1 Earliest Rome

4.3 Altars and the Ara Pacis
Note: there are major areas of modern restoration in the upper part ofthe frieze.
1. A priesdy attendant {camillus) carrying a jug and incense box, decoratcd with a tripod
and flute players. The tripod, the Symbol of Apollo, suggests that this figure is an attendant
of the quindecimviri sacris faciundis, whose main priesdy duty concerned the
prophetic Sibylline Books (sec 1.8, 2.6c, 7.5a). Over the attendant's arm is a fringed
towel {mantele), used by priests at sacrifice.
2. This figure (and several others) carries a sprig of laurel, a plant widely used in religious
ritual and also a symbol of victory.
3. Attendant carrying an incense box, dccorated with a scene of animal sacrifice.
4. Lictor, carrying the fasces, the symbol of official power in Rome.
4.3c Relief of Aeneas on the Ara Pacis
On rhe right of the main steps one ofthe best preserved sculpted panels shows
Aeneas sacrificing a sow on his arrival in Italy (see I.5b(i); Virgil, Aeneid
VIIi.81-5) (height 1.55m., original width 2.44m.). This primitive scene (note,
for example, the erude stone altar) evokes not only the mythical origins of
Rome, but also the origins ofthe Roman ritual of sacrifice - a ritual no doubt
regularly performed at the Ara Pacis itself. /§)
1. The Penates (the household gods brought by Aeneas from Troy) watch over rhe sacrifice
from their aedes.
2. Two camilli represented in the same way as their contemporary Augustan equtvalents
(e.g. in 4.3b above).
3. Aeneas, sacrificing in Roman style - that is, with head covered, in contrast to the Greek
practice of sacrificing with bare head. He wears a toga without a runic, believed by the
Romans to be the oldest form of Roman dress.
4. Fragmentary figure, probabiy Aeneas' son, Ascanius (Iulus).
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