The Ara Pacis Augustae ('Altar of Augustan Peace') was decreed by the Senate in 13 BC to celebrate Augustus' return after three years in Gaul and Spain. It was built on the Campus Martius and dedicated on 30 January 9 BC. Reliefs round the side commemorate the mythical founder of the Roman people, Aeneas, Roma, and Pax, and depict reliefs of Augustus, his family, priests and attendants. The area was prone to flooding and by the 3rd century AD it was becoming buried. Fragments turned up from the 16th century, but it wasn't until 1903 that excavation work surveyed the plinth and remains. However, flooding prevented further work until 1937 when the ground was frozen to enable recovery of further pieces. In 1938 that the surviving pieces were reconstituted under a cover building next to Augustus' tomb (the altar originally stood some 450m south-east where its plnth remains buried). Sorry the video ends abruptly - that's when one of the custodians stopped me filming!
