Temple of Hercules Victor

It is dated to the later 2nd century BC and was built either by L. Mummius Achaicus, conqueror of the Achaeans and destroyer of Corinth, or by the trader Marcus Octavius Herrenus in gratitude for success in business. The temple is 14.8 m in diameter and consists of a circular cella within a concentric ring of twenty Corinthian columns 10.66 m tall, resting on a tuff foundation. These elements supported an architrave and roof, which have disappeared. The original wall of the cella, built of travertine and marble blocks, and nineteen of the originally twenty columns remain but the current tile roof was added later. Palladio's published reconstruction suggested a dome, though this was apparently erroneous. The temple's original dedication is dated back to circa 143-132 BC, a time when intense construction was taking place in Portus Tiberinus. ==Identification==

, believed to have originated in the temple and been moved later to the nearby Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Its major literary sources are two almost identical passages, one in Servius' commentary on the Aeneid (viii.363) and the other in Macrobius' Saturnalia. Though Servius mentions that aedes duae sunt, "there are two sacred temples", the earliest Roman calendars mention but one festival, on 13 August, to Hercules Victor and Hercules Invictus interchangeably. , Vesta Temple in Rome, 1814–1816, Nivaagaards Malerisamling. ==Post-Classical history==

In the 1st century AD, the temple was hit with some sort of disaster as 10 columns were replaced with Luna marble, which is similar to the original but not an exact replica. By 1132, the temple had been converted to a church, known as Santo Stefano alle Carozze (St. Stephen 'of the carriages'). In 1140, Innocent II converted the temple into a Christian church dedicating it to Santo Stefano. The temple was recognized officially as an ancient monument in 1935 and restored in 1996. ==See also==