Aedes Saturni
About
One of the oldest temples in the Forum, dedicated 497 BCE at the foot of the Capitoline; rebuilt by L. Munatius Plancus c. 42 BCE. Doubled as the state treasury (Aerarium Populi Romani), standing and functioning as such in 117 CE (the surviving columned facade dates from a later, post-283 CE, rebuild).
What happened here
The building itself is a house for the god, and most people never go inside. Everything public happens on the steps and at the altar in front: an animal led up, examined, killed cleanly, its organs read, the meat divided and eaten. The priest covers his head and a flute player keeps up a noise so no ill-omened word is heard. Worshippers leave what they can afford — a terracotta figure, a coin, a model of the body part they want healed — and the accumulated clutter is periodically cleared and buried on site. On festival days the doors are opened and the cult statue is dressed, garlanded, and sometimes carried out through the streets. The temple also holds money, which is why towns keep their treasury in one.
In ancient writing
- Livy, Ab urbe condita 2.21.2
Dates the temple's dedication to the early Republic and notes the Saturnalia was instituted with it.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →