The Augustus Botanical Code: Ara Pacis: Speaking to the People through the Images of Nature

The Ara Pacis Augustae (the Altar of Augustan Peace, 9 BCE) was commissioned by the Roman Senate to celebrate the end to the wars fought by the emperor Augustus. It was a monumental altar giving thanks and praise for the era of peace brought to bear by Rome’s military might and political power.

The richness of the chosen plant elements of such an historically important monument, and their accurate disposition, highlight how they do not play only an ornamental role, but appear to be tools of a clear symbolic-allegoric intention linked to the political manifesto of the maturing empire.

In this volume the constitutive elements of this botanical alphabet and the rules of organization of the iconographic language are illustrated. It argues for a reading of the Augustus’ message of a new prosperity as a rebirth process, possible thanks to peace, trough a never-ending transformation that is projected onto eternity.