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ALBA LONGA (Ancient city) ROME
Alba Longa (Alba: Albani), a very ancient city of Latium, situated
on the eastern side of the lake, to which it gave the name of Lacus Albanus, and
on the northern declivity of the mountain, also known as Mons Albanus. All ancient
writers agree in representing it as at one time the most powerful city in Latium,
and the head of a league or confederacy of the Latin cities, over which it exercised
a kind of supremacy or Hegemony; of many of these it was itself the parent, among
others of Rome itself. But it was destroyed at such an early period, and its history
is mixed up with so much that is fabulous and poetical, that it is almost impossible
to separate from thence the really historical elements.
According to the legendary history universally adopted by Greek and
Roman writers, Alba was founded by Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, who removed thither
the seat of government from Lavinium thirty years after the building of the latter
city (Liv. i. 3; Dion. Hal. i. 66; Strab. p. 229); and the earliest form of the
same tradition appears to have assigned a period of 300 years from its foundation
to that of Rome, or 400 years for its total duration till its destruction by Tullus
Hostilius. (Liv. i. 29; Justin. xliii. 1; Virg. Aen. i. 272; Niebuhr, vol. i.
p. 205.) The former interval was afterwards extended to 360 years in order to
square with the date assigned by Greek chronologers to the Trojan war, and the
space of time thus assumed was portioned out among the pretended kings of Alba.
There can be no doubt that the series of these kings is a clumsy forgery of a
late period; but it may probably be admitted as historical that a Silvian house
or gens was the reigning family at Alba. (Niebuhr) From this house the Romans
derived the origin of their own founder Romulus; but Rome itself was not a colony
of Alba in the strict sense of the term; nor do we find any evidence of those
mutual relations which might be expected to subsist between a metropolis or parent
city and its offspring. In fact, no mention of Alba occurs in Roman history from
the foundation of Rome till the reign of Tullus Hostilius, when the war broke
out which terminated in the defeat and submission of Alba, and its total destruction
a few years afterwards as. a punishment for the treachery of its general Metius
Fufetius. The details of this war are obviously poetical, but the destruction
of Alba may probably be received as an historical event, though there is much
reason to suppose that it was the work of the combined forces of the Latins, and
that Rome had comparatively little share in its acomplishment. (Liv. i. 29; Dion.
Hal. iii. 31; Strab. v. p. 231; Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 350, 351.) The city was never
rebuilt; its temples alone had been spared, and these appear to have been still
existing in the time of Augustus. The name, however, was retained not only by
the mountain and lake, but the valley immediately subjacent was called the Vallis
Albana, and as late as B.C. 339 we find a body of Roman troops described as encamping
sub jugo Albae Longae (Liv. vii. 39), by which we must certainly understand the
ridge on which the city stood, not the mountain above it. The whole surrounding
territory was termed the ager Albanus, whence the name of Albanum was given to
the town which in later ages grew up on the opposite side of the lake. Roman tradition
derived from Alba the origin of several of the most illustrious patrician families--the
Julii, Tullii, Servilii, Quintii, &c.--these were represented as migrating thither
after the fall of their native city. (Liv. i. 30; Tac. Ann. xi. 24.) Another tradition
appears to have described the expelled inhabitants as settling at Bovillae, whence
we find the people of that town assuming in inscriptions the title of Albani Longani
Bovillenses. (Orell. no. 119, 2252.)
But, few as are the historical events related of Alba, all authorities
concur in representing it as having been at one time the centre of the league
composed of the thirty Latin cities, and as exercising over these the same kind
of supremacy to which Rome afterwards succeeded. It was even generally admitted
that all these cities were, in fact, colonies from Alba (Liv. i. 52; Dion. Hal.
iii. 34), though many of them, as Ardea, Laurentum, Lavinium, Praeneste, Tusculum,
&c., were, according to other received traditions, more ancient than Alba itself.
There can be no doubt that this view was altogether erroneous; nor can any dependence
be placed upon the lists of the supposed Alban colonies preserved by Diodorus
(Lib. vii. ap. Euseb. Arm. p. 185), and by the author of the Origo Gentis Romanae
(c. 17), but it is possible that Virgil may have had some better authority for
ascribing to Alba the foundation of the eight cities enumerated by him, viz. Nomentum,
Gabii, Fidenae, Collatia, Pometia, Castrum Inui, Bola, and Cora. (Aen. vi. 773.)
A statement of a very different character has been preserved to us by Pliny, where
he enumerates the populi Albenses who were accustomed to share with the other
Latins in the sacrifices on the Alban Mount (iii. 5, 9). His list, after excluding
the Albani themselves, contains just thirty names; but of these only six or seven
are found among the cities that composed the Latin league in B.C. 493: six or
seven others are known to us from other sources, as among the smaller towns of
Latium1 , while all the others are wholly unknown. It is evident that we have
here a catalogue derived from a much earlier state of things, when Alba was the
head of a minor league, composed principally of places of secondary rank, which
were probably either colonies or dependencies of her own, a relation which was
afterwards erroneously transferred to that subsisting between Alba and the Latin
league. (Niebuhr, vol. i. pp. 202, 203, vol. ii. pp. 18--22; who, however, probably
goes too far in regarding these populi Albenses as mere demes or townships in
the territory of Alba.) From the expressions of Pliny it would seem clear that
this minor confederacy co-existed with a larger one including all the Latin cities;
for there can be no doubt that the common sacrifices on the Alban Mount were typical
of such a bond of union among the states that partook of them; and the fact that
the sanctuary on the Mons Albanus was the scene of these sacred rites affords
strong confirmation of the fact that Alba was really the chief city of the whole
Latin confederacy. Perhaps a still stronger proof is found in the circumstance
that the Lucus Ferentinae, immediately without the walls of Alba itself, was the
scene of their political assemblies.
