Ara Pacis and Baths of Caracalla

Ara Pacis and Baths of Caracalla

The Ara Pacis is a commemorative altar erected in Carrara marble between 13 and 9 BC to celebrate peace in the Mediterranean after the victorious campaigns of Emperor Augustus in Ispania and in Gaul. Due to the growth of the Tiber river, the altar was submerged in mud where it remained for more than a millennium. Only in the sixteenth century were part of the remains found and in 1938 the construction of the current archaeological area was finalized. The monument today is located inside a temperature-controlled structure / window.

The Baths of Caracalla were built between 212 AD and 216 AD at the behest of the Emperor Caracalla and were one of the largest thermal complexes of antiquity. After operating for over three centuries, the baths were abandoned in 537 AD when the aqueducts that supplied the city with water were destroyed by the barbarians. The sculptures and valuable materials that decorated the baths were looted and in 847 AD an earthquake destroyed part of the building.

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