Classical Quarterly 56.1 149–168 (2006) Printed in Great Britain doi: 10.1017/S0009838806000127 O. HEKSTER AND J. RICH OCTAVIAN AND THE THUNDERBOLT OCTAVIAN AND THE THUNDERBOLT: THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO PALATINUS AND ROMAN TRADITIONS OF TEMPLE BUILDING In 36 B.C. Octavian announced his intention of building a new temple to Apollo next to his house on the south-west edge of the Palatine Hill, and in 28 he dedicated the completed temple with its associated porticoes and libraries. Excavations conducted in the area in the 1950s and 1960s confirmed the identification of the temple’s remains and revealed the adjacent portion of Augustus’ house. However, the excav- ations were never fully published, and much remains uncertain about the topography of the sanctuary. 1 The magnificence of the sanctuary’s buildings and artworks is vividly evoked in Propertius’ description and in many other ancient allusions. 2 In recent scholarship there has been much discussion of the symbolism of its visual programme and of the significance of its location. 3 Octavian/Augustus had chosen for his house a site with powerful associations with Rome’s earliest past, in particular with Romulus, whose reputed hut stood nearby. The house itself was relatively modest, but he shared it with the god who was his particular patron, an association of sanctuary and ruler’s residence that, as Zanker has observed, is reminiscent of Hellenistic palaces. One aspect that has attracted relatively little discussion is Octavian’s original decision to found the temple. This paper offers a closer examination of this decision against the background of Roman traditions of temple foundation. It will be shown 149 1 Excavation reports: G. Carettoni, ‘I problemi della zona augustea del Palatino alla luce dei recenti scavi’, Rend. Pont. Acc. 39 (1966–67), 55–65, and ‘Roma—Le costruzioni di Augusto e il tempio di Apollo sul Palatino’, Arch. Laz. 1(1978), 72–4. Recent discussions include: L. Richardson, Jr, A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Baltimore and London, 1992), 14; P. Gros, in E. M. Steinby, Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae [hereafter LTUR], 1.54–7; L. Balensiefen, ‘Überlegungen zu Aufbau und Lage der Danaidenhalle auf dem Palatin’, MDAI(R) 102 (1995), 189–209; A. Claridge, LTUR 5.225, and Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (Oxford, 1998), 131; M. A. Tomei, ‘I resti del arco di Ottavio e il portico delle Danaidi’, MEFRA 112 (2000), 557–610. See also n. 11. 2 Hor. Od. 1.31; Prop. Eleg. 2.31; Verg. Aen. 8.720; Ov. Fast. 4.951–4, Ars. Am. 1.73–4, Trist. 3.1.59–64; RG 19.1, 24.2; Vell. 2.81.3; Asc. 90C; Plin. NH 36.11, 24–5, 32, 37.11; Joseph. BJ 2.81; Suet. Aug. 29.3, 52.1; Dio 53.1.3; Serv. Aen. 8.720. 3 P. Zanker, ‘Der Apollontempel auf dem Palatin’, in Città e architettura nella Roma imperiale, Anal. Rom., Suppl. 10 (1983), 21–40, and The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (Ann Arbor, 1988), 50–3, 85–9; B. Kellum, ‘Sculptural programs and propaganda in Augustan Rome: the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine’, in R. Winkes (ed.), The Age of Augustus (Louvain, 1985), 169–76 (repr. in E. D’Ambra [ed.], Roman Art in Context. An Anthology [Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1993], 75–84); E. Simon, Augustus. Kunst und Leben in Rom um die Zeitenwende (Munich, 1986), 19–25; G. Carettoni, in Kaiser Augustus und die verlorene Republik (Berlin, 1988)¸ 263–72; E. Lefèvre, Das Bildprogramm des Apollo-Tempels auf dem Palatin (Konstanz, 1989); M. J. Strazzulla, Il principato di Apollo. Mito e propaganda nelle lastre ‘Campane’ dal tempio di Apollo Palatino (Rome, 1990); G. Sauron, Quis Deum? L’expression plastique des idéologies politiques et religieuses à Rome (Rome, 1994), 501–10; G. K. Galinsky, Augustan Culture: An Interpretive Introduction (Princeton, 1996), 213–24; D. Kienast, Augustus; Prinzeps und Monarch (Darmstadt, 1999 3 ), 231–8; P. Marchetti, ‘Le substrat dorien de l’Apollon Palatin: de Rome à la Grèce et vice versa’, in J.-Y. Marc and J.-C. Moretti (edd.), Constructions publiques et programmes édilitaires en Grèce entre le IIe siècle av. J.-C. et le 1er siècle ap. J.-C. (Athens, 2001), 455–71.