Augustus in the 21st century

Now that work is completed on the new Ara Pacis museum in Rome, it seems that Augustus' Mausoleum is at last to get the attention it deserves.

I know not everybody likes the new Ara Pacis building, mainly on the grounds that it looks too 'modern' to fit in with Rome's other monuments. And to be fair, although I've looked at it from the outside, I haven't actually been in, so I haven't quite had the full experience.

( What I have seen )

But from what I've seen of the building, I actually rather like it. Of course I love Rome's past, but half of the joy of Rome for me is seeing so many different pasts co-existing and interacting. One era building on and responding to another. I don't see why the process should be arrested now - an Eternal City, by definition, can't be set in aspic. It has to be allowed to grow and develop with each succeeding generation. To me, the new Ara Pacis building is part of a new chapter in Rome's history - a chapter enriched by its responses to the ones which came before. It's a bold statement of Rome's place in the 21st century - and I think Augustus would have been more than capable of appreciating that.

But perhaps what I really like about the Ara Pacis building, and the plans for the Mausoleum, is that they testify to a continuing interest in Rome's past. Even the controversy around the Ara Pacis building proves one thing above all else - that Romans today still care about how Augustus' monuments are presented in the urban fabric. They may not agree about how best to do it, but they do agree that it's a matter of great importance.

So long as that continues, I'm happy.