Restoration of the Temple of Divus Augustus

312, Lot: 201. Estimate $200. Sold for $340. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Dupondius (26mm, 13.46 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 158. Radiate head right / TEMPLVM DIVI AVG REST, [C]OS IIII, octastyle temple in which are seated figures of Divus Augustus and Livia. RIC III 988. VF, attractive green patina. Rare.

The Temple of Divus Augustus, commenced under Tiberius and dedicated by Caligula in August 37 AD, suffered during the great fire of 80 which began on the Capitoline Hill and spread into the Forum and onto the Palatine. It was possibly restored or rebuilt under Domitian, although it is not mentioned in the Chronographia, and it certainly received further restoration under Antoninus Pius in 158. The temple under Antoninus was Corinthian octastyle and contained the seated figures of Divus Augustus and Livia within, generally drawn on the coinage at an elevated level to suggest perspective. The reliefs on the pediment are impossible to identify with any certainty, but the statuary on the roof (clearer on the related sestertii issued at the same time) can be identified as Augustus in quadriga flanked by Romulus on the left and Anchises carrying his father on the right.