Cinque Terre and home?

Boring!

It wasn't like the place that Rick Steves showed me on the television.

The views were incredible, but it was so extremely boring! There's just not that much to do.

We did complete the 6 km hike between the 5 cities of the Cinque Terre.

We did spend the night with complete strangers. It was my first personal hostel experience, and the two girls were actually super duper nice.

I'm in Rome now, after an unspeakably terrible "night train". You get what you pay for I suppose. I don't think I'll ever forget the horror that was the 1:27 AM train from La Spezia to Napoli.

I'm cooped up in the Rome center classroom on the third floor. It feels oddly like home here.

I've been gone for 6 weeks. Look out Seattle I'll be with you tomorrow.

Venice

Two nights in Milan, then a one way train to Venice.

If I could describe Venice in one word, it would be, tourixpensive.

Tourixpensive, if I had my way, would be a the word that describes how Venice is a combination of tourism and expensive things. That is as obvious as it sounds - the population of tourists in Venice sometimes double that of its native population!

Either way, the city was incredibly gorgeous. I thought it was actually quite repetitive. Every turn became a canal with a view of colorful buildings, and the canals really stank. Not my favorite thing so far.

Seeing the horses of St. Mark was as amazing as that sounds. I think at this point I have seen all the reproductions of them: the reproductions on the Capitoline hill, the copies

The coffee at Cafe Florian though was pretty good! Considering they were charging a 4 euro fee for counter service, it had better be a good cappuccino.

Our stay at Camp Jolly was really jolly.

All day we were dreading the stay since we booked a dirt cheap 13-room dormitory for 10 euro a night, but it was a total surprise! Not only did it have an awesome swimming pool, arcade, bar (super cheap), and market (with super cheap alcohol - see the pattern?), but they bumped us up (for free!) to a private bungalow with AC and a private bathroom. It was pretty much the least sweaty night of this entire trip! They also had laundry machines, which was a godsend.

Sunday, we basically traveled on trains all day. I made an impulsive decision to buy
Angels and Demons for more than I should have at the Venice Santa Lucia train station, and that was basically 6 hours of my life. What a fantastic book.

Now we are in Cinque Terre.

Milan

So we went to Milan from Istanbul, connecting from a 6 hour layover in Greece.

Milan is really a fashion capitol. Everyone is gorgeous. No joke. Literally everyone walking down the fashion district could have passed as a supermodel. So that's where Italy was hiding all its pretty women..

Milan can be thought of as Rome but incredibly urbanized. That being said, I think Milan is really far different from Rome. It was for one, much cleaner than Rome, and two, much younger than the population of Rome. Milan from what I saw was mostly compsed of younger people as opposed to the older people that we saw in Rome. Since most of the city was new and urbanized, it also gave off a sense of vitality.

The hostel that we stayed (manically booked at a vodafone promotional stand which offered internet while panicking in Athens International) at in Milan was definitely run by super Chinese people. The kind that barely spoke English (or Italian for that matter). We got super upgraded to a room with private toilette and shower. Also, we got free wifi the entire time, enabling the planning of the rest of the trip, which had not been done.

Oh the joys of being bilingual.

Also, finding a Punto Sma was almost like finding an oasis in the desert. Yes, I am not ashamed to say that I made sandwiches from super cheap (but still good of course) deli meat there two nights in a row. I'm not made of money.

In terms of sightseeing, we saw a lot of art there. Notably, the Museo La Scala was amazing. I love operas, so La Scala was a perfect to visit. Not only did I get a really good history of the place and saw cool things like a cast of Toscanini's hand, I got to see in person the stagehands working on the a set. It was super cool.

The Pinocateca Brera was also really interesting. The museum itself was the entire second floor; all of it was beautifully painted and decorate. The first floor, however, was dirty, unkempt, and filled with odd things like a model of the talking statue? Whatever it was, it was super weird.

The duomo climb was nice, but nothing compared to the one in Florence, and as it turns out, the one in Venice.

One things I'd like to add is that Olympic Air is the best airline that I've ever flown. In a 1.5 hour flight, I was served the best airplane meal that I had ever had, a coke, and two waters. And don't get me started on the hot flight attendants, and yes - all of them were gorgeous.

Excuses

I promise, I have an excuse for not blogging during the entire Istanbul-5-days-of-madness.

It was insane! This isn't a joke. One day I believe we were out for 15 hours, from 8:30 AM to 11:30 PM. Let me tell you, seeing a city of 17 million people and almost 3000 years of history in 5 days is not an easy task. I can't believe that we saw as much as we did to be honest.

Here's a short list of what we saw. I won't waste your time by writing down every single detail. Doing so would 1, require much more time than I currently have to give and 2, would take so long that no one would bother to finish this blog post. Consider this an extended Details sections.

