Saturnus

The Temple of Saturn was an ancient Roman temple dedicated to the god Saturn. Its ruins stand at the foot of the Capitoline Hill at the western end of the Roman Forum. The original dedication of the temple is traditionally dated to 497 BC (source).

Saturn is a god in ancient Roman religion, and a character in myth as a god of generation, dissolution, plenty, wealth, agriculture, periodic renewal and liberation. In later developments, he also came to be a god of time. His reign was depicted as a Golden Age of plenty and peace. The Romans identified Saturn with the Greek Cronus, whose myths were adapted for Latin literature and Roman art. In particular, Cronus’s role in the genealogy of the Greek gods was transferred to Saturn (source).

I’m so curious what the temple would have looked like in its full glory. I bet it was huge! Same goes for all the buildings on the Forum Romanum, really. What an impressive, bustling place it must have been!

For me personally, a visit to the Forum is a must do when you’re in Rome and I was eager to show my mom why, when we visited the city in 2010. It was a bit difficult finding the entrance as we’d come from a weird angle. We weren’t the only ones with this problem. We could hear a couple getting annoyed with not being able to find the entrance. They gave up, essentially skipping a major important part of ancient Rome. To each their own, I suppose, but I surely wouldn’t have wanted to miss it the first or second time!