Venus, Polysemy, And the Ara Pacis Augustae

7/28/2019 Venus, Polysemy, And the Ara Pacis Augustae

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/venus-polysemy-and-the-ara-pacis-augustae 1/20

Venus, Polysemy, and the Ara Pacis AugustaeAuthor(s): Karl GalinskySource: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 96, No. 3 (Jul., 1992), pp. 457-475Published by: Archaeological Institute of America

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/506068 .

Accessed: 21/04/2013 15:04

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Archaeological Institute of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to

American Journal of Archaeology.

http://www.jstor.org

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aia

http://www.jstor.org/stable/506068?origin=JSTOR-pdf



http://www.jstor.org/stable/506068?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aia



Venus, Polysemy,and the Ara PacisAugustaeKARL GALINSKY

Abstract

The intentionallymultipleiconographyof the "Tellus"

relief on the AraPacisAugustaedeliberatelywasdesignedto createmultiplemeaningsand associations.Attempts olimitit to one particular ype,such as Pax,are not tenablebecause none of the actuallyexisting iconographicdetailsand symbols, ncludingthe companion figures,areexclu-

sivelythose of Pax. The Zoilosrelief and the Sebasteionat Aphrodisiasshed new light on the iconographyof

Venus,as does the relationof the relief to the floralscrolls.The intentional polysemy of the relief is considered

against the background of Republican representations,religiousand artisticsyncretism, he occurrenceof multi-

valency n otherareasof the Augustanculture(includingthe ResGestae), nd withinthe totalconceptof the artisticand architecturalprogramof the Ara Pacis.The guiding

idea wasto representthe conceptof the Pax Augustanotsimply,such as by means of one image, but by evokingthe richness of its ramifications.Hence the complexandassociativeimageryof this particularAndachtsbild.*

Some 20 years ago, I proposed that the mytholog-ical relief on the southeast of the Ara Pacis was inter-

preted best in terms of its composite iconography,' as

it incorporates figural details and symbols especiallyof Venus and Terra Mater and, to a lesser extent, of

Pax (fig. 1). This "polysemous" interpretation of the

female figure and her two companions has appeared

in several subsequent discussions and been extendedto include Ceres.2 Conversely, it has been rejected on

the categorical grounds that "the possibility of givingtwo names to the same figure was completely alien to

Roman customs and mentality"3and with the specific

argument that a single identification as Pax Augustais appropriate.4

In view of these arguments, the extensive discussion

of the monument in the past two decades, and some

additional pertinent evidence especially from Aphro-

disias, it is useful to consider the state of the questionfrom three principal aspects: 1) whether a single icon-

ography, as exemplified by Pax, is both in evidenceand adequate; 2) without a return to a single inter-

pretation, the relevance of further material to the

iconography of Venus; and 3) the relation between

multivalence, especially multiple iconography and

viewer response, and an intended, central meaning.This involves the related discussion of the intellectual

level of the viewing public or, to borrow a useful term

from aesthetic and literary theory, the "horizon of

expectations" current at the time.

* I amgrateful

to DianeConlin,

DianaKleiner,EugenioLa Rocca,BernhardOverbeck,James Russell,Bert Smith,

and BarbetteSpaethfor severalhelpful suggestionsand tothe American Academy in Rome, especiallyits Director,

Joseph Connors,and its Librarian,LucillaMarino,for var-ious courtesiesduring my stay there as VisitingScholar nthe springof 1991.

The followingabbreviations re used:de Grummond N. de Grummond, "Pax Augusta and

the Horaeon the Ara PacisAugustae,"AJA94 (1990) 663-77.

Galinsky G.K.Galinsky,"Venus n a Relief on theAra PacisAugustae," nAeneas,Sicily,and Rome(Princeton1969) 191-241.An earlier version appeared in AJA70 (1966) 223-43.

H61scher T. Hl1scher,"DieGeschichtsauffassungin der r6mischen Reprisentations-kunst,'jdI 95 (1980)265-321.

Kaiser Augustus KaiserAugustus und die verloreneRepub-lik (Catalogue of Berlin Exhibition

1988).LaRocca E. La Rocca et al., Ara Pacis Augustae:

in occasione del restauro delfronte ori-entale(Rome 1983).

Torelli M. Torelli, Typologyand Structureof Ro-

man Historical Reliefs (Ann Arbor

1982).

Zanker P.Zanker, Augustus und die Macht derBilder(Munich1987).

The pointwas madeclearlyand repeatedly n the text

(Galinsky 00, 215, and224);de Grummond664 n. 3 makesit appearas if it had been relegatedto a footnote (Galinsky200 n. 34). Accordingly,here is scant mentionin her articleof my discussionof the iconographicdetails pertainingtoPax (Galinsky237-39), which was not lost on others (e.g.,Torelli42).

2 E.g., B. Andreae, Die Kunstdes alten Roms (Freiburg1989) 58-59; Torelli42; Zanker 139, fig. 136; H. Kenner,"DasTellusreliefderAraPacis,"OJh53 (1981/1982)41-42;M.D. Fullerton,"TheDomusAugusti n ImperialIconogra-phy of 13-12 B.C.,"AJA89 (1985) 480, n. 59; C.B. Rose,"'Princes' nd Barbarians n the Ara Pacis,"

AJA94 (1990)

467, n. 74; E.Bartman,JRA3 (1990)272, 277; MichaelC.J.Putnam,ArtificesfEternityIthaca1986)328-29; B. Spaeth,"Demeter/Ceresn the Ara Pacis and the CarthageRelief,"

AJA90 (1986)210 andina forthcomingbook;P.J.Holliday,"Time,History,and Ritual n the AraPacisAugustae,"ArtB72 (1990)551. On Ceres,cf. Galinsky 38-39 and K.Hanell,"DasOpferdesAugustusan der AraPacis,"OpRom (1960)116-18.

S. Settis,"DieAra Pacis," n KaiserAugustus413; cf.R.R.R.Smith,JRS 73 (1983)226 (reviewof Torelli)and E.Simon,Die Gutter derR6mer(Darmstadt1990) 207 n. 16.Contra,e.g., Zanker254 and Kenner(supran. 2) 41-42.

4de Grummond,passimand esp. 664.

AmericanJournal of Archaeology96 (1992)457

This content downloaded from 89.180.171.15 on Sun, 21 Apr 2013 15:04:21 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions






458 KARL GALINSKY [AJA96

..................

"viol

Oo

....

.............I : - , : , ~ a ~ i : ~ - ~ ' : i~ i A:

Fig. 1.Ara PacisAugustae.Femaledeitywithsymbolsof fruitfulness.(CourtesyDeutschesArchiologischesInstitut,Rome,neg.no. 86.1448)

THE ICONOGRAPHY OF PAX

Pax, under her aspect of Pax Augusta, is the ani-

mating concept of the entire pictorial program of the

altar proper and of the figural and floral decoration

of the precinct walls. The relief panel under discus-

sion is an integral part of this overall intent. "Venus,"

as I put it, "is the figure most emblematic of Pax."5

De Grummond quotes German Hafner,6 who uses

similar terms ("the motherly figure, surrounded by

children, animals, and lavish vegetation, personifiesthe blessings of peace"), to deduce from such a char-

acterization that "it is, of course, but a small stepfurther to

saythat she

actuallyis

Peace."'7It is, actually, quite a significant step. It needs to be

supported by the presence of sufficient iconographicdetails to enable us-and the Roman viewer-to iden-

tify the figure predominantly or even exclusively as

Pax. Virtually none of the few indices that are ad-

duced satisfy that criterion.

Poppies

and ears of corn

are symbolic of Ceres even more copiously than of

Pax; the same goes for the ears of grain or corn in

her crown, which also appear on coins of Venus.8 The

presence of two children-Pax or Eirene is always

represented with only one-is explained not with ref-

erences to literary or artistic comparanda, but with

the simple assertion that "it is natural that the Roman

goddess should double her offspring and have twins,

no doubt alluding to Italian fertility in general and

Romulus and Remus in particular; the twins Castor

and Pollux and their counterparts from the imperial

family,Gaius and Lucius and Tiberius and Drusus,

may have come to the viewer's mind as well."9 What

is correctly noted here is the richness of associations

that is precisely the hallmark of both the architectural

and the sculptural program of the Ara Pacis. It con-

5 Galinsky239.6 The Art of Rome, Etruria, and Magna Graecia (New

York1969) 192.7 de Grummond666.8 The figure'swreath s not a simplecoronaspicea,such

as the one worn,e.g., by the Terra Materon the cuirassofthe Augustusstatue from PrimaPorta,but "fiorie frutta"

(LaRocca43) predominate; he compositionof the wreath

is assimilated o the florasproutingforth to the left of the

figure. Ceres: Spaeth (supran. 2); Venus coins: Galinsky238 n. 143, fig. 164a.

9 de Grummond667-68. Cf. the interpretationof the

figureas Iliaby L. Berczelly,"Iliaand the Divine Twins.AReconsideration f Two Relief Panels from the Ara Pacis

Augustae,"ActaAArtHist (1985) 89-149.







1992] VENUS, POLYSEMY,AND THE ARA PACIS AUGUSTAE 459

travenes, ntrinsically, nyattemptto reduce thatmul-

tifacetedness to one aspect. The explanation de

Grummondproffers in fact fits Venus a great deal

better than Pax: she has an establishediconographywithtwochildren,and she is Genetrixandgeminorum

materamorum.'0As for furtherarguments n supportof anunequivocal dentificationas Pax,the collocation

of Pax and Roma is matched by that of Venus and

Roma,and the hypothesisthat the female figuremayhave held a caduceus in her hand" is an argumentumexsilentio n the absence of any traces.As de Grum-

mond herselfcandidlyadmits:"Unfortunately,we are

unable to make comparisonwith other monumental

images of Pax from Roman times, since no securelyidentifiedones have survived."'2

With this we come to the "Horae."Two basic,re-

latedpointsemerge.First, he sidefigureson the relief

are riding on creatures-a cetus and a swan-quiteunlikethoseon whichthe Horae arerepresentedeven

on late sarcophagi; this is fully recognized by de

Grummond.13 Second, the underlying reason is the

extraordinary range of associations of the Horae since

their beginnings in early Greek literature and art,

which produced anything but a fixed identification

with, or as, Eirene, let alone Pax.

