Time and the Roman

Horologium Augusti

Time goes by quickly. From upstart village by the river Tiber to masters of the Mediterranean took a mere seven centuries for Rome. A period from Romulus to Augustus that featured so many illustrious generals, politicians and events that it is hardly surprising that the centuries rolled by.

When Augustus rose to power over the Roman Republic after decades of civil war, he began a building and regeneration program in the eternal city unrivalled by anything before him. Great swathes of the city were remodelled to reflect Augustus' individual power over Rome and one of the areas that was built upon was the Campus Martius.

The Campus Martius was steeped in Roman history. In ancient times it was were the men gathered before leaving to fight neighbouring villages. It was were the citizens assembled for the census and where the Ovile and the later Saepta Julia were located for voting. It was also the location of Pompey's theatre, the first permanent theatre in Rome and the site of Julius Caesar's murder.

"In fact, Pompey, the Deified Caesar, Augustus, his sons and friends, and wife and sister, have outdone all others in their zeal for buildings and in the expense incurred".

Strabo Book 5 Chapter 3

It was onto this large and essentially undeveloped field that Augustus set his sights and among the many things that he constructed was his Horologium Augusti. Made from Egyptian red granite, the Obelisk had been brought to Rome from Heliopolis after Augustus subjugated Egypt and made the whole country his own property. Dedicated in 10 BC, there are two theories as to the obelisk's use. Either as a sundial through its casting of a shadow, upon the marvel pavement inlaid with bronze to allow you to tell the time or as a simple meridian line to indicate the day of the year.

"That of marking the shadows projected by the sun, 

and so measuring the length of the days and nights"

Pliny Natural History Book 36 Chapter 15

The Horologium Augusti was associated with another building in the newly developed Campus Martius, the Ara Pacis, the Alter of Peace. The Ara Pacis was commissioned by the senate to celebrate Augustus' return from wars in Hispania and Gaul in 13 BC. Known for its decoration of the new Imperial family involved in a religious procession, it also depicts scenes of abundance and cornucopia, the result of the new Augustan age.

Ara Pacis

"The Senate voted in honour of my return the consecration on an altar to Pax Augusta

in the Campus Martius"

Augustus Res Gestae 12.2

The Horologium and Ara Pacis were aligned so that on the day of Augustus' birth, the shadow of the horologium would fall upon the Ara Pacis itself, intrinsically linking Augustus and the current peace the Roman world was enjoying. Not only the current peace brought about by Augustus' undeniable control, but also the linking of the current peace with an idealised, romanticised nostalgia for a Roman ideal of the farmer.

After a century of civil war, Rome was ready to accept anyone that would bring peace and each and every year Augustus' Horologium pointed a big shadowy finger right at the altar dedicated to peace, to show Rome exactly who they could thank.


Thanks for Reading
James