Raubitschek1946 1 Altar of Antonius and Octavia, benefactor gods

Altar of Antonius and Octavia, benefactor gods

Raubitschek Octavia 1 Date: 39/8 BC

(Altar) of Antonius and Octavia, two benefactor gods.^[1] uninscribed space

References:

Raubitschek Octavia 1 (Translated text) (PHI)

Agora XVIII 273

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Agora Excavations - (1)

Monument type: Altar

Inscription type: Dedication (Public, Roman commander)

Findspot: Agora (Ag. I 3071)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This is the earliest surviving altar erected by the Athenians for a Roman ruler. Textual sources refer to some altars at Athens for Hellenistic kings and benefactors (esp. Plut. Demetrios 10.4, 12.3) and several examples are known from elsewhere in the Hellenistic period, but none of these seem to be preserved. Altars survive for Augustus (Agora XVIII 275 with notes), Tiberius (IG II² 3228), Claudius (I Rhamnous 157), Nero (IG II² 3278), Vespasian and Titus (AIO 3839), Hadrian (Benjamin, Altars of Hadrian 7), and Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius (Agora XVIII 315). Of these, the Hadrianic altars are by far the most common, with well over a hundred examples known, followed by the Augustan altars with 18-21 known examples and Nero with six. These altars were often, but not always, erected in expectation of Imperial visits, see D. Geagan in Praktika of the 8th Congress for Greek and Latin Epigraphy, 1967, 69-78.

This altar was erected for Mark Antonius and his wife Octavia in 39/8 BC, when they were resident in the city. Antonius gifted the Athenians the islands of Aigina, Ikos, Keos, Skiathos, and Peparethos in 42 BC as a reward for their support against the assassins of Julius Caesar (Appian, Civil Wars, 5.7). From 40 to 30 BC, Antonius controlled the eastern half of the Mediterranean as triumvir and often based himself in Athens. Octavia, who was married to Antonius from 40 to 32 BC, was the sister of his fellow triumvir and rival Octavian, the future Augustus. Plutarch says she was particularly popular with the Athenians (Ant. 57.1-2). Aside from a short-lived festival in honour of Sulla in the 80s BC (AIO 1798, l. 58 with note), Antonius seems to have been the first Roman to be honoured with ruler cult at Athens. An ephebic decree (AIO 1838, ll. 22-23) refers to a festival called the Antonieia Panathenaia and calls Antonius himself "the god and new Dionysos". Plutarch also says that Attalid monuments were rededicated in honour of Antonius (Ant. 60.6). Other honorific monuments were probably destroyed after Antonius' defeat at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC (Plut. Ant. 23). These honours follow Hellenistic precedents and they were themselves the model for some of the divine honours given to the Julio-Claudian emperors (cf. M. Kantiréa, Les dieux et les dieux augustes, 2007, 37-38). The imperial altars are a key example of this. Additionally, the Panathenaia was briefly augmented with a festival in honour of the emperors (IG II² 3535), several Julio-Claudians were honoured as "new gods" (see SEG 29.167 with notes), and the Attalid monuments were all ultimately rededicated to Julio-Claudian emperors and their family members (see IG II² 4122, Agora XVIII 253, SEG 59.211).

Added: 24 Jul 2026
Updated: 24 Jul 2026
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ID: AIO_3868