Ara Pacis. The voices of a story
The Ara Pacis Augustae tells its story to young people through words and images. This is the heart of Ara Pacis. The voices of a story (in italian "Ara Pacis. Le voci di una storia"), the illustrated book published by Topipittori in collaboration with the Capitoline Superintendence, written by Cristiana Pezzetta and illustrated by Gioia Marchegiani for the PIPPO - Piccola Pinacoteca Portatile series.
The volume was created with the aim of bringing children, teenagers and families closer to one of the most significant monuments of ancient Rome, transforming the visit into a story capable of stimulating curiosity and imagination.
The narrative proceeds through unusual voices, linked to the places and characters that have accompanied the history of the altar dedicated to the goddess Peace. The story opens with the Tiber, guardian of the memory of the birth of the dynasty of Octavian Augustus and the myth of Rome. Following it is the Campus Martius, the large plain where the Ara Pacis originally stood, surrounded by nature.
The natural component also plays a central role in the visual apparatus of the book. The illustrations restore colors and suggestions that are now lost and help to imagine the original appearance of the monument, today perceived mainly through the white of the marble. The plant frieze and reliefs thus become tools for reading the relationship between art, nature and symbols in Augustan Rome.
Another voice is that of Gaius Caesar, Augustus' nephew and adopted son, depicted together with other children on the monument. Through his point of view, the reader enters the history of the imperial family and the rite of sacrifice to the goddess Peace, up to the memory of his father buried in the nearby Mausoleum. Finally, the Tiber returns to close the story, connecting past and present: from the disappearance of the altar in antiquity to its rediscovery in modern times, up to the contemporary enhancement of the Ara Pacis.
The book therefore does not limit itself to explaining the monument, but builds a narrative path in which archaeology, history and imagination support each other. The formula allows young people to familiarize themselves with characters, symbols and rituals without sacrificing the complexity of the historical context and the discovery of the history of Rome through a narrative and visual language.
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