"Princes" and Barbarians on the Ara Pacis

The two children in foreign dress on the Ara Pacis Augustae are usually identified as Gaius and Lucius Caesar, the sons of Agrippa who were adopted by Augustus in 17 B. C. They are here reidentified as barbarians from eastern and western regions of the Empire who were brought to Rome in 13 B. C., the year in which the altar was voted. The child on the south frieze and the woman standing behind him are identified as Bosporan royalty directly connected to Agrippa's political activities in the East between 16 and 13 B. C.; a Gallic identity is proposed for the child on the north frieze, and he is associated with Augustus's reorganization of Gaul and Spain during the same period. Together these children functioned as illustrations of the Pax Augusta brought about through the combined efforts of Augustus and Agrippa. It is also argued that two youths on the north frieze are identifiable as Gaius and Lucius. It seems as if the designers of the altar deliberately placed the two boys on the north side and Augustus and Agrippa on the south in order to avoid the problems entailed in grouping them with either their biological or natural father. The appearance of Gaius can be compared with the camillus, here identified as Iulus, who stands before Aeneas in the Sacrifice at Lavinium relief. The presentation of Augustus and Gaius as priest and camillus is evocative of the figures of Aeneas and Iulus performing the same action on the altar.