Empire who ruled from 27 BC to 14 AD. The rule of Augustus initiated an era of relative peace known as the Pax Augusta, or Augustan peace from which still remains the Ara Pacis, the “peace altar”. After several years of restoration, the altar was opened again in 2006. Today it is inside a modern building that was designed by the German architect Richard Meier. Adjacent to the Ara Pacis lies the Mausoleum of Augustus, unfortunately unrenovated. The obelisk, which rises up before the Parliament, originally served as a ‘hand’ for Augustus’ large sundial. Close to the Parliament there is the world-famous Pantheon; its original construction goes back to Marcus Agrippa, friend and son-in-law of the emperor Augustus. In the Middle Ages, the Pantheon, the Roman “temple of all the gods”, became a church, called S. Maria ad Martyres. Still today we are surprised by the enormous size of the rotunda which height and diameter are equal: 140ft! Finally we visit two more buildings, which were constructed in connection with the emperor Augustus: the theatre of Marcellus, built by the emperor in memory of his nephew and son-in-law Marcellus who died very young, and the Portico of Octavia, that Augustus dedicated to his sister and which formed the border to the Ghetto in the 16th century.
