darts set fire to it with blazing torches, and at once the throng of bystanders heaped upon it dry branches, the judgment seats with the benches, and whatever else could serve as an offering. Then the musicians and actors tore off their robes, which they had taken from the equipment of his triumphs and put on for the occasion, rent them to bits and threw them into the flames, and the veterans of the legions the arms with which they had adorned themselves for the funeral; many of the women too, offered up the jewels which they wore and the amulets and robes of their children.Arrian added a mechanized wax effigy of Caesar displaying all of Caesar's wounds. A cremation within the city's ceremonial heart was both unusual and politically charged: Caesar's impromptu pyre recalled the cremation of populist firebrand Publius Clodius Pulcher inside the Cura Hostilia in 52 BC. The popular enthusiasm led to the creation of an unofficial monument on the east side of the Forum, opposite the Regia, which was the site of oaths and sacrifices. There seem to have been at least two monuments at different times: an initial one which was removed the consuls within six weeks of Caesar's death and another which was rebuilt in the summer of 44 BC. By the fall of that year the spot had become the physical epicenter of the Caesarian movement: Octavian held a public rally of Caesar's veterans in November and publicly swore his fidelity to Caesar's memory with his hand extended towards the column, topped with a statue, which now marked the spot of the pyre. By the end of 43 BC, Octavian, Antony and Lepidus had united to form the Second Triumvirate, with a solid core of Caesarian support. The new regime formally deified Caesar in 42, and a decree of the tribal assembly undertook the creation of the a temple in recognition of his divinity: a powerful assertion of populist supremacy. The pursuit of the Caesar's assassins was a more pressing matter, however, and work proceeded slowly if at all: It is likely that Octavian's triumviral partners did not share his enthusiasm for the Caesarian cult, which provided him with a powerful political base. Construction may not have begun in earnest until 32 or 31 BC. In any event, the temple was not formally dedicated until 29, after Octavian had defeated his erstwhile partner