DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44944#0199
157
DOMUS: AUGUSTUS (2)
We thus learn from Suet, that a part of the house of Augustus was
struck by lightning and the temple of Apollo was erected on its site—
in compensation for which the senate decreed that a house should be
given to him out of the public funds (Cass. Dio xlix. 15. 5). The
enlarged house must have been ready at more or less the same time as
the temple of Apollo ; for on 13th January, 27 b.c., the senate decreed
that an oak crown should be placed over the door (Fast. Praen. 13 Jan. ;
Mon. Anc. vi. 13 ; Cass. Dio liii. 16. 4 ; Ov. Fasti, i. 509; iv. 951 ;
for a representation cf. the Sorrento base (Mitt. 1889, pl. x. ; 1894,
238 sqq. ; SScR 76), and Cohen, Aug. 385 =BM. Aug. 126).
The authors speak of its great simplicity, and of a lofty tower
chamber, into which the emperor was glad to retire (Suet. Aug. 72,
73) and of an Aedicula et Ara Vestae (q.v.). The house was
destroyed by fire in 3 a.d. (Cass. Dio lv. 12 ; Suet. Aug. 57), and
Augustus only accepted pro forma the contributions made for its
repair.
Hiilsen suggests that the older remains under the basilica, peristyle
and triclinium of the Domus Augustiana (v. p. 161) may belong
to the palace of Augustus (HJ 90). But even if we accept his theory
as to the temple of Apollo, on which this depends, this is only possible
for the former group, to which, however, the rooms under the large
hall to the S.E. and the so-called lararium must be added—if they
do not belong to an independent house. And, as the temple was
founded in a part of the original house (see above), this would make it
far too large (Richmond in JRS 1914, 193-194). On the other hand,
if we identify the podium on the S.W. with the temple of Apollo
(cf. Reber, 382), the house of Hortensius purchased by Augustus may
well be identified (as Parker, Photo 2250, had already suggested) with
what is generally known as the house of Livia. That it actually passed
into her possession is very probable, from the discovery of lead water-
pipes with the name Iuliae Aug(ustae) (CIL xv. 7264), which most
authorities refer to her. It has also been identified with the house of
Germanicus, the father of Caligula, where the murderers of the latter
hid themselves (Joseph. Ant. Iud. xix. 1. 15 (117)), e.g. by LR 149-151 ;
cf. HJ 63 (but contrast the rejection of this theory, ib. 85, n. 109).
But only the identification with the house of Augustus suffices to
explain the fact that it was preserved unaltered down to the end of the
classical period, as though it had been an object of veneration (see
Domus Tiberiana). Water-pipes show that it remained imperial
property at least until the time of Domitian (CIL xv. 7285—ib. 7265.
L. Pescennius Eros Caesarum may be almost contemporary with
7264, the Caesares being either Gaius and Lucius or Tiberius, Drusus,
and Germanicus).
The house is approached by a small passage, accessible from the
cryptoporticus of the domus Tiberiana, which leads into a court,
DOMUS: AUGUSTUS (2)
We thus learn from Suet, that a part of the house of Augustus was
struck by lightning and the temple of Apollo was erected on its site—
in compensation for which the senate decreed that a house should be
given to him out of the public funds (Cass. Dio xlix. 15. 5). The
enlarged house must have been ready at more or less the same time as
the temple of Apollo ; for on 13th January, 27 b.c., the senate decreed
that an oak crown should be placed over the door (Fast. Praen. 13 Jan. ;
Mon. Anc. vi. 13 ; Cass. Dio liii. 16. 4 ; Ov. Fasti, i. 509; iv. 951 ;
for a representation cf. the Sorrento base (Mitt. 1889, pl. x. ; 1894,
238 sqq. ; SScR 76), and Cohen, Aug. 385 =BM. Aug. 126).
The authors speak of its great simplicity, and of a lofty tower
chamber, into which the emperor was glad to retire (Suet. Aug. 72,
73) and of an Aedicula et Ara Vestae (q.v.). The house was
destroyed by fire in 3 a.d. (Cass. Dio lv. 12 ; Suet. Aug. 57), and
Augustus only accepted pro forma the contributions made for its
repair.
Hiilsen suggests that the older remains under the basilica, peristyle
and triclinium of the Domus Augustiana (v. p. 161) may belong
to the palace of Augustus (HJ 90). But even if we accept his theory
as to the temple of Apollo, on which this depends, this is only possible
for the former group, to which, however, the rooms under the large
hall to the S.E. and the so-called lararium must be added—if they
do not belong to an independent house. And, as the temple was
founded in a part of the original house (see above), this would make it
far too large (Richmond in JRS 1914, 193-194). On the other hand,
if we identify the podium on the S.W. with the temple of Apollo
(cf. Reber, 382), the house of Hortensius purchased by Augustus may
well be identified (as Parker, Photo 2250, had already suggested) with
what is generally known as the house of Livia. That it actually passed
into her possession is very probable, from the discovery of lead water-
pipes with the name Iuliae Aug(ustae) (CIL xv. 7264), which most
authorities refer to her. It has also been identified with the house of
Germanicus, the father of Caligula, where the murderers of the latter
hid themselves (Joseph. Ant. Iud. xix. 1. 15 (117)), e.g. by LR 149-151 ;
cf. HJ 63 (but contrast the rejection of this theory, ib. 85, n. 109).
But only the identification with the house of Augustus suffices to
explain the fact that it was preserved unaltered down to the end of the
classical period, as though it had been an object of veneration (see
Domus Tiberiana). Water-pipes show that it remained imperial
property at least until the time of Domitian (CIL xv. 7285—ib. 7265.
L. Pescennius Eros Caesarum may be almost contemporary with
7264, the Caesares being either Gaius and Lucius or Tiberius, Drusus,
and Germanicus).
The house is approached by a small passage, accessible from the
cryptoporticus of the domus Tiberiana, which leads into a court,