Temple of Divus Augustus
The Temple of Divus Augustus stood at the heart of Rome between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, on the very ground where the first emperor had once lived as a private citizen. Augustus occupied that house before he entered public life in the mid-1st century BC, long before anyone could have guessed that the spot would one day hold a monument to a god. When he died in AD 14, the Roman Senate vowed to build him a temple. What followed was a story of delayed dedications, spectacular celebrations, political calculation, fire, and centuries of rebuilding that stretched into the age of Antoninus Pius. How did a building meant to honor one man become a shrine to four emperors? And what did a two-day horse race, four hundred bears, and beasts from Libya have to do with a temple consecration? Those questions lead deep into the theatre of Roman imperial power.
Provincial towns moved faster than Rome itself. The Temple of Augustus in Pula, now in Croatia, was already standing during the emperor's own lifetime. Back in Rome, popular resistance to the idea of deifying a living ruler kept the formal process on hold. Augustus was not officially declared a god in the capital until after his death.
Once he died at Nola in Campania in AD 14, a temple at that town seems to have been begun almost immediately. The Senate vowed a much grander monument in Rome at roughly the same time. Ancient sources then disagree about who actually built it: some credited Tiberius and Augustus' widow Livia jointly; others said Tiberius worked alone. What is not disputed is that the building dragged on for more than two decades.
Some scholars read the long delay as evidence that Tiberius held his predecessor's memory in low regard. Others point to a counterargument: according to ancient accounts, Tiberius made his last journey from his villa on Capri specifically intending to enter Rome and dedicate the temple himself. He died at Misenum on the Bay of Naples before he could make the trip. Ittai Gradel has proposed a third reading, suggesting that the slow pace simply reflected the painstaking care that went into the construction. Whatever the cause, the dedication would fall to the next man on the throne.
The long-awaited dedication took place across the last two days of August 37. Caligula ordered commemorations that the historian Cassius Dio described as exceptionally extravagant. A two-day horse race ran alongside the slaughter of 400 bears and, in Dio's phrasing, an equal number of wild beasts from Libya.
Caligula also postponed all lawsuits and suspended all mourning for the duration, so that no one would have an excuse for staying away. The timing was not accidental. August was the month in which Augustus had died, and the month bore his name. The climax of the festivities fell on Caligula's own birthday and the final day of his consulship. By staging these overlapping occasions together, he tied himself directly to his great-great-grandfather, making the dedication serve as much as a statement about the living emperor as a tribute to the dead one.
Claudius, the emperor who followed Caligula, added a further layer to the temple's meaning. He ordered a statue of Livia, Augustus' wife, placed inside, and decreed that the Vestal Virgins would perform sacrifices in her honor there.
During the reign of Domitian the temple burned. It was rebuilt and rededicated in 89-90, and that reconstruction changed the building's character in a significant way. A shrine to Minerva, Domitian's favorite deity, was incorporated into the new design. The temple was also remade as a memorial to four deified emperors, a group that now included Vespasian and Titus alongside Augustus.
The next major transformation came in the late 150s, under Antoninus Pius, who may have been drawn to the project by a wish to be publicly connected with the founder of the imperial line. The exact date of his restoration is not recorded, but coins struck from 158 onward depict what the temple then looked like. Those images show an octastyle facade with Corinthian capitals, a clear departure from the original Ionic hexastyle recorded on earlier coinage. Two statues stood in the cella, almost certainly Augustus and Livia. The pediment carried a relief of Augustus, and a quadriga crowned the roofline.
The decorative program extended to the eaves. A figure on the left side of the roof represented Romulus, while the figure on the right showed Aeneas leading his family out of Troy, invoking the founding myths of Rome itself. Two statues of Victory flanked the steps.
Latin writers referred to the building as templum Augusti or divi Augusti, but Martial and Suetonius used a different name entirely: templum novum, meaning the new temple. That informal name appears in the Acta Arvalia as early as AD 36, suggesting it was in common use even before the dedication.
Tiberius erected a library near the temple, known as the bibliotecha templi novi or templi Augusti, which gives some sense of the complex that grew up around the main building. Caligula later added a bridge connecting the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, routed directly over the temple, turning the sacred structure into part of his own transit route between imperial residences.
Of the interior decoration, very little is known beyond a few scattered references. Pliny mentions a painting of Hyacinthus by Nicias of Athens, which Tiberius gave to the temple. That single reference is one of the more precise pieces of evidence about what the interior held. The cult statues of Augustus and Livia are well attested, but the rest of the decorative scheme remains obscure.
The last known reference to the Temple of Divus Augustus in ancient records is dated to the 27th of May 218. At some point after that date, the building was completely destroyed. Its stone was presumably stripped away and reused in later construction, as happened to many monuments across Rome.
No visible remains survive above ground today. The area where it stood has never been excavated, which means that even basic questions about its size, exact footprint, and internal proportions remain unanswered. What is known about the original design comes almost entirely from Roman coinage, which recorded the Ionic hexastyle facade before Domitian's fire erased it. The coins of Antoninus Pius's era then captured the octastyle Corinthian rebuild, offering a second architectural portrait separated from the first by decades of ruin and reconstruction. Those small images on ancient currency remain the clearest windows into a building that once presided over the center of the Roman world.
Common questions
Where was the Temple of Divus Augustus located in Rome?
The Temple of Divus Augustus stood between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, behind the Basilica Julia. It was built on the site of the house where Augustus had lived before he entered public life in the mid-1st century BC.
When was the Temple of Divus Augustus dedicated and by whom?
The temple was dedicated by Caligula across the last two days of August 37. Although the Senate had vowed it shortly after Augustus died in AD 14, and Tiberius had overseen construction, Tiberius died at Misenum before he could complete the dedication.
What were the dedicatory celebrations for the Temple of Divus Augustus like?
Caligula ordered a two-day horse race, the slaughter of 400 bears, and an equal number of wild beasts from Libya. He also postponed all lawsuits and suspended public mourning so that attendance would be universal, according to the historian Cassius Dio.
What did the Temple of Divus Augustus look like after Antoninus Pius restored it?
Coins minted from 158 onward depict the restored temple as an octastyle building with Corinthian capitals, two statues in the cella, a pediment relief of Augustus, a quadriga on the roofline, and figures of Romulus and Aeneas on the eaves. The original design had been Ionic hexastyle.
Why was the Temple of Divus Augustus rebuilt under Domitian?
The temple was destroyed by fire during the reign of Domitian and was rebuilt and rededicated in 89-90. The new structure included a shrine to Minerva, Domitian's favorite deity, and the temple was expanded to honor four deified emperors, including Vespasian and Titus.
What happened to the Temple of Divus Augustus after ancient times?
The last ancient reference to the temple is dated to the 27th of May 218. After that point the building was completely destroyed, its stones likely quarried for later construction. No visible remains survive and the site has never been excavated.
All sources
2 references cited across the entry
- 1inlineCass. Dio 59.7.4