Temple of Castor and Pollux, 1890s

Temple of Castor and Pollux, 1890s

The Temple of Castor and Pollux is an ancient edifice in the Roman Forum, Rome, central Italy. It was originally built in gratitude for victory at the Battle of Lake Regillus (495 BC). Castor and Pollux were the Dioscuri, the twins of Gemini, the twin sons of Zeus and Leda. Their cult came to Rome from Greece via Magna Graecia and the Greek culture of Southern Italy. In Republican times the temple served as a meeting place for the Roman Senate, and from the middle of the 2nd century BC the front of the podium served as a speaker's platform. During the imperial period the temple housed the office for weights and measures, and was a depository for the State treasury. The temple was probably already falling apart in the fourth century, when a wall in front of the Lacus Juturnae was erected from reused material. Nothing is known of its subsequent history, except that in the 15th century, only three columns of its original structure were still standing. The street running by the building was called via Trium Columnarum. Today the podium survives without the facing, as do the three columns and a piece of the entablature, one of the most famous features in the Forum. Detroit Publishing Company circa 1890-1900.

Historical & Fine Arts • History: Ancient

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3093 x 4200 px | 37.2 MB

26.2 x 35.6 cm | 10.3 x 14.0 in (300 dpi)