The earliest mention of the Horae occurs in the

Iliad,wherethey appearas the keepersof Zeus's loud

gates (5.749-51). Hardly any traces of that function

are found in the subsequenttradition.Instead, two

basicvariantsare evident in Hesiod and the HomericHymns, where the Horae are mentioned several times.

In Theogony 01-903, Hesiod says of Zeus that "he

marriedbrightThemis who gave birthto the Horae,and [in the sense of 'that is'] Eunomia, Dike, and

blooming Eirene, who mind the works of mortal

men."Apparently, hat wasan innovationon Hesiod's

partbecause the usual, and stronger,tradition s one

that associates he Horae,who varyfrom two to three

in number,withAphroditeon the basis of theirorig-inal functionas seasons of life and growth.14 In Attic

cult, for instance, their names are Thallo and Karpo;'5the small boys held by the female deity on the Ara

Pacis are generally referred to as karpoi. In Hesiod'sWorks ndDays(74-75), the fair-hairedHorae,alongwiththe Charitesand Peitho,participate n crowningPandorawithspringflowers; he model, as Westcom-

ments,"seems o be a typicalscene in whicha goddesssuch as Aphrodite dresses and adorns herself with

help from her attendants.Cf. Cypria r. 4 (Aphroditewore clothes made for her by the Charites and Horai,

such as the Horai themselveswear,dyed with springflowers);Hornm.ymn6.5-13. (Aphrodite,emergingfrom the sea, is dressed by the Horai and adorned

with a gold headband, gold and orichalc ear-rings,

and gold necklaces)."'6The major portion of thatHymn oAphrodites devoted to the descriptionof the

work of the Horae who adorn her (lines 5-15; the

poem has 21 lines). Nor is the preceding descriptionof Aphrodite being carried by the "moistbreath ofthe westernwind over the watersof the sea"incom-

patiblewith the imagery of the Ara Pacis relief, in

particular he companionfigures.The use of the dualin the Hymnseems to indicatetwo Horae.17

In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo(3.194-203), the

Horae,Aphrodite,and the Gracesdancetogetheron

Olympuswhile Apollo playsthe lyre. As personifica-

tionsof fruitfulness and growth,they were naturallyassociatedwith Demeter, too.'s A good example of

the resultantmultiplicityn art is their representationwith Aphrodite, Demeter,and others on the ApolloThrone in Amyclae.19

Their representationin art reflects these associa-

tions and others before they are stereotyped into

Seasons especiallyfrom the third century A.C. on-

10 Ov.Fast.4.1; cf. B6mer'scommentaryadloc.andRose

(supran. 2) 467 with reference to A. Wlosok,"GeminorumMaterAmorum,"in E. Lefavreed., MonumentumChilon-

iense.Festschriftiir ErichBurck(Amsterdam1975)514-23

(cf. now "Amorand Cupid," n A. Wlosok,Res humanae-resdivinae.KleineSchriftenHeidelberg1990]101-15). The

appellationof alma Venus-an adjectiveshe shares with

Ceres,Pax, and MagnaMater-is particularly ppropriate.Aphroditewith twoor more Erotes:LIMCII.1, 118-21 (A.Dellivorias);Venus withtwo Cupids:denarius(103 B.C.)ofL.JuliusCaesar M.Crawford,TheRomanRepublicanCoin-

age [Cambridge1974]no. 320).1 de Grummond668, citing suggestionsof E. La Rocca

and G. Koeppel.12 de Grummond668.13 de Grummond 671.14 The pertinentreferences to ancientsources and mod-

ern scholarshipare readilyavailable n M.L.West,Hesiod.

TheogonyOxford 1966) 406-407; G.M.A. Hanfmann,TheSeasonSarcophagus t DumbartonOaks(Cambridge,Mass.

1951) 1.85;cf. now V. Machaira n LIMCV.1 (1990) 502-503.

15 Pausanias9.35.2;cf. Hyg.Fab. 183.16 M.L.West,Hesiod,Works ndDays(Oxford 1978) 161

wherefurtherdocumentationcanbe convenientlyfound.17 Forthisaspectand others,see T.W.Allen, W.R. Halli-

day, and E.E. Sikes, The HomericHymns2 Oxford 1936)374-75.

18 Details in N.J. Richardson,TheHomericHymnto De-meterOxford1974)83; LIMCV.1 (1990)503.

19Paus.3.19.4;see Hanfmann(supran. 14) 1.83.Cf. Ar.Pax 456, where Aphrodite,the Horae, the Graces,Pothos,and Hermes

appearas the antithesesof War.







460 KARLGALINSKY [AJA 96

?:::.:::~

.::--:::: .'; 3~s~88~

i : i iii -li-..

i; i

?;?1~.tR

~??::--':j-"arslllpP- srRi~-~ ~be~~

:---'

: ::-ii- :::-----'i:i'i'i"i'i'i'i'i':-'-_i-::ii~i--i-~iia-ii

:i-:::iiii::iiiiiii~:-ii-iiiii?ii::_'~ii-::-::-:~:-'iiiii~?i*i

Fig.2. Aphroditeandthe Horai. Stamnosof theTyszkiewiczPainter,DetroitInstituteof Arts.(CourtesyDetroitInstituteof Arts,neg. no. 32043)

ward.20As Hanfmann has wisely remarked, "the rep-resentations of the Horae in classical art are an

extremely difficult problem," especially because theytend to be shown as "general and distant symbols."One specific element, however, is that "their appear-

ance in processions corresponds to the description ofthe Homeric Hymn of Aphrodite."21 We see them,

i.a., in connection with the marriage of Peleus and

Thetis, the mission of Triptolemus, Herakles' recep-tion on Olympus, and as Aphrodite's attendants as

she is readying herself for the Judgment of Paris (fig.

2).22 This last association is attested for stage perfor-mances as late as the time of Apuleius (Met. 10.32.9).

In sum, in the case of the Horae we are dealingwith an iconographic tradition that up to the time of

Augustus and beyond is as diverse as it can be unspe-

cific. In mythography, this is reflected by their acqui-sition of no fewer than nine names as is shown by the

compilation of Hyginus, Augustus's freedman (Fab.

153). That very adaptability, of course, may have

appealed to the designers of the Ara Pacis as theyendeavored to create as large a range of associations

as possible with a concomitant multi-referential im-

agery. At the same time, this obviates any attempt to

limit the meaning of the figures to Pax and Horae;

certainly, the iconographic evidence belies the pres-ence of an exclusive typology. Even if we could con-

strue, at best, a Greek Eirene out of the scant

iconographic evidence that would support such an

interpretation, we would need to consider that this is

not simply an Ara Pacis, but an Ara Pacis Augustae.That, as Momigliano recognized many years ago, calls

for a connection with "traditional Roman mores" and

"the values of a moral andreligious

tradition which

Augustus understood."23For similar reasons, the pos-ited similarities between the Athenian Altar of Pityand the Ara Pacis have rightly been categorized as no

more than generic.24

THE ICONOGRAPHY OF VENUS

In addition to the material I adduced previously,two aspects merit discussion. One is the connection

with sculpture at Aphrodisias. The other is the rela-

tion between the imagery of Venus and the floral

frieze.

AphrodisiasAs I noted in my earlier discussion, the closest

typological parallels between the Ara Pacis goddess as

Venus under her aspect as goddess of earth, sea, and

sky are the cult images of the Aphrodisian Aphro-dite.25 Aphrodisias also furnished, in terms of both

artistic conceptualization and style, a close precedent,which has led Bernard Andreae to posit that the Ara

Pacis was a product of the same workshop.26 That is

the monument of Zoilos at Aphrodisias, dating from

20 SeeLIMCV.1 (1990)503-38 and Hanfmann(supran.

14)passim.21 All quotationsare from Hanfmann(supran. 14)98.22 Stamnosof the TyszkiewiczPainter ca.480 B.C.);De-

troit,Instituteof Arts,inv. 1924.13.ARV2291.28;C. Clair-

mont,DasParisurteiln derantikenKunst(Zurich1951)48,

pls. 31-32; B. Philippakis,TheAtticStamnos Oxford 1967)36, pl. 23;LIMCV.1 (1990)507 no. 41.

23A.D. Momigliano,"The Peace of the AraPacis,"JWarb5 (1942)229-30. On the differencein iconographybetweenEireneand Paxsee G.G.Belloni,"Espressioniconografichedi 'Eirene'e di 'Pax',"n M. Sordi ed., La pace nel mondoantico Milan1985) 127-45; E. Simon,Eireneund Pax.Frie-

densgittinnenn derAntike(SitzungsberichteerWissenschaft-lichenGesellschaftn derJohannWolfgangGoethe-Universitiit

Frankfurt mMain 24.3, Stuttgart1988).24 Cf. Smith(supra n. 3) 226 and Torelli 57 n. 12 con-

cerningthe argumentsof H. Thompson,"TheAltarof Pityin the Athenian Agora,"Hesperia21 (1952) 79-82; also,A.H. Borbein, "Die Ara Pacis Augustae. GeschichtlicheWirklichkeitund Programm," dI 90 (1975) 246-48. Themorespecificresemblances o the AraAugustiat Miletusareanotherindicationof interactionwith Graeco-RomanAsiaMinor; see K. Tuchelt, "Bouleuterionund Ara Augusti,"IstMitt25 (1975) 136-40.

25 Galinsky 16-17 withfig. 160.Reference s to thereliefdecorationof thesestatues;seeLIMCII (1984)151-54, esp.nos. 18-40 (R.Fleischer).

