Imperial compliments are paid also to Gaius’…

Imperial compliments are paid also to Gaius’ younger Lucius in 2 BCE, the year in which their grandfather Augustus receives his climactic title “father of the country” (pater patriae).

As the Augustan building boom continues, many older temples are refaced with marble, and new shrines, such as the Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum Augusti, are erected at the focal points of forum complexes.

In the battle of Philippi in 42 BCE, in which Augustus and Mark Antony had worked together and avenged Caesar's death, Augustus had vowed to build a temple dedicated to Mars the avenger.

after forty years of construction, the incomplete forum and its Temple of Mars Ultor are inaugurated in 2 BCE as the Forum of Augustus.

The temple consists of a very tall fire wall, and this still distinguishes itself from the neighborhood of Suburra, a notoriously poor district of Rome quite prone to fires.

The tall solid stone wall has been built to protect the marble architecture of the forum from fire, as marble quickly turns to lime once exposed to fire.

The forum consists of a large open space framed by colonnades with semicircular exedrae beyond.

These exedrae honor the founders of Rome, the Julian family, and the leading men of Rome with portrait busts.

In addition to statues of all the Roman triumphatores, which are either made of bronze or marble and are placed along the left side of the Forum and in the left exedrae, the entire right side and right exedrae are full of statues of men in the Julian-Claudian family.

They trace Augustus’s lineage down through the fourteen Alban kings to the founding ancestors Aeneas and Romulus.

According to myth, Rome herself had been born from the god Mars through Romulus.

These figures collectively reinforce the importance of both Roman lineage but also of the prestigious lineage that Augustus himself holds.

By advertising this lineage, he reinforces his power and authorities as a leader.

Also, by placing himself among great figures and heroes, he further portrays himself and his own importance.

He paints himself as one of ‘the greats’ worthy of the power he holds.

The entire decoration of the Forum is tightly connected to the ideology of Augustus.

The open courtyard is dominated by a single octastyle temple, accessible only from the front and with columns on only the front facade.

In addition to Mars Ultor, this temple also honors Venus.

On the left side of the Forum is the Hall of the Colossus, a small room that holds a large cult statue, presumably of Augustus.