A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum...

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum…

Well, nothing too funny.  But it was cool to spend a class period walking around this ancient center of Rome.  The Forum is located between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills in Rome.  My friend, Jenna, took great notes, which I've copied here so you can read about everything I can't remember.

Temple of Saturn

Saturn was the Italian God of agriculture, considered the most honest god of them all. This temple was built at the beginning of the Republic. Every year there was the festival of Saturn, Saturnalia, which was a city wide festival that lasted up to a week and started on December 17th. Because of the honesty of Saturn, state treasures were stored in this temple.

The Temple of Castor and Pollux

These twins had the same mother but different fathers (Pollux's father was Zeus and Castor's father was mortal). The Romans were fighting the Battle at Lake Regillus (during which Superbus was finally ousted) and two beautiful men appeared, told the Romans they had to fight in the battle on their side, and helped win the battle for the Romans. The temple was built where this announcement was made. King Amykos also wanted to fight Pollux, but Pollux was an excellent boxer and won, subsequently tying Amykos to a tree and taking the water. As what used to be one of the most imposing landmarks in the forum, this temple reflects the spread of the Disoscuri Cult (the cult in which the twins were worshipped) and Rome's increasing dominance among other Latin communities in the Roman Campagna.