1. Turkish toilettes cannot flush paper. Yes. That does mean that all bathrooms contain a repository which you store your oh so dirty papers.
2. Tap water is not drinkable in Turkey. That was basically a huge inconvenience.
3. Turkish cuisine has to be one of the most underrated in the world. I promise it goes much further than Aladdin's.
4. Turkish men are would-be-semi-rapists. No joke.
5. Liquor is super ultra expensive (in great contrast to Italy). Think 3 TL for a beer. 60 for a fifth of Smirnoff, etc.
6. Air conditioned tour buses are now my official favorite safe haven.
7. Bogozici Univerisitizi is full of cats and kittens. Literally.
8. Turkey is full of cats (sometimes kittens).
9. Turkey is also full of dogs.
10. Turkish men will touch you.
11. All shopkeepers were, let's say, extremely proactive in getting a sale.
12. Mosques are incredibly awe-inspiring. Also, the speed at which they were constructed is also amazing. Imagine, Sinan built more than 80 mosques in his lifetime. Michaelangelo barely finished one ceiling.
13. Resat Kasaba is basically a huge baller and owns more than half of Istanbul. We ate 5 course meals everyday and went to really cool exclusive spots.
14. It's heartbreaking to say goodbye. I really hate doing it.

That's basically my recollection of Istanbul. It went by in such a blur. I don't think I had ever accomplished so much in 5 days.

More about my little trip when I have more time.

+++

It's time to say goodbye to the eternal city. I'll be here again soon though, since I threw 3 coins into the Trevi fountain.

I still have to pack. Plane ride to Istanbul happens in about 2 hours.

Bye for now.

A long day

Here is a post to make up for my slacker posts the last few days (weeks. bleh).

It's 3:01 AM and I have my final presentation tomorrow. Super bleh.

I wake up at 8:30 AM today. Resat's lecture about Turkey was very good and extremely interesting. I feel like he could teach history as well as sociology. We talked about Istanbul, and it sounds incredibly fun and exciting. I might be able to do some shopping there? Liras are far better than Euros.

For lunch, Roman, Emilio and I went to try the Argentine place. Too bad it was closed. We went to the "gyrocery" which was a huge disappointment. I miss Aladdin's.

Roman and I went to look for bike frames, which failed. There's only new shitty bikes and custom shops. There are barely any used bikes around. Sad face. I had hoped to ship one back with the class shipment...

The Joel Nafuma volunteers went today. The class was good, but to be honest a lot of it was corny and very fluff. I feel almost as Sociology is not the science of explaining human behavior, but discovering what one (the sociologist) feels is a plausible explanation through personal experiences, if that makes any sense. If that is the truth, then the science boils down to what philosophy is - purely argument at something that cannot be proven.

Sociology is more for me like self-enlightenment rather than anything else. Like philosophy, it cannot be excised from our lives. It is key in letting humans recognize themselves as humans.

There were however, very moving portions of the presentations. I really rather enjoyed Kathie's class this summer.

From the afternoon onwards, I hid in the air-conditioned rooms in the Rome center and worked on my presentation.

I made risotto and Christine ruined my presentation of the sweet couscous. No matter. We got it done. I walked her home all by myself when all her friends (BE GUILTY) were drinking upstairs in our apartment.

My risotto was pretty decent when it came out. But cold risotto really doesn't cut it. :( I hope I'll have a bit of time to re-emulsify some fat/liquid into it before I serve it. It's a shame really.

Emilio and I had a funny/interesting conversation about girls. I'll keep it at that.

Now I'm tired and it's time for bed. Turkey in two days. Seattle in 23.

Last week

What a sad week. We learned about the checking out process today. I think all of a sudden everyone realized that we're leaving this place soon.

Art history was pretty cool. We went inside St. Peter's basilica, which was awesome, but Hadrian's Mausoleum was closed, so I guess we're never going there. :(

In either case, the photo essay group presented today. It was a semi-success. I think we have a few more things to do before we turn in the final product.

Tonight Roman made purple chicken. It was pretty good

Tonight was also spent working in the air-conditioned rooms of the Rome center. Working I suppose.

I also realized just now that I cut my toe at St. Peters today when I tripped. Now it's slightly infected. I'm gonna die by the end of this trip.

Tomorrow we have class. I have to make risotto for my presentation Wednesday.

Pot-luck

Yesterday, we basically made the most ridiculous potluck ever.

All the guys thought that the professors were coming, so we literally turned the place upside down and cleaned it. It took like 3 hours. In addition to that, we made a ton of food. Good food at that.

It was really good! But the professors only stayed for like 10 minutes since they had a dinner appointment.

I had missed rice so much..

Anyways, after I ate probably way more than I should have, Roman and I went down to Magnolia to watch the 3rd place game. The waitress there literally did not even take our order. That was pretty weird. The game was fantastic though. It's funny how 3rd place matches in FIFA sometimes happen to be the most entertaining.

After that we drank some Das HELL BIERS and went to the Big Hilda. I came back home instead of going to the club (much to my regret), but Italian guys are apparently totaly skanks and really really relentless.

