Altar of the Lares Augusti

Unknown artist

Votive altar. On the front, three figures are depicted during a sacred rite: in the center, Augustus holding an augural staff with a chicken at his feet; on the left, a young man with a toga over his head (either Gaius or Lucius, one of Augustus' sons); and at the right, a woman holding a sacrificial dish (maybe Augustus' wife Livia). The inscription reads "To the Augustan Lares; when Imp. Casear Augustus for the thirteenth time and M. Plautius Silvanus were consuls; D. Oppius, freedman of Gaius; D. Lucilius, freedman of Decimus, Salvius; L. Brinnius, reedman of Gaius, Princeps; L. Furius, freedman of Lucius, Salvius; chief officers of the district Sandaliarus." The altar was found during the Fascist era in the excavations of Via dei Fori Imperiali in Rome.