Tempio del Divo Romolo

The Temple of Romulus is located in the Roman Forum in Rome and was built between the Temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina and the Basilica of Maxentius. The brick rotunda, its dome, and its two side rooms, each with its own entrance and apse, were combined with remnants of the Templum Pacis in the 6th century to form the church of SS. Cosma e Damiano and integrated as a vestibule of this church. This explains its good state of preservation. Its richly decorated main entrance is flanked by two porphyry columns. The temple is closed by the original ancient bronze door, whose lock still functions.

For a long time, it was assumed that Emperor Maxentius dedicated the temple to his son Valerius Romulus, who died young. Today, however, it is considered more likely that the temple was built for Jupiter Stator and replaced a simple enclosure from the Republican era. According to one myth, Romulus' fleeing troops turned back at this spot in the battle against the Sabines after Romulus had pleaded with Jupiter. According to another theory, the Penates were worshipped in the temple, their statues having been placed in the side rooms after their former temple on the Velia was demolished to build the Basilica of Maxentius there.

Within the temple, remnants of an inscription were present until the 16th century, from which a dedication of the temple to Emperor Constantine by the Senate emerged. Since it is extremely unlikely that Constantine would have dedicated a temple to the son of his greatest adversary, a rededication to Constantine by the Senate could therefore also have been initiated after the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.