This morning I went to the flea market in hopes of buying some Ray-Bans. Sadly, all the ones that guy had were either in really terrible condition or really ugly. Sad. There were these fake ones that I almost bought, but I'm glad I didn't.

Afternoon was spent in the air conditioned conference room. That was pretty nice considering it was 103 outside. I kept it a balmy 66 inside and hid the remote.

For dinner I made a triple decker of eggs and the breakfast sausage patty I had.

The game. The final game. The game was a huge disappointment to be honest. I'm not even a Netherlands fan and I felt they were cheated PKs. The referee should be penalized.

Tonight I will finish everything I have to write for Kathie's class. Wish me luck! I have all my sources now, thank god.

Two Days

Sorry for my absence the past two days. My life has relatively been uneventful, so you really didn't miss anything It's funny how fast 4 weeks can pass. The work for all the classes are really piling up quickly. I've done some good work the past few days, but I still have to do all of Kathie's photo essays. Presentations Monday and Wednesday!

I did get embarrassed pretty badly in class the other day, but hopefully everyone will forget and it will be fine.. I'm not too worried about it.

Ahh I can't believe it's my last Friday in Rome! We leave bright and early next Friday for Istanbul. I am extremely excited for that, don't get me wrong, but I really could spend another month here.

In fact, I think I need to spend at least a year here to be fully satisfied.

Maybe even longer. If only it didn't cost so much already. :(

Onwards and forwards. I do need to get some work done tomorrow though.

Oh that right. I'm gonna buy some vintage Ray-Bans at the flea market this summer for ridiculous prices. Be jealous all of you.

Under Construction

Today was kinda hilarious.

We woke up at 8:30 AM to rode the train to the mosque, but our supposed stop was under construction.

We had on idea, so we literally rode the train back and forth 3 times, trying to get to our stop. In the end we just walked a train stop.

The mosque was really cool though. I like how you can't wear shoes inside. Reminds me of home.

Roman and I went to piazza vittorio afterwards to take photos of immigrants for Kathie's photo essay. It's funny. Taking good photos is really hard when the people that you're taking pictures of don't want their pictures taken.

In the afternoon, we toured some of my favorite churches that we've seen so far. To think they were just in Trastevere!

I made bolognese sauce with penne for dinner. It was good.

The Spain Germany game was absolutely heartbreaking. I'm happy for Spain though.

Tomorrow is another day that begins at 9:30. I'm really exhausted from today.

Detail Reprise

To make up for my terrible past few blogs, I will make this one quite a little bit lengthier, with another edition of Details! at the bottom.

Today, I woke up far earlier than I would have liked. I did wake up Daniel, which almost never happens. Since my face is all healed up, I take my first *real* shower this morning - and I shaved. Novus Hominus if you will.

We visited the famous big synagogue in Rome and it was interesting, but for security reasons, pictures weren't allowed, same policy as the Jimmy Choo store. There were two women who sered as tour guides, and they basically told us the same thing. Both were really hard to understand. Divorce and/or separation is apparently legal in Jewish faith. (marriage is like a contract to god, which can be broken) That was interesting to know.

For lunch, I eat some of my cheap apricot jam, Despar bread, and two of Brandon's almost expired eggs. Yummy. Interesting.

Resat's class in the afternoon was interesting as well. An interesting fact that arose in is what happened when the printing press was invented, and how Muslims didn't really use the printing press (out of fear in error) until the 18th century.

We also talked a lot of identity, and what happens when someone comes into a new environment or a foreign place. We also sort of focused on Muslim culture. Muslim culture is surprisingly tolerant of other faiths.

I really like Resat's class.

Tonight, there's suppose to be a lecture series by Resat. Nice!

Without further ado, it's time for more useless details! Remember, these aren't only about Europe, but include interesting aspects from my own personal experiences too.

