. Pompeii : its life and art . ced above the door of the house in whichAugustus lived, and that the doorposts should be wreathed withlaurel. From that time the civic crown and the laurel were recog-nized as attributes denoting imperial rank. This temple, there-fore, was built in honor of an emperor. From the inscriptionsof the Arval Brethren, we learn that in the case of a living em- ioS POMPEII peror a bull was the suitable victim, but that an ox was sacri-ficed to an emperor who had been deified after death. As thevictim on our altar is a bull, the temple must have been dedi-cated to an empe
. Pompeii : its life and art . ced above the door of the house in whichAugustus lived, and that the doorposts should be wreathed withlaurel. From that time the civic crown and the laurel were recog-nized as attributes denoting imperial rank. This temple, there-fore, was built in honor of an emperor. From the inscriptionsof the Arval Brethren, we learn that in the case of a living em- ioS POMPEII peror a bull was the suitable victim, but that an ox was sacri-ficed to an emperor who had been deified after death. As thevictim on our altar is a bull, the temple must have been dedi-cated to an emperor during his lifetime. With these facts inmind it will not be difficult to ascertain to whose worship thebuilding was consecrated. The coins of Augustus have both the civic crown and thelaurel, but those of his immediate successors have only theformer. In the year 74 the laurel again appears with the crownon the coins of Vespasian and Titus, and we may suppose thatthe distinction formerly conferred on Augustus was about this. Fig. 44. — View of the temple of Vespasian. time revhed in honor of Vespasian. It was indeed quite naturalthat men should think of Vespasian and Augustus restored peace and order after disastrous civil wars; bothadopted severe repressive measures against luxury and immoral-ity, and both adorned Rome with great public buildings. Thetemple of Jupiter on the Capitoline, which Augustus had re-paired and made more magnificent, Vespasian rebuilt from thefoundation after it was burned in 69. The Senate, which had suffered so seriously at the hands of THE TEMPLE OF VESPASIAN 109 Nero, had reason to be deeply grateful to Vespasian, who treatedit with marked respect, in this also following the example ofAugustus. If the annals of the reigns of the Flavian emperorswere not so meagre, we should very likely find a decree of theSenate honoring Vespasian with the civic crown and the a decree might well have suggested the founding of atemple,
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