The Ara Pacis Augustae – commonly shortened to simply the Ara Pacis, or "Altar of Peace" – is one of the most important artistic monuments to remain from Augustan Rome, and a visual tribute to Augustus' rule. The structure – now housed in the Museum of the Ara Pacis in Rome, which is well worth a visit – comprises an altar placed within an elaborately decorated outer frieze. It was commissioned by the Roman senate in 13 BCE, in order to honour the emperor Augustus' return to Rome, as well as (more broadly) the peace he claimed his reign had brought, and consecrated in 9 BCE. What's particularly striking about the monument is the way that the visual programme brings together many of the themes also highlighted in contemporary literature at the time: natural bounty and pastoral ideals (see the inset of Tellus/Gaia, the earth-goddess, in the bottom right image above); mythical founders of Rome aligning in their blessing of Augustus' rule, including Romulus and Aeneas; and peace, built on victory in war. For a historian, however, it's the north and south friezes which are of special interest, because these depict actual (and, even more rarely, identifiable) Roman figures of state. In the detail showed above (bottom left), you can see Agrippa, Augustus' general at the Battle of Actium and son-in-law, shown on the left with his toga covering his head. One of his sons by Augustus' daughter Julia, probably Gaius, holds his toga, and looks up to a woman who stands behind Agrippa, who has been identified as Livia, the wife of Augustus.
0 Comments
(1) Unknown Bronze figure of a gladiator, Bronze Height: 9.6cm The British Museum, London (2) Unknown Statuette of a gladiator, Bronze Height: 5.9cm The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles Gladiatorial combats – made famous in the modern world by Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000) – were hugely popular in Roman times, and took place in amphitheatres across the empire. Each gladiator was identified by the different assortments of armour and weapons he carried. The statuette on the right wears a combination of the weapons of the murmillo – sword (gladius) and oblong shield – and the armour of a hoplomachus (the term means "armed fighter" in Greek). On the left we see a thraex (literally "Thracian"), with his typical broad rimmed helmet, curved sword and small round shield. Gladiatorial games were so popular that statuettes like these were made across the Roman empire, often in either bronze or terracotta, depicting the different gladiatorial types. For more on gladiators in the ancient world, read this article by Professor Kathleen Coleman, a professor in the Classics department at Harvard and historical consultant for Ridley Scott's Gladiator.
Unknown Arles Rhône 3, 1st century CE, Wood Length: 31 metres (102 feet) Musée de l'Arles Antique This Roman cargo ship of the 1st century CE was discovered in 2004, buried just 13 feet below the surface of the river Rhône in Arles, France (ancient Roman Arelate). Over 30 metres long, it is constructed with a flat base of oak planks, with the sides made of two halves of a fir tree. The ship sank carrying a cargo of 33 tons of stone from a nearby quarry; amphorae containing garum (Roman fish sauce) and a statue of Neptune were discovered nearby. One of the timbers is branded with the signature C L POSV, suggesting that a Gaius Lucius Postumius either owned or perhaps built the ship.
|
AuthorEmily Hauser is a classicist and researcher at Harvard and author of historical fiction recovering the lost women of the ancient world, including FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL and FOR THE WINNER. Archives
June 2018
Categories
All
|