Understanding Rome's Newsletter
Understanding Rome Podcast
A Podcast about Rome. Part 8: The Ara Pacis Augustae
1
0:00
-18:06

A Podcast about Rome. Part 8: The Ara Pacis Augustae

1
Ara Pacis Augustae, 5 January 2023.

The Ara Pacis is arguably the finest surviving visual representation of the multiple iconographic motifs employed by Augustus to express his political programme of reconciliation and rebirth after the decades of civil war which had plagued Rome. It is an extraordinary monument, profoundly modern but inextricably rooted in the archaic: an expression in stone of the multi-faceted and wildly sophisticated propagandistic programme which characterises Augustus’ forty year reign, and would echo for centuries after his death.

Aeneas offering his sacrifice.
Nature: “red in tooth and claw”
Garlands, bucrania, lotus flowers and palms.

Give a gift subscription

Discussion about this podcast

Understanding Rome's Newsletter
Understanding Rome Podcast
A chronological history of Rome focusing on a building, a sculpture, a painting, or an artefact each episode.