Vicus Tuscus

[3] Though originally a residential area of wealthy families; by the Republican time, the Vicus Tuscus became a hub of Roman commerce where there were many stores (horrea) on both sides, such as booksellers.

[4] According to Horace's Epistles, books were on sale in front of the statues of Etruscan god Vertumnus and Janus Geminus in the Tuscan street and inside the Forum.

[5] The most influential merchants were expert dealers of incense and perfume (turarii in Latin), giving rise to the street's second name - Vicus Turarius.

[1] Propertius recorded that these tradesmen made sacrificial offerings to Vertumnus, whose statue stood on Vicus Tuscus.

[1] When Romans conducted a sacrificial rite to their gods, two white cows were led through Vicus Tuscus and Velabrum via the forum Boarium, to arrive at the Temple of Juno Regina on the Aventine Hill.