Algidus

View of the mountain range with Monte Artemisio , Monte Peschio and Maschio d'Ariano .

In red / pink the main elevations of the Alban Mountains ( Vulcano Laziale ). The Algidus of ancient sources is believed to be in the area of ​​the north and south-east ridge, the southern one is M. Artemisio. Between them on the eastern edge lies the Cava d'Aglio.

As Algidus (also Algidus mons or mons Algidus ) a part of the Albanian mountains between Tusculum and Velitrae was called in antiquity . To what extent only a single mountain of the chain, which belongs to the eastern boundary of the massif created by volcanism ( Vulcano Laziale ), was meant cannot be determined. For the localization, thought was given to the mountain range known today as Monte Artemisio in the municipality of Velletris, because Horace related the mons Algidus to an ancient cult of the goddess Diana (= Artemis ). Titus Livius also mentions a temple of Fortune in Algido. Remnants of a sanctuary were not found anywhere between Tusculum and Velletri.

topography

A deep cut, now called Cava d'Aglio, divides the chain running between Tusculum and Velletri at its easternmost point into two almost equal parts. The highest points of the southern Monte Artemisio are the Maschio Artemisio (812 m), Monte dei Ferrari (890 m), Maschio d'Ariano and Maschio dell'Ariano with the ruins of Castel Lariano (891 m) and Monte Peschio (939 m) ), in the somewhat lower northern part of the M. Salomone near Rocca Priora (773 m). In ancient times, the mountains were covered with holm oak forests.

The Via Latina ran through the Cava d'Aglio, which is why the route started in the 5th century BC. Had a high strategic importance in the wars of Rome with the Aequern and Volskern . Although the mons Algidus itself did not belong to the territory of the Aequer, it seems to have been occupied several times in the course of armed conflicts.

Ancient written sources

During the imperial period there were larger villas in the area of ​​Algidus and possibly a street station mentioned by Strabo . Although the mountains are described as cold, they are also praised for their grace. The cool climate not only favored the construction of villas for the summer resort, but also the cultivation of cold-loving vegetables such as the chickpea and the radish , as Pliny reported. Dionysius of Halicarnassus erroneously names a place Algidum, which is otherwise only mentioned by Stephanos of Byzantium , who is probably copying Dionysius here.

Archaeological evidence

There are few traces of Roman villas and tombs from the archaic period, especially from the wider municipality of Lariano . Among the finds repeatedly made on the slopes of Monte Artemisio are a number of figurative votive offerings that can be linked to a local cult. Among these, only a fragment that could be interpreted as an antefix testifies to a possible cult building in the area. The finds come from an area occupied by a villa and are now in the Museo Civico of Velletri . In addition, only medieval buildings and systems can be proven.

literature

• Christian Hülsen : Algidus mons . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, column 1476.
• Thomas Ashby : The Classical Topography of the Roman Campagna - III. In: Papers of the British School at Rome. Volume 5, 1910, pp. 413-416.
• Lawrence Richardson Jr .:  Algidus . In: Richard Stillwell et al. a. (Ed.): The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1976, ISBN 0-691-03542-3 .
• Francesca Melis, Stefania Quilici Gigli: Votivi e luoghi di culto nella campagna di Velletri. In: Archeologia Classica. Volume 35, 1983, pp. 1-44, here pp. 19-24
• Stefania Quilici Gigli: Algidus. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 1, Metzler, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-476-01471-1 , Sp. 490.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Horace, Carmina 1, 21 , 6; Carmen saeculare 69.
2. ↑ Livy, 21 , 62, 8.
3. ↑ Vegetation. Parco Regionale dei Castelli Romani, accessed February 12, 2018 (Italian).  ; Riccardo Bellucci: Alba Longa . Lulu.com , 2015, ISBN 978-1-326-24313-5 , pp. 15 (Italian, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed February 12, 2018]).
4. ↑ Horace, Carmina 1, 21 , 6; 3, 23 , 9; 4, 4 , 58.
5. ^ Livy, 3 ; 2 , 23.25.27.30; 4 , 26; Dionysius of Halikarnassos 10, 21 ; 11, 23 . 28 ; Ovid , Fasti 6 , 720.
6. ↑ Silius Italicus 12,536; Martial 10.30.6.
7. ↑ Strabon 5,237 (5,3,9) ( English ).
8. ↑ Silius Italicus 12,536f .; Martial 10.30.6.
9. ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historia 18,130; 19.81.
10. ↑ Dionysius of Halicarnassus 11: 3.
11. ↑ Stephanos of Byzantium sv Ἄλγιδος .
12. ↑ Francesca Melis, Stefania Quilici Gigli: Votivi e luoghi di culto nella campagna di Velletri. In: Archeologia Classica. Volume 35, 1983, pp. 1-44, here p. 20 with note 53 (there further literature on the excavation finds).
13. ↑ Francesca Melis, Stefania Quilici Gigli: Votivi e luoghi di culto nella campagna di Velletri. In: Archeologia Classica. Volume 35, 1983, pp. 1-44, here pp. 21-24.