Temple of Caesar

The Temple of Caesar or Temple of Divus Iulius, also known as Temple of the Deified Julius Caesar, delubrum, heroon or Temple of the Comet Star, is an ancient structure in the Roman Forum of Rome, Italy, located near the Regia and the Temple of Vesta. History The temple was decreed by the triumvirs Octavian, Antony and Lepidus in 42 BC after the senate deified Julius Caesar posthumously. However it was completed by Octavian alone: he dedicated the prostyle temple (it is still unknown whether its order was Ionic, Corinthian or composite) to Caesar, his adoptive father, on 18 August 29 BC, as part of the triple triumph celebrating his victory over Antony and Cleopatra. It stands on the east side of the main square of the Roman Forum, between the Regia, Temple of Castor and Pollux, and the Basilica Aemilia, on the site of Caesar's cremation. Ancient accounts of Caesar's cremation after his death in 44 BC are somewhat confused. According to Suetonius, a conventional funeral was planned for the Campus Martius, but the actual cremation, in all accounts, took place in the Forum after a rousing speech by Mark Antony. Caesar's body was brought to the Forum by his political supporters and placed in front of the Regia, which had been the personal headquarters of Caesar as Pontifex Maximus. The Regia was also, traditionally, the residence of Rome's kings: the choice of location may also reflect popular support for Caesar's "royal" status as a Dictator perpetuo. The sources disagree about the precise sequence of events.