David Castriota examines one of the most important monuments of early Roman Imperial art, the Ara Pacis Augustae, the sculptured marble altar built to celebrate the peace, prosperity, and stability initiated by the reign of Augustus in the later first century b.c. Castriota argues that the floral decoration of the altar enclosure was profoundly significant, operating as a visual counterpart to the technique of metonymy in language. It utilized an array of realistic plants and flowers as allusive elements associated with various gods and goddesses, which together symbolized the support and blessing of the Roman divinities for the Augustan regime. Supporting his argument with evidence from Greek and Roman literature and religion, Castriota shows that the planners of the Ara Pacis adapted and expanded a long tradition of symbolic floral decoration from Greek monumental arts. Throughout his work, Castriota demonstrates that the Roman absorption of Greek precedent enabled viewers to recognize the intended message of divine sponsorship. By examining the origins of the Ara Pacis within its broader historical setting, the author provides new insights into a crucial period that witnessed the emergence of a distinctly Roman Imperial art. "[This book] focuses on one single aspect of the Ara Pacis, the aspect which, on the face of it, might seem to offer least for discussion: the floral decoration that runs around the bottom of the figural and processional panels of the exterior of the enclosure of the altar. The frieze, brilliant in execution, a little battered in preservation, is alive with varieties of plant life and animal life.... That ... is not mere joi d'esprit, but carries complex signification for the ancient viewer.... This brief summary does ill justice to a complex, learned and densely argued text." ― The Times Literary Supplement David Castriota is Assistant Professor of Art History at Sarah Lawrence College. He is the author of Myth, Ethos, and Actuality: Official Art in Fifth Century b.c. Athens.