In front of the entrance stood two 14-meter-high obelisks in pink granite; one is now on Piazza dell’Esquilino, in front of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, the other is in front of the Quirinal Palace. Affixed to the two pilasters flanking the entrance were bronze plates engraved with the text of the Res Gestae Augusti, Augustus’ autobiography, in which he described all the things he had achieved during his reign, thanks to his foreign, domestic, social and city-planning policies: a sort of spiritual testament addressed to future generations. As Augustus intended the mausoleum to be a family tomb, the ashes of the other members of the imperial house were likewise laid to rest here.

Over the centuries, the monument underwent far-reaching changes. After serving as a military fortress, it was eventually used as a theater/auditorium. In the 1930s, it was explored in several archeological digs. The buildings that had grown up around it were demolished, and it was left to stand in splendid isolation. This scale model was made around that time by Paolo and Roberto Bucci, based on documentation compiled by A. Muňoz, G. Gatti, E. Q. Giglioli and A. M. Colini.