We learn from Ovid (line 191) that this same day was the _dies natalis_ of the temple of Mars _extra portam Capenam_, i. e. on the Via Appia—a favourite spot for the mustering of armies, and the starting-point for the yearly _transvectio equitum_[533]. I have already alluded to the baseless fabric of conjecture built on the conjunction of Mars and Juno on this day[534]; and need here only repeat that in no well-attested Roman myth is Mars the son of Juno, or Juno the wife of Jupiter. And it is even doubtful whether June 1 was the _original_ dedication-day of this temple of Mars: the Venusian calendar does not mention it, and Ovid may be referring to a re-dedication by Augustus[535]. There is absolutely no ground for the myth-making of Usener and Roscher about Mars and Juno: but it is to the credit of the latter that he has inserted in his article on Mars a valuable note by Aust, in which his own conclusions are cogently controverted. III. NON. IUN. (JUNE 3). C. BELLON[AE] IN CIRC[O] FLAM[INIO]. (VEN.) This temple was vowed by the Consul Ap. Claudius in an Etruscan war[536] (296 B.C.): the date of dedication is unknown. In front of the temple was an area of which the truly Roman story is told[537], that being unable to declare war with Pyrrhus with the orthodox ritual of the _fetiales_, as he had no land in Italy into which they could throw the challenging spear[538], they caught a Pyrrhan soldier and made him buy this spot to suit their purpose. Here stood the ‘columella’ from which henceforward the spear was thrown[539]. The temple became well known as a suitable meeting-place for the Senate outside the _pomoerium_, when it was necessary to do business with generals and ambassadors who could not legally enter the city[540]. But of the goddess very little is known. There is no sufficient reason to identify her with that Nerio with whom we made acquaintance in March, as is done too confidently by the writer of the article in Roscher’s _Lexicon_[541]. PRID. NON. IUN. (JUNE 4). C. HERC[ULI] MAGN[O] CUSTO[DI]. (VEN.) SACRUM HERCULI. (RUST.) This temple also was near the Circus Flaminius[542]. It was a foundation of Sulla’s, 82 B.C., and the cult was Greek, answering to that of Ἡρακλῆς ἀλεξίκακος[543]. NON. IUN. (JUNE 5). N.[544] DIO FIDIO IN COLLE. (VEN.) The temple on the Quirinal of which this was the _dies natalis_ is said by Dionysius[545] to have been vowed by Tarquinius Superbus, and dedicated by Sp. Postumius in B.C. 466. But that there was a _fanum_ or _sacellum_ of this deity on or near the same site at a much earlier time is almost certain; such a _sacellum_ ‘ad portam Sanqualem’ is mentioned, also by Dionysius[546], as ἱερὸν Διὸς Πιστίου, and we know that in many cases the final _aedes_ or _templum_ was a development from an uncovered altar or sacred place.