HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE (elfin12u)!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Temple of Hercules Victor ('Hercules 'the Conqueror') or Hercules Olivarius is an ancient edifice located in the Forum Boarium in Rome. It is a round temple of Greek design encircled by colonnades all round. Dating from the late 1st century BC, and perhaps erected by L. Mummius Achaicus, conqueror of the Achaeans and destroyer of Corinth, the temple consists of a circular cella within a concentric ring of twenty Corinthian columns. By 1132 the temple had been converted to a church, known as Santo Stefano alle Carozze (St. Stephen of the carriages). In the 17th century the church was rededicated, to Santa Maria del Sole (St. Mary of the Sun). This temple, long considered from its circular structure to have been a temple of Vesta, and the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli inspired the centralized churches of the Renaissance. Despite (or perhaps due to) the Forum Boarium's role as the cattle-market for ancient Rome, the Temple of Hercules is the object of a folk tale claiming that neither flies nor dogs will enter the holy place. Although the actual name of the temple may be a bit in doubt, it appears quite likely that it was dedicated to Hercules, demigod of victory and commercial enterprise. This area, bordered by the Tiber, the ancient cattle auction, and the Circus Maximus, is supposedly the general location of Hercules’s victory over Cacus during his return from the eighth of his labours. According to a late legend, he was passing through Rome, on his return from stealing the cattle of Geryon, when the monster Cacus made off with a few cattle and hid them in a nearby cave. Hercules located them and slew the monster. To celebrate his victory he made a sacrifice of some of the bulls at or near this site. The fountain is Baroque,built by Pope Sixtus VI, and the crest shows his arms. Thanks for your kind comments.