welcometoitalia:The Ara Pacis Augustae (Latin, “Altar of Augustan Peace”) is an altar in Rome dedica
welcometoitalia:The Ara Pacis Augustae (Latin, “Altar of Augustan Peace”) is an altar in Rome dedicated to Peace, the Roman goddess. The monument was commissioned by the Roman Senate on 4 July 13 BC to honor the return of Augustus to Rome after his 3 years in Hispania and Gaul. It was consecrated on 30 Jan 9 BC by the Senate in celebration of the peace brought to the Roman Empire by Augustus’ military victories. The altar was meant to be a vision of the Roman civil religion. It is made up of a small functional altar at its center, and 4 surrounding walls; externally, 2-tier friezes run along the walls and portray the peace and fertile prosperity enjoyed as a result of the peace brought to Rome by Augustus’ military supremacy (Latin: Pax Augusta). The Altar was built to remind Romans, through a visual medium, of the competence and achievements of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The sculpture on the outside of the monument emphasise the importance of piety and peace within the empire. The Altar was originally located on the northern outskirts of Rome, a Roman mile from the boundary of the pomerium on the west side of Via Flaminia. It stood in the northeastern corner of the Campus Martius - a formerly open area that Augustus developed as a complex of monuments - and on the flood plain of the river Tiber, where (starting from the 2nd century AD when the Altar was protected by a wall) it gradually became buried under 4 meters of silt over the centuries. The Ara Pacis was substantively rediscovered in the 20th century, and moved to its current location in 1937–8. -- source link
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