The Templum Gentis Flaviae is known only through a number of references in ancient literary sources. Suetonius records that "Domitian was born on October 24, AD 51 ... in the sixth region of Rome, on the street called Pomegranate and in the house that he later transformed into the Temple of the Flavian Clan."

The ancient writers unfortunately provide no detailed information about the appearance of the building or its exact location.

Early scholars of Roman topography placed the monument in the vicinity of the intersection between the modern Via Venti Settembre and Via Quattro Fontane. More recently, however, the find-spot of the Hartwig-Kelsey fragments and the discovery of ruins of a Flavian townhouse--perhaps the very house where Domitian was born--under the Caserma dei Corazzieri at No. 12 Via Venti Settembre have favored a site near the Church of Santa Susanna.

For the Templum Gentis Flaviae Domitian chose a site on the slope of the Quirinal Hill, which, according to legend, was first settled by the Sabine ancestors of the Flavian family. Here stood not only Domitian's birthplace but also the Temple of Quirinus, the deified Romulus, founder of Rome. This temple played an important role in the political propaganda of Rome's first emperor, Augustus.

Copyright ©1997, 2002 Ministero per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali, Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma and the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan. All rights reserved.