26

Andreae(supran. 2) 59.







1992] VENUS, POLYSEMY,AND THE ARA PACISAUGUSTAE 461

the late 30s or the 20s B.C.27 It most probably was aheroon or commemorative monument for Julius Zo-

ilos, a freedman of the "son of the divine Julius." The

epigraphic evidence attests that Zoilos was a majorbenefactor of the city, probably not in the least becauseof his relations with

Octavian/Augustus.

:-::

i~i !:! i

:.[i~i

Fig.3. Monumentof Zoilos,Aphrodisias.Representation fPolis. (After A. Alf61ldi,Aion in Merida und Aphrodisias[Mainz1979]pl. 23)

iiiii--i-i_-i-ii-

ii::i::

: r•

iri:-~ii?!i:_..ii:i~i•i?:;

iri?-i iii

Fig.4. Monumentof Zoilos,Aphrodisias.Time crownsZo-ilos. (AfterA.

Alfoldi,Aion n

Meridaund

AphrodisiasMainz1979]pl. 24)

The decorative program of the frieze showed Zoilossurrounded and being welcomed by various symbolic

and allegorical figures. He is being greeted by Demosand crowned by Polis (fig. 3). Polis, of course, is the

representation of Aphrodisias. Her iconography,therefore, is assimilated to Aphrodite with her velifi-catio, which recurs on the side figures of the Ara Pacisrelief, and her clinging drapery; the modeling of the

drapery around one shoulder and the breasts is sim-ilar to that of the central

figureon the Ara Pacis

relief.Both the latter and Polis wear crowns: respectively,one of fruits and flowers and a mural crown. Zoilos is

shown again as being crowned by Time (= Honos)

(fig. 4).28 Her upper body is bare like that of the side

figures of the Ara Pacis relief in the manner of the

27 The most importantdiscussionsare K. Erim, "TheZoilusFrieze,"n A. Alfbldied., Aion in MeridaundAphro-disias. (MadriderBeitriige6, Mainz 1979) 35-37; Erim,Aphrodisias. ityof VenusAphroditeLondon 1986) 137-39;A. Giuliano,"Rilievodi Aphrodisiasn onore di ZOILOS,"

ASAtene37/38 (1959/1960)389-401. For the epigraphicalevidence for the date of the monument,seeJ. Reynolds n

Alf6ldi (supra)38-40 and in Aphrodisiasnd Rome.(JRSMonograph1,London 1982) 158-59.

28 Cf. the hypothesis hatHonosmightbe presenton theRomapanel of the AraPacis;at the time of this writing, nfact, the youthfulhead of "Iulus"on the Aeneas panel isbeingtransposed o the Romareliefas Honos.







462 KARLGALINSKY [AJA96

i;:-:ii-:i---_iii-iiiiiiiia~~i8"i~i~iiisiiiiii~irii_~i?;;iei;---ii

_- --

""":"'i'i"":?iiiij_;i-__---?:;-; ;;;

a:

-..:ii-ii;~'-::::-;ii-

ii:?'t?~~.-?-?~?i-ii?iiiiiiiiiii:.. -.;;liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-i;_i:i::i?iiii"iiiiiiii;;iaiiiiiiiiii

i:iii;;'i~ iii;iiiiiiiii;i~?i!!iiiiii;iiii?i'ii": ii I-iii-iiijilg~a~ii

; -I--.lii:i:'-ii:iiliiiiiijiiiiiiiiiiiii;i:;;:-:. iii:iiiiii::iii:illli- -:::iiiiiiiiii

~:'".":.""." i: - t .~::.'P ? iiiiiiii:::i::-:i--iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiziiiiiiiiii.; --iii;i:iii--iiiiiiiiiii:iiiiiiiiiiii:iiiiii:ii:::--j:j;p;;;-ii?~:;~;:.i:i;;iiiiii;~:iiiii-_i:

""-?miii;;.---i-.:_ii-?;_:iiiiiiiiiiii:i:ii?:"'::-:i:-i'-;: "---

~..c'i-i;~l-ii-':li~;:-";!:.i~-~? ~arr??:: -:::::~~:.l?;i;ili;';~?~li~--l~j:~~!;;i~i~;-:i::iiii-iiii;-i:-:

?""8tilil~81~"~8~"~8Si'?:ii%;-

;"":;

- :I -il-i:iii-i-: i :; i

Fig. 5. Monument of Zoilos, Aphrodisias.The goddessRoma. (After A. Alfl1di, Aion in Merida und Aphrodisias

[Mainz1979]pl. 26a)

Arles Aphrodite type,29 and she holds a cornucopia.Other personifications are Andreia (= Virtus), Aion

(resembling Kronos or Saturn), Mneme (= Fama),and Roma. As the Roma on the Ara Pacis, Roma here

is seated and turned to the left, resting her left arm

on a clupeus (fig. 5). Since the exact sequence and

arrangement of the Aphrodisias panels cannot yet be

established with absolute certainty, generalizationsabout the total program need to be made with care.

It can be argued, however, that relative to the Ara

Pacis, the various allegories are juxtaposed ratherthan integrated into an ambitious ensemble. The

lesser degree of sophistication is also indicated by the

outright labeling of most of the figures (Roma is an

exception, but there are traces of an inscription on

her shield). A common element of the two monu-

ments, however, is the combination of diverse icono-

graphies-one can only speculate how Time would

have been identifiedwithoutan inscription--andthe

inspiration rom variousartisticstylesand traditions.

The interactionbetween Rome and Aphrodisiaswasreciprocal.This is stronglysuggested bythe relief

sculpturesof the Sebasteion and especiallythose of

its southportico,

which was builtmostly during

the

first half of the firstcenturyA.C. The reliefs in the

lower story representGreekmyths,and those in the

upper storythe emperorsandmembersof their fam-

ily.30Their exact collocationand the degree of con-

nection between the mythological and imperial

representationswillrequiresomespeculation n most

cases.An exceptionis the reliefs above Room I at the

east end, where a generalized representationof the

VictoriaAugusti,here an Augustuswith Nike and a

trophy, seems to be have been accompaniedin the

lowerstory by reliefs withAeneas'sflight from Troy

(fig.6),and with

Aphrodite,Eros,and Anchises

(fig.

L-;i

..-d.- ::'-i::

-s I:-~~k~s~g~B~ga~~0~'r~ 'i

dd:5.:

??.:i

' .-::: ; : ~:

-:::;:?:

::?

I:?i

-i;z?.: :::?:i^C':P--.

",:::: :" nii

i: :i?it:-l: ,--.a-:: :1

i' hI; ;

LLi

?: ?.

i:?

i:

A--,--~-

as~a~s~e~s~ia~_l _

;-r

a. ,U~~

r

Fig. 6. Relieffrom the Sebasteionat Aphrodisias.Aeneas's

flight from Troy under Venus's protection. (After C.

Rouech6and K.T.Erimeds.,Aphrodisias apers JRASuppl.1, Ann Arbor1990]98, fig. 9)

29 Fordetails,see Giuliano(supran. 27) 395.

30 See R.R.R.Smith, "TheImperialReliefsfrom the Se-

basteion at Aphrodisias," RS 77 (1987) 88-139; Smith,

"Mythand Allegoryin the Sebasteion,"n C. Rouech6andK.T. Erimeds.,Aphrodisiasapers JRASuppl.1,Ann Arbor

1990)89-100; Erim1986 (supran. 27) 106-23.








: ::::::::::_:i..

:" :b "!~'?' ?:j~6?

,c:

--:-;- ::-::li

:

'B

:i:n-b

P

--:.-

-:::-::

Fig.7. Relief from the Sebasteionat Aphrodisias.Anchises,

Eros,and Venus. (After C. Rouech6and K.T. Erimeds.,

AphrodisiasapersIRA Suppl.1,AnnArbor1990]98,fig.9)

7). The schema of the flight is the familiar one "but

with the 'local' addition of an escorting Aphrodite in

the background."3• While her blowing veil is only

suggested here, her velificatio is worked out fully in

the relief with Anchises and Eros. The figure is seated

and the

velificatio

cannot be explained by vigorousmotion. As Smith remarks: "The carefully elaborated

Aphroditeand babyEros seem to be a unique compo-sition with a perhaps intentional allusion to the fa-

mous Tellus figure on the Ara Pacis"32and more

particularly, to the companion figures. It is another

indication that these figures on the Ara Pacis relief

need to be understood under the iconographic aspectof Venus. Their conventional identification as Aurae,

as de Grummond has demonstrated, rests on the

thinnest of foundations.33

The Floral Scrolls

Preoccupation with the figural reliefs on the uppertier of the outside walls of the enclosure of the Ara

Pacis has led to a neglect of the fact that the reliefs

with the floral scrolls are considerably larger: their

height is 1.82 m, as compared with 1.55 m for the

upper reliefs.34A look at the model (fig. 8), which can

be viewed from a greater distance than the present

monument, makes the different proportions even

more obvious. It is the largest known application of

the motif from antiquity. Its function goes well beyondmere decoration as it contributes significantly to the

Ems r,%1::.:X1, .4T

o i l 'tic-:--

IM????-

:Eno

. .

Fig. 8. Model of the Ara PacisAugustae.Rome,Museodella CiviltaRomana. AfterKaiserAugustus 22, Kat.226)

~' Smith n Aphrodisiasapers supran. 30) 97.32 Smithin Aphrodisiasapers supran. 30) 97. The allu-

sionmaybe enhancedbythe possiblereferenceof the other

side panelwith Poseidon and a standingmale figure, capite

velatoand with a long cloak,to Aeneas'sarrivaln Italy.

33 de Grummond669.34 T. Kraus,Die RankenderAraPacis(Berlin 1953)9; G.

Koeppel,"DiehistorischenReliefs der r6mischenKaiserzeit

V: Ara PacisAugustae1,"BJb187(1987) 108-37.







