



ALIU. 



ALBA LONG A. 



ALBA. [Awt-naJ 



AL1 v [Awrwa] 



A. a province of the Sardinian State . 

 it bounded E. by Aoqui and Alessandria, N. by Asti and T..rin... \V. 



itatos, in the division of Coni, 



by H"~, and S. by'Mondovi. The country a hilly, and it is inter- 

 sected from sooth to north by the Tanaro, an affluent of the Po. The 

 product* an wine, com. pulse, fruit, and silk. Truffles are dug up in 

 many nsicas. and are an article of export A considerable quantity of 

 homed' cattle is bred in the country. The area of the province U 408 

 square miles, and the population in 1848 was 118,844. It isdivided 

 into 18 mandamenti, or district*, and 77 communes. 



Itos*. The head-town, Alba, a bishop's tee, U situated in a fertile 

 plain Dear the right bank of the Tanaro, and contains 8286 inha- 

 bitants. It has a cathedral, built in the 15th century, and several other 

 churches ; an hospital, a royal college, a clerical seminary, a literary 

 and philharmonic academy, and several private collections of ancient 

 medals and other antiquities which have been found in the neighbour- 

 hood. Alba was a town of the Sutielli, and it is said to have been 

 restored by Pompeius Strata, the father of Pompeius Magnus, in 

 oooaeqnnofo of which it was called Alba Pompeia. The emperor 

 Pertinax was born at Villa Marti* near Alba, where memorials of the 

 splendid residence which be built for himself have been found in a 

 farm called La Martinenga. A sepulchral altar of marble, with a frieze 

 of elegant workmanship, was found in the bed of the Tanaro in 1779, 

 bearing the names of Caiua Cornelius German us and his wife Marcella ; 

 it is deposited in the court of the town-hall In the middle ages Alba 

 was one of the principal towns of the marquisate of Montferrato. It 

 was annexed to the dominions of the house of Savoy by the treaty of 

 Chenaco in 1631. The learned Vida was many years bishop of Alba. 



Bni or lintda, a considerable place of 1 1,466 inhabitants, in a dis- 

 trict abounding with corn, wine, fruit, cattle, and silk, stands on the 

 right bank of the Stura, 25 miles &.E. from Cuneo, 10 miles W. l.y S. 

 from Alba. It has three parish churches, a gymnasium, metal foundries, 

 silk-factories, and a considerable trade in corn, wine, and cattle. The 

 silk of Bra is considered of superior quality. _Bra is not far from 

 Polenca, built on the site of the ancient Pollentio, where Stilicho 

 defeated the Goths, A.D. 403, and for a time saved Italy. Snmmui-ira- 

 dtl-Boifo, a town of 5333 inhabitants, is situated 10 miles ^V. from 

 Alba ; Canale, a market-town, with about 4000 inhabitants, is situated 

 near an important salt-spring, 8 miles N. by W. from Alba. 



ALBA LOXUA.ALISAN". ALBAN MOUNT and LAKE. The 

 traditions of ancient Rome speak of the city of Alba as being founded 

 by Ascanius, son of AtM** t about 300 years before the foundation of 

 Rome itself. They also give a succession of kings of Alba, from 

 Ascanius down to Nnmitor, grandfather of Romulus. The truth is, 

 that Alba was a considerable city anterior to Hume, and the cent re of 

 a confederation, distinct from that of the Latins, but combined with 

 it. The site of Alba, as described by I, ivy and Dionysius, was a 

 long narrow ridge between the Alban Lake and the Alton Mount. It 

 remained long unknown, but was re-discovered by Sir \V. GelL A 

 ridge answering to the ancient description springs from the Alban 

 Mount, near to the convent of Pahuzolo, formerly erroneously supposed 

 to be the site of Alba, and runs for above a mile along the eastern 

 shore of the lake, terminating nearly opposite the village of Marino. 