1. The toilette paper here is not quite as square. IT's actually really rectangular, which really threw me off at the beginning.
2. Ray-Bans are synonymous here when you hear the word sunglasses. Even old ladies wear them. I feel like a huge loser with my fake wayfarers.
3. Toilettes don't flush normally. There's always a huge plastic white button on an wall adjacent to the toilette.
4. The toilettes are oddly shaped and hold very little water.
5. There's a lot of geckos around. There's a small one living in my room and a giant one (nearly 8 inches) living in Katie's.
6. Bell peppers are HUMONGOUS. They are simply massive and for the most part multi-colored. They also taste stunning.
7. In Italy, all stores are required by law to have exactly two sales per year. These sales are very, very good.
8. Mopeds are ubiquitous. There more mopeds than bikes and more mopeds than cars.
9. Some buses are really really small, like the size of Chevy Suburbans.
10. There aren't very many plants here. It's odd to see grass and trees. This may be why there are huge bay windows in every building. There's just not that many bugs that can get in.
11. Those cars that have the bristles in the front and wash the streets are commonplace here. In the compo we literally have those trunks come in and wash the cobblestones literally every single day (when the markets clear out).
12. Power outlets are strange. There are two slightly different sizes. One of them is slightly wider and a little thicker. These two are impossible to distinguish. Getting your laptop charged then becomes a puzzle where you try combinations of transformers/connectors until you can fit your charger into the wall.
13. In case it wasn't clear before, traffic laws here mean nothing. The road literally a moshpit of jay-walkers, mopeds, tiny buses, normal buses, and cars.
14. For Italy, there has been a suspicious absence of nicer Italian bikes. I've seen 1 Pinarello, 1 Coppi, and 1 Rossin (!), but most of the bikes are terrible mountain bikes or female bikes with cruiser bars. I may have to venture out of the cobblestone to see them I suppose.
15. My hair is incredibly dry. This is not really an interesting detail I suppose.This is probably due to that fact that I've been using cheaper shampoo and that sun burns my hair for about 10 hours a day.
16. Erik and Roman hasn't worn shorts yet. These are men that I cannot possibly comprehend.
17. I'm constantly sweaty and/or sticky. This is absolutely unavoidable.
18. Our drier leaks water. Irony.

That's all I can think of for now.

Spanish Steps

Today I went on an adventure. I walked to the Spanish Steps and through the Villa Borghese again since it was a lot cooler than yesterday. (lower 90s?)

I walked through there and got lost. Plenty of good pictures though I hope.

Tonight at dinner I shared a lot about myself. I'm not usually one to do that, to be honest. Being in a study abroad program is akin to being stranded on an island after your plane crashes. Like Lost, but in a good way.

I finished the reading for tomorrow.

Good night for now.

Sunday

It turns out that I don't deal well with humid heat.

I didn't go take photos of the Spanish Steps because it was WAY too hot outside. Like insta-sweat-as-soon-as-you-step-outside hot.

Anyways. I didn't do much to be honest. No real work. Hours of tetris, and dinner at Katie and Rebecca's.

That was nice. We made pasta and talked for a while.

Today we're suppose to go the Capuchin Crypt. Hopefully that's a little exciting, but it seems just as hot today as it was yesterday.

Nothing else to report.

Post Florence Blog?

Florence was in a word, touristy.

That's right blog followers. Florence is possibly filled to the brim with tourists during the summer months. During our day trip today, the city felt like an american city with Italian visitors. Almost all market-stall owners/store clerks spoke fluent English.

Oh, and don't get me started on the gelaterias.

There was literally a gelateria every 5 steps. Every single block in the city of Florence had a place that served the delicious Italian treat. Not that I tried any (some stalls looks quite scrumptious in fact), but the sheer amount of them made me question the validity of them all being "artisan" or "house-made".

Even bars and restaurants served them..!

Regardless, today was really fun. The shopping scene is huge there due to the large influx of tourists. I almost bought a belt from a vendor for 25 euros, but at the last minute, I managed to split the belt with my fingernails! So much for being real Italian leather hand made in Firenze. I wound up not buying any leather goods since I lose the girls (and thus their precious knowledge of Lisa's favorite leather place).

Most of the other stuff seemed to be things that I could get in Rome anyways.

So. About my day.

I wake up at 6 AM (I am surprised too). I wolf down an orange and the remnants of my Despar choco-flakes. We depart smoothly from our bus station, taking the 40 to the train station and the fast train.

The train was really fast and totally worth it. Now that I just checked, Florence is actually quite a ways away from Rome. We must have gone at least 100 MPH to get there in like an hour.

Arriving there, we immediately rush to the David. Even though we get their basically as the David opens, we still have to wait nearly an hour to get in through the no reservations line - upside being that it was 10 euro instead of the usual 14.

By this time, we were all hungry, and we stopped at a chic little restaurant called ZaZa. I ordered the ZaZa pizza, but missed that it was frozen. That wasn't so great a choice on my part.

Then, we basically split up into 2 separate groups. A bunch of us, me included, went back to the open market to try to score some good, while Maggie, Katie, David, and Rebecca went to sightsee.

After the whole belt fiasco, I convince everyone to go climb the Duomo. Best decision I had ever made. The view itself was worth the entire trip.

Daniel and I wander around for a while the city, and we find the night-trippers, who are literally freaking out about their hotel (more on that later).

Eventually we meet up with the rest of the day-trippers except Carmen and Emily, who shopped for a little bit longer, and climbed the Duomo a little bit after us.

We all stop by this little restaurant, which happened to be CLOSED. The owner was super nice, and let us sit down to watch GER v. ARG. We ordered some drinks.

The game was a slaughter. I don't even think Argentina was playing the same game. 4 - 0 is just unbelievable.

After the game ends, we visit the night-trippers' hotel, which turned out to be more like a penthouse apartment. What was suppose to be a genius plan that cost 10 euro a head wound up with the additional fees being nearly 30 euros. It was an messy situation indeed, but they did come away with a sweet place.

