Temple of Faustina

You see the temple that our emperor, Antoninus Pius, has erected in honor of his beloved wife, Annia Galeria Faustina, after her death some ten years ago (140 or 141 CE) (see also this detailed drawing of the coin). The inscription at the base of the temple's pediment indicates that Faustina was deified by order of the Senate after her death: DIVAE FAUSTINAE EX S.C., "to the deified Faustina, by decree of the Senate." The emperor also issued many coins celebrating her deification, one of which you see here representing the design of the temple. Antoninus himself was to die twenty years later (161 CE) and be deified, after which this temple was also consecrated to him. In fact, a new line was added to the inscription in larger letters giving him more prominence: DIVO ANTONINO ET, "to the deified Antoninus and ..." This reconstruction (courtesy of UCLA's Digital Roman Forum) shows the temple after Antoninus was added.

The temple is located along the Sacra Via near the eastern entrance to the Forum (see view of temple with Arch of Titus in the background); it has a long set of stairs with an embedded altar; the cella has been converted into a church with a baroque pediment.