Ancient Rome was located in an area that was made rich by volcanoes. Most of us are familiar with the disruptive Mt. Vesuvius (near the modern city of Naples), that helped make Campania such a fertile area. It was located somewhat to the south of the city of Rome (roughly 240 km or 149 miles away), but there were others closer to home. These were no longer spewing lava and ash by the time the legendary foundling and founding twins Romulus and Remus looked for signs from the gods for their selected city-settlement hills, known to us as the Palatine and Aventine, respectively.
The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City says that the city of Rome is flanked by two large volcanic fields more than a half million years old, that have been inhabited by humans at least since the late Bronze Age (see Timelines). The area was volcanically active until about the twelfth century B.C. While it was still active, lava from the Alban Mountains flowed down and spread out to cover the alluvial clay of the plains of Latium, making the area rich and fertile, especially for wine production (see Roman Wines).
Location
One of the volcanic areas is that of the Alban Hills. It covers about 1600 sq kilometers or 633 sq miles, and is 50 km in diameter (31 mi). The Alban hills range from the Apeninne Hills to the Tyrrhenian Sea and rise to almost 1000 m (3300 ft) above sea level. The other volcanic field is the Sabatini. The Alban Hills are to the southeast of the eternal city, and the Sabatini, to the northwest. The dominant peak of the Alban Hills, Mons Albanus, is 21km. (13 mi.) SE of Rome.
The Alban Hills or Colli Albani are visible from the top of the Capitoline looking southeast. Their slopes were covered with trees in the ancient world. The highest hill is the the eponymous, central one now known as Monte Cavo or Cabo, where, on the summit, the temple of Jupiter Latiaris was built.
Religious Use
The Mons Albanus was the site of an annual national festival for the ancient Latins, the Feriae Latinae, in honor of Jupiter Latiaris, identified, according to TKJ Cornell, with the eponymous ancestor of the Latins, Latinus.
Military Uses
The Romans used the Alban Mount for military purposes. Livy (26.9) writes:
"Troops were posted at the Capitol, on the walls, round about the City and even as far as the Alban Mount and the fortress of Aesula."
Generals celebrated ovations (less prestigious than triumphs) there. In mythology, Juno watched the Trojan War from the peak:
"Meantime the Queen of Heav'n beheld the sight,
With eyes unpleas'd, from Mount Albano's height
(Since call'd Albano by succeeding fame,
But then an empty hill, without a name).
She thence survey'd the field, the Trojan pow'rs,
The Latian squadrons, and Laurentine tow'rs. "
(Aeneid 12.134ff.)
Some Classical Latin Mentions of the Alban Hills
(From Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854))
- Cicero, For Milo, 31
- Cicero, For Plancius, 9
- Suetonius, Divus Claudius, 4
- Lucan, Civil War, 1.198
- Livy, The History of Rome, Book 5, 17
- Livy, The History of Rome, Book 33, 23
- Livy, The History of Rome, Book 21, 63
- Livy, The History of Rome, Book 42, 21
- Livy, The History of Rome, Book 32, 1
- Livy, The History of Rome, Book 26, 21
- Livy, The History of Rome, Book 26, 9
- Valerius Maximus, Facta et Dicta Memorabilia, 3.6.5
References:
- The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City, by Grant Heiken, Renato Funiciello, Donatella De Rita
- The student's manual of ancient geography, By William Latham Bevan.
-
"Albanus mons" in
Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World (3 rev ed.), Edited by
John Roberts; Publisher: Oxford University Press
Print Publication Date: 2007
- ALBA´NUS MONS in Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854); William Smith, LLD, Ed.
- Chapter 2 - Archaic Rome Between Latium and Etruria by M. Torelli; The Cambridge Ancient History, by F. W. Walbank, A. E. Astin, M. W. Frederiksen, R. M. Ogilvie.