We do leave them eventually, since they didn't have enough food for all of us. There was this little touristy "snack" restaurant that we came across. 4.50 for pizza. Could be worse.

I make the dumbest purchase ever. For as much as my pizza, but I had to do it. lol.

I've yet to enjoy it..!

The group hits an weird super market, and Kristin and I thought it would be hilarious to drink on the train ride back. We get cookies and terrible(?) box wine.

Red is terrible. White is actually quite good.

Florence is so devoid of interesting things to see after a while that we all decide to leave early. Luckily, we were able to switch to a train that departed an hour earlier from Florence.

I came back and reported diligently. I am tired now since I woke up so early. Good night.

Pre - Florence Blog a Thon

I lied. This post will be incredibly short.

Today, I had class. Morning class was actually a talk with Amara Lakhous, the author of Clash of Civilizations. It was really intriguing, but painfully slow as we needed a translator.

Afterwards, I had some quick and dirty eggs with pecorino and bread for lunch.

Art history in the afternoon was great! The Villa Borghese was filled with some of Bernini's best sculptures, Raphael, and other priceless Renaissance pieces.

Amazing, but with one critical drawback.

No camera allowed inside. Crazy, right? But they don't even allow camera on the inside. Now, I didn't bring mine because I was forewarned of this happening.

The REAL problem is that the walk to the villa was drop dead gorgeous.

Not only did we walk up the Spanish Steps (and the gorgeous streets that surround them), the villa is surrounded by what appears to be the best park in Rome.

Without complaining anymore, I will just say that after tomorrow's day trip in Florence, I am walking back there Sunday. I am also planning to go back to the Piazza Vittorio then as well to take photos for Kathie's class.

Sunday will just be a day filled with photography. <3

It's currently almost 2AM. I've just freshed showered after celebrating Molly's birthday. It was pretty cool, just a small bunch of us drinking at a bar after gelato at our new favorite place. (note to self: night-time photography is not doable with current equipment) Notable fact from our bar trip is that I identified what Kristin ordered seeing only the empty glass.

Anyways, the train leaves promptly at 7:30 AM. We leave at 6:30 AM. That gives me about 4 hours to sleep, or less if Daniel decides to wake up earlier. I am itchy from the wrath of mosquitoes and my healing face.

Huzzah. Good night (or morning or midday) to you all.

Augustus’ Ara Pacis: An Exercise of Politics and Propaganda

One can hardly discuss the significance of the Ara Pacis without talking about the man behind the “ara pacis augustae”, the Roman Emperor Augustus. Coming from relative obscurity, Augustus would become the most powerful leader Rome would ever see, dominating the empire at the peak of Roman influence. Using propaganda, Augustus nullified all opposing forces, ushering in peace and prosperity in what today we call the “Golden Age of Rome”.

Augustus, the man himself.

The first emperor of the Roman Empire was born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, or Octavius for short. He came from a modest family, yet he had a connection with a pivotal figure in Rome at the time. His mother, Atia, was Julius Caesar’s niece, making Octavian the great-nephew of Julius Caesar (Everitt, 30).

His childhood was relatively uneventful until a particular battle in Spain, where he had to cross enemy territory to return to base. Julius Caesar, who was the general of the campaign, became so impressed with the Octavius after an incident that he secretly named the young man his heir. Caesar had written a new will and placed it with the Vestil Virgins, essentially protecting Octavian from possible harm until Caesar had passed away.

After Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of Match in 44 BC, Octavius inherited two-thirds of Julius Caesar’s properties, a large amount of estate, military influence, and most important of all, Caesar’s clientale, the Roman social convention that linked lower families (plebeians) to the upper echelon of society (patrician). Since Julius Caesar was the most powerful man in Rome before he died, Octavius inherited a serious amount of power and influence from all those that saw Caesar as their “patronus” (Everitt, 79).

Octavius began to style himself as a true son of Julius Caesar, taking the new name of Gaius Julius Caesar instead of Gaius Octavianus, which would symbolize his family change (Octavius to Octavianus). This was the first of many shrewd political acts which propelled him to the forefront of Roman political life. Over time, Octavian eventually became a part of the Second Triumverate with Marcus Antonius and Marcus Lepidus. These three men legalized their power through the Lex Titia, a law forcibly passed through the senate which ended the Roman Republic.

After the Battle of Philippi, where Antony and Octavian overcame the murderers of Julius Caesar, Julius Caesar became deified in 42 B.C. as “divus iulius”, and Octavius became “divi filius”, or “son of god”. This was another notch in Octavius’s rise to power. Slowly, he began to elevate his status above those of Marc Antony and Marcus Lepidus.

