The Sebasteion, or Augusteum, was jointly dedicated, according to a 1st-century inscription on its propylon, “To Aphrodite, the Divine Augusti and the People”. A relief found in the ruins of the south portico represented a personification of the polis making sacrifice to the cult image of Aphrodite of Aphrodisias, venerated as promētōr (“foremother” or “ancestral mother”). “Aphrodite represents the cosmic force that integrates imperial power with the power of local elites”, a reader of Chariton romance has noted. This connection between the goddess and the imperial house was also a particularly politic one at the time, as the Gens Julia – the family of Julius Caesar, Octavian Augustus, and their immediate successors – claimed divine descent from Venus/Aphrodite.
The Sebasteion, erected between 20 to 60 CE, is a temple dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite and to the ruling imperial family. The Greek word Sebasteion, which corresponds to the Latin Augusteum, emphasizes the prominence given to the imperial family. The purpose of the huge complex was to commemorate the close association between the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the city of Aphrodisias.
The complex is organized around a long processional road, which follows an east-west axis. The road started from an eastern monumental gate, and at its west edge stood a temple dedicated to Aphrodite.
