phal return from the
campaigns of Germany and Gaul, was the erection of a votive altar in
the Curia itself. Augustus refused it, but consented that an altar
should be raised in the Campus Martius and dedicated to Peace. Judging
from the fragments which have come down to us, this _ara_ was one of
the most exquisite artistic productions of the golden age of Augustus.
It stood in the centre of a triple square enclosure, on the west side
of the Via Flaminia, the site of the present Palazzo Fiano. Twice its
remains have been brought to light; once in 1554, when they were drawn
by Giovanni Colonna,[47] and again in 1859, when the present duke of
Fiano was rebuilding the southern wing of the palace on the Via in
Lucina. Of the panels and basreliefs found in 1554, some were removed
to the Villa Medici and inserted in the front of the casino, on the
garden side; others were transferred to Florence; those of 1859 have
been placed in the vestibule of the Palazzo Fiano. They are well worth
a visit.

[Illustration: The family of Augustus. Relief from the Ara Pacis, in
the Gallery of the Uffizi, Florence.]

ARA INCENDII NERONIANI. In the month of July, A. D. 65, half Rome was
destroyed by the fire of Nero. The citizens, overwhelmed by the
greatness of the calamity, and ignorant of its true cause, made a vow
for the annual celebration of expiatory sacrifices, on altars
expressly constructed for the purpose in each of the fourteen regions
of the metropolis. The vow was, however, forgotten until Domitian
claimed its fulfilment some twenty or twenty-five years later. One of
these altars, which adjoined Domitian's paternal house on the
Quirinal, has just been found near the church of S. Andrea del
Noviziato, in the foundations of the new "Ministero della Casa
Reale."

The altar, six metres long by three wide, built of travertine with a
coating of marble, stands in the middle of a paved area of
considerable size. The area is lined with stone cippi, placed at an
interval of two and a half metres from one another. The following
inscription has been found engraved on two of them: "This sacred area,
marked with stone cippi, and enclosed with a hedge, as well as the
altar which stands in the middle of it, was dedicated by the emperor
Domitian in consequence of an unfulfilled vow made by the citizens at
the time of the fire of Nero. The dedication is made subject to the
following rules: that no one shall be allowed to loiter, trade, build,