Sometimes afterwards, Mark Antony married Cleopatra, Caesar’s ex-lover and left Rome to stay with the Egyptian queen. During his absence in Rome, Octavius used propaganda to completely turn the public opinion against Antony. Octavian eventually overcame Antony in the Battle of Actium. In 27 B.C. Octavius took on the title of “princeps”, or the “leading citizen”, and the new name of Augustus, or “the illustrious one”. Note that he does not use anything like “authoritas”, “imperium”, or any other menacing words signifying command and authority (Fagan). Augustus even uses his own name to skillfully improve his political image, further enhancing his reputation as a ruler and a leader.

“I found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble.” – Augustus (Fagan)

The newly christened Augustus began to completely restructure Rome. He won over public opinion by rebuilding much of the city, using marble to “beautify” Rome. Augustus commissioned roads, bridges, and especially temples, as he wanted to strengthen the state religion in order to unify what he considered a stagnant Rome. Augustus was also the first to institutionalize public services such as the fire brigand, the police force, and a courier system that strongly resembles the mailing system we use today (Eck, 81-87). Not only did he drastically improve the functionality within the city of Rome, he also commanded a standing army of about 170,000 men. This army was used to extensively expand the Roman Empire during his reign. The combination of all these things ushered in what we call the “Pax Augustus”, or the Golden Age of Augustus, the longest period which the Roman Empire enjoyed stable peace and prosperity.

It is interesting to mention the contrast that Augustus had to the Roman Senate that preceded him. Whereas the senators were upper class and disconnected with the plebian class, Augustus was very much loved by the people. As he ascended to power, Augustus purposefully chose to distance himself from the ineffectiveness of the Roman Senate. He displaced many corrupted leaders in the empire, appointing only those that were trustworthy and capable. He even chose to change his own image so that it was in conflict with those of the Roman Senate. Augustus made all likeliness of himself youthful, strong, beautiful, and without corruption. Even in old age, he shrewdly chose to portray himself this way. In fact, all the surviving statues of Augustus show him as a dashing young man - there are none that portray him as a wizened old ruler.

The entryway of the ara pacis from the west entrance, facing the Campus Martius.

In July 4th, 13 B.C., the senate commissioned the Ara Pacis in order to honor Augustus after his triumph over Spain and Gaul.

“The senate voted to consecrate the altar of August Peace in the field of Mars for my return, on which it ordered the magistrates and priests and Vestal virgins to offer annual sacrifices.” – Augustus (Bushnell)

The altar of peace was constructed adjacent to the Via Flaminia, as that is the route which Augustus took when he returned from his victory. Ironically, the Ara Pacis was originally placed by the Campus Martius, or the field of Mars, which was used as a primarily as a training ground for the army. In the past, the army was always used for war and conquest, by placing the symbol of long lasting peace on the grounds where war is created, Augustus is trying to show the populace that a standing army can be used to maintain peace and stability, not just create conflict. The Via Flaminia was also one of the major pathways to enter Rome, by placing the Ara Pacis right by it, Augustus, in a way, forced everyone entering Rome though the Via Flaminia to acknowledge the tribute to his greatness.

The altar itself is small. It measures 11 by 10 meters wide and is 6 meters high. There are four walls which enclose a small, raised sacrificial altar. Each of the walls is divided horizontally into two distinct sections. The top portion contains intricately sculpted panels, and the bottom contains reliefs that are associated with nature. These reliefs, also known as acanthus scrolls, run continuously though out the bottom portion. The scrolls contain many different types of fruit, flowers, and small animals, all of which symbolize the prosperity that thrived under the Pax Augustus and the wealth that flowed into Rome during the Golden Age (Simon, 13).

Unlike most other temples, the Ara Pacis has two entrances. The eastern entrance faces the Via Flaminia while the western faces the Campus Martius. The western entrance is considered the main entrance as it is raised by nine steps. This positioning forced anyone making a sacrifice to the altar to turn their back to the Campus Martius, thus turning their back to Mars, the god of war (Freibergs, 7). Symbolically, this meant that one was turning against the idea of war, advocating peace instead.

The sacrificial altar itself is quite plain and similar to others at the time. The interior walls are decorated with bovine skulls and garlands of fruit and vegetation. These garlands, similar to the acanthus scrolls, symbolize the bounty during the reign of Augustus.

The interior garlands with the skull in the middle.

The focal point of the Ara Pacis, surprisingly, is not the actual sacrificial altar, but the exterior walls that enclose the actual altar. The west wall contains scenes that relate to the origins of the city of Rome, the east walls contain two reliefs that are both controversial in their symbolism, and the other two walls contain images of processions.

The upper left side contains an image of Mars overlooking the she-wolf which is suckling Romulus and Remus. Mars, who is standing by a fig tree, is calming watching over the she-wolf and Faustulus, the farmer who initially raised Romulus and Remus. The upper right side of the west walls contains a relief of the famous scene in which Aeneas sacrifices a sow to his adversary, Juno, after he escapes burning Troy. In the relief, he is helped by his son, Ascanius, along with two attendants who are unidentified. One attendant holds a libation mug, while the other holds lituus. The altar is to the upper left of the image, and is decorated with a garland similar to the altar within the Ara Pacis.

