Tempio di Roma e Augusto

Panel 57 - Location

Perhaps built while Augustus was still alive (in the early 1st century AD), this imposing temple was erected in the south part of the Forum square, aligned with the older Capitolium; the association between the cult of the emperor and the city’s traditional cults held an obvious symbolic and ideological meaning.

Panel 57 - Figure 1Reconstruction of the north and west façades of the temple
(R. Geremia, M.A. Ricciardi)

The building’s foundations and part of the original architectural decoration in marble survive, including the rear pediment and the statue of flying Victory, which must have stood at the top of the roof: these marbles have now been mounted on a modern wall in the vicinity of the building. The temple façade probably hosted a platform from which orators addressed the people.

Panel 57 - Figure 2Modern wall with reconstruction of one of the pediments of the temple Panel 57 - Figure 4Cult statue of the goddess Roma
Panel 57 - Figure 3Statue of winged Victory originally placed at the top of the temple pediment

See also:

The Central Area and the Official Complexes