The Southwest Temple:

 Though the scant remains of the foundations of the Southwest Temple, just east of the Odeion of Agrippa, were found in 1933, only recently has the temple been correctly restored with the proper columns of its porch.  For some time, a set of Ionic columns from the Temple of Athena at Sounion was thought to have been used on the front porch of the Southwest Temple, which faced west towards the Tholos and sat in an angle between the Odeion of Agrippa and the Middle Stoa.   More recently, Dinsmoor Jr. has shown, from evidence of the foundations’ remains, that fragments of four Doric columns found in the Agora, originally from an unfinished building at Thorikos (possibly a stoa), were used in the Southwest Temple.   Although no pottery later than the early first century C.E. was found in the foundations’ packing, the dating of the temple is not conclusive; Dinsmoor Jr. assigns it to the Augustan period,  and H. Thompson proposes that it may have gone up shortly after the Odeion.   Nevertheless, we must agree that the Odeion was the earlier of the two buildings due to the new temple's unusual orientation, facing west, away from the west wall of the Odeion.

 The deity honored by the temple is still unknown, though the excavators have suggested a member of the imperial family.    This identification was strengthened by the discovery of the base that once supported a portrait of Livia close to the northwest corner of the temple, but it is dedicated to Livia Augusta Boulaia, mother of Tiberius.   This statue therefore must be dated shortly after the reign of Augustus but it still does not confirm the temple’s association with her.   It has been argued that Livia was probably the dedicatee of the temple when it was built, but this is still uncertain.   Another argument, raises the possibility that the temple had some associations with the goddess Peace (Eirene), who was known to have been honored in the immediate vicinity during the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E., as well as during Pausanias' visit in the second century C.E.


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