Via del Teatro Marcello
296 BC for the censor Appius Claudius Cieco (the Blind) (350/271 BC) after whom were named the Aqua Appia and the Appian Way
In front of the temple was to be the Columna Bellica, used in the ceremonies of the declarations of war
According to the traditional rite, dating back to the ancient times of Roman history, war should be declared hurling a spear from Roman territory to enemy territory
At the time of the war against Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, (280/275 BC) since the two states were not bordering, the rite seemed impossible to be executed
To solve the issue a prisoner of war was forced to buy a small piece of land in this area, where a column was erected, perhaps made of wood, which could symbolically represent the enemy territory: the ceremony could therefore take place hurling the spear against the column
Later on the ritual continued to be repeated with these new methods and the last recorded time it took place was on the year 179 AD under Marcus Aurelius. The ritual was therefore repeated for at least 460 years!
