Early depictions and Greek influence Early
Roman worship and
mythology was very much based on and adopted from the
Greek pantheon of gods and goddesses. Pax was a relatively unrecognised deity during the early republic as she had little to do with the
Roman philosophy.
Pax Romana and early empire Pax worship peaked during
Augustus Caesar’s reign and the
early empire. Augustus introduced Pax as a way to stabilise his reign and to signal to the populace that the previous years of civil war and turmoil that was linked to the decay and fall of the republic had ended and that his reign had bought peace and direction to the ravaged empire. The fall of the
Western Roman Empire and the
barbarian invasions of the 4th and 5th centuries led to the complete collapse of Pax’s worship. While there were differences in Pax and Jesus, the concept of peace during the Pax Romana could’ve inspired part of the peaceful message seen within Christianity’s emphasis of peace and its connection with prosperity.
Artistic depictions of Pax Republic coins may have alluded to Pax before 44BC but in only using the goddesses future symbols and none specifically included Pax’s
personification or called her by name until after 44BC. The first depictions of peace seen on
coinage was depicted in
denarii in 137BC which was circulated to recall a treaty between Rome and
Epirus after the
Samnite wars. On this a woman was surrounded with farm animals such as
pigs and on the obverse side two soldiers face each other whilst holding a pig for
sacrifice. In 49BC a minter known as Sicinus released a
denarius with a
laurel wreath,
caduceus, and
victory palm, maybe he did this to evoke the idea of domestic unity and the association of peace with prosperity. Pax under Augustus took her known form as he demonstrated that peace bought wealth, which was contradictory to the
traditional Roman understanding that only war and conquest afforded wealth in the form of
loot and plunder. Fruits and grains were incorporated into Pax’s image and this was maybe done to show the return and abundance of
agriculture at the time, as many
veterans during the empire where often settled onto farms - particularly after the civil wars. Pax was also shown with twins, maybe representing domestic harmony achieved through the Pax Romana. This was because
fertility at home was spurred when the father of the household was around and not fighting in the legions.
Cows, pigs and
sheep imagery on the
Ara Pacis showed the abundance of food and
animal husbandry during the Pax Romana and these animals were also regularly scarified to Pax. Pax is also shown with a
cornucopia to further emphasise the opulence and wealth during this Roman golden era. During the latter years of her worship she was very rarely shown holding the
caduceus and she was increasingly shown sharing many more features common with Augustus - hinting at the Pax Augusta. ==See also==