 Towards the lake the ridge is completely precipitous, and made so 

 apparently by artificial means ; at its northern extremity are fragments 

 of massive masonry, supposed to have formed part of the ancient 

 walls. The ridge terminates at its southern extremity next Pahuzolo 

 in a high knoll _<now called Monte Cuccii), on which most probably 



. The eastern slopes of the ridge, 

 steep, so that the city must have 

 > the long narrow summit of the ridge, from whi. -h 

 U obtained the epithet of Longa. From the site of 

 the citadel an ancient road may be traced along the lake shore to 

 the northern extremity of the city. In the ravine between the site of 

 Alba and the village of Marino is a copious fountain, which is supposed 

 with good reason to be the Aqua Ferentina where the cities of the 

 Latin league held their political assemblies. The territory of Alba, 

 styled * 



. 



.. . 



stood to* citadel of Alba Longa. 

 though not precipitous, an very i 

 bean eoafiasd to the long narrow 



Ager Albanus long after the destruction ..f the city, was famous 

 wines. Not far from the Aqua Ferentina may be seen the 



ancient quarries which supplied a hard volcanic stone (pgperino) 

 XtMsJvely used in tinman structural. 



Alba engaged in a war with Tullns Ilimtilius, king .f Home, to 

 terminate which the famous combat of the Horatii and Curiatii was 

 Wtortrf to. Owing, however, to tome subsequent treachery of the 

 AJbas, the Roman king rased Alba to the ground, and removed its 

 lo RomeTWW. they settled on 



- they settled on the Coolian Hill. This is 

 Urv s narrative ; but Niebuhr has strong doubts about the time as well 

 TlrVr^ ta wbkh A " WM <>*>< i d it appears probable 

 tolirhonf of Alba was taken possession of in the first place by 

 L-Unooof.dw.cy and not by Rome. There seems to be no 

 TSL "* '"""I*"*" "f All*, after its fall came to 



Albs, after its fall, came to 



"rwjrds celebrated family or gens of the Julii 

 i to Alba. The city was 

 which alone were spared, appear to 



i 



14 



* * Alban Lake, on the Via Appia 

 Is the town of Atlximo, on or near the site 



of an ancient town, AU>a*m, which sprung up here during the 

 empire. In the later period of the republic, the vicinity was a 

 avourite residence with the great Roman nobles, many of whom 

 i'ompeius, Clodius, Brutus, and others had villas here. The villa 

 of Pompeius, ' Albanum Pompeii,' often mentioned by Cicero, was 

 he most conspicuous of these mansions. On Pompeius's death it fell 

 to DolabeUa ; subsequently it came into the possession of Augustus, 

 with whom and many of his successors it was a favourite place of 

 retirement. The emperor Domitian added greatly to the extent and 

 tmbelliahiueut both of the imperial residence and its famous gardens ; 

 10 transacted public business and held assemblies of the senate here ; 

 and here he stationed, in a permanent fortified camp, a portion of 

 ;he Pnetorian guards. It U supposed that the town Albanum grew 

 up about this camp. In the 5th century it gave title to a bishop, and 

 still continues to do so. The principal ancient remains here are those of 

 Domitian's Villa, including magnificent thermic, and an amphitheatre. 

 Great part of the massive walls, and one of the gates of the Praetorian 

 camp, still exist in the modern town. Close to the gate of Albano 

 is a remarkable ancient monument regarded as the tomb of Pompeius ; 

 about half a mile from the town on the road to Rome i- ni> 

 commonly said to be the tomb of Clodius ; a third monument, called 

 the sepulchre of the Horatii and Curiatii, but supposed by some 

 antiquaries to be the tomb of Aruns, son of Porsena, stands close to 

 the eastern gate of the town. 



