On This Day: Temple of Apollo on the Palatine
September 13, 28 BCE: Augustus opens the gleaming Temple of Apollo on the Palatine Hill—a statement in marble and memory.
Paul Gauguin — "Ia Orana Maria (Hail Mary)" (1891), public domain
A temple rises above Rome’s heart.
On September 13, 28 BCE, Augustus dedicates a marble temple to Apollo on the Palatine—the very hill where Rome’s story began. The doors swing open to gold, statues, and a new library—the first public one in the city.
Augustus, prophecy, and power.
Fresh from civil war, Augustus wants Rome to see him as divinely chosen. Apollo is his patron: god of prophecy, music, and sudden victories. The dedication is theater and claim—Augustus means to rule, and the gods are on his side.
Augustus dedicates this temple at the heart of Rome, tying his rise to Apollo’s favor and announcing a new era of divine-backed rule.