464 KARL GALINSKY [AJA 96

S I R :-:?-:i-i-i:iiof, ",:

Fig. 9. Ara PacisAugustae, loral frieze.Snakeattackingbird'snest.(Photo:Diane

Conlin)

-104 J tt, . ,:- 7.

jY 4'.

Fig. 10. Ara PacisAugustae,floralfrieze.Scorpion. Photo:DianeConlin)

meaning of the monument. L'Orange's high-flownand sweeping interpretation, based mostly on some

lines in Vergil's Fourth Eclogue, of the floral scroll as

a reflection of the aurea aetas has come to be consid-

ered axiomatic and been repeated uncritically,35but

is untenable simply in view of the complexity of the

35 H.P.L'Orange,"AraPacisAugustae.Lazonafloreale,"

ActlnstRomNorv (1962)7-16; hence, e.g., Zanker 184-88

("dieparadiesischenRanken");LaRocca45 ("l'etadi oro");E.Simon,AraPacisAugustae Tfibingen1967)13.The mostdetailedstudy of the artistic tradition s still that of Kraus

(supra n. 34), supplemented by C. B6rker,"Neuattischesund Pergamenischesan den Ara Pacis Ranken,"Jdl 88

(1973) 283-317; H. Buising,"Rankeund Figuran der AraPacisAugustae,"AA92 (1977)247-57; andG.Sauron,"Les

modblesfundrairesclassiquesdans l'art decoratif neo-at-

tique,"MEFRA 91 (1977) 183-236 and "Lemessageesth6-tique des rinceaux de l'Ara PacisAugustae,"RA 1988, 3-40. Sauron's rticleon "Lemessagesymboliquedes rinceauxde l'Ara PacisAugustae,"CRAI 1982, 81-101 is good at

pointingout the discrepancies etweenthe floralfriezes andEcl. 4.19-30, but is flawedby problematicoverinterpreta-

tions.








'K:

/ /.-,iai-~~~___-~iiiiE :

1--1g1:: /ii~~iii~

i*~ii~i/

::::j-::i::-:: :_I

?::-: a_-~jk

Fig. 11.Erosand floral crolls.LekythosbyDouris.Cleveland

Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Fund, 66.114.

(CourtesyClevelandMuseumof Art,neg. no. 36910A)

tradition of the Golden Age by the time of Vergil andAugustus.36 Discreet as it may be, the presence, for

instance, of snakes attacking a bird's nest (fig. 9) and

of scorpions (fig. 10) accords well with Vergil's refor-

mulation of the Golden Age in the Georgics as one

based on unremitting work against harmful obsta-

cles.37 At the time of the reditus of Augustus in 13

B.C., which the Ara Pacis celebrates, there was no

indication of the utopia of the Fourth Eclogue, but far

more realistic dimensions prevailed: Augustus's prin-

cipal action after his return, as Dio relates in the same

chapter in which he discusses the genesis of the Ara

Pacis, was to settle the long-standing problem of the

compensation of the soldiery, a measure that "in the

rest of the population . .. aroused confident hopes

!iii:-

:i--

-ii!i-iiii:i

-ii:ii-i l

AL % * t A ;

Fig. 12. Eros and floral scrolls.Lekythosby the SyriskosPainter. Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Antiken-Sammlung.

(CourtesyStaatlicheMuseenzu Berlin,neg. no. Ant. 4076)

that they would not in the future be robbed of theirpossessions" (54.25.6). This was one aspect of pax,

too, as a lingering relic of the civil wars was finallylaid to rest; on the foreign front, so far from the gatesof the Temple of Janus staying closed for long, paxwas parta victoriis (Res Gestae 13) and conquests con-

tinued.38

Clearly, the floral scroll, which is a tour de force in

purely artistic terms (as Kraus has observed, "neither

previously nor later was a surface of more than 20 m2

ever decorated with a continuous vegetal ornament

arising out of one root"),39expresses the notion of

the growth and abundance of vegetation accompany-

ing the age of the Pax Augusta. Another corollary is

that this growth is ordered, although several asym-

36 See B. Gatz, Weltalter,oldeneZeit und sinnverwandte

VorstellungenHildesheim1967);cf. EnciclopediaVirgiliana1.412-18, s.v. aurea aetas(M.Pavan).For the long traditionof agricultureas a symbolof peaceunder an ideal ruler seethe sources istedbyA.J.Woodman,Velleius aterculus.TheCaesarianand AugustanNarrative(2.41-93) (Cambridge1983)255.

37G. 1.121-59; cf. my discussionin Atti del Convegnomondialescientifico i studisu Virgilio Milan1984) 1.241-

43; Settis(supran. 3) 417; and P.A.Johnston,Vergil'sAg-riculturalGoldenAge:A Studyof theGeorgicsLeiden1980).

38 For the reflectionof these warlike hemeson Augustanmonuments, including the Ara Pacis, see the perceptiveremarksof E.S.Gruen,"Augustus nd the Ideologyof Warand Peace," n R. Winkesed., TheAge of Augustus Provi-dence 1985)60-63.

39Kraus(supran. 34) 5.








! _ - i ! ! i i i !

~ ~

. . . . . . .

ii~iiiii

•

;::

:di).;ii:::-rl_-::;:,:'

:::

::)}:...

-:---::i-i-:N ?

Fig. 13. Statue of female deity from Cumae. Frontalview.

(CourtesySoprintendenzaalle AntichithNapoli [Caserta]

neg. no. 37.1963)

metries prevent monotony and indicate the Augus-tan sense of nuance rather than a neurotic rage for

order.40

~~li~~li~~s~'~::::::-:

:::--: : -

:: -i-_:~i--

::::::::.:_O"ii-:--:::::: : : -i _-:i---:i-:::;::-iiii

i --:_-::-i-::

-I'-~~~-'--::::-i~:siiiiij^

i~iiiii:i-:

I --i:-~--!-i~il--~--:

:::---:::

u~~i::: ::':i:~~i:::-~-~:_i~iiiiPi~~:i:_-i---

::

n?~:i:-:li::i:~::sl-i':~l:iill~-::-:_-.-

'"-?~?~:-ls~n":"?_ ?-r J"-:.--~_?~?,!C~.i :_-: ;-? ::. ii-ii:-iii-

l:,s::::::~:i::: .; r:~,_:_;:::::i:;::iii-:-,~~~i:~-:::-::::i: :- ::.E"':::-::::,__::;:~i-

:::i-i

:

:I-:__,_~-ii -ii:,:~~~-:iiiiFii"i'i~,:;g~''~''~''iiiii:iiii-i'__-ii:ii-iiiiiiiii

:i:::

i? :-::::: :

---.: - ~e:--i:iii-

iFil: : .. :

:---

':::i::?::-?: -?_:

:: :::i-::~

s:?i:i:i__:iii---:ii

~-;:~-?:_' i~:::~"-~-:)i?:~--:_i-~::--

lii iijiii- -:_: ::-

ii-cl~~~~~

Fig. 14. Statue of female deity from Cumae. Rear view.

(CourtesyDeutschesArchiologischesInstitut, Rome, neg.no. 83.1888)

There are several examples of connections between

the ambience of Aphrodite/Venus and floral scrolls.

On a lekythos by Douris, Atalanta is pursued by Erotes

40 E.g.,the distancebetween heswansandthefloral talksvaries on the long friezes (Bising [supran. 35] 248); also,Sauron 1977 (supran. 35) 209: "Alorsque l'axecentral de

la composition,c'est-A-diree candelabrev6g6tal,r6pond

"

un principede sym6trie .. les deux axeslaterauxfondentune dissym6triea l'int6rieurde chaquemoiti6de composi-tion." "Neurosis"becauseof "strictly ymmetricalorder":

Zanker185.We are dealingwith valuejudgments;whatever








.......--

............

....

, % n o

iiiii

!iiiii

l.;;.:?.? ? i . : . . . . .. . . . . . -

Fig. 15. Erotesand floral scrolls. Silver craterfrom Hildes-

heim Treasure,AntikenmuseumBerlin. (Photo:Johannes

Laurentius)

one of whom holds a floral spray in his right hand

and a fuller palmette and bud tendril in his left (fig.

11).41 The florals recur on the shoulder of the vase.

Similarly, a flying Eros holding in each hand a tendril

with palmettes and a blossom decorates the shoulder

of a

lekythos by

the

Syriskos

Painter

(fig.12).42Closer

to the time of the Ara Pacis, around A.D. 7, a statue

of a seated female deity holding a child was set up in

the Forum at Cumae.43 The figure is seated on a

throne covered by acanthus scrolls akin to those of

the Ara Pacis (figs. 13-14). The statue probably is a

copy of a Rhodian work; it is not clear whether the

floral decoration of the throne was part of the original

composition or was executed especially for the Cu-

maean copy. If it was inspired by the Ara Pacis, it was

in good company: the famous Augustan silver crater

from the Hildesheim treasure is a playful adaptationof the Ara Pacis scrolls

(fig. 15).44The

largely sym-metrical arrangement is still present, except that Cu-

pids now take the place of the swans and try to catch

fishes and locusts. Zanker has aptly characterized it as

i:~:,~_~&~~,-:;_~_::::_:-~:_?i:i,:-~??~~ii-:~~a-inn?:onii~:a~l:~:~?Ui-:--i~~~l

. . . .. . . . . .

Fig. 16. VictoriaCaesaris.Friezefragmentfrom the Temple of DivusJulius,Rome.

(CourtesyDeutschesArchiologischesInstitut,Rome,neg. no. 63.1233)

"monotony"remains is dispelled by the decidedly non-monotonousrepresentationof the individualsparticipatingin the processions.Also,there is the questionof a construc-tive alternative o an orderedfloral frieze-a more disorga-nizedone, perhaps?

