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Albunea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2012

Bertha Tilly
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Extract

At rex sollicitus monstris oracula Fauni,

fatidici genitoris, adit lucosque sub alta

consulit Albunea, nemorum quae maxima sacro

fonte sonat saevamque exhalat opaca mephitim.

hinc Italae gentes omnisque Oenotria tellus

in dubiis responsa petunt.

The traditional view from the time of Servius onwards has been that this passage refers to a shrine in the neighbourhood of Tibur, and that the waters described are those of the sulphur lakes of Albula, white and strong-smelling, which lie two miles away in the open country. This view was first challenged by Bonstetten in 1805, and his theory has been further developed by Carcopino. The main objections to the old view are, firstly, that Albula lies about thirty miles north in the Sabine region, well away both from the district in which is set the action of the last six books of the Aeneid, and from the home of Latinus, whether the latter was at Laurentum (the existence of which is now doubted by some scholars) or at Lavinium; secondly, the difference in name, for that the springs near Tibur were called ‘Albula’ is well attested by ancient notices; and thirdly, the difficulty of access. Both Bonstetten and Carcopino are in agreement in locating the oracle at the sulphur springs near Pratica di Mare, the ancient Lavinium : neither, however, seems to have investigated the site as fully as was desirable, and it may be of interest to give the results of a further exploration.

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Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Roman Studies , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , 1934, pp. 25 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © Bertha Tilly 1934. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 Aen. vii, 81–6.

2 Servius ad Aen. vii, 83, 84, 85.

3 Le Latium ancien et moderne, 1861, pp. 204–215.

4 Virgile et les engines d'Ostie, 1919, pp. 338–344.

5 Ibid: livre ii.

6 Vitr. viii, 3; Mart. Ep. i, 12; Statius i, 3, 74. The name Albunea that occurs in Horace, Odes 1, 7, 12, has been a stumbling-block to scholars, but it is only that of the nymph of the white cascades of the Anio.

7 Ashby, , The Roman Campagna in Classical Times, 1927, p. 209Google Scholar.

8 There are various forms of this name—Solforata, Solfatara, Solfarata; but the most usual is Zolforata.

9 Perrone, , Carta idrografica d'Italia, no.° 26bis Tevere2, 1908, p. 233Google Scholar.

10 Perrone, loc. cit.

11 Nibby, , Dintorni di Roma, 1837, iii, p. 103Google Scholar.

12 Pliny, Ep. ii, 17.

13 Frazer, , Magic Art, 1911, vol. ii, pp. 121–123Google Scholar: several examples are given in this passage, and another in Ovid, , Fasti iv, 649Google Scholar.

14 Loc. cit., pp. 205–206.

15 Loc. cit.

16 Loc. cit., fig. 16, pp. 338–344.

17 Loc. cit., p. 342.

18 Nibby, loc. cit., p. 100.

19 Loc. cit., p. 342.

20 Loc. cit., p. 101.

21 Loc. cit.

22 Campagna Romana, 1910, vol. ii, p. 439Google Scholar.

23 A small lake is marked in the following early maps:—Eufrosino, della Volpaia, 1547; Antonio. Vallardi, 1766; Müller, Roms Campagna, 1824.

24 Dr. Boëthius, Director of the Swedish Archaeