In the photo you can see one of the icons of the whole roman ancient art: a marble piece that marked an era and a style. Ready to discover more about Augustus and his political ideas? We are at the Vatican Museums of Rome, and now it is time to know something more about the way to express the political power at the ancient Rome.

Here we have the Augustus of Prima Porta, a roman statue from the first century b.C. which was found to the north of Rome. Here we find a summary of all the politics and the communication of the emperor Augustus, the founder of the Empire. Firstly we note that at the foot, at the bottom, there is a baby with a dolphin. Symbols of Eros and Venus! The dolphin is one of the representative animal of the Goddess of Love, from which, according to tradition, would be directly down the Gens Iulia, the family who counted among its members people such as Julius Caesar and Augustus. It was a nice way to say that the emperor was invested with light and divine mission. So it was a sort of unopposed fate. A way, moreover, to emphasize the direct divine descent of the emperor himself, but, also, that Julius Caesar, relative of the first emperor of Rome, who had just arrived at Rome after his assassination swearing avenge. The policy and propaganda searched by Augustus was initially based precisely on this aspect, the revenge. This value was better displayed with the construction of the temple dedicated to Mars and located in the Forum of Augustus, the wonderful marble square and monumental area of Rome would by him.

Moreover we note the splendid marble armor that covers, almost like a veil, the Augustus' heroic and muscular body. At the center we find two men: the one on the right has the weapons and insignia. With this small but elaborate relief, Augustus communicated to the people of Rome as he was able to retrieve the roman military insignia. In this case, however, Augustus would not develop an idea but, instead, decided to communicate directly symbolic and military victories achieved by him. It was under Augustus, in fact, that the military insignia stolen by the Parti in the Battle of Carre of the 53 b.C. returned to Rome. At that time Crassus, one of the richest men of Rome, and one of the members of the first triumvirate (the equal of Caesar and Pompey), led some of the roman legions to the turbulent eastern border of the Republic (Rome was not an empire at that time). Unfortunately for him, Crassus miserably failed, losing the life and the battle. Not only that, as a result of the defeat, the Parti took as war trophies even those signs that had a high value, both social and religious. And the retrieve was a nice medal to pin to the chest of Augustus who, in a militarily way, was reviving in Rome, that luster that, in the course of the last period of the Republic, was tarnished because of the continuous civil wars. And the best way that the Romans knew, at the time, in order to emphasize their merits was to make something in marble.

A statue at the Vatican Museums of Rome that originally was not white and shining as we see it today, but colorful and polychrome! Sometimes, in fact, the Romans used to paint some details or elements of the sculptures, such as the areas of the body such as hair or eyes, but also objects such as weapons or armor. A way to make even more beautiful, alive and vibrant their wonderful works of art...