Unveiling the Secrets of the Ara Pacis – A Window into Ancient Rome
The Ara Pacis museum houses the Altar of Peace wanted by Octavian Augustus, one of the most beautiful monuments in all of Rome.
“When I returned to Rome from Gaul and Spain, under the consulships of Tiberius Nero and Publius Quintilius, having successfully completed the undertakings in those provinces, the Senate decreed that an altar should be consecrated to the Augustan Peace in the Campus Martius and ordered that in it the magistrates, the priests, and the vestal virgins were to celebrate a sacrifice every year.” In his book Res Gestae, Octavian Augustus talks about wanting to build an altar to peace and dedicate it on January 9, BC. This altar was one of the most important buildings in ancient Rome.
Most people knew it as the Ara Pacis. It was near the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, where the famous Augustan sundial once stood. It was near the northern edge of the Campo Marzio, which was a large, well-known area dedicated to the god Mars and where the first military exercises were held.
When it was found during the Fascist era, it was moved a little farther away, right in front of the Tiber, next to Augustus’ tomb. Today, a modern case made of glass and travertine designed by the famous architect Richard Meier protects it.
It is a monument inside a monument that can be used because it was also made to be a large exhibition space that is always in conversation with the city around it.
But what’s most important is that its innovative technology lets it block out light, noise, and outside vibrations, which keeps it in the best shape possible.
The altar looks very white because it is made of Luni marble, even though most of it has been rebuilt with stucco and only a few original pieces have been kept. The soft white light from outside filters through the tempered glass windows of the modern reliquary, so you can look at both the mass as a whole and the individual bas-relief figures that are carved on the four walls.
The Ara Pacis is actually made up of a four-sided enclosure that surrounds and protects the altar like a coffin. The enclosure is made up of a podium with four steps that sits on a base with four steps on the front alone. Above them rises the table, squeezed between two lateral avant-corps, on which sacrifices of animals and wine were offered. Most likely, the pieces of the real altar that were found were connected to the solemn sacrifices that took place here every year in front of magistrates, priests, and vestals.
Both the inside, which faces the table, and the outside of the outside enclosure are decorated. In the interior, there are two registers that overlap and are separated by a palmette motif, which was used a lot in ancient decorations. The upper, more expensive register has a row of festoons and ox skulls (another very archaic and frequent ornamental motif). interspersed with cups or plates used for rituals, and the lower one has a fake wooden fence to remind people of the old fences that kept sacred areas separate.
The outside, which is much more complicated, has a double vertical division again. At the bottom, there is an ornament that looks like a plant and is repeated on all sides. It is separated from the ornament above it by a strip of swastikas, which is an old religious symbol. On the other hand, the upper register has different pictures on each side. On the long north and south sides, there is a long procession of dignitaries and high-ranking public and religious officials, as well as members of the imperial family.
Some scholars think that this procession could be a representation of that fateful January 9, BC, when the monument was dedicated. Others, on the other hand, think it could be a representation of the procession that welcomed Octavian back from his military campaigns in Gaul and Spain. The truth is that they are still important, both because they show a cross-section of public life and because they show what people wore and how they looked.
On the short sides, though, there are different scenes from mythology and religion. On the west side, we can see the entrance. On one side, the legend of Rome’s founding shows Romulus and Remus being fed by the she-wolf under the ruminal fig tree, with the shepherd Faustolo and the god Mars, their real father, dressed as a warrior. On the other side, we see Aeneas making a sacrifice to the Penates, or perhaps the second king of Rome.
Lastly, on the east side, there are statues of the goddess Madeline Tellus on one side and the goddess Roma on the other. The first one is sitting on the rocks. She is wearing a light chiton and a veil held up by a flower and fruit crown.
At her feet are an ox and a sheep, which are symbols of the animal world. On her sides are two cherubs, and one of them catches her eye by offering her an apple. We can see a bunch of grapes and pomegranates in her womb. These fruits represent her strength as a parent, which makes the whole world grow and thrive.
The picture is finished with two maidens, who represent the winds of the sea and land.
This figure has also been seen as the goddess Venus, who Augustus liked, or as the goddess Peace, to whom the altar is dedicated. On the other panel, there is a relief of the goddess Roma as an Amazon, which is a female warrior, sitting on a trophy of weapons.
So, the Ara Pacis is first and foremost a memorial to the new power that was established with the arrival of Octavian, the Augustus, the first great emperor who brought peace and prosperity to Rome and took it back to the mythical golden age.
