Antony and assumed sole rulership of the Roman world. The temple was finally consecrated as part of Octavian's "triple triumph" in 29, celebrating his victories in Dalmatia, Egypt, and at Battle of Actium. The temple's roots in Caesarian popular politics were visible in its design. Its high podium provided an excellent speaker's platform, or rostra (known as the Rostra ad divi Iuli to distinguish it from the rostra augusti at the opposite end of the Forum). Like the older rostra it was decorated with the beaks of ships, in this case those taken at the battle of Actium. It faced the long open space of the central forum, which at the time of its construction offered plenty of room for popular gatherings and the erection of grandstands. This platform would be commonly used for imperial eulogies, political addresses, and contiones. Drusus and Tiberius delivered a double speech in the Forum; Drusus read his speech from the Rostra Augusti and Tiberius read his from the Rostra ad Divi Iuli, one in front of the other. The emperor Hadrian delivered what was perhaps a funeral speech from the Rostra ad Divi Iuli in 125 AD, as can be seen on the coin series struck for the occasion. The temple was also hosted a legislative voting assembly. The political and religious messages mixed seamlessly: the rostra stood above the circular altar which was the focus of the Caesar cult and which marked the site of Caesar's cremation. The temple thus embodied the Augustan "restoration of the Republic" in a setting that could only remind voters of the Caesarian party and its leader. The temple functioned as a cult center for the cult of the deified Julius Caesar. Augustus used to dedicate the spoils of war in this temple. The altar and the shrine conveyed the rare right of asylum . After Augustus' death, a festival was held every four years in front of the Rostra ad Divi Iuli in honour of Augustus. The decorations included a famous painting by Apelles depicting Venus emerging from the sea, a nod to the claim of the Julian gens to descent from the goddess -- the plan of the temple overall recalled the plan of Caesar's Temple of Venus Genetrix, reinforcing the "family" connection. It seems that in that very place there was a tribunal praetoris sub divo with gradus known as the tribunal Aurelium, a structure