Ara Pacis
An altar to peace that's really a group portrait of Augustus's dynasty, cut in Carrara marble.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Rome offline.
Voted by the Senate in 13 BC, consecrated in 9 BC, it's the closest thing to a portrait of Augustus's court. Excavated in pieces over centuries and reassembled in 1938, it now sits under Richard Meier's 2006 glass-and-steel pavilion on the Tiber.
What to look for
- On the processional friezes, pick out the imperial household — Augustus, Agrippa, Livia, Tiberius — among priests and foreign children read as the reach of empire.
- The lower outer register: continuous acanthus scrolls filled with birds, insects, animals, and mythological creatures.
- Inside, walls carved with ox skulls (bucrania) linked by fruit-and-flower garlands, above a band imitating wooden planks.
An indoor museum right beside the Mausoleum of Augustus on the Tiber bank — pair the two in one stop.
Ara Pacis is one of 40 sights worth the detour in Rome, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Rome pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Rome
- Vatican CityThe world's smallest sovereign state fits in 44 hectares — you cross its border by stepping over a white line.
- ColosseumAround 50,000 Romans packed this stone oval to watch spectacles staged over a two-level warren of cages beneath the arena floor.
- St. Peter's BasilicaThe world's largest church, built directly over the grave believed to hold St. Peter's bones.
- Sistine ChapelMichelangelo painted the ceiling standing up, not on his back — and cardinals still elect the pope in this room.
- PantheonA 1,900-year-old concrete dome with a hole punched in the top — when it rains in Rome, it rains inside too.
- Stadio OlimpicoOne 70,634-seat bowl, two cross-town tenants: AS Roma and SS Lazio both play here.