AFTER THE ANTIQUE, CIRCA 1870

The Temple of Castor and Pollux dates to the early days of the Republic. It was dedicated to the Dioscuri in 484 B.C. in memory of their aid, which was believed to have enabled the Romans to defeat the Tarquins and their Latin allies at the Battle of Lake Regillus in 496 B.C. The existing columns on which the model in this lot is based belong to a restoration of the Hadrianic or Trajanic period.

The Temple of Vespasian was erected in the Roman Forum between A.D.79 and 96 to honour the deified Emperor's achievements in subduing the Eastern Mediterranean in A.D.66, and in stabilising the government after the upheavals of the Year of the Four Emperors. The term RESTITUER inscribed at one end of the temple frieze, relates to the Emperor's image as the 'restorer' of the Empire.