Spring of Juturna

The Spring of Juturna rose at the foot of the Palatine on the Forum Romanum and was one of ancient Rome's most sacred waters. Named after the Latin spring nymph Juturna, its water was thought to heal; popular belief held that a drop of it ran in every Roman puddle. Legend said Castor and Pollux watered their horses here in 499 BC after bringing news of the Roman victory at Lake Regillus; alongside stand the three remaining Corinthian columns of the Temple of the Dioscuri. In 117 BC Lucius Caecilius Metellus built a basin with statues on the Campus Martius. The rectangular marble pool and its small fountain aedicula on the Forum are remarkably well preserved and offer one of its quietest corners.