(Top) The Aeneas panel.

(Bottom) Mars overlooking the she-wolf with Romulus and Remus

Both images of the west wall are incredibly important mythological stories about the foundations of Rome. Augustus, in his mastery of propaganda, picked two of the most important and strongly aligns himself to them. According to Simon, the portrayal of Aeneas making the sacrifice in addition to the similarity of the two altars is strong motive in the creation of the Ara Pacis (24). Aeneas reaching Rome after a long journey is almost meant to symbolize the return of Augustus after a long period of absence away from Rome.

It is also necessary to mention that the positioning of Aeneas is very similar to the positioning of Augustus himself on the side relief (Simon, 25). Augustus didn’t just want the people to view him as a divine emperor, but as a direct descendant of someone as legendary as Aeneas.

The reliefs on the east wall contain two of the most controversial figures. On the left side is an extremely well preserved panel. Known as the Tellus panel, it shows a womanly figure in the center holding two babies, accompanies by two other maidens. The left maiden rides a swan, and the right maiden rides a dragon. Though it is still hotly debated who the central woman is, it is generally considered that she is Tellus Mater, or Mother Earth. One popular belief is that the left maiden is Acraia (air) and the right maiden is sea (Euploia). Together with both Acraia and Euploia, the image portrays Venus Douritis, or the giving earth (Freiberg, 12). During the Pax Augustus, Earth must not only be Earth, but also giving, as the world is bountiful during the reign of Augustus.

The well preserved Tellus panel with the lower acanthus scroll.

On the right side, there is a very poorly preserved panel of a woman, clad in Amazonian outfit, sitting calmly on top of a pile of arms. The symbol of the wolf suckling Romulus and Remus is clearly present on her shield, supporting the fact that this warrior woman is a personification of the city of Rome. Rome is a warrior, since she is always at war. However, during the Pax Augustus there is no longer reason to fight. All the enemies have already been defeated, and all their arms have been collected. In a way, this panel synergizes with the Tellus panel. The Tellus shows the bountiful world, while the right panel shows a peaceful Roman Empire. Both point a world that Augustus has created.

The sides of the Ara Pacis contain two distinct processions of people. The more significant procession is on the south wall. Though mostly destroyed and largely speculation, the western end procession of south wall possibly contains a trio of goddesses all associated with prosperity: Hygenia, the goddess of public health, Concordia, the goddess agreement, understanding, and harmony, and Pax, the goddess of peace. Following them, Augustus seems to be playing the role of princeps – making a sacrifice to the three gods (Freiberg, 9). He is followed by several flamines, or priests important to the state religion, discernable by their helmet-like hats. The procession is then followed by extremely important people during the reign of Augustus. Agrippa, the chief general and the right hand man of Augustus, can be seen bearing a large scroll. Following him is Julia (the daughter of Augustus). They are then followed by the most prominent woman on the Ara Pacis, believed to be Livia, the wife of Augustus, though this remains unclear (Simon, 18). She is followed by two boys, presumably to be the sons of Augustus, Gaius and Lucius.

A critical note in this procession is the mere inclusion of children. As discussed in class, children are almost never found in important proceedings such as this one. Augustus, who strongly advocated population increase and the Roman family as part of his social policy, proudly displays his own children on his triumph of peace. This is simply another example of Augustus’ ingenious usage of propaganda on the Ara Pacis.

After being constructed, the Ara Pacis eventually became neglected and buried in silt from the river Tiber over centuries. In Renaissance times, the Ara Pacis was rediscovered and broken into several pieces and distributed to various buildings. Due to the altar’s separation, many pieces were damaged. It was not till 1937 that all the fragments were recovered and Mussolini ordered the altar to be restored and protected.

Currently, the Ara Pacis resides in a new building designed by Richard Meyer. The monument still stands as a symbol of peace. One often forgets that the altar is like a triumph for Augustus and his accomplishments. The Ara Pacis is a prime example of how he manipulated images using propaganda to now only solidify his own reputation but to extend his own policies. It is proof that Augustus was a brilliant politician who revolutionized the usage of propaganda to affect public opinion. In any case, it is one of the best examples of Roman art from the empire that exists today.

Since the Ara Pacis was created fairly early in the Roman Empire (the time of Augustus), it is likely that it influenced most Roman art that occurred after it. According to Spaeth, the Tellus panel from the Ara Pacis was almost directly copied in a similar monument in Carthage in the 4th century AD (1). Various elements from the monument was also used in later Christian churches. For instance, the interior of the San Crisgono church in Rome contains acanthus scrolls.

Also, considering the fact that the Ara Pacis was found during the Renaissance, a time where Roman art was greatly emulated means that it was likely a source of inspiration for many artists who saw it.

