Temple of Apollo Sosianus

Vowed to Apollo Medicus (the healer) in 433 BC because of a plague and dedicated two years later by an ancestor of Julius Caesar (Livy, IV.29), this was the only temple of Apollo in Rome until the one built by Augustus on the Palatine. The Ludi Apollinares were instituted in 212 BC to honor the god and were celebrated in July. The temple, itself, which was restored or rebuilt several times, received its final restoration by Gaius Sosius, one of Caesar's lieutenants and consul in 32 BC. Although the epithet Sosianus still was used by Pliny in the AD 70s, Sosius was an opponent of Octavian and had sided with Antony at Actium in 31 BC. Given the rich decoration of the cella, it may be that the temple actually was completed by Augustus, who changed the dedication date to his birthday on September 23 and was building his own temple to Apollo on the Palatine, which was dedicated in 28 BC. The frieze, too, depicts a battle against northern barbarians, and Augustus did have a triumph for his victories over the German tribes in 29 BC.