Nuovo Olimpia, to safely extract the remaining fragments.

Since the reconstruction had to be completed by 23 September 1938, and because only limited ancient material and documentation survived (primarily a few Roman coins), the project required significant artist intervention. The Italian artist Odoardo Ferretti assisted in designing the missing portions, allowing the fragments to be assembled into the monument's modern form.

Protective pavilion

In 1938 the finally reconstructed Ara was placed near the Mausoleum of Augustus, and a big pavilion was built around it by architect Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo as part of Benito Mussolini's attempt to create an ancient Roman "theme park" to glorify Fascist Italy. Former mayor Gianni Alemanno, backed in July 2008 by culture undersecretary Francesco Maria Giro, pledged to tear down the new structure. He later changed his stance on the building and has agreed with Mr. Meier to modifications including drastically reducing the height of the wall between an open-air space outside the museum and a busy road along the Tiber river. The city plans to build a wide pedestrian area along the river and run the road underneath it. "It's an improvement," says Meier, adding that "the reason that wall was there has to do with traffic and noise. Once that is eliminated, the idea of opening the piazza to the river is a good one." The mayor's office said Alemanno hopes to complete the project before the end of his term in 2013.

Gallery of reliefs

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References and notes

Bibliography

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External links

Official web site of the Ara Pacis Museum of Rome, English version
Comprehensive, high quality photo documentation of the Ara Pacis Augustae
Samuel Ball Platner, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome: Ara Pacis
Browser with high-quality images
Several pages with photos of the sculpture
"Roman Power and Roman Imperial Sculpture"
"An Oracle of Modernism in Ancient Rome" by Nicolai Ouroussoff, The New York Times, September 25 2006
Ara Pacis Bibliography annotated with links
Moreno Maggi, A black and white photographic insight about Richard Meier's Ara Pacis in Rome
Ara Pacis photos
"Ara Pacis", Smarthistory essay by Dr. Jeffrey Becker.
High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images of Ara Pacis | Art Atlas
Riferimenti diretti all'Ara Pacis Augustae nelle fonti letterarie e iconografiche antiche. Una galleria, in “La Rivista di Engramma” n. 58 giugno/agosto 2007
Simona Dolari, Riscoperta e fortuna dei rilievi dell'Ara Pacis nell'età della Rinascita, in “La Rivista di Engramma” n. 75 ottobre/novembre 200 9
Simona Dolari, Ara Pacis 1938. Storia di una anastilosi difficile, in “La Rivista di Engramma” n. 75 ottobre/novembre 2009
Castriota, David, The Ara Pacis Augustae and the Imagery of Abundance in Later Greek and Early Roman Imperial Art, Princeton University Press, 1995, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 95.09.05, reviewed by Jas Elsner.