Fantastic vintage zodiac medallion featuring the twins Castor and Pollux - aka Gemini. It's crafted in 18k yellow gold and finished in red, white, and blue enamel. The twins each stood next to their respective star. Circa 1990.

Gemini is the third sign in the zodiac (May 20th - June 21st), represented by the twin half-brothers Castor and Pollux. They were known to the ancient Babylonians as the Great Twins Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea ("The Mighty King" and "The One who has arisen from the Underworld", respectively). And to the ancient Greeks as the Dioscuri. The pair are an example of heteropaternal superfecundation: Castor was the mortal son of Spartan king Tyndareus, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus, who seduced the king's wife Leda while disguised as a swan. There various different stories regarding their birth, the most unusual being that they hatched from an egg along with their twin sisters Clytemnestra and Helen (of Troy). The two were exceptional hunters and horsemen, participating in the hunt of the Calydonian Boar, and later joining the crew of Jason's ship as Argonauts.

The three remaining columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux - originally built in gratitude for victory at the Battle of Lake Regillus, 495 BC - were probably the highlight of the Roman forum, for me. The Temple served as a meeting place for the Roman Senate during the Republican period, with the podium used as a speaker's platform. Based on finds unearthed from one of the drains, at some stage in its history (presumably after its use by the Senate) one of the chambers was used as a dentist's surgery.