The Temple of Faustina the Elder stands at the east angle of the Forum, facing on to the present line of the Sacra Via. It was erected by Antoninus Pius in honour of his wife Faustina, who died in 141 A.D. After the death of the emperor it was dedicated by the Senate to him also, and an upper line added to the inscription on the architrave- DIVO . ANTONINO . ET | DIVAE . FAVSTINAE . EX . S . C; see Capitolinus, Ant. Pius, 6.

The greater part of the Cella has been destroyed through the conversion of the temple into the Church of S. Lorenzo in Miranda, but the front is still well preserved, and is now excavated down to its original level. It is Corinthian, hexastyle, prostyle, with fine monolithic columns of cipollino (Carystian marble), and a well-sculptured frieze in white Athenian marble, with good reliefs of griffins and candelabra. This frieze is an almost exact reproduction of one which has been found in the Sanctuary of the Island of Delos. The Cella is built of massive blocks of peperino, fitted in the most perfect way, and all was once lined with slabs of white marble. the lower part, which has only been exposed within the last few years, is specially worthy of note on account of the wonderful close fitting of the blocks of masonry. The brick and concrete foundations of the marble steps in front still exist, and in the centre of the flight there is a pedestal for a statue, which is a later addition.

This temple is shown on various coins both in silver and bronze struck in honour of the deified Faustina by Antoninus Pius, with the legend DEDICATIO . AEDIS or DIVAE . FAUSTINA. Two statues of seated figures, Antoninus and his wife, are represented as if seen through the Cella door.

By the south-east side of the temple, which is now excavated, are remains of a very fine pavement, made of large slabs of Hymettian marble; this appears to be part of the paving of a peribolus or enclosure which once surrounded the temple, probably extending in front of the steps close up to the line of the Sacra Via. This peribolus and its low enclosing screen are indicated on some of the coins which show the Temple of Faustina.

In later times, in the fourth or fifth century A.D., some baths appear to have been built over this fine massive pavement. A small bath, with thin marble veneer, is actually sunk into a hole cut through the marble slabs.

This brings us again to the site of the great Basilica Aemilia, which faced on to the north-east side of the Forum, and completes the circuit of the buildings round it.

J. Henry Middleton, The Remains of Ancient Rome, (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1892), 330-332