Why The Reliefs On The Ara Pacis For Matrix Cell 1

The Ara Pacis and the Idealization of Power in the Age of Augustus I am choosing to focus on the imperial portrait reliefs from the Ara Pacis for matrix cell 1 because this monument combines politics, religion and social values. The Ara Pacis Augustae epitomizes the Mos Maiorum, the visual manifestation of Roman virtues and laws. This paper will explain why the reliefs on the Ara Pacis can be considered political propaganda. Furthermore, I will analyze how the art in this monument exhibits the importance of civic piety in Roman politics. The construction of the Ara Pacis was commissioned by the Senate on the 4th of July in13 BC to celebrate the triumphant return of Augustus from his campaigns in Iberia and Gaul after three years of absence. During this time he was forging alliances and organizing the southern provinces of Gaul that would insure the prosperity of Rome. The construction of this monument marks a great period of peace inaugurated by Augustus after a series of political upheavals that scourged Rome following the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC and which lasted until the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. For the first time since Rome began to build her empire, the provinces flourished within the context of the Pax Romana . The reliefs of the Ara Pacis are divided between allegorical and historical panels on the upper register, while the lower register is decorated with acanthus scrolls that symbolize control over nature. The reliefs of the northern and