Anachronism in the Roman architecture of Gaul - The date of the Maison Carree at Nimes

The Maison Carree is dated to the reign of Augustus primarily from its dedi catory inscription. However, no text of the inscription remains in situ; on ly clamp holes, without countersunk letter patterns, attest to what letter may have belongs where. The patterns are more or less consistent with the v arious restorations proposed for them; none is definite, secure, or proven. The dating of the temple cannot be based on such a phantom inscription, wh ich provides no chronological evidence whatsoever, as has also been shown f or the arch at Orange and the Roman temple at Vienne. The basic unit of mea surement used in the ground plan of the Maison Carree is the pes Drusianus, otherwise not securely attested prior to the early second century A.D. Use of this measurement module suggests a date at least a century after August us' reign. Similar problems arise in analyzing the proportions, Corinthian order, and decoration of the temple; all such problems are resolved or reli eved by assigning the temple as we know it to a second-century A.D. restora tion. Historical and archaeological evidence suggests that a restoration of an Augustan temple at Nimes during the first half of the second century A. D., possibly in the reign of Hadrian or of Antoninus Pius, with the text of its earlier inscription reset on the facade, may be more consistent with t he extant remains of the Maison Carree.