Temple of Jupiter Feretrius


The Temple of Jupiter Feretrius was the first temple ever built in Rome. Its site is uncertain but is thought to have been on the Capitoline Hill.
It was said to have been dedicated to the god Jupiter by Romulus after his defeat of Acro, king of the Ceninensi, in 752–751 BC. The origin of the epithet 'Feretrius' is unclear and may relate to one of two Latin verbs - 'ferire' or 'ferre'.
According to Cornelius Nepos, by the middle years of the first century BC the temple had lost its roof after many years of neglect. As a result, the emperor Augustus decided to rebuild it on the suggestion of Titus Pomponius Atticus, the wealthy equestrian most famous for being the friend and confidant of Cicero. Augustus subsequently included the temple in his autobiography, the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, within the list of monuments and temples in Rome that he paid to have rebuilt. If still in use by the 4th-century, it would have been closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire.