occurred on 15 May, 495 BC. The temple was regarded as a fitting place to worship a swift god of trade and travel, since it was a major center of commerce as well as a racetrack. Since it stood between the plebeian stronghold on the Aventine and the patrician center on the Palatine, it also emphasized the role of Mercury as a mediator. Worship Because Mercury was not one of the early deities surviving from the Roman Kingdom, he was not assigned a (priest), but he did have his own major festival, on 15 May, the Mercuralia. During the Mercuralia, merchants sprinkled water from his sacred well near the Porta Capena on their heads. In popular culture Mercury features in the first published comic book story of Jack Kirby, Mercury in the 20th Century, published in Red Raven Comics 1, 1940. The United States' so-called Mercury dime, issued from 1916 to 1945, actually features a Winged Liberty and not the god Mercury, but despite wearing a Phrygian cap instead of a winged helm, the coin bears his name due to resemblance. Mercury is one of the playable gods in the third-person multiplayer online battle arena game Smite. Gallery References External links Commerce gods Deities in the Aeneid Messenger gods Roman gods Trickster gods Hermes Abundance gods Mercurian deities Fortune gods Psychopomps Metamorphoses characters Dii Consentes