Ara Pacis

We walked by this mausoleum built by Augustus for members of the family and then evolved over time into a number of other uses. Nothing stays the same even when we build great buildings hoping to gain some measure of immortality. Roman burials were by cremation, at least for those of status, Christians hoped for a burial underground, there are catacombs just outside the Roman walls where people went but these were robbed a lot in the 1600s and families such as the Pamphilij's applied for and were granted the removal of the mummified remains of certain individuals to be moved into private chapels in their palazzos or sponsored chapels within churches.

The Mausoleum of Augustus is a large tomb built by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 28 BC.. The mausoleum was one of the first projects initiated by Augustus following his victory at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The mausoleum was circular in plan, consisting of several concentric rings of earth and brick, faced with travertine on the exterior, and planted with cypresses on the top tier. The completed mausoleum measured 90 m (295 ft) in diameter by 42 m (137 ft) in height. Included among those whose remains were laid inside the mausoleum are many of Augustus' family and six Roman Emperors.

In the Middle Ages the tumulus was fortified as a castle and occupied by the Colonna family. Throughout the Renaissance it passed through the ownership of several major Roman families, who used it as a garden; at the beginning of the 19th century it was in use as a circus. In the early 20th century, the interior of the Mausoleum was used as a concert hall until Mussolini ordered it closed in the 1930s and restored it to the status of an archaeological site.

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