Under Urban VIII., in the 17th century, the Roman nobility 

 began again to frequent the neighbourhood of the Alban Lake. The 

 town of Albano consists chiefly of one long street, with several palaces 

 of the Roman nobles ; it contains about 5000 inhabitant*. AV>ove 

 the town are the fine villa and gardens of Prince Barberini. The 

 country around U delightful and salubrious, being raised high above 

 the unhealthy plains of the Campagmv. The wines of Albano 

 maintain their ancient reputation. On the shore of the Alban Lake 

 is Castel Gandolfo, the country residence of the 1'opo, and farther on is 

 the pretty village of Marino ; at a short distance from the latter i. the 

 abbey of Grotto-Ferrata, inhabited by Greek monks of the order of St. 

 Basilius, and supposed to stand on the ruins of Cicero's Tusculan villa. 



The Alban Late is of oval form, 6 milea in circumference, and 

 its surface-is 918 feet above the level of the sea; the shore is high, 

 lined with trees, and covered with gardens and orchards ; the water 

 is clear, and its depth very great ; some accounts say 1000 feet. The 

 lake has no natural outlet; but a tunnel designed to prevent its 

 sudden overflowings, which threatened the plain below, was constructed 

 by the Romans in 397 B.C. ; and it remains unimpaired to this day 

 a striking monument of the genius and perseverance of that extra- 

 ordinary people. The Icn^ili .if this tunnel is about 6000 feet, the 

 width -1 i feet, and the height at the entrance 64 feet ; but the height 

 rapidly diminishes, so as in some places not to exceed 2 feet. The 

 whole work ia cut with the chisel through the rock. The tunnel was 

 intended not only as an outlet to the lake, but also for the irrigation 

 of the neighbouring plain ; both of which purposes it still subserves. 

 The superfluous waters are carried into the Tiber below Home by the 

 Rivo Albano. 



The Alban Mount, now Monte Can, nearly 3000 feet high, towers 

 far above the surrounding hills, commanding the whole of Latimn, 

 : ming the most striking feature of tin- hi n ;' Home. 

 " The road which we took," says Mr. Enntaco, in his 'Tour,' "leads 

 along the Albou Lake, and climbs up the declivity to the village of 

 Rocca di Papa. Above that village is a plain called ' Campo di 

 Aunibalr,' because Hannibal is said, I know not upon what authority, 

 to have been encamped there for some days. The hollow sweep 

 formod in the mountain beyond this plain has given it the modern 

 appellation of Monte Cavo. Above this plain**we proceeded through 

 the woods that clothe the upper region of the mountain, and minctimra 

 on the ancient pavement of the Via Triumphidis that led to its 

 summit," on which once "stood the temple of.lupitrr l.atiaris, where 

 all the Latin tribes, with the Romans at their head, used to assemble 

 once a year, and offer common sacrifice to the tutelary deity of the 

 nation." The Roman road leading up to the summit of the mount 

 remains in a state of singular perfection !;,, .-, ui-n.-i.iU hi failed 

 to obtain the honours of a regular ( Humph from the senate, sometimes 

 celebrated triumphs on the Allan Monnt. r'ive instances are on 

 record; the first was Caius Papirius Nao, consul in 2;tl B.C. ; another 

 was Marcellus after the capture of Syr.n-n.-f in 211 B.C. The ruins 

 cif tin- t -mplc were extant till A.D. 1783, when they disappeared on the 

 rebuilding nf tin' i-hurch and convent of the Passionist Fathers, who 

 now occupy this celebrated .-p"t. 



The Alban Mount is in the Roman poetical mythology what 

 Mount Ida is in that of Homer the seat of the gods wh. 

 the destinies of the fated city. Here Virgil represents Juno con- 

 templating the content between the Trojans and the Latins. The 

 view from the summit is truly magnificent, extending inland m.-ra 

 gradation of wooded hills, as far as the barren and notched ridge of 

 the Sabine mountains to the east, and Mount Surocte to the nmtli ; 

 the latter rising alone over tin plain thrush which the Til" 



no slowly wind their enur-r . Tallin! 



I. > linl.'d by the rampart of Monte Ciuiino, the country of ancient 



lletween these great outlines lies a vast undulated tract of 



country, whose softly-swelling slopes sink gradually toward* the west, 



