Which scholar argues that Augustus is linked to Aeneas through a sacrifice depicted at the Ara Pacis?

Which scholar argues that Augustus is linked to Aeneas through a sacrifice depicted at the Ara Pacis?

• A. Isabel Paintin
• B. Edith Hall
• C. Bob Cowan
• D. Galinsky

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is that imperial imagery uses ritual sacrifice to tie Augustus to Aeneas, presenting the emperor as the rightful heir of Rome’s founding myth. Isabel Paintin argues that the Ara Pacis isn’t just a celebration of peace; its reliefs encode a genealogy in which the act of sacrifice links Aeneas—the legendary founder of Rome—to Augustus. By embedding a sacrificial scene within the monument’s program, the sculpture creates a visual claim that Augustus continues the sacred duty begun by Aeneas. This connection elevates Augustus’s rule to a continuation of a divine-approved lineage, framing the Pax Romana as the outcome of a sacred covenant stretching from myth into the present. Paintin’s reading emphasizes how ritual imagery in a monumental setting functions as political propaganda: it legitimizes the emperor by aligning him with a revered ancestor and with the divine sanction that accompanies sacrificial acts. While other scholars may explore different aspects of the Ara Pacis or its symbolism, Paintin’s focus on sacrifice as the bridge between Aeneas and Augustus makes sense of why the monument would foreground that ritual connection to support Augustan authority.

The main idea here is that imperial imagery uses ritual sacrifice to tie Augustus to Aeneas, presenting the emperor as the rightful heir of Rome’s founding myth. Isabel Paintin argues that the Ara Pacis isn’t just a celebration of peace; its reliefs encode a genealogy in which the act of sacrifice links Aeneas—the legendary founder of Rome—to Augustus. By embedding a sacrificial scene within the monument’s program, the sculpture creates a visual claim that Augustus continues the sacred duty begun by Aeneas. This connection elevates Augustus’s rule to a continuation of a divine-approved lineage, framing the Pax Romana as the outcome of a sacred covenant stretching from myth into the present.

Paintin’s reading emphasizes how ritual imagery in a monumental setting functions as political propaganda: it legitimizes the emperor by aligning him with a revered ancestor and with the divine sanction that accompanies sacrificial acts. While other scholars may explore different aspects of the Ara Pacis or its symbolism, Paintin’s focus on sacrifice as the bridge between Aeneas and Augustus makes sense of why the monument would foreground that ritual connection to support Augustan authority.