Augustus also made the cult an official imperial one and initiated a new feast day for the pair on the 27th of January. Today only the large podium survives of the original temple and the inner concrete core of the podium and three columns of the 1st century BCE version, built by Augustus in 14 or 9 BCE after a devastating fire. The twins were seen afterwards watering their horses at the Juturna spring which was the very spot where their temple was built. ![]() Every 15th of July the temple was the focus of a cavalry parade - the transvectio - of 5,000 men led by two impersonators of the demigods who were thought to have guided the Romans to victory over the Latins at the Battle of Lake Regillus (499 or 496 BCE). The Temple of Castor and Pollux (aka Dioscuri) was erected in the final decade of the 1st century BCE, replacing the earlier temple to the twin sons of Jupiter which had stood on the site since 484 BCE. ![]() Within the temple once stood a cult statue of Saturn. The Ionic capitals are, in fact, the only parts made specifically for the temple. The shafts of the columns are made from Egyptian granite, the two on the side from pink Aswan, and the six facade ones from grey Mons Claudianus. The temple stands on a pediment of travertine blocks while the eight remaining columns are of the Ionic order. Gradually over the centuries, shops were pushed to the extremities or elsewhere, and the architecture became more imposing and ceremonial in function. With early ritual spaces and temples such as the Regia and Temple of Vesta, the Forum became the public focal point of the city, the location of its most important religious, political, commercial, and legal activities. The location was then paved, from the late 8th or early 7th century BCE. The area was filled in with a significant quantity of earth and rubble fill in order to raise it above the level of the River Tiber's annual flood. Excavations at the Forum Romanum have revealed the presence of Iron Age cemeteries which were in use from the 11th century BCE until the 9th century BCE. According to Roman legend, it was the site of a battle between Romans and Sabines in the second half of the 8th century BCE. The Forum Romanum is located between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills of Rome. Although wrecked by earthquake, weathering, pollution, and centuries of architects robbing it of its stones and columns, the Forum Romanum, nevertheless, remains one of the most impressive sites surviving from antiquity and a unique window into the once-great glorious world that was Rome. ![]() Made increasingly grandiose and ceremonial in function by the Imperial Period, the Forum became a monumental symbol in stone and marble of Roman power and vanity with temples of deified emperors, dedicatory columns, and massive triumphal arches celebrating military victories from far corners of the Empire. The Roman Forum or Forum Romanum of ancient Rome was the bustling religious, administrative, legal, and commercial heart of the city from the 7th century BCE onwards.
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