October 28, 2018 - On Friday, January 30th, 9 BC Gaius Octavius Thurinus walked into this altar with an entourage. He was 52 years old. He was the grand nephew of Julius Caesar who had been murdered 33 years prior to this day. Caesar had adopted him and declared he was his heir. That declaration meant that upon Julius’ death Gaius would inherit his property, his fortune, his debts, and, in this case, his empire.
For the next 33 years in an attempt to bring order Gaius ruled as a part of a triumvirate with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus after the assassins of Ceaser had been defeated. This mutual partnership soon dissolved and in the end only Gaius was left standing.
This photo is of the ‘Ara Pacis” or Altar of Peace. It had been covered in silt from the flooding Tiber River for centuries but was found remarkably intact. In it’s day, the relief pictures would not have been white but painted with bright colors to make them appear as life like as possible. On that day Gaius entered here, he had with him his own adopted heirs, but they both died in childhood. That left Tiberius as his declared heir. He was the son of his third wife’s first marriage. Tiberius was the Emperor at the time of Christ that was later to come.
But this day belonged to Gaius. He entered here and animals were sacrificed to the gods to celebrate his triumphs. It was here that he changed his name to “Augustus Caesar”. He would usher in the “Pax Romana” (With a special shout out to my friend BJ Bovin and his beautiful new son ‘Pax’). The “Pax Romana” lasted 200 years. It was the greatest period of peace and prosperity the Empire would ever know.
It was a big day that Friday. And it happened right here.
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