At the start of the first century ad, a member of the local elite, Marcus Tullius, paid for the building of a temple to Augustan Fortune on land owned by him near the centre of the town, just north of the Forum. Together with the erection of a monumental arch just beside it and a portico along the street leading up to it, the overall effect was of extending the monumental centre of the town beyond the Forum itself. He marked off the land that still remained his private property by means of a small tufa marker beside the temple, to the south. At the end of his life, Tullius’ contribution to the town was acknowledged by the councillors, who set up a seat-tomb to him just outside the Stabian Gate (G6).
The cult provided a focus of loyalty towards the imperial regime by freedmen and slaves, who served as its presidents (magistri) and attendants (ministri), in a similar way to the organization of the cult of Mercury, Maia and Augustus, and of district shrines (E28-31, E61-67). An inscription reveals that it was a requirement of the cult’s regulations that the attendants (ministri) set up a statue (of what, is not clear), perhaps each year. As with the cult of Mercury, Maia and Augustus, the town councillors had overall authority for the cult. Many of the cult’s bases have been found reused in various parts of the town, but some were found in the temple itself.
The construction of the temple, c. AD 3 (E32—33)
E32 is the temple’s dedicatory inscription; E33 is the boundary marker of volcanic stone, dividing off land donated by Marcus Tullius to the town from his private property.
E32 CIL X 820 = ILS 5398
Marcus Tullius, son of Marcus, duumvir with judicial power three times, quinquennial, augur, military tribune by popular demand, (built) the Temple of Augustan Fortune on his own land and at his own expense.
E33 CIL X 821 = ILS 5398a Private land of Marcus Tullius, son of Marcus.
Bases dedicated by the attendants of Augustan Fortune (E34—37)
The first two bases were found in the temple itself. E34 is the earliest statue base set up by attendants (ministri) of the cult, in AD 3. E35, which does not conform to the pattern of the others, refers to a ‘law’, the regulations laid down for the cult when it was first established. It is rather poorly inscribed, with several errors in its carving: in the consular date, for instance, the text gives ‘Platilio’ instead of ‘Plautio’. On the upper surface of the base is a hollow in the shape of a foot, indicating that it originally bore a metal statue. Other bases were found reused in different parts of the town (E36—37).
E34 CIL X 824 = ILS 6382, ad 3
Agathermus, slave of Vettius; Suavis, slave of Caesia Prima; Pothus, slave of Numitor; Anteros, slave of Lacutulanus, the first attendants (ministri) of Augustan Fortune, by command of Marcus Staius Rufus and Gnaeus Melissaeus, duumvirs with judicial power, in the consulship of Publius Silius and Lucius Volusius Saturninus.
During the consulship of Taurus Statilius and Tiberius Plautius Aelianus, Lucius Statius Faustus instead of the statue which in accordance with the law of the attendants (ministri) of Augustan Fortune he was required to set up, on the proposal of Quintus Pompeius Amethystus, quaestor, they decreed that he should set up two marble bases instead of a statue.
E36 CIL X 826 = ILS 6383, ad 56
Martialis, slave of Gaius Olius Primus; Manius Salarius Crocus; Primigenius, slave of Gaius Olius Primus, attendants of Augustan Fortune; by command of Quintus Postumius Modestus and Gaius Vibius Secundus, duumvirs with judicial power, and of Gaius Memmius Iunianus and Quintus Bruttius Balbus, aediles, in the consulship of [Lucius D]uvius and Publius Clodius.
E37 CIL X 827 = ILS 6384
Lucius Numisius Primus, Lucius Numisius Optatus, Lucius Melissaeus Plocamus, attendants of Augustan Fortune; in accordance with a decree of the town councillors, by command of Lucius Iulius Ponticus and Publius Gavius Pastor, duumvirs with judicial power, and of Quintus Poppaeus and Gaius Vibius, aediles, in the consulship of Quintus Futius and Publius Calvisius.
World History
