Castores

The Roman name of the Dioscuri. The name is derived from Castor, who seems to have been the first of the twins to be worshiped by the Romans.

The worship of the Dioscuri or Castores was introduced at an early time. They were believed to have assisted the Romans against the Latins in the battle of Lake Regillus; and the dictator, A. Postumius Albus, during the battle, vowed a temple to them. It was erected in the Forum, on the spot where they had been seen after the battle, opposite the temple of Vesta. It was consecrated on the 15th of July, the anniversary day of the battle of Regillus.1 Subsequently, two other temples of the Dioscuri were built, one in the Circus Maximus, and the other in the Circus Flaminius.2 From that time the equites regarded the Castores as their patrons, and after the year 305 BCE, the equites went every year, on the 15th of July, in a magnificent procession on horseback, from the temple of Mars through the main streets of the city, across the Forum, and by the ancient temple of the Dioscuri. In this procession the equites were adorned with olive wreaths and dressed in the trabea, and a grand sacrifice was offered to the twin gods by the most illustrious persons of the equestrian order.

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References

Notes

  1. Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Roman Antiquities vi, 13; Livy. The History of Rome ii, 20, 42.
  2. Vitruvius. On Architecture iv, 7; P. Victor. De Regionibus Urbis Romae xii.

Sources

  • Aurelius Victor. The Lives of the Illustrious Romans, 32.
  • Dionysius of Halicarnassus, l.c.
  • Livy. The History of Rome ix, 46.
  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.
  • Valerius Maximus, ii, 2.9.

This article incorporates text from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) by William Smith, which is in the public domain.