41 Cleveland66.114;ARV2 446 no.226bis;CVACleveland

1.21-23,pls.32-35; D.C.Kurtz,AtticWhiteLekythoiOxford

1975)30-31, pls. 10.2and 11.42

Berlin (formerly East)2252; ARV2 263 no. 54; Kurtz

(supran. 41) 127-28, pl. 8.1b.43 M.E.Bertoldi,"Recenti cavie scopertea Cuma,"BdA

58 (1973) 40, figs. 6-7; Settis (supran. 3) 417, fig. 193.Identifiedby Bertoldi as Psycheand Cupid, by Zanker309as the samedeityas on the Ara Pacis.

44 E. Perniceand F. Winter,Der HildesheimerSilberfund(Berlin 1901)61-64, pls. XXXII-XXXIII; U. Gehrig,Hil-desheimerSilberfundBerlin 1967)20, figs. 2-5.








a privateand lightheartedadaptationof the Altar's

Fruchtbarkeitsprogrammatik.45It was not a purely whimsical transference: the

swansof the Ara Pacisrefer not merelyto Apollo,butto Venus, the Genetrix of the domusAugusta.46An-other indication of this connection is the most imme-

diate predecessorof the acanthus frieze of the AraPacisin Rome. Significantly, hat is the frieze of the

Temple of DivusJulius, dedicatedin 29 B.C.47There

a Victoriafigure sprouts forth from acanthusleaves

amid the candelabra-like crollsand tendrilsthat re-cur on the AraPacis(fig. 16).The iconographyof the

figuredeliberatelygoes beyond that of a genericVic-

toria and is intended to have severalmeanings.48The

acanthusscrollsassociateher withVenus,the deityof

vegetation.Venus, forJulius Caesar,was both Venus

Genetrix and Venus Victrix. Both, as Mommsen

showedlong ago,

were subsumed under theconceptof VictoriaCaesaris.49The multiplicityof the concept

produceda multipleand associativeiconography hat

serveddynasticpurposes.

POLYSEMY

The same is true of the pictorialprogramof theAraPacisAugustae.In order to dojusticeto the manyramificationsof the concept of the Pax Augusta,the

artistsintentionallychose to represent Pax not one-

dimensionallyas, for instance,by means of a statue.

Paradoxically, hat absence was the basis of Stefan

Weinstock'sfamous argument that the monumentthereforecould not be the Altar of AugustanPeace.50

It wascountered with the hypothesisthat Pax surelywasrepresentedsomewhere on the Ara Pacis,which

really amounts to accepting Weinstock'spremise.Thus Toynbee, followingHanell, imagineda person-ificationof Pax to be present near Augustus on thesouth frieze; Simon posited a statueof Pax near the

altar;de Grummondspeculatesabout the possibilityof a caduceus in the hand of Venus/Tellus,and soon.5' The fundamental realization,however,of the

designers and artistswas that the Pax Augusta wastoo richa conceptto be presentedso simply.52Hence

the challenge they set themselveswas to represent it

by evoking the comprehensivenessof its many asso-ciations.This is reflectedbythe multilayeredrelation-

ships between the images on the various relief

panels-the full meaning, as in Pompeian pictorial

programs, emerges only when they are "read"orviewed in conjunctionwith one another-and by the

equallymultilayeredandcomplexiconographyof theVenus/Tellus/Pax elief.

One circumstance hat may have given the artiststhis freedom was the erection of a cult statueof Pax

in 11 B.C. Dio (54.35.2) reports that Augustus re-ceived a donation of silver from the Senate and the

People to have a statue made of himself. As always,he refused to do so and instead had statueserected

ofSalus,Concordia,

and Pax. Since Ovid mentionsasacrifice o these three deities andJanus on 30 March

(Fasti3.881-82), Wissowaassumed the construction

of a sanctuarywith altars and statuesto these deitieswherethe annualfestivalwasheld on 30 March.53Yet

the Fasti Praenestini (CIL I2, p. 234) mentionno such

event,and Dio speaksonlyof eikones nd not of altars.

Ovid,on the other hand,besidesaddingJanus,refersto ara Pacis (iam adorantescumquehoc Concordia mitis/et Romana Salus araque Pacis erit) and it would be

disingenuousto saythat this is an ara other than theAra Pacis,especiallyas his reference to alma Venus,

geminorummaterAmorumoccurs only three lines later,at Fasti 4.1. The janiform configurationof the AraPacis may have suggested to Ovid the addition of

Janus.Still, even these additional arguments are not

enough to support Hanell's hypothesis that Salus,Concordia,and Pax therefore appeared on the AraPacisAugustae.54Dio speaksof eikones, tatues,and

the theorythat Pax,Salus,and Concordiaweremadean annualsacrificeon 30 Marchraisesmoreproblemsthan it solves: Pax in that case would have had two

45Zanker 87-88.46 Bilsing (supra n. 35) 248 n. 7; Galinsky209-10 with

referenceto the frieze of the Apolloaltarat Aries;Bartman

(supran. 2) 272.

47 Kraus(supran. 34) 41-42; Helbig411.828-29no. 2057(E. Simon),especiallywith reference to inv. 3693; H61scherin KaiserAugustus373-74, no. 206.

48 I followthe interpretationof Simon(supran. 47) 829wherethe relevantdocumentationcanbe found;see esp. H.

Jucker,DasBildnis mBlitterkelch.GeschichtendBedeutungeinerromischen ortratformBibliotecaHelveticaRomana3,Rome 1961) 201-203. Also germane to the connectionofthe images of Roma and Venus on the Ara Pacis is thefrequentrepresentationof Caesar'sVenus with a shieldon

her side; see, e.g., Crawford (supra n. 10) 480/9-18 andBMCRR1.547 nos. 4169-75. Cf. the denarius of Octavian,

issued between32 and 29 B.C.:RIC 12 p. 59 no. 250a.

49CIL12, pp. 322-23.50 "Pax and the 'Ara Pacis',"JRS 50 (1960) 44-58.

51J.M.C. Toynbee, "The Ara PacisAugustae,"JRS 51(1961) 153-54; E.Simon,Augustus.KunstundLeben n Romum dieZeitenwendeMunich1986)30; de Grummond668,citingsuggestionsof E.LaRoccaandG. Koeppel.A goddessholding two childrenand a caduceuscertainlywouldhaveher handsfull.

52 Cf. Momigliano supran. 23) 229-31 and Zanker177-81.

53 G. Wissowa,Religionund KultusderRomer2 Munich1912)329.

54Hanell(supran. 2) 95-98; followedby Toynbee(supra

n. 51) 153-54.








annual festivals at the Ara Pacis,a problem that Hanell

tries to resolve by arguing that the sacrifice on 30

January really was not to Pax, but to Augustus. All

that can be safely said is that the connection between

Ovid's notice and Dio's is unclear.55 Dio speaks of a

statue of Paxbeing

setup

somewhere in Rome at the

time the Ara Pacis was built. It can be safely assumed

that this statue showed Pax in her traditional iconog-

raphy. There was, therefore, no need to do the same

in the much more ambitious, conceptualized, and

intellectualized pictorial program of the Ara Pacis

Augustae.

Sophisticated programs of this kind did not lack

precedent in Rome. A conspicuous example is the

honorary monument for Sulla erected by the Maure-

tanian king Bocchus in the city around 91 B.C.56

While presupposing a high degree of intellectual un-

derstandingon the

partof the

viewer,its individual,

multivalent images and motifs (including Victoria,

Erotes, Hercules, Jupiter's eagle, and the Dioscuri)lack any relation to one another except for expressingdifferent aspects of Sulla's ideology. The pictorial

program on the Ara Pacis, by contrast, is much more

cohesive. Its images, even more so than the mere

juxtaposition of emblems on the Bocchus monument,

have several significances and challenge especially the

educated viewer to discover the many associations that

make up the entire program, i.e., the notion of the

Pax Augusta. Five related aspects or backgrounds of

the resultant and deliberate multivalence need to be

considered briefly to provide some context.

1) As H61scher has masterfully demonstrated with

reference especially to numismatic representations of

the last century of the Republic,57historical represen-

tation, and particularly the representation of formerlyshared concepts (such as fides, exemplified in the

paintings from the third-century Fabian Tomb on the

Esquiline),58yields to an unrestrained proliferation of

private representations and values. There are dispar-

ate efforts to urge the acceptance of such individual

values or "programs" as public ones, but all this ex-

presses only the excessive relativization of the respub-lica into a multiplicity of res privatae.59 Formerlycommunal values are privatized: the Roma Victrix of

the entire Roman

people

on a denarius of 119 B.C.60

changes into the personal goddess of victorious gen-erals from Marius to Caesar, especially the Venus

Victrix of Sulla, Pompey, and Caesar.6' A good ex-

ample is one of Caesar's denarii, struck in 44 B.C.,

which shows his wreathed head, with the legend dic-

tatorperpetuuson the obverse, and his ancestress Ve-

nus, holding a statuette of Victory in her right hand

and a scepter in the left, on the reverse (fig. 17).62

::

::::

Fig. 17. Denariusof Caesar,reverse.Venus Victrix.(Cour-

tesyStaatlicheMiinzsammlung,Munich)

A related development, which also provides one of

thebackdrops

to thepolysemy

ofAugustan art,

is the

plethora of personifications into which the represen-tation of formerly communal concepts and abstrac-

tions, such as libertas,pietas, pax, andfides, is dissolved

by moneyers who use them for the projection of

personal interests.63 Their representation, which orig-inated from the cult statues of these deities in their

temples, now is freed from such a referential context.

Given a virtually unlimited allowance for free play, it

develops into a multiplicity of personifications, alle-

55It is significanthat Ovid'sotherwiseindefatigablemod-

ern commentator,FranzB6mer,does not takeup this issueat allin his brief annotationson Fast.3.882(P.OvidiusNaso.Die Fasten2 [Heidelberg1958] 204).

56 For a good summarywith illustrationsand completebibliographyee T. H61schern KaiserAugustus384-86; cf.

H6lscher,Staatsdenkmalnd PublikumXenia9, Constance

1984)17-18.

