Why is the Ara Pacis still important today?

Answer 1

Ara Pacis (short for Ara Pacis Augustae, Altar of Augustan Peace) has a historical significance and is a prime example of Augustan imperial art. It is also a tourist attraction.

It was an altar dedicated to Pax, the goddess of peace, in celebration of the peace brought to the Roman Empire by Augustus through his military supremacy and the absolute rule by himself he established as the first Roman emperor after winning the Final Civil War of The Roman Republic which brought down the republic. It is a fine example of the propaganda use Augustus made of art. He used art to legitimise and mystify his rule and create an ideology centred on the emperor. The altar celebrated Augustus as the harbinger of peace after the Romans had left exhausted by a series of civil wars at the end of the republic. It walls have friezes which portray the peace and, though this, prosperity enjoyed thanks to Augustus.

The kind of art Augustus fostered marked the shift from republican to imperial art. The former produced realistic busts of notable men and emphasised features of old age and the wisdom it brought. Augustan art was idealised and copied Hellenistic models (Hellenistic art was the final period of Greek art which idealised the rule of Greek kings in the Middle East). The Ara Pacis idealises Augustus as the restorer of peace. The statue of Augustus called Augustus of Prima Porta idealises Augustus as being divine and an imperator (which did not mean emperor; it meant winner in battle). It has a Cupid riding a dolphin. In mythology Cupid was the son of Venus. As the adoptive son of Julius Caesar, Augustus continued the personal religious cult started by Caesar by associating his family with Venus. Augustus also wears armour and raises his arm to salute the troops. He also appears young. Now the vigour of youth represented statesmanship, instead of the wisdom of old age.

Over the centuries the Ara Pacis became covered by four metres of silt because it was built in a flood prone area. In the 16th and in the 19th century fragments of statues were found and used for other buildings. When it was realised that it belonged to the Ara Pacis excavations were started, but they were stopped because of fears about the stability of the foundations of the buildings above. In the late 1930s the ground was frozen to recover the monument.