Rome via Brooklyn

428 words, 2 minutes read time.

Today we went to the Ara Pacis museum, a good continuation from yesterday’s Roman forum and learning about Julius Caesar and Augustus. It was interesting to learn about the ‘family’ tree and how women didn’t get their own name. This museum felt more interactive than the others because we were able to walk inside of the alter of peace. “The Altar of Augustan Peace originally stood between the Sundial of Augustus and the Via Lata, the main road by which Augustus had returned to Rome in 13 BC after a three-year absence in Spain and Gaul(pg.245).” This alter was the celebration of a completion of a war with the intention to convey Romes predominant position and Augustus position as the extension of all that has come before him. There were many intricate reliefs carved into it. I instantly noticed the beautiful foliage.

It turns out that all the plants and flowers were botanically accurate! I always wanted to learn more about plant and flower species so it was cool to see how important this type of knowledge was to the ancients. This accurate flora was supposed to show Augustus regime over knowledge. I also really liked all of the little frogs, lizards, snakes, snails, and scorpions!

There were also images showing the true color of these marble reliefs. It’s hard to imagine something that we are so used to being beige/white having so many bright colors. I wish I could witness all the colors in their full glory. But it is nice that the museum provided this color reconstruction.

Professor Yarrow wanted us to find one part of the alter of peace we found interesting and I picked the bulls carved on the top part of the walls. This makes animal sacrifices which is temporary permanent.

We slowly made our way home after the museum since the buses were taking a while to come. Once we got back we had some pizza and got ready to go horse back riding! We were so excited, Dakota, Shamiqua, Danielle and I ubered there together since we were the first group to go. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side and they canceled while we were already there. But we got to see and pet the horses and hang around the beautiful farm! These horses had strong personalities and it was nice to hang with them even if some wanted to be alone.