Mausoleum of Augustus

In the 28 B.C. the emperor Augustus built a monumental tomb for himself and his family in the western part of the Mars’ Field (Campo Marzio). This place was chosen for its particular political and propaganda reasons. The valley of Campo Marzio was situated outside the pomerio, the sacred border of Rome, between the Capitol, the Quirinal and Piancian hills and the Tiber.

The name came from the altar of Mars that it was stolen by the Romans after the expulsion of the last Etruscan king, the previous owner of the altar. During the Republic period many importants buildings were built inside the Campo Marzio but was Ottaviano August that made a radical renewal of the area, in particular the princeps (emperor) embellished the central and northen part making the Marcello theatre, the Saepta, the Ara Pacis and Mausoleum.

The first man buried in the Augustus’ mausoleum was Marcellus, the son-in-law of Ottaviano Augustus who died in 23 B.C., after him was buried there Agrippa, Ottavia, Druso, Ottaviano Augustus, Caligola, Claudio Britannico, Vespasiano and Nerva, except for Nero. During the Middle-Age the tomb was occupied by the Colonna fortress and later it underwent many devastations until 1939 when the monument was restored and the houses built around it were dismantled.

The mausoleum has a circular base with a 87 m in diameter and it is composed by five spiral rings with radial walls creating the structure. The outside part was covered by travertine (12 m in hight) and by a doric freize. Flanking the entrance of the building stood two Egyptian obelisks (now one is in the Esquilin square and the other is in the Quirinal square).

The door was flankled by two bronze tablets with the Res Gestae Divi Augustae, a kind of summary about the emperor achievements. On a rectangular base of the monument stood a cylindrical part surmonted by a tumulus (a conical mound of earth) planted with cypress trees where in the middle was put a bronze statue of the emperator indicating the position of the mausolem. It is possible to go inside the monument through a gallery leading to a wall with two passageways taking in the funeral room. The urn is circular with threes niches on the side and it is surrounded by an anular corridor. In the center of the urn stands a big pilaster with an interior small room, the true tomb of Augustus.

Useful Information

For informations and reservations:

Cooperativa IL SOGNO
Viale Regina Margherita, 192 - 00198 ROMA
Tel. +39/06.85.30.17.58 - Fax +39/06.85.30.17.56
Email: ilsogno@romeguide.it