I. Ara Pacis

The Ara Pacis or the Altar of Peace was dedicated in 13 B.C. after Augustus returned to Rome. The sculpture on it contains various political and social themes of Augustus' regime. It is done in a very Hellenizing style. For example, the actual layout is very similar to that of the Altar of Pity in the Athenian Agora. On the long sides are reliefs that probably depict the initial ceremony that consecrated the altar. Notice the senators (pict 4) and the family of Augustus (pict 5). These processional sculptures were probably inspired by the famous Panathenaic procession on the Parthenon. CLICK HERE TO SEE SOME PICTURES OF PANATHENAIC PROCESSION.  On the shorter sides of the Ara Pacis are two panels that contain symbolic depictions of Aeneas sacrificing near Rome (pict 6) and a depiction of either Mother earth or Peace and her children. Benito Mussolini (Pict 9) was instrumental in reconstructing the Ara Pacis. 

As Julius Caesar had done, Augustus built his own forum, which is near the other later imperial fora (see pict. 2.) containing at its heart the temple of Mars the Avenger,  (for statue of Mars, see pict 6), which stood at the top of a high podium. Augustus had vowed this temple at the death of Julius Caesar. As you can see from the reconstruction, it has a colonade on three sides and one half-circle shaped courtyards, which probably served as courtrooms.  Its strong linear layout is very Roman. 

The Mausoleum of Augustus (reconstruction, first picture, interior plan, fourth picture) was based both on native Etruscan tumuli (2nd picture) and King Mausolaus of Caria famous Mausoleum. (3rd picture.) As described by Bannister Fletcher in his History of Architecture, "The Mausoleum of Augustus, Rome, built by Augustus as his own family tomb, looks back to the Etruscan tumulus for its basic form, though it broke the long-standing rule forbidding burial inside the city. Like the later Mausoleum of Hadrian, it had as its base a huge cylinder, 88 m (290 ft) in diameter. The outer wall was constructed of concrete, faced with travertine opus quadratum. Behind this, a complex system of four  circumferential and numerous radial walls, similarly constructed of concrete but now  mostly faced with opus reticulatum, divided the interior into concentric compartments,  though, apart from the sepulchral chamber and the passages leading to it, these compartments were simply filled with earth."

Click here to see what the site looks like now. 

This theater made use of the Doric order on one level, the Ionic on the other, and perhaps the Corinthian order on the third level, although this is debated. The use of arch upon arch we shall see later in the Colosseum. The cross section (pict 3) gives a better look. Note at the back the high, complex stage building characteristic of Roman theaters. See page 92 ff. of Ramage for further details. The half-circle plan is distinctly a Roman feature; Greek theaters have more simple stage-buildings and a more than a half-circle of seating. CLICK HERE to see a diagram of  5th century B.C. Greek theater. 

The horologium (see model pict 1)  was a huge sundial that used an Egyptian obelisk for its pointer. (See Ramage, page 105 for more details. ) Note  that it was positioned to aligh with the door way of the Ara Pacis on Augustus' birthday. It was located in the Campus Martius, the traditional area where men met to drill etc. To see where the Campius Martius is relative to the rest of Rome, CLICK HERE for a map. Apparently also Agrippa put up a globe of the world, perhaps with the implication that this was the world that was to be conquered. He may have used a map like that in pict 3 to design his globe. The second picture is a wall painting that apparently depicts such a globe.