Pax and the Roman Understanding of Peace

3rd century denarius depicting Pax 
(moneymuseum.com)

The worship of the Goddess Pax (Peace) in ancient Rome first comes to prominence during the reign of Augustus, when in 13 BCE the Senate commissioned the Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of the Augustan Peace) to mark the safe return of Augustus from Gaul and Spain. Significantly, it was dedicated on the Campus Martius (field of Mars), which until the 1st century BCE had been used primarily as a military exercise ground. This is a powerful hint as to how ancient Romans understood Pax, ie, that Pax and Mars have a relationship with each other. In the Roman mind, Mars (war) establishes the necessary conditions for Pax (peace) to flourish.

“One of the legacies of the classical world is the belief that a secure peace can be obtained only through war … Cicero … said: ‘If we wish to enjoy peace, we must wage war. If we fail to wage war, peace we shall never enjoy.’ … The Romans believed that war and peace alternated as cause and effect. The civil wars broke out because of the extravagance that followed the wake of earlier wars. The luxury and prosperity of the late Roman Republic and Empire, and the enervating effects of peace effeminated its citizens and made them the prey of barbarian invaders … 

The Roman concept of peace was fragmented. One way of looking at this is to remember that during the regal and republican periods of history there was no God or Goddess who personified peace. While it is true that Saturn was said to have established the Golden Age, a time of peace and harmony, and that no war could be declared during the festival of Saturnalia, the Golden Age was no more. Peace was an abstract … concept that was imported into Rome and personified as a Goddess. At the same time, there were several [long established] deities who personified war, such as Mars and Minerva … 

Another way of looking at the slow development of the Roman concept of peace is to examine the changing meanings of the word pax. According to the Oxford Latin Dictionary, pax originally meant a pact between individuals, or a blessing conferring freedom from divine anger … Pax took on the meaning of a broad concept or policy only in the time of Augustus with the Pax Romana, a state of tranquility within those parts of the empire that had been pacified … the classical Roman concept of peace assumed that peace must be preceded by a total victory imposed by the victors, which assumes the existence of war … Augustus had derived the concept of peace from the Greek Goddess Eirene, who had been known to the Greeks since the time of Hesiod [8th-7th century BCE]. Although the Greeks had fought their wars ferociously, they, and the other city-states of the ancient Greek world, had generally restored peace through negotiated peace treaties rather than demanding total victory … [By contrast, a] Roman peace treaty was imposed on enemies after a crushing victory … Roman coins often depict Pax linked to the Goddess Victoria, with the latter wielding a sword and shield and displaying war trophies. This reinforced the idea that peace was something to be imposed, hence the motto Mars pacifier [Manning at 31-32]”.

Pax Romana
If we think of the English word pacify, and how it was used in the once common phrase “pacify the natives”, we get a little closer to the ancient Roman understanding of pax. Etymologically pax is connected to the verb paciscor, which means to “to make a bargain or agreement, covenant or contract” – it is related to the English word pact (Raaflaub at 58). In the context of pax, that pact is to establish, as Cassell’s Latin Dictionary states, “a state of peace, opp. to war”. For the Romans pax implied a state of orderliness within the empire and a measure of social harmony, and so they were able to boast that one of their greatest achievements as an empire was to impose the pax Romana, which enabled an unprecedented level of travel, communication, trade and prosperity within her extensive borders (Shelton at 286).

Pax Deorum
The other species of pax that ancient Romans prided themselves on was the pax Deorum (peace with the Gods).

“It was the purpose of Roman religion to gain the good will of the divine forces and to keep them benevolent … since the benevolence of the Gods could ensure the success and prosperity of both the individual and the community, it was essential that all citizens strive to establish a correct relationship with the Gods and maintain pax Deorum “peace with the Gods” …

Maintaining pax Deorum … was a continual process. The Roman Gods did not demand constant professions of faith, but they did require that humans respect their power and acknowledge their participation in the universe. Acknowledgment of the Gods formed the ritual of Roman religion … 

It was the duty of the officers of the state religion to preserve the pax Deorum … because religion was a function of the state, priesthoods were occupied by politicians … [Shelton at 370 and 384]”.

The pax Deorum could be described as a kind of pact, between the individual and / or the state, with the Gods:

“The relationship between man and Gods was like a contract that had to be constantly maintained by regular prayer and sacrifice. Otherwise the Gods’ favour could not be assured … [Warrior at 4]”.

The Augustan historian Livy gives an example of how ancient Romans experienced the pax Deorum (or, in this case, the lack of it and the measures taken to reestablish it):

“The plague lasted during both this and the following year … In the latter year [364 BCE] … they held a lectisternium [a ritual banquet for the Gods] … in order to implore the peace of the Gods (pax Deorum). When neither human wisdom nor the help of the Gods alleviated the virulence of the disease, men’s minds succumbed to superstitious fears (superstitio). Among other attempts to appease the anger of the Gods, ludi scaenici [theatrical plays] are said to have also been instituted. This was an innovation for a war-like people, whose only public spectacle up to that time had been the circus [horse races] … [cited in Warrior at 119]”.

Here we see that the pax Deorum is most definitely about defining the relationship that the community of Rome had with the Gods, but it is notable that Livy mentions what happens to the inner life of individuals when pax Deorum is not present, namely, they succumb to superstitious fears. Pax Deorum is thus not only about a good relationship with the Gods in the material realm, it is also necessary for the good of the human spirit.

Pax Christi
The Catholic Church, from St Augustine onwards, took this nuanced meaning of pax and extended it, so that it became strongly associated with a sort of cosmic and an inner spiritual peace (with God), which is closer to our more tranquil understanding of the word today (Mantello et al at 268-269). The extended meaning of the word can be easily inferred by looking at how it was used in medieval communion services: pax domini sit semper vobiscum means “may the peace of the Lord be upon you always”, likewise Christians sometimes greeted each other with pax vobiscum “peace be with you”. 

Conclusion

For ancient Romans there was no irony in the fact that two of her most war-drenched emperors – Augustus and Vespasian – were keen promoters of the cult of Pax (Beard et al I at 253-254). To them war created the necessary conditions for peace – the two things, and the two deities (Mars and Pax), were interrelated,  and in this understanding perhaps there is a lesson for us today.

While ancient Romans primarily associated pax with the absence of war, this was implicitly associated with “a state of order, regularity, harmony, and discipline ... It was the environment in which humans could be productive and successful because they were free of anxiety about disruption or disorder” (Shelton at 370). Thus pax is primarily a state of affairs that exists in the material plain – not least through establishing a beneficial relationship with the Gods, and when this relationship is functioning properly so too does the inner life of the individual.    

"Allegory of Justice and Peace" by van Thulden (17th century)

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Sources: 

• Aleteia.org
• M Beard, J North and S Price, Religions of Rome: Volume 1: A History, Cambridge University Press 
• M Beard, J North and S Price, Religions of Rome: Volume 2: A Sourcebook, Cambridge University Press 
• Britannica.com 
• A Kamm, The Romans: An Introduction (2nd ed), Routledge 
• R Manning, War and Peace in the Western Political Imagination, Bloomsbury 
• F Mantello and A Rigg, Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide, Catholic Uni of America Press 
• K Raaflaub, War and Peace in the Ancient World, Blackwell 
• J Shelton, As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History (2nd ed), Oxford University Press 
• D Simpson, Cassell’s Latin Dictionary, Bloomsbury 
• R Turcan, The Gods of Ancient Rome, Routledge
• V Warrior, Roman Religion: A Sourcebook, Focus Publishing 

Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at neo polytheist and romanpagan.wordpress.com