Last spring I was in Rome and of course took some time to visit some places one more time, taking pictures with my smartphone. In the Forum I took pictures of the Temple of Romulus, the relatively well preserved funerary temple of Valerius Romulus, the son of Maxentius, who died still a child in AD 309. This round and domed temple is represented on the folles of Romulus, with an eagle standing on the top of the dome. (Not my coin, but now I'll get one, sure !) This temple was later seized and reconsecrated by Constantine. In the Middle Ages it was annexed to the Basilica of SS Cosma e Damiano. The monumental door on the Via Sacra is the original one with its two porphyry columns and two bronze panels (mechanism still functioning). From the Via Sacra I took two pictures of the temple's door among the tourists crowd, and forgot it. Yesterday, while looking at these Rome pictures on a larger screen, I noticed at last the photobomb : of course it's not the eagle like on the coins, but I'm sure it's some species of avis auguralis ! It was flying relatively low but it came from the right, may it be considered a happy omen?
here's my example Romulus A.D. 309- 312 23mm 5.8g DIVO ROMVLO N V BIS CONS; bare head right. AETERNAE MEMORIAE; Eagle with wings spread on domed shrine with doors ajar. In ex. MOSTS RIC VI Ostia 34
