Featured Ara Pietatis Augustae -- the altar that never really existed!

If the inscription CIL VI 562, quoted above by RC, is ancient and correctly read, then it proves that in 22 AD, during the reign of Tiberius, the senate decreed the erection of some sort of monument to Pietas, but that that monument was only dedicated, and presumably had also only been built, by Claudius in 43/4 AD, over 20 years later.

Eckhel and Mommsen assumed that the Pietas meant was that of Tiberius, generalized to "Augustan Pietas", since Tacitus relates that in 22 AD, when his mother Livia fell dangerously ill, Tiberius hastened to Rome, and upon her recovery the senate decreed sacrifices to the gods and the holding of circus games, doubtless with Tiberius' approval.

But if the monument decreed by the senate and eventually dedicated by Claudius commemorated Tiberius' piety, why would its erection have been put off during the remaining 15 years of his reign, and what reason could Claudius possibly have had to erect it himself five years after Tiberius' death?

It seems to me much more likely that the Pietas commemorated was that of Livia, so that the AVGVSTAE of the dedication should be read as genitive not dative, "To the Pietas of Augusta". Tacitus, in a sentence placed right in the middle of his account of Livia's illness, Tiberius' rush to Rome, and the celebrations for Livia's recovery, records a deed of Livia's that was an eminent demonstration of her Pietas: a little before she fell ill, she had dedicated a statue of her husband Divus Augustus near the Theater of Marcellus in Rome. The Calendar of Praeneste gives us the exact date of that dedication, 23 April 22 AD. Tiberius was however offended, according to Tacitus, that in the statue's inscription Livia had placed her own name before Tiberius' name! If the Pietas monument was decreed to celebrate Livia's rather than Tiberius' Pietas, no wonder that Tiberius delayed its erection. And no wonder that Claudius finally erected the monument: according to Suetonius and Dio, after his accession Claudius highly honored his grandmother Livia, not only consecrating her and granting her a wagon drawn by elephants in the circus parade, but also instituting horseraces for her, setting up her statue in the temple of Divus Augustus, making her a recipient of rites performed by the Vestals, and adding her name to all oaths sworn by women.

In 22 AD, then, the senate apparently decreed the erection of a monument commemorating Livia's Pietas, which was however only set up and dedicated by Claudius 20 years later. The inscription does not indicate what sort of monument that was, and no other record of it seems to have survived. I think there is no reason why it couldn't have been an altar; a statue of Livia or Pietas would also be a possibility. The coins of Diva Faustina and Diva Sabina and a number of later consecrated emperors seem to indicate that altar enclosures could be among the honors accorded to consecrated emperors; see especially the denarii and sestertii of Divus Antoninus Pius with rev. altar enclosure, DIVO PIO (S C). I think RC may be wrong to consider these obvious altars to be ustrina.

Date of Sabina's consecration: clearly under Hadrian, who is still shown among the living on the relief depicting her consecration.

 

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