On the front right of the Ara Pacis is a panel showing Aeneas offering up a drink to the Penates (household gods he had brought from Troy) as he is preparing to sacrifice a sow. (1,2)Behind him is his son Ascanius Iulus who is the ancestor of the Julian clan. (2) Lead by the fact that the two individuals are adults, however, some believe that they are equals and cannot be father and son. The next best candidate is therefore Achates who is a companion of Aeneas. (Rehak) The proximity of this relief of Aeneas to the representation of Augustus on the corner of the adjacent wall was no coincidence. Just as contemporaries would have seen similarities between Aeneas and Augustus through Vergil's Aeneid, Augustus wished the same association to be portrayed on the Ara Pacis. Its position centered between Romulus and Augustus also served to connect the remote past with the new age. (Brunt and Moore)
On the front left of the Ara Pacis is a panel displaying the origins of Rome with the entrance to the Lupercal (the wolf cave) and the she-wolf nursing Romulus and Remus . While most of this panel has been lost over time, it is believed that Romulus and Remus are shown nursing from the she-wolf as Mars stands nearby. (1,2)
The presence of Mars, God of War, certainly seems out of place on the Altar of Augustan Peace. He was included on the altar to help convey the sense that peace was attainable mainly through successful warfare and the favor of the gods.
The Western Wall of the Ara Pacis
Detail View of Temple containing "mature male devinities"
Detail portrait of Aeneas
Detail portrait of Ascanius Iulus
Detail portrait of Mars
