Going up the Cordonata, the monumental staircase designed by Michelangelo which leads to the Capitoline Hill, you will have at the sides two imposing sculptural groups: both of them are two young men in heroic nudity, with their proud steeds next them. The two are without a shadow of a doubt twins, having the same identical face. Who are they?

The two statues, probably dating back around the II - III century a.D. coming from a Greek model from V the century to b.C., represent the two deities that are very dear to the Romans, Castor and Pollux, the two Dioscuri. They were considered the protectors of sailors in sea storms, and always united in doing their deeds. Each one of them, then, had a special feature: Castor was a tamer of horses, Pollux was talented in boxing. They are sometimes also considered to be patrons of the art of poetry, dance and music. The Dioscuri were in the time associated with the constellation of Gemini. If you are of this zodiac sign, so now you know the source! But there is much more to tell when you speak of the Dioscuri.

First of all, their extraordinary and strange birth. Both, in fact, would arise from the love between Leda and Jupiter, the Father of the Gods who, in this occasion, transformed himself into a magnificent swan in order to deceive and bewitch the young Leda. From the eggs originated by this strange embrace, would be built Castor and Pollux. According to other versions, however, the two twins would be the Tindaro's children, the legendary King of Sparta, having as sister Helen, the famous woman whose abduction sparked the Trojan war. The story of Castor and Pollux, then, is tragic. You need to know that, according to tradition, Pollux was immortal while Castor was a mere mortal. Unfortunately for the latter, he was overtaken by death. So Pollux was destroyed by the pain and tried everything to bring back to life the Castor. He prayed incessantly to the Gods, until he came to the greatest of sacrifices: Pollux, in fact, gave up half of his own immortality in order to spend a day in hell, and a day at the father of Jupiter, so by not having to give up any of their affections. But apart from the myth, however, the Dioscuri were the deities very much felt in ancient Rome, as related to a historical victory that projected the Eternal City towards the conquest of the whole region.

We are in the V century BC, a few years after the proclamation of the Republic. At the time, Rome was not very extensive, indeed. Barely the famous Seven Hills were home to the roman community. For years the Romans were allies of the Latins, and a number of tribes and peoples places, especially south of the city, where there is now the current Roman Castles. Gradually, however, the Latins understood as the presence of Rome was becoming a very cumbersome and dangerous. For this reason, and also as a result of some military conquests brought in by the Romans (such as the taking of Praeneste), the Latin really began to worry. Moreover Tarquinius Superbus (the last King of Rome driven out by the Romans themselves because of his being a dictator and a tyrant), he fled to Tusculum son-in-law Mamilio. It will be the last to convince many of the tribes in Latin merge together in order to generate a real alloy, in order to combat and contain it, according to their intentions, the dominance of the roman. The decisive battle took place in 496 BC. close to Lake Regillo, now no longer existing. Probably the clash took place between the locality of Finocchio and Ariccia. It is said that the Romans were suffering many leaks and that the defeat was now certain. The Latins were the most numerous and best organized. But here come into play the Dioscuri, who, apparently, had very much at heart the fate of Rome.

As he tells us Dionysius of Halicarnassus: "In the course of the fight appeared, much to the dictator Postumio as for the soldiers, two knights, of the age of youth, far superior to anyone else for beauty and stature. They put at the head of the roman cavalry, and repelled the attack of the Latins, and put them on the run. It's fame that same evening they were seen in the Roman Forum two young men of extraordinary beauty, in military attire, who seemed to be returning from a fight, and took the horses and what's more sweat. They watered the animals and washed with the source that flows at the temple of Vesta... and to those who asked for news, they reported of progress and of the outcome of the battle and of the victory of the Romans; then, out-of-sight from the Forum, they were seen never more". And in fact, following the victory, the Romans gave many honours to the Dioscuri, erecting for them a beautiful temple in the Roman Forum just close to the point where the natural source was located (it became also a sacred area, and to know more about it click here). But the fame of this episode remained intact for centuries: in the Hall of the Captains in the Capitoline Museum, stands a magnificent sixteenth-century fresco, in which we see represented in the episode, with Castor and Pollux, who, riding their steeds, descend from heaven to help Rome. For this reason, often, the Dioscuri were depicted as two beautiful young people, from the perfect bodies, toned and muscular, always accompanied by their horses. History and myth merge, as often happens in Rome.