Academic literature on the topic 'Temple of Divus Julius'

The paper concerns a fragmentary Latin inscription on a broken slab of marble, found in secondary fill in the residential villa excavated by the Polish team in Nea Paphos. It is dated by the type of script to the second half of the 3rd or the first half of the 4th century AD. A review of an updated collection of Latin texts (including some bilingual inscriptions in Latin and Greek) discovered in Cyprus demonstrated that they are either directly or indirectly connected with the Roman state and Roman institutions. The juncture cum porticibus indicates that it was either a building inscription or a honorific inscription for someone, possibly Divus Probus (although the text could be supplemented with the names of other divine or divinized figures), who was involved in some kind of building activity, either by giving money for the construction or by consecrating it. The commemoration could have concerned the construction of an important administrative building (praetorium), military installation, road station etc. or a municipal structure founded by a Roman or consecrated by a Roman state official and incorporating a portico (bath, market place, theater, temple, etc.).

Book 4 is examined at a turning point in the discussion of religious material in the Annals. At the start of the book, the rise of Sejanus is attributed to the savageness of fortuna and the wrath of the gods; Tacitus for the first time explicitly introduces the possibility of divine punishment for the decline in cultic memory shown in previous books. Episodes such as godlike honors for the deceased Drusus, the form of marriage ritual appropriate for the flamen Dialis, and the revisiting of temple asylum rights show that the problem of cultic amnesia persists. It is interwoven with notices about the proposal of temples in Asia (4.15.2–3) and Spain (4.37–8) to be dedicated to the worship of Tiberius himself. Tiberius’ rejection of the Spanish temple, which rests on his alleged wish to keep such honors the province of the deified Augustus alone, shows his fundamental misunderstanding of the principle of cultic memory and earns him the ire of his critics as showing an insufficient concern with his own posthumous commemoration, of which emperor cult is now presumed to be the best form. Tiberius comes into conflict with Agrippina the Elder over the proper way to commemorate divus Augustus, and Tiberius’ withdrawal from Rome allows for new abuses of ritual to be performed in his absence.

Chapter 12 moves to so-called era of Roman Athens, though this term can also be applied to the city from a century earlier. Augustus and Athens had a rocky relationship at the outset, with the city angering the emperor and having to work to ingratiate itself. Augustus then showed a tolerant attitude toward the city, giving it money to complete the Roman Agora, and Athens was also able to draw on wealthy individuals to fund other projects, with Agrippa also building an odeum in the Agora. Roman visitors continued traveling and studying in the city. After an economic slump there was a rise in prosperity, evidenced by a rise in exports and the flourishing of the port of Piraeus. Culture continued, as did Romans availing themselves of it. But a clear sign of Roman mastery was the introduction of the imperial cult into the city, and the building of a temple to the goddess Roma and Augustus on the Acropolis, the home of the patron deity Athena. One wealthy patron was Julius Nicanor, who acted as some sort of liaison between Athens and Augustus.

Today it is hard to imagine the busy harbor of ancient Cenchreae, one of the most important ports in the Roman world, at the desolate spot on a small bay that marks its former location. Yet the underwater ruins there still suggest the history of famous travelers, such as the Apostle Paul, whose feet once walked on the sunken stones. To reach Cenchreae, follow the signs from Corinth to Isthmia and continue toward the village of Keries, some 3 miles past Isthmia. The site is not well marked but is easily discernible from the road. Cenchreae, the eastern port of Corinth on the Saronic Gulf, enabled maritime travel and commercial activity between Asia Minor and Corinth. The harbor was certainly in existence by the time of the Peloponnesian War and likely was constructed considerably earlier. It was first mentioned by Thucydides in his description of the attack by the Athenians upon Corinth in 425 B.C.E. The site was abandoned following the destruction of Corinth in 146 B.C.E., but new harbor facilities were built when Julius Caesar revived Corinth in 44 C.E. Two new moles (breakwaters) were added at that time to provide a deep-water port. Strabo later described Cenchreae as the naval station of Corinth, 70 stadia (7 miles) to the east, and the port used for its trade with Asia (the western coast of Asia Minor, modern Turkey). Pausanius said that the harbor got its name from Cenchreas, the son of Poseidon and Peirene. He described Cenchreae as having a bronze statue of Poseidon on a mole that extended into the sea at the southern end of the harbor, with temples of Isis and Asclepius at the same end of the harbor. A temple of Aphrodite stood at the north side of the harbor. Cenchreae also was the port used by the Apostle Paul in the 1st century in his travels to Asia Minor and Syria. The harbor was badly damaged by earthquakes and tidal waves in 365 and 375 C.E., but it was later restored and continued to be a significant port until its final destruction by the Slavs around 580 C.E.