the temple of castor and pollux
Castor and Pollux
were the twin demi-offspring of Jupiter and Leda and are shown in the
constellation of Gemini. The temple was built as a tribute to the demi-gods
that are said to have aided the Romans at the Battle of Lake Regillus resulting
in a Roman victory. After the victory the twins supposedly appeared at the
Roman Forum to water their horses. The temple stands where the twins were
supposedly seen. Castor was said to be mortal because of his mortal parents, whereas Pollux is said to be immortal due to him being the son of Zeus
(Jupiter).The brothers were huntsmen and horsemen which explains why they
appeared at the Battle of Lake Regillus upon horseback. Along with the temple
in the Forum, the twins also have statues on the top of the Capitoline Hill. With these statues it is difficult to tell which is Castor and which is Pollux. The Capitoline staues depict the twins with horses and stand on either side of the main pathway leading up to the Campidoglio.
The Temple was originally commissioned by the Roman general and, according to Pliny, dictator Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis in 495 BCE after the Dioscuri were said to have aided the Romans in their victory over the Latins at Lake Regillus. The temple podium, when it was still intact, was 7m high and
32 x 50m wide. This height of the podium may suggest at the importance of the
Dioscuri in Roman culture because of the height the temple is placed
above the people not within the temple. The front of the podium was originally
used as a speaker's platform, perhaps by priests or by politicians it is not
known. This section of the podium was later transformed into a single flight of
stairs by the 3rd century. Inside, the temple was divided into 25 small rooms
which may have been used for various activities. Some of these rooms were used
as money vaults, and, according to Juvenal (36.11), were regarded as more
secure than those in the Temple of Mars. The temple itself was designed as a
Corinthian peripteros and was made of white Italian marble. This design was
essentially a temple surrounded on all sides by columns on a portico. The front
and back of the temple had eight columns each and the sides eleven each.
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The temple also appears to be significant in the spreading of the Dioscuri cult along the Italian peninsula. This cult worshipped the semi divine twins as sudden saviours of men in peril, as seen at their supposed appearance at Lake Regillus. Because of the brothers are often associated with horses, the temple became affiliated with the Equites, the cavalry-class of Roman citizens. Every year on the 15th of July a procession was held, passing in front of the temple, in honour of the twins and their aid in the Roman victory over the Latins. The procession was led by two young males riding white horses as imitations of the Dioscuri. Dionysius describes this procession “…when all those who own a horse for military service ride in procession, grouped in rows by tribe and century…The horsemen, as many as five thousand of them, ride through the Forum and past the Temple of Castor and Pollux, wearing whatever insignia their commanders have awarded them for bravery in battle” Dionysius, Early Rome 6.13.1-4
Interestingly, after the temple was burnt in the fire in which most of the Roman Forum was destroyed in 9 BCE, Augustus rebuilt the temple and made the cult an official imperial one and made a feast day for the twins on the 27th of January. Even more interesting is that Augustus also wanted to associate his two sons, Gaius and Lucius, with the heroes and their temple. However these two died before the completion of renovations so were then substituted by Tiberius and his deceased brother Drusus in 6 CE. Tiberius was also responsible for the final restorations of the temple. As with the Basilica Julia (and probably more), Augustus used the buildings to assert his power and to show the people of Rome he wanted to connect with them in some way or form.
questions
1) What was the procession on the 15th of July for and why could it have been significant?
2) How/why were the Dioscuri important to ancient Romans?
2) How/why were the Dioscuri important to ancient Romans?
Sources Used
http://www.ancient.eu/article/632/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Castor_and_Pollux
http://www.digital-images.net/Gallery/Scenic/Rome/Forum/RomanForum/romanforum.html
http://hhsrome.weebly.com/temple-of-castor-and-pollux.html
http://blog.classicist.org/?p=7073
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-temple-of-castor-and-pollux
http://romereborn.frischerconsulting.com/ge/TS-021-PA.html
https://books.google.com.au/books?id=t6m9g5G8Z1YC&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq=dionysius,+Early+Rome+6.13.1-4&source=bl&ots=PXwsKVi4cb&sig=BZvJYesSrpAKZUkbnaFo1OoSosQ&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Castor%20and%20Pollux&f=false
https://www.wordnik.com/words/peripteros
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Castor_and_Pollux
http://www.digital-images.net/Gallery/Scenic/Rome/Forum/RomanForum/romanforum.html
http://hhsrome.weebly.com/temple-of-castor-and-pollux.html
http://blog.classicist.org/?p=7073
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-temple-of-castor-and-pollux
http://romereborn.frischerconsulting.com/ge/TS-021-PA.html
https://books.google.com.au/books?id=t6m9g5G8Z1YC&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq=dionysius,+Early+Rome+6.13.1-4&source=bl&ots=PXwsKVi4cb&sig=BZvJYesSrpAKZUkbnaFo1OoSosQ&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Castor%20and%20Pollux&f=false
https://www.wordnik.com/words/peripteros