57 H61scher 69-81; H61scher, DieBedeutungder Min-zen zum Verstandnis der Reprasentationskunster r6m-ischen Republik,"n Proceedings f the Ninth International

Congress fNumismaticsLouvain1982)1.269-82;cf. Zanker

21-28.

58 Helbig II4 no. 1600 (B. Andreae);F. Coarelli n Roma

medio-repubblicanaRome1973)200-208; H61scher 70-71;

for a different interpretation,see E. La Rocca, "FabiooFannio,"DialArch3rd ser.2 (1984) 31-53.

59 H61scher 71-73; Crawford(supran. 10)729-44; C.J.Classen,"VirtutesRomanorumnach dem Zeugnisder Miin-zen republikanischerZeit,"RM 93 (1986) 257-79. For the

general background,see C. Meier, Res publica amissa2

(Frankfurt1980).60 Crawford(supran. 10) no. 281; BMCRR11.283,no.

555.61 T. H61scher,VictoriaRomana Mainz1967) 138-56; cf.

A. Alf6ldi,"The MainAspectsof Propagandaon the Coin-

age of the RomanRepublic,"n R.A.G.Carson and C.H.V.Sutherland ds.,Essaysn RomanCoinagePresentedoHarold

MattinglyOxford 1956)63-94.62 Crawford supran. 10)no. 480/7b;BMCRR1.546,no.

4155.63 For details, see H61scher271-73 and in Proceedings

(supran. 57).








Fig. 18.Denariusof Octavian, bverse.Pax or Venus.(Cour-

tesyStaatlicheMiinzsammlung,Munich)

gories, symbols, and emblems that can be combined

and recombined in ever new associative constellations.

The range of personifications exceeds the availabilityof clearly differentiated iconographies: the same fe-

male head, for instance, can represent Pietas, Liber-

tas, and Venus, whereas the same male head can serve

for Vulcan, Saturn, Jupiter, and Neptune.64 The in-

terchangeability continues on Octavian's coinage: the

female head (fig. 18) on the obverse of one of the

denarii he issued as divifilius between 36 and 29 B.C.

has been interpreted variously as Venus or Pax,65 hus

constituting an interesting precedent in parvo for the

debate on the Ara Pacis relief. Strictly speaking, how-

ever, we are not dealing with polysemy, but with neu-

trality of semiosis. Hence symbols, such as a caduceus

and a pileus, had to be added to help in understandingthe identity of the representations. The artists of the

Zoilos monument at Aphrodisias achieved the same

by simply adding the names of the allegories.We can see the changes that come about in the

pictorial program of the Ara Pacis. Its underpinningis the Augustan social and political program of a

return to a central value system: "Peace as prosperitynow depends on Roman mores."66 Instead of the

chorus, though by no means the symphony, of manydifferent speakers and voices in the late Republic, and

instead of the discordant din, as reflected by their

Fig. 19. Cistophorusof Augustus,reverse. Pax. (CourtesyAmericanNumismaticSociety,New York)

diverse proclamations, aspirations, achievements, and

designs, Augustan public art, parallel to the changed

political situation, marks the return to a far more

limited, repetitive, and didactic selection of motifs that

convey traditional and shared values.67 With the Au-

gustan restoration of genuine meaning to such con-

cepts, in particular that of the res publica, in the

political and moral realms comes the establishment of

genuine polysemy to the images and symbols in art:

the female personification on the Ara Pacis is not

simply a chiffre that can be filled in as one wishes68

but has a variety of significances that complement one

another. This is accompanied by another reciprocal

process: compared with the confusing multiplicity of

Republican representations (and individual "pro-

grams") there is now a reduction, as we just noted, in

Augustan public art in general to a few repeatedmotifs. This quantitative reduction, however, is more

than compensated for by the multiplicity of associa-

tions and purposely evoked meanings.69 A corre-

sponding development is that the coin issues with

indefinite identities disappear; there are no represen-tations of Libertas, for instance, nor of Pax in Augus-tan coinage after the cistophoric series of 28 B.C.

Even there, Pax is represented not with a genericdivine head, but unambiguously with a caduceus and

the accompanying legend PAX (fig. 19).70

64 See the chapteron "Polyvalencet diversit6des effigiesdivines" in H. Zehnacker, Moneta. Recherchessur l'organisa-tion desemissions monetairesde la Ripublique romaine(BEFAR

222, Rome 1973)11.764-821.

65 RIC 2 p. 59 no. 251;Grueber,BMCRR11.9,nos.4327-32. Grueberinterpretsthe head as Paxwhile Mattingly, sdid Babelonearlier,regardsthe portraitas thatof Venus.

J.B. Giard, Catalogue des monnaies de l'Empire romain. I.

Auguste Paris,Bibliothque Nationale1976)65 no. 6 pro-poses Pax or Concordia,and designatesalmost the samehead (no. 5) as Venus. Cf. A. Wlosok,Die Gittin Venus n

VergilsAeneis (Heidelberg 1967) 120 n. 67 with further

bibliography.

66 Momigliano supran. 23) 229; cf. D.E.E.Kleiner,"TheGreat Friezesof the Ara Pacis Augustae.Greek Sources,

RomanDerivatives,and Augustan Social Policy,"MEFRA90 (1978)772-76 and my discussionof "Augustus'Legisla-tion on Moralsand Marriage," hilologus125 (1981) 126-

44, esp. 142,n. 76.67 Seeesp.Zanker 09-10; cf. Halscher nKaiserAugustus

359.68 For the phenomenon,cf. H61scher,Victoria Romana

(supran. 61) 97 and W. Eder,"Augustusand the Power ofTradition: The Augustan Principateas Binding Link be-tweenRepublicand Empire," n K.Raaflaub nd M. Toher

eds., BetweenRepublic andEmpire. InterpretationsofAugustusand His Principate (Berkeley 1990) 119.

69 Cf. Zanker209-10 and 178-80.

70 RIC 12 p. 79, no. 476; BMCRE 1.112,no. 691; Giard(supran. 65) 908-10; C.H.V.Sutherland,TheCistophori f







1992] VENUS,POLYSEMY,ND THEARA PACISAUGUSTAE 471

2) The intentionalmultiplicityof meaningscan be

experienced on several levels, depending on the so-

phisticationof the viewer.To some, the pictorialpro-

gram would be understandablein relatively simpleterms:prosperity;a linkingof the Augustanpresentto the Roman past in the basic manner of Vergil'sAeneid;references to peace and relaxed tranquillity,as is indicated,too, by the demeanor of some of the

participantsn the procession.Cognoscentiwouldap-

preciatethe complex allusivenessof the imageryfar

more.Forthem,the function andappealof individual

reliefs andtheirentiretywould be that of whatZanker

hascalledanAndachtsbild r "contemplative icture":

youcango backtime and again,look at the icons,and

discover new meanings and associations.They are

rooted in rich artistic, iterary,religious,and mytho-

logicaltraditions.It is like readingthe Aeneid.At the

sametime, it is not a matterofpurely subjective

and

impressionisticunderstandings,which would lead to

misinterpretation,but the varietyof evocationsop-erates within the frameworkof a clearlyestablished

overallmeaning.3) This intentional multivalencebegins with the

architecturalconfigurationof the Ara Pacis and is

enhanced by the multiplicityof artistic traditionson

which tdrawsandthe concomitantdiversityof artistic

styles. The building itself combines aspects of the

augural templum nd the shrines of Janus.71 n addi-

tion, the Ara Pacis was erected in lieu of a triumph,and

despiteits understatement on the relief

decora-tion of the monument itself the triumphaldimension

resultsfrom the building's ncorporation nto the de-

sign of the Horologium.Similarmultiplicityof meaninginheresin the pres-

entationof the "processions."They do not representa specific,one-dimensional historicalevent, such as

the constitutioor dedicatio. The representation of the

ceremony includes, along with the stone garlands

hung up on the insideof the enclosurewalls,elements

that fit both events, but it goes beyond both in the

mannerof the Boscorealecups. The principal ntentis to presentthe idea of the return of Augustus, the

guarantor(auctor) f peace; formally, t presents"the

meeting that could have taken place."" The subor-

dinationof actual"reality"o the guidingideasbehind

it is the hallmark,e.g., of Augustus'sRes Gestae.It

was a typicallyRomanconceptwhose antecedentsare

found, in differentways, n Republicanart and in the

very idea of the respublicaas a series of normative

concepts. Their implementationis not so much an

individual action as a reflection of the underlying

concept; the implementing actions, therefore, are

thought of as repetitiveand generic ratherthan spe-cific.73 Hence it is also left open whether Augustusand his entourage form two processions,or one, or

should beenvisaged

asstanding

in a circle.But there

is no ambiguityabout the central ntent: the attention

is focusedon Augustus,and he, his arrival adventus),and the rite he is performing are enhanced by the

corresponding representation of the adventus ofAeneas on the adjacentpanelon the west side.

Similarly,he well-documentedmultiplicityof artis-

ticprecedentsand"citations"-Greek,Etruscan,Pom-

peian,andRoman-and styles(Atticizing,Hellenistic,and Roman)contributeto evoking a plethoraof tra-

ditions and types.74 In short, the monument was

deliberatelydesigned to have an unparalleledmulti-

plicityof dimensions that defy reductionismexceptin the sense that they harmoniouslyexpress the con-

cept of the Pax Augusta in all the richness of itsassociations.

4) Another source of the artisticsyncretismof the

Tellus/Venus/Pax/Cereselief is syncretismn religionand cult. Venus and Ceres, for example, had ajointcult.75Similarly, here is a greatdeal of interminglingbetween the cults of Tellus and Ceres.76The most

Augustus London 1970) 12-14, 40-44, 88-90, pls. 1-2, 15-17. The issuingmintwasEphesus.

