Temple of Antoninus Pius
About
Sabratha's forum gained this temple only after Antoninus Pius became emperor in 138 CE, honoring the third of Rome's so-called good emperors. Trajan was already dead by then, and even Hadrian's own sixteen-year reign had years left to run before Antoninus ever took the throne he was building toward. In 117 CE this stretch of Sabratha's forum has yet to be built on at all, still bare ground waiting for a temple nobody has planned yet.
What happened here
The building itself is a house for the god, and most people never go inside. Everything public happens on the steps and at the altar in front: an animal led up, examined, killed cleanly, its organs read, the meat divided and eaten. The priest covers his head and a flute player keeps up a noise so no ill-omened word is heard. Worshippers leave what they can afford — a terracotta figure, a coin, a model of the body part they want healed — and the accumulated clutter is periodically cleared and buried on site. On festival days the doors are opened and the cult statue is dressed, garlanded, and sometimes carried out through the streets. The temple also holds money, which is why towns keep their treasury in one.
Sources
Nearby
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →