Puteal Scribonianum

[1] A puteal was a classical wellhead, round or sometimes square, placed atop a well opening to keep people from falling in.

The praetor's tribunal was convened nearby, having been removed from the comitium in the 2nd century BC.

According to ancient sources,[2] the Scribonian Puteal was a bidental—a spot that had been struck by lightning.

It took its name from its resemblance to the stone curb or low enclosure around a well (puteus) that was between the Temple of Castor and Pollux and the Temple of Vesta, near the Porticus Julia and the Arcus Fabiorum (arch of the Fabii).

It was once thought that an irregular circle of travertine blocks found near the Temple of Castor formed part of the puteal, but this idea was abandoned in the early 20th century.