Mausoleum of Augustus
The dynastic tomb that announced the beginning of a new age in Roman history.
Request a ProposalAt the northern edge of the ancient Campus Martius, Augustus created one of the largest funerary monuments of antiquity.
Begun in the late first century BC, the Mausoleum became the dynastic tomb of Rome’s first imperial family and a monumental statement about succession, memory and political legitimacy.
Today it stands beside the Ara Pacis at the centre of a district that still preserves the imprint of Augustus’ transformation of Rome.
Why Augustus Built His Mausoleum
Augustus began the mausoleum after his victory at Actium and before he had formally received the title Augustus in 27 BC.
The timing is significant.
Rome was emerging from decades of civil war, and Octavian was establishing a new political order while carefully avoiding the appearance of monarchy.
A monumental dynastic tomb in the Campus Martius projected permanence, continuity and the future of the family around which the new political system was taking shape.
The Largest Known Circular Tomb of Antiquity
The mausoleum measures approximately 87 metres in diameter, equivalent to about 300 Roman feet.
Its enormous circular mass dominated this part of the Campus Martius and created a new dynastic landmark in the northern part of the city.
The ancient monument was very different from the exposed brick and concrete structure visible today.
What Did the Mausoleum Originally Look Like?
The monument consisted of a massive circular structure with concentric walls surrounding the central funerary area.
Its exterior was faced with stone, while vegetation and monumental elements helped create the appearance of an immense landscaped tomb.
Ancient descriptions and archaeological reconstruction suggest that a statue of Augustus crowned the monument.
Near the entrance stood bronze inscriptions recording the Res Gestae, Augustus’ account of his political achievements.
Who Was Buried Here?
The mausoleum became the principal dynastic tomb of Augustus and his family.
Several members of the imperial household were buried here before Augustus himself, transforming the monument into a physical genealogy of the emerging Julio-Claudian dynasty.
Augustus was interred in AD 14.
Other members of the imperial family, including Livia, later joined the dynastic necropolis.
Part of a Much Larger Political Landscape
The Mausoleum should not be understood as an isolated funerary monument.
Augustus transformed the northern Campus Martius through monuments that connected family memory, military victory, peace, religion and the movement of the sun.
The nearby Ara Pacis and the Horologium Augusti belonged to this wider landscape.
Together they created one of the most ambitious expressions of political imagery in the ancient Roman world.
From Imperial Tomb to Concert Hall
Like many of Rome’s great monuments, the Mausoleum survived because it repeatedly changed function.
Over the centuries it was transformed into a fortified structure, incorporated into aristocratic property and adapted for entertainment.
In the modern period, its interior became the celebrated Augusteo concert hall, one of the most important musical venues in Rome before the monument was stripped back during twentieth-century redevelopment.
The Monument and the Modern City
The area surrounding the Mausoleum has itself undergone dramatic transformations.
Twentieth-century redevelopment isolated the ancient structure within Piazza Augusto Imperatore, radically altering the relationship between the tomb and the surrounding city.
More recent works have again redesigned the square, creating a new pedestrian setting around the ancient monument.
Is the Mausoleum of Augustus Open?
The Mausoleum is currently closed to public visits while the final phase of restoration and museum installation continues.
According to the current programme of the Sovrintendenza Capitolina, completion of this phase is expected toward the end of 2026.
Interior access is currently suspended. Programmes focused on Augustus can still explore the monument from the surrounding district together with the Ara Pacis, the Horologium area and other Augustan sites.
A Monument to Dynasty and Memory
The Mausoleum reveals something fundamental about Augustus’ political vision.
Rome’s first emperor did not simply construct administrative institutions.
He reshaped the city physically and used architecture to present his family, victories and political system as part of Rome’s future.
The tomb therefore belongs as much to the history of political communication as it does to the history of Roman funerary architecture.
Discover the Rome of Augustus
Even while interior access is suspended, the Mausoleum can form part of a specialist itinerary devoted to Augustus and the birth of Imperial Rome.
The experience can connect the Mausoleum, Ara Pacis, Horologium Augusti, Forum of Augustus and the private residences of Augustus and Livia on the Palatine.
Together these sites reveal how one individual transformed Rome’s political institutions, architecture and visual identity.
What You’ll Discover
- The dynastic tomb of Augustus
- The political world after the Battle of Actium
- The largest known circular tomb of antiquity
- The Julio-Claudian imperial family
- The original appearance of the Mausoleum
- The Res Gestae of Augustus
- The Ara Pacis and Augustan Campus Martius
- The Horologium Augusti
- The transformation of the monument through two thousand years
- The Augusteo concert hall
- The redevelopment of Piazza Augusto Imperatore
- The current restoration and museum project
Discover where Imperial Rome began.
Explore the monuments, political ideas and architectural programme through which Augustus transformed the Roman Republic into a new imperial age.
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