Founded by Aulus Posthumius, A.U.C. 268-74, in commemoration of the
battle of Lake Regillus. It was afterwards rebuilt by Lucius Metellus.
"Tiberius dedicated the Temple of Castor and Pollux, which had been
rebuilt out of the spoils of the German war, in his own and his
brother's name" (Suetonius, "Tiberius," xx.). "Caligula converted it
into a kind of vestibule to his house" (_Ibid._, "Caligula," xxii.).
The three magnificent pillars still standing belonged to the side
facing the Palatine. They indicate approximately the south-east
boundary of the Forum. The narrower front looked down from a terrace
of considerable elevation upon the Forum, and was connected with it by
means of a double flight of stairs, the remains of which were
discovered during excavations made some time ago. These pillars, as
well as the fragments of the architrave and cornice supported by them,
are among the most beautiful architectural remains of ancient Rome.
The ornaments of the capitals and of the entablature are as rich and
splendid as they are pure and simple. It is therefore probable that
they belong to the time of Tiberius.
Pliny (x. 60) tells us of "a raven that was hatched upon the roof of
the Temple of Castor and Pollux, and flew into a bootmaker's shop
_opposite_. Every morning it used to fly to the Rostra which looked
towards the Forum (the Rostra Julia), where he would salute the
Emperor Tiberius, Germanicus, Drusus, and others, as they passed;
after which he returned to the shop. This the bird did for several
years, till the owner of an opposition shop, through jealousy, killed
him, for which the man was put to death; and such a favourite had the
bird become that he had a public funeral, and was buried in the
field of Rediculus, on the right-hand side of the Via Appia, at the
second milestone. No such crowds had ever escorted the funeral of any
one out of the whole number of Rome's distinguished men."
_The Church of S. Maria Liberatrice, on our right, occupies the site
of_