(Top)The interior friezes of the San Crisogono contain swirling foliage

much like the bottom of the Ara Pacis.

(Bottom) A frieze under a mosaic painting at St. Peters also shows the same resemblance.

In researching all this, the element that surprised me the most has to be the amount of symbolism that is present on the Ara Pacis. Though I have discussed every single panel, I’ve merely scratched the surface of what some panels could possibly mean. There is much debate, for instance, about the meaning of the Tellus panel and the message that Augustus was trying to relay. Every additional thing I learned about the monument made me realize how great a politician Augustus truly was. It amazes me that two thousand years have passed and we still cannot fully comprehend the propaganda that he put on the Ara Pacis. I suppose it is this air of mystique that keeps visitors and scholars alike streaming to see the monument today.

Bibliography

Bushnell, Thomas. "The Deeds of the Divine Augustus ." MIT, 1998. Web. 24 Jun 2010. <http://classics.mit.edu/Augustus/deeds.html>.

Eck, Werner. Augustus. Blackwell Publishing, Malden MA, 2003.

Everitt, Anthony. Augustus. 1st ed. New York City, NY: Random House Inc, 2007. 1-160. Print.

Fagan, Garrett G. "AUGUSTUS." Pennsylvania State University, 05 Jul 2004. Web. 24 Jun 2010. <http://www.roman-emperors.org/auggie.htm>.

Freibergs, G. “Indo-European Tripartition and the Ara Pacis Augustae: An Excursus in Ideological Archaeology.” Numen 1986, Vol. 33, pp. 3-32.

Simon, Erika. ARA PACIS AUGUSTAE. 1st ed. Greenwich: New York Graphics Society LTD, 1986. 1-32. Print.

Spaeth, Barbette. "The Goddess Ceres in the Ara Pacis Augustae and the Carthage Relief." American Journal of Archaeology. 98.1 (1994): 65-100. Print.

I am a loser.

Yes. I am getting complacent in my blogging. Sorry everyone. My life just hasn't been that interesting.

Tuesday I essentially did nothing. We had class in the morning, then I basically hung around and posted photos. My dinner was modest at best. I bummed some pasta off Bennett and David. It was pretty good.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was basically the longest day of my life. I will talk about it now.

The day started bright and early at 9:30 AM (I know, right?). We meet up for Kathie's migration class, which really isn't like a class at all. We go to the Piazza del Vittorio, which was AWESOME.

First of all, the piazza, which was depicted as an open square. Now however, it is basically a giant grocery store. The entire space was covered from about 10 years ago, and now vendors line up each space selling everything from cuttlefish to lentils. Everything was amazingly fresh - and cheap! For instance, I bought: 2 carrots, 2 oranges, 4 apricots, and 1 apple for 1 euro.

That is outrageous. Despar has been stealing from me. To think, all that for a euro's bus ride away. The piazza market even had ingredients like ginger and shallots and leeks and fennel.

I must cheat on my fruit lady in the compo.

The stalls would be perfect for my photo essay. I'm nearly certain that a significant amount of workers there are illegal migrants. Too bad my camera ran out of batteries. I didn't get ANY photos of the market, which sucked since I saw shots everywhere.

Walking around was actually quite a revelation. I saw an absolute ton of Asian stores, which are likely fueled by illegal immigrants and cheap child labor. Interesting to say the least, especially considering what we talked about today (Thursday) in Kathie's class.

After the piazza, we basically had an hour's break for lunch. I rush through my art history reading just in time to meet at noon for art history. We talk about the palace of the Farnese family (now the French embassy) which happened to be right next door, Giordano Bruno, and then we walked (walked!) all the way to the Capitoline hill.

The museums there were probably my favorite so far. It was amazing how much Greek bronze they had. Even though I sort of embarrassed myself in front of Lisa by not being able to see Marcus Aurelius' beard, the museum was still super cool. I saw in person the bronze of the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus. Epic.

After that, we pretty much walked right across town to Hadrian's mausoleum, or the Castle d'Angelo. That was a super long walk, but we stopped in the middle for what is probably the best gelato I've ever had.

When we got there though, it was closed! Sad. :(

In any case, we returned and I basically blacked out from exhaustion.

Thursday was very eventful. Resat and Kathie's classes are both getting increasingly interesting, but the classroom was so hot that I barely paid attention at all.

A bunch of us saw the optional movie "The Leopard" tonight. Roman and I brought alcohol (and I brought cookies) to the movie. Resat, being the cool guy he is, definitely drank with us. That was really cool.

The movie made 0 sense. It was nearly 3 and a half hours long and featured nearly an hour of ballroom dancing.

After the movie, most of us chose to hit to bars since class begins a little later tomorrow (10 AM), but since I'm apparently breaking out in hives and getting destroyed by mosquitoes (photos to come - be patient), I chose to stay at home.

Another reason why I am a loser. :)