In what year was the Maison Carree completed?

• A. 10 CE
• B. 80 CE
• C. 120 CE
• D. 5 BCE

Answer: (A)

Dating Roman temples in Gaul often comes from inscriptions and the architectural language the building uses. The Maison Carrée embodies an early Imperial temple form: a high podium, a nearly square cella fronted by a complete columnar porch, and a restrained, classically proportioned façade that matches other monuments built in the western provinces in the first decade of the empire. The combination of this temple type and the epigraphic and historical context in Nîmes points to completion around 10 CE, placing it in the early Julio-Claudian period when such monumental urban projects were common to showcase Roman form and citizenship in provincial towns. It is earlier than later Hadrianic or Antonine renovations or stylistic updates, and later than mid-Republic prototypes. So, the date that best fits the evidence is around 10 CE.