Past the Forum proper takes you to Vicus Tuscus , “Etruscan Street”, at the end of which are public toilets and a water fountain, and the church of Santa Maria Antiqua , which formed the vestibule to the emperor Domitian’s palace on the Palatine Hill, and was the first ancient building to be converted for Christian worship - recently open again after many years. Back around the corner to the right, the enormous pile of rubble topped by three graceful Corinthinan columns is the Temple of Castor and Pollux , the Forum’s oldest temple, dedicated in 484 BC to the divine twins or Dioscuri, the offspring of Jupiter by Leda, who appeared miraculously to ensure victory for the Romans in a key battle. The story goes that a group of Roman citizens were gathered around a water fountain on this spot fretting about the war, when Castor and Pollux appeared and reassured them that the effort was won - hence the temple, and their adoption as the special protectors of Rome.