Rome via Brooklyn

418 words, 2 minutes read time

Seeing Augustus’s mausoleum in modern day changes the perspective a lot. Originally, “In antiquity the Mausoleum was set in a sacred precinct which stretched between the Via Flaminia and the river bank, with groves and promenades open to the public” (Claridge, pg. 204). In modern day the mausoleum is surrounded with cars and concrete instead of the many cypress trees and the open fields. This change of background and scenery changes the context. For example, originally the many cypress trees represented the cypress trees from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, to show the citizens how great the mausoleum is as it contains elements to other great wonders of the world. In addition, in modern day we are not able to see the other elements that used to be on the mausoleum as well. For example, originally there should’ve been a great colossal statue of Augustus on top. Seeing that would’ve definitely made his mausoleum look even more grand and powerful. However, going inside the museum and seeing the many diagrams, for example the one I pictured below, helped me imagine how the field of Mars should’ve looked like in antiquity.

Mussolini decided to renew Augustus’s sacrificial temple as well as his mausoleum to create a certain image of himself. Augustus had many elements in his work that Mussolini apparently wanted to encourage. For example, Augustus really promoted fertility. He had small children who aren’t even of age yet (as the are not wearing the toga) and having twins shown multiple times on his sacrificial temple. In addition, Augustus promoted fertility by giving advantages for married men, and for women who have given birth to at least 3 kids, those women were able to have total autonomy over their business ventures and property. In addition, there were multiple examples of fasces on the sacrificial temple, which is also what Mussolini wanted to promote.

In other news, Rachel and I went to St. Peter’s basilica at the Vatican City (which I find so cool that it’s its own country). I recommend going later (we went around 5:30 pm) because the line was super short and we quickly were able to see the basilica. However, we realized the reason the line was short was because the St. Peter’s dome was closed 😦 It’s okay though because it’s not the worst thing to go back to. Also, it feels so special and magical to walk through the holy doors since they’re only open once every 25 years.