7' Torelli27-35; Horologium:E.Buchner,Die Sonnenuhr

des Augustus (Mainz 1982).72 Torelli 55 with reference to earlierscholarship;Settis

(supra n. 3) 421; Borbein (supra n. 24) 245-46, 260; cf.G.M.Koeppel,"DiehistorischenReliefs der r6mischenKai-serzeit. V. Ara PacisAugustae 2,"BJb 188 (1988) 97-106who considersthe processional riezes as representing, n a

generalway,a supplicatio pon Augustus'sreturn.

73 Cf. Holscher 314 and in KaiserAugustus360; cf. W.Kunkel'sdefinitionof the Republican onstitutionas a "Sys-tem traditionellerBegriffe und Leitsitze, die keineswegsimmer mit der politischenRealitatSchrittgehaltenhaben"

(Untersuchungen zur Entwicklung des rdmischenKriminalver-

fahrens in vorsullanischer Zeit [Munich 1962] 76) and Bor-

bein'sremarks on "interpretedreality" aking precedenceover actualreality(supran. 24, 246, with reference to the

"processions"f the AraPacis).

74See,

e.g.,G.

Koeppel,"The Roleof PictorialModels n

the Creationof HistoricalReliefduring the Age of Augus-tus," n Winkes(supran. 38) 89-105; Borbein(supran. 24)249-52; for the floral rieze: Kraus(supran. 34)andB6rker(supran. 35);for variousartisticstyles:M.Pallottino,"L'AraPacise i suoi problemiartistici," dA32 (1938) 162-78 andT. H61scher, Rdmische Bildsprache als semantisches System(SBHeid1987)45-49.

75 Documentation n Galinsky238 n. 142. B. Spaeth hasfurthermade me awareof the following:CIL9.3087, 3090,3170; 10.5191;EphEp8.315, 855 (Pompeii); f. G.Colonna,"Sul acerdoziopelignodi Cereree Venere,"ArchCl8 (1956)216-17; I. Chirassi-Columbo,Funzionipoliticheed impli-cazioniculturalinell'ideologia eligiosadi Ceresnell'imperoromano,"ANRW II.17.1 (Berlin1981)425.

76 H. le Bonniec, Le culte de Ceres d Rome. Des origines a

lafin de la Ripublique (Paris 1958) 48-107.








prominentexample in the Augustanambienceis the

coalescence of Apollo and Sol.77Giventhis phenom-enon alone, it is impossibleto maintainthat the mul-

tiple identificationof this figure would run counter

to the Romanmentality.

5) The

general

context of the Augustanculture is

characterizedprecisely by the same deliberate utili-

zation of multivalency.In the politicalculture, this

applies to terms like auctoritas, libertas,pater patriae,and res publica.78 The overall moral and guiding

meaning is alwaysclear. It is combinedwith a broad

rangeof applications,and the associatedelasticityand

nuances of such terms were ideally suited for the

complexity and variety of situationsin which these

conceptswere operative.As for Augustanliterature,to give but one example, the charactersin Vergil'sAeneidare similarlymultilayered.79

This raises one final andimportant

ssue. How are

the viewers to respond?What kind of identification,if any, are they to make of "Tellus"?How can we be

sure that such an identificationcorresponds to the

intent of the creators?

All these questions are at the center of current

literary and aesthetic theory.80Perhaps those who

propose the reduction of the image to one meaningdo so to stayclear of the deconstructionist haos that

mightprevailotherwise.Butthereare no groundsfor

such misgivings. Augustan public art and, for that

matter, some of Augustan poetry, is distinguished

precisely by the combination of two aspectsmodern

theory tends to wall off from one another: a central,

authorial,and moral meaning and an invitation to

viewer or reader participation.The viewer of the

"Tellus"relief is invited, by means of an obviouslymultidimensionaliconography, to discover the re-

markableand intentional depth and multiplicityof

meaningfulassociations.8' t is a processthat Zanker

has tried to capturewith the notion of the Andachts-

bild.This involvesthe connectionswith the represen-tationson the other friezes,the floraldecorations,and

the monumentas a whole. It is a deliberatelypartici-

patory process, in accordance with the meaning of

auctoritas and with the Augustan political milieu,

which was far too dynamicto conform to the simpleschema of a partyleaderhanding down orders.82

Besides the overallmeaning of the Ara Pacis,that

of the southeast relief is clear also: whetherTellus,

Venus, Pax,or

Ceres,the

deityand her

companionfigures personify the abundance of vegetation and

the blessingsof peaceon land and sea.They alsohave

a dynasticdimension,being related to the domusAu-

gusta as are the other reliefs. To some, including

myself, the aspectof Venus may prevail,s3 o others,thatof Pax,andso on. None areincompatiblen terms

of the iconography,which is a shared one, and the

overallmeaning.The artisticsuccess of the Ara Pacis

waspreciselythat it appealed to manydifferent sen-

sibilitiesand people, regardlessof educationalor so-

cialbackground.Its extraordinarydegree of concep-

tualization,in contrast to the Zoilos frieze and the

77 Cf. the syncretismof Venusand Lucifer on the cuirassof the Augustusstatuefrom PrimaPorta;see E.Simon,"Zur

Augustusstatuevon PrimaPorta,"RM 64 (1957)54-55.

78 See, e.g., J. Beranger, Recherchessur l'aspect ideologiquedu principat(Basel 1953); R. Heinze, "Auctoritas,"n VomGeistdesRdmertums3 Stuttgart 1960) 42-58; RE 22.2 (1953)

2287-90, s.v. Princeps(L. Wickert),with update in ANRW

II.1 (Berlin 1974) 74. B. Andreae, L'art de l'ancienne Rome

(Paris1973)115explicitlymakes heconnectionbetween heAra Pacis and Augustus's auctoritas.On libertas, ee P.A.Brunt, The Fall

of

the Roman

Republic

and Related

Essays(Oxford 1988)esp. 281-350 ("libertas eant differentthingsto different people"; p. 283). See alsoJ. Hellegouarc'h,Levocabulaire latin des relations et des partis politiques sous la

rdpubliqueParis1963)esp. 295-361 and 542-65. Augustusbeginsthe Res Gestaewiththe extremelymultivalentphraserempublicam . . . in libertatemvindicavi; for the context and

various meanings, see W. Weber, Princeps. Studien zur Ge-

schichte esAugustusI (Stuttgart1936) 141-42 and G. Wal-

ser, "DerPrincepsals Vindex Libertatis,"Historia4 (1955)353-67. I am discussingall these aspects n more detail in a

forthcomingbook on the Augustanculture.

79 J. Griffin,"The Creationof Charactersn the Aeneid,"in Latin Poets and Roman Life (London 1985) 183-97,

esp. 195.

80 Cf. my Introduction("The Interpretationof RomanPoetryand the ContemporaryCriticalScene") n TheInter-

pretation of Roman Poetry: Empiricism or Hermeneutics?

(Frankfurt1992) 1-40; my chapteron "Reading he Aeneidin Modern Times" in Classical and Modern Interactions (Aus-tin 1992);and,in termsof a generalhermeneutic or Roman

art,H61scher supran. 74).81 This well-knownaspectof the AraPacishasbeen artic-

ulatedexcellently by Zanker178-81; cf. Settis(supran. 3)423-24 and E. La Rocca'sIntroduction to KaiserAugustus22-23. Cf., from a somewhatdifferentorientation, . Pollini,"Time, Narrativity,and DynasticConstructsin AugustanArtand

Thought,"AJA91 (1987)298.

82 For a revisionof Syme'sviewof Augustus(TheRomanRevolution Oxford1939])see nowtheessaycollectionedited

by Raaflauband Toher (supran. 68).83 WithoutfollowingSauron's(supran. 35) extravagant

interpretationof the relationshipbetween the floralfriezeand the individualsof the procession,a more generalsym-bolic relationshipmay well exist: the floral frieze developsfrom one root only, as did the Julian family from Venus

Genetrix, and the acanthus and floral decoration, in anassociationwith VictoriaCaesariswho incorporatedVenusGenetrixand VenusVictrix,was used for the dynasticTem-

ple of DivusJulius.Kenner(supran. 2) 41-42 suggeststhatthe nameof the centralfigureof the Ara Pacisreliefwas eft

deliberatelyindeterminate,but "ihr sch6nster Name soll

nachdemschweigendenWunschdes AugustusVenus sein."The procedurewould be typicalof his auctoritas.








.....6 7 1 1 , ? ? : : : . : - ? - - - 7

Fig.20. Octavianas MercurywithRoma.Altar n the Museo

CivicoArcheologico,Bologna.(CourtesyMuseo CivicoAr-

cheologico,Bologna, neg. no. B84/3373)

Bocchus monument, does not result in aridity but in

a pictorial program brimming with vital images that

are accessible to all. Hence, for instance, the easy

adoption into private, middle-class art of the family

groups with a child tugging at a parent's toga or

palla.84Lest this modus interpretandi of the relief should

seem permeated unduly by contemporary aesthetic

theory, we should recall that none other than the

generally conservative Servius introduced the term

"polysemous" into literary criticism; he used it in con-

nection with the very first line of the Aeneid.85Equally

apropos is Syme's astute observation, at the very end

of The Roman Revolution, that "likeAugustus, his Res

Gestae are unique, defying verbal definition and ex-

plaining themselves."86 In a similar vein, W. Weber

three years earlier commented on one of the most

significant chapters of the Res Gestae, that dealingwith his auctoritas(34), by saying that Augustus "likes

to veil things and leaves their interpretation to oth-

ers."87It is in the context of this spirit that the Ara

Pacis relief needs to be understood. With reference

to Roman art, it may suffice to cite the concludingcomments Karl Lehmann-Hartleben made over 60

years ago on the sculptural program on a provincial

Augustan altar in the Museo Civico in Bologna.88There we do find a caduceus, held by Mercury/Octa-vian who follows a briskly striding Roma (fig. 20).Other symbols, such as cornucopiae ending in capri-corn heads, round out the ensemble of images. The

upper part of the altar is not preserved, nor is there

an identifying inscription. In response to some com-

mentsby

Rostovtzeff, Lehmann-Hartleben used the

occasion to characterize Augustan art in general:

Ob wirden Altar der Roma und dem Mercurius,oder

ihr und dem Genius Augusti geweiht denken sollen,muss beim Fehlen der Inschriftdahingestelltbleiben.Der Synkretismusder Symbolewird in der kiinstler-ischen Formensprachedes augusteischenZeitalterszu

einer fein geschliffnen Sprachform,die durch immer

wechselnde Verbindung einen jedesmal neuen Aus-

druck schafft.Es kommtwederaufdie griechischeG6t-tergestaltals pers6nlichesElement an, noch auf die

begrifflich-qualitativeFunctionsklarheitder altrbm-

ischen Gottesvorstellung, och endlich auf die durch

Zuteilung einmaliger Attribute bewirkte allegorischeEinzelgestalt er neuerenZeit.Sondern n unendlichen

VariationenspieltdiePhantasie mdasallgemeinePrin-

zipdesGbttlichenls Wirkungsursprungnd zieht dabei

Gestalten,Attributeund religi6seIdeenin wechselnder

Verbindungheran ... Mit "Realismus"der "Wirklich-

keitssinn," en man mmerwiederalsGrundprinzip er

r6mischen Kunst proklamiert,hat freilich auch das

nichtszu tun.89

In the sculptural program of the Ara Pacis, this

kind of concept is pushed to unprecedented heights.

