Ara Pacis

The Ara Pacis Augustae (Latin, "Altar of Augustan Peace"; commonly shortened to Ara Pacis) is an altar in Rome dedicated to the Pax Romana.^[1] 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^[2][3] and consecrated on January 30, 9 BC.^[4] 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,^[5] 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 4 metres (13 ft) 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.

Altar of Augustan Peace

Ara Pacis Augustae
The altar as reassembled, showing original western side
Click on the map for a fullscreen view
Coordinates	41°54′23″N 12°28′32″E

Significance

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

Map showing the original location of the Ara Pacis

The altar reflects the Augustan vision of Roman civil religion. The lower register of its frieze depicts agricultural work meant to communicate the abundance and prosperity of the Roman Peace (Latin: Pax Romana). The monument as a whole serves a dual civic ritual and propaganda function for Augustus and his regime, easing notions of autocracy and dynastic succession that might otherwise be unpalatable to traditional Roman culture.

Structure

Plan of the Ara Pacis. North is at the left

The Ara Pacis Augustae, or Altar of Augustan Peace, consists of a central sacrificial altar enclosed by precinct walls made of Luna marble. The monument sits on a podium and is entered from the west, where a small staircase would have led visitors into the open-air ritual space. The design combines a traditional Roman altar layout with carved marble panels that reflect Augustan religious and political themes.

Altar

The central altar preserves fragments of scenes illustrating the lex arae, or the rules for sacrifices performed there. The surviving reliefs show attendants leading animals for sacrifice, carved in a style common in the late Republic as seen in works like the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus. These scenes focus on depicting the actual ritual rather than decorative detail, highlighting the altar’s practical role within Augustan religious ceremonies.

The interior walls of the precinct feature a frieze of bucrania (ox skulls) alternating with garlands of fruit and flowers. These motifs were commonly used in Roman sacred art and often referred to ceremonial offerings and ritual purity.^[6] 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 ^[7] and reinforcing  its link to Rome’s ancestral ritual practices.

Exterior wall decoration

Ara Pacis: the so-called Tellus panel

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,^[8] while more recent scholarship has examined how these images relate to Augustan ritual practice and ideological messaging. ^[9]

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.^[8] The careful and dense carvings create a decorative base for the more symbolic scenes above and it links the natural world to the altar's broader themes of peace and stability.

Roma, the personification of Rome

Upper register

Mythological panels: The upper register on the east and west sides contains four mythological scenes that relate to Rome’s origins, divine protection, and Augustan ideology. One well-preserved panel shows a seated female figure surrounded by children, vegetation, and personifications of breezes, plants, and animals. Scholars have proposed various identifications for her, such as Pax, Italia, Venus, or Tellus, reflecting ongoing debate about the altar's symbolic emphasis on fertility, abundance, and civic harmony. ^[10]

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. ^[11]

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. ^[12] The general compositions of these panels have been reconstructed through comparisons with coins, literary descriptions, and related Augustan artwork. ^{[8] [13]}

Ara Pacis: detail of the processional frieze showing priests at right and the Germanic hostage/guest (north face).

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 househole (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.^[9] The inclusion of several foreign children has been interpreted as a representation of Rome's expanding empire and integration of diversity under the Roman rule.^[10] The figures are carved in a naturalistic manner, with overlapping poses, and the artists use differences in clothing, hairstyles, and gestures to distinguish individuals and groups without relying on inscriptions.

Excavation and conservation

Section of the interior frieze, showing a damaged original section amid the modern reconstruction.

External videos
Ara Pacis, Smarthistory[14]

• In 1568, the first fragmentary sculptures were rediscovered beneath Palazzo Peretti in Lucina (a.k.a. Palazzo Fano-Almagià), right next to the basilica San Lorenzo in Lucina, close to "Via del Corso", and have found their way to the Villa Medici, the Vatican, the Uffizi and the Louvre.
• In 1859 further sculptural fragments were found in the same area under the Teatro Olimpia, part of the Peretti Palace in via in Lucina, close to the Italian Parliament Building, and the sculptures were recognized as having belonged to the same monument.
• In 1903, well after Friedrich von Duhn had recognized that the reliefs belonged to the Ara Pacis (1879–81), known from Augustus' memoir, a request was sent to the Ministry of Public Education to continue the excavations. Their success was made possible by the generosity of Edoardo Almagià, who, as well as giving his permission for the exploration, donated in advance whatever should be discovered underneath the palace and made an ongoing financial contribution to the expenses of the excavation; by July of that year, it became clear that the conditions were extremely difficult and that the stability of the Teatro Olimpia might well be compromised; when about half the monument had been examined and 53 fragments recovered, the excavation was called to a halt.
• In 1909 it was decided that several buildings closely surrounding the Mausoleum of Augustus were to be destroyed to bring the mausoleum back to view.^[15]
• In 1918, right after the end of WW I, the President of the Piedmontese Society of Archaeology and Fine Arts, Oreste Mattirolo, for the first time suggested that all fragments were to be collected and joined to rebuild the altar.^[16]
• In 1932 demolition of buildings surrounding the mausoleum, decided in 1909, started, together with many other demolitions carried on in those years in the city.^[17]
• In February 1937, the Italian Cabinet decreed that for the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Augustus, the excavations should recommence, using the most advanced technology. Seventy cubic meters of ground under what was by then the Cinema Nuovo Olimpia were frozen, whilst the altar was extracted.
• The fragments, although not complete, were collected and joined to rebuild the Ara; due to the short time available (work had to be completed before 23 September 1938, the last day of the Augustan anniversary), few fragments available and poor historical sources to refer to for restoration (basically a couple of ancient Roman coins), the reconstruction had to be performed with the help of Italian artist Odoardo Ferretti.

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.^[4] Several dozen buildings surrounding the Mausoleum were levelled to free up space around the monument. This led to a great number of complaints from locals, starting a long series of arguments and criticisms of the Ara Pacis project. These arguments are ongoing despite the original pavilion being replaced by a new one in 2006, known as the "Ara Pacis museum".

Museum of the Ara Pacis

The historic Fascist style building around the Altar, locally known as "teca del Morpurgo", was pulled down in 2006, and replaced by a glass and steel structure in modern style, designed by architect Richard Meier. The new cover building, which has been named "Ara Pacis museum", now stands on the same site as Mussolini's structure.^[4] This new structure is much bigger than the previous one and it is divided into multiple rooms and sections besides the main one containing the altar.

Meier's building construction caused new arguments and criticism, after the ones which accompanied the first building construction, both from Roman inhabitants and foreign observers, probably due both to political memory tied to the pre-existing pavilion and to the visual impact of the new pavilion, which in the opinion of many is in stark contrast with surrounding historical buildings.

Nicolai Ouroussoff, of The New York Times called the building "a contemporary expression of what can happen when an architect fetishizes his own style out of a sense of self-aggrandizement. Absurdly over-scale, it seems indifferent to the naked beauty of the dense and richly textured city around it."^[18] Former mayor Gianni Alemanno, backed in July 2008 by culture undersecretary Francesco Maria Giro, pledged to tear down the new structure.^[19][20][21] 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.^[22]

Gallery of reliefs

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  Ara Pacis relief in the Louvre Museum, Paris.
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  Ara Pacis relief
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  Ara Pacis relief
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  Ara Pacis relief
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  Ara Pacis relief

See also

• Temple of Hadrian – Ancient religious monument in Rome, Italy
• Roman Forum – Ancient Roman centre of Rome, Italy
• Naming of asteroid 100731 Ara Pacis
• Imperial cult
• List of Ancient Roman temples