IEleus 296 Honours for Livia and Augustus

Honours for Livia and Augustus

I Eleusis 296 Date: 31-27 BC

col. 1

The People (erected this statue of) Livia Drusilla, wife of Emperor Caesar

col. 2

The People (erected this statue of) Emperor Caesar, son of the God Julius, their own saviour and benefactor.^[1]

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References:

I Eleusis 296 (Translated text) (PHI)

SEG 24.212 (PHI)

Højte, Statue Bases Augustus 140

Schmalz 113

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Statue base (People)

Findspot: Eleusis, Agios Zacharias (Eleusis Museum E 1142)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] The monument base supported statues of Livia and her husband, the emperor Augustus (r. 31 BC – 14 AD). The God Julius is Julius Caesar, Augustus' great-uncle who posthumously adopted him as heir. The base was a large structure, at least five metres on each side. There was originally at least one further block on each side. There are clamp cuttings and mason's marks on top for attaching these blocks. The surviving blocks were found at Eleusis at the Church of Agios Zacharias (by the road leading into the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore).

The monument is the earliest evidence for honours to Augustus at Athens; it must date between his victory over Marcus Antonius at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and his assumption of the name Augustus in 27 BC. Immediately after Actium, Augustus sailed to Athens, affirmed its free status, distributed grain, and was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries (Dio Cassius 51.4.1). This monument presumably commemorates all of these acts (Schmalz, pp. 92-93). The first Athenian monument to Augustus on Delos (I Délos 1588) belongs to the same period. This also makes it the earliest dateable monument for Livia in the Eastern Mediterranean. On Augustus and Athens, see SEG 29.168 with notes, on Livia at Athens, see IG II² 3238 with notes.

Eleusis became an important location for Athens' relationship with the Roman emperors (K. Clinton in M. C. Hoff and S. I. Rotroff, The Romanization of Athens, 1994, 161-82). A structure dedicated to the Imperial cult at the site was built around 60 AD (I Eleusis 361 and 363 with notes). Clinton proposes that this was the colonnaded building to the south of the main sanctuary and suggests that the neighbouring temple was dedicated to Augustus. Another structure was dedicated to Agrippina (I Eleusis 354). Another structure was dedicated to Augustan Justice, perhaps in connection with the succession of Tiberius (I Eleusis 341). Two second-century AD temples directly north of the Telesterion have been identified as temples of the empresses Sabina, wife of Hadrian, and Faustina the Elder, wife of Antoninus Pius (although there seems to be no explicit evidence for these identifications). The Gates of the Panhellenes were also dedicated to an emperor, probably Hadrian (IG II³ 4, 217-218) and they flanked the Greater Propylaia, which was decorated with an image of Marcus Aurelius. Statue bases are known for Augustus (I Eleusis 297), Tiberius (I Eleusis 331 and a statue without inscription, see images on Commons), Tiberius and Livia (I Eleusis 334-335), Hadrian I Eleusis 453, as well as I Eleusis 446, an altar), Marcus Aurelius and his family (I Eleusis 505-510), Marcus Aurelius' wife Faustina and his mother Domitia Lucilla (I Eleusis 461), Septimius Severus and Julia Domna (I Eleusis 517-519), and Diocletian (I Eleusis 660). Unknown emperors are honoured by I Eleusis 497, 597, and perhaps I Eleusis 332.

These honours were matched by direct Imperial engagement with the sanctuary. Augustus, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, and Gallienus were initiated into the Mysteries. Hadrian built an aqueduct and fountain house to supply the sanctuary with water (I Eleusis 449). He and Gallienus issued edicts to ensure the supply of provisions for the festival crowds (IG II² 1103 and I Eleusis 655). Marcus Aurelius funded the Greater Propylaia (I Eleusis 499). Commodus served as archon of the Eumolpidai (I Eleusis 513).

Added: 24 Jul 2026
Updated: 24 Jul 2026
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