If any historical meaning or value could be attached to the Trojan
legend, we should be led to connect the origin of Alba with that of Lavinium,
and to ascribe them both to a Pelasgian source. But there are certainly strong
reasons for the contrary view adopted by Niebuhr, according to which Alba and
Lavinium were essentially distinct, and even opposed to one another; the latter
being the head of the Pelasgian branch of the Latin race, while the former was
founded by the Sacrani or Casci, and became the centre and representative of the
Oscan element in the population of Latium. Its name--which was connected, according
to the Trojan legend, with the white sow discovered by Aeneas on his landing (Virg.
Aen. iii. 390, viii. 45; Serv. ad loc.; Varr. de L. L. v. 144; Propert. iv. 1.
35)--was probably, in reality, derived from its lofty or Alpine situation.
The site of Alba Longa, though described with much accuracy by ancient
writers, had been in modern times lost sight of, until it was rediscovered by
Sir W. Gell. Both Livy and Dionysius distinctly describe it as occupying a long
and narrow ridge between the mountain and the lake; from which circumstance it
derived its distinctive epithet of Longa. (Liv. i. 3; Dion. Hal. i. 66; Varr.)
Precisely such a ridge runs out from the foot of the central mountain--the Mons
Albanus, now Monte Cavo--parting from it by the convent of Palazzolo, and extending
along the eastern shore of the lake to its north-eastern extremity, nearly opposite
the village of Marino. The side of this ridge towards the lake is completely precipitous,
and has the appearance of having been artificially scarped or hewn away in its
upper part; at its northern extremity remain many blocks and fragments of massive
masonry, which must have formed part of the ancient walls: at the opposite end,
nearest to Palazzolo, is a commanding knoll forming the termination of the ridge
in that direction, which probably was the site of the Arx, or citadel. The declivity
towards the E. and NE. is less abrupt than towards the lake, but still very steep,
so that the city must have been confined, as described by ancient authors, to
the narrow summit of the ridge, and have extended more than a mile in length.
No other ruins than the fragments of the walls now remain; but an ancient road
may be distinctly traced from the knoll, now called Mte. Cuccu, along the margin
of the lake to the northern extremity of the city, where one of its gates must
have been situated. In the deep valley or ravine between the site of Alba and
Marino, is a fountain with a copious supply of water, which was undoubtedly the
Aqua Ferentina, where the confederate Latins used to hold their national assemblies;
a custom which evidently originated while Alba was the head of the league, but
continued long after its destruction. (Gell, Topogr. of Rome, p. 90; Nibby, Dintorni
di Roma, vol. i. p. 61--65; Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 199.) The territory of Alba, which
still retained the name of ager Albanus, was fertile and well cultivated, and
celebrated in particular for the excellence of its wine, which was considered
inferior only to the Falernian. (Dion. Hal. i. 66; Plin. H. N. xxiii. 1. s. 20;
Hor. Carm. iv. 11. 2, Sat. ii. 8. 16.) It produced also a kind of volcanic stone,
now called Peperino, which greatly excelled the common tufo of Rome as a building
material, and was extensively used as such under the name of lapis Albanus. The
ancient quarries may be still seen in the valley between Alba and Marino. (Vitruv.
ii. 7; Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 22. s. 48; Suet. Aug. 72; Nibby, Roma Antica, vol. i.
p. 240.)
Previous to the time of Sir W. Gell, the site of Alba Longa was generally
supposed to be occupied by the convent of Palazzolo, a situation which does not
at all correspond with the description of the site found in ancient authors, and
is too confined a space to have ever afforded room for an ancient city. Niebuhr
is certainly in error where he speaks of the modern village of Rocca di Papa as
having been the arx of Alba Longa (vol. i. p. 200), that spot being far too distant
to have ever had any immediate connection with the ancient city.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Alba Longa. The most eminent city of the Latin league is now believed to have
been situated here, 24 km SE of Rome. Remains have been found of villas datable
to the Late Republican and the Imperial periods, including the villa of Domitian,
whose peregrinations along the lake are referred to by Pliny the Younger (Pan.
81.82). Domitian's villa contained its own theater, and also a grotto along the
coast of Lake Albano where a number of fragmentary sculptures in high relief were
found in 1841. There were identifiable as a gigantic recumbent Polyphemos, a ram,
a Scylla, etc., reminiscent of the sculptures found at Sperlonga. The grotto itself
resembles the one at Sperlonga in that it consists of several sections: a large
circular one in the middle, and several smaller ones along the sides. The Polyphemos
is in the same late Hellenistic style as the similar statue from Sperlonga; and
though its surface is considerably worn, the variegated modeling also seems to
point to Greek workmanship, contemporary with the Pergamine Altar.
The grotto here and at Sperlonga suggest that there were in Greece--perhaps
on Rhodes or at Pergamon--grottos adorned with sculptures representing the adventures
of Odysseus and other Homeric heroes, which were later taken by the Romans to
Italy and placed in similar settings. Such grottos with several divisions may
be found along the indented coast of many Greek lands, and one of them has been
immortalized in Homer's description of Odysseus' encounter with Polyphemos (Od.
9.190ff).
G.M.A. Richter, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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