That, too, is an aspect that makes the Ara Pacis the

most representative work of Augustan art. It was an

experiment like so much of Augustus's political dis-

pensation and the Augustan culture in general, which

were far from static.90 In the case of the "Tellus"

84 See Kleiner(supran. 66) 767-72; cf. D.E.E. Kleiner,"PrivatePortraiture n the Age of Augustus," n Winkes

(supran. 38) 108-12.85 Servius ad Aen. 1.1: "cano"polysemussermoest; see the

commentsof A. Patterson,Pastoraland Ideology:Virgilto

ValbryBerkeley1987)30.86 Syme (supra n. 82) 524.

87 Weber supran. 78) 221: "Er iebt die Verhuillung nd

uiberlasstnderen ihre Deutung."88 "EinAltar n Bologna,"RM 42 (1927) 162-76.

89 Lehmann-Hartlebensupran. 88) 174-75. The italicsare thoseof the original ext.

90 Cf. E.T. Salmon,"The Evolutionof Augustus'Princi-

pate,"Historia5 (1956)456-78; W.Eck,"Augustus' dmin-istrative Reformen: Pragmatismus oder systematischesPlanen?"ActaClassica26 (1986) 105-20; K.Galinsky,"Re-cent Trends in the Interpretationof the Augustan Age,"TheAugustanAge5 (1986) 22-36; Eder (supran. 68) 104-

11. It is moreappropriateo speakof an Augustanevolutionthan of a Romanrevolution.








saR4?:~i i?;"Ark~, -:;i::)i?-iizO

; : - V w

Fig. 21. Relief from Carthage.Paris,Louvre.(CourtesyServicephotographiquede la reunion des musees nationaux,neg. no.

MA1838)

relief, the experimentation with an exceptional de-

gree of polysemy was scaled down on the well-known

relief from Carthage (fig. 21): the seated figure now

clearly is an earth goddess, accompanied by an astral

goddess on the left and a male sea deity on the right.91Concern for greater intelligibility takes precedenceover multiplicity of meaning and associations; it is

regrettable that we know nothing about the monu-

ment of which the Carthage relief was a part nor

about the context in which it was found.

ADDENDUM

After this article went into print, John Elsner's on

"Cult and Sculpture: Sacrifice in the Ara Pacis Au-

gustae" appeared inJRS 81 (1991) 50-61. The focus

of Elsner's discussion is not on iconographic matters,

but on a concept of interpretation that allows for

alternative readings and varied reader response, in-

cluding irony and subversion. Hence the final artistic

product is full of "ambivalences." In that sense, it

bears on the issue of what I call "polysemy."

Our definitions, however, are quite different. To

anyone conversant especially with the prevailing An-

glo-American interpretation of Augustan poetry in

the last 20 years or so, Elsner's argumentation is quitefamiliar and is characterized by the same strengthsand weaknesses. The former include a reaction for-

mation against monolithic, ideological interpretationsand more emphasis on the participation of the reader.

As I briefly point out, such issues, and especially the

problems of multiple interpretations and their validity

or hierarchy, are at the center of the modern criticalor theoretical debate, and it is important for Latinists

(and Roman art historians) to use some methodolog-ical and hermeneutical precision instead of merrily

confusing, to use only one example, intentionality and

reception; I discuss these matters in more detail in

the works cited in note 80. For the art historian (em-

phasis on historian), it is not enough to say that one

subversive reading or the other is suggesting itself; he

or she will need to produce evidence or at least the

strong likelihood that a given artifact or monument

91 Bibliographyn de Grummond674 n. 70; see also H61scher1984(supran. 56) 31.







1992] VENUS, POLYSEMY,AND THE ARA PACIS AUGUSTAE 475

was read in that sort of key. We all have learned, in

the past two decades, that "no text is resistant to

interpretation" (Stanley Fish) or, to quote Gerald

Graff, that "under the right kind of close inspection,"

ambiguity, ambivalence, and irony somehow are never

hard to find in poetry (Professing Literature.An Insti-

tutional History [Chicago 1987] 206). Works of art,

and especially complex ones, are easily susceptible to

such interpretive schemes, too.

The polysemy that I am discussing is different. It

is set against the background of a discernible and

documented iconographic tradition. It recognizes the

peculiar dynamic of the Augustan culture of callingfor wide viewer, reader, and, yes, even political par-

ticipation within the framework of a guiding auctori-

tas, a concept that is both elastic and precise. The

phenomenon, of which the Ara Pacis is an excellent

example,is too nuanced to be treated in terms of the

convenient scholarly dichotomies such as Hellenistic

vs. Classical, public vs. private, or ideology vs. subver-

siveness. A related problem, shared by Elsner, is that

Augustan scholars do not take the trouble to define

concepts such as "ideology," let alone refer to modern

discussions of the subject (cf. Duncan Kennedy's re-

view of T. Woodman and D. West, Poetry and Politics

in the Age of Augustus [Cambridge 1984] in LiverpoolClassical Monthly 9.10 [Dec. 1984] 158-60).

There is, then, plenty of middle ground between

the monolithic, Symean view of the Augustan dispen-sation-and here Zanker

deserves more credit thanElsner gives him for debunking the notion of "prop-

aganda" and documenting the process of creative

reciprocity-and the notion that any subjective inter-

pretation that we can cleverly construct today must

be 1) subversive and 2) also have been on the minds

of a Roman audience at the time. This middle groundallows for the plentiful existence of contradictions and

creative tensions, and the scholar's task is precisely to

work through these rather than be content with end-

lessly hectoring about "ambiguities" while not pre-

senting convincing documentation. The Augustan

notion of the Golden Age, for instance, in both artand literature is far from the idyll that Elsner, Zanker,and L'Orange would have us believe, but incorporatesthe seemingly conflicting notions of peace and war,

and of labor and repose (cf. the apt summation of this

as "pace laboriosa" by E. Montanari, Enciclopedia Vir-

giliana V, 686, s.v. Saturno. Such concepts are pre-sented as complementary rather than disjunctive. We

can add to them death and life. The opposition, there-

fore, that Elsner is trying to build between the animals

on the "Tellus" panel and the same kind of animals

being led to slaughter on the smaller friezes (with the

resulting bucrania on the inside of the precinct walls)is unfounded and his resultant overinterpretations

about "the nature of the Principate itself" go further

astray yet. In the current nonjudgmental and trivial-

izing climate of literary interpretation there are no

such things any more as misinterpretations of the

"private voice" of Vergil, for instance. To apply the

same approaches to as carefully planned and complexan official monument as the Ara Pacis is an even more

serious mistake. In order to view the Ara Pacis as

something more than an instrument of ideology and

in order to recognize its intentional and sophisticated

multiplicity of meanings we need not resort to mis-

reading it in terms of facile ambivalences that were

far from the minds of its creators.

As scholars of ancient art, archaeology, and litera-

ture we are fortunate to be dealing with dead peoplewho cannot talk back. It is salutary to realize that this

inability is due to the ravages of time rather than their

volition and that live authors and artists tend to resist

the currently fashionable modus interpretandi. John

Updike's comment is typical: "It is in the nature of

deconstruction to rob literary works of their intended

content, substituting instead the subliminal messagesthe author did not intend" (New York Times Book

Review [10 June 1990] 40). Or, as I found out first-

hand, some Classicizing postmodern architects will

simply disagree that the production of irony was their

intent, even if a given building may strike some view-

ers (and professional architectural critics in particular)as ironic (cf. my discussion in ch. 1 of Classical and

Modern Interactions [supra n. 80] of John Blatteau'sremodeling of a branch of the Riggs Bank in Wash-

ington, D.C.). Like many of its current counterpartson Augustan poetry, Elsner's article, which has many

strong points, too (especially his discussion of generalversus individual representation of cult acts, which

intersects with some of my comments on the repre-sentation of underlying concepts as opposed to that

of individual actions), illustrates the ongoing need for

careful distinctions such as H.R. Jauss's "horizons of

expectation," which differentiate between the recep-tion of a work of literature (also applicable to art) at

its own time and in later times. Similarly useful is E.D.Hirsch's distinction between the "meaning" of a work

of literature, which is intended for it by its author,

and its "significance," which is any interpretation

given to it by others (Validity in Interpretation, New

Haven 1967). The melding of such horizons in the

1930s did a great deal of lasting damage to the studyof Augustan art; it is important that we not repeatthe same mistakes again even in an ostensibly moreacademic fashion.

DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

AUSTIN, TEXAS 78712

Documents

Venus, Polysemy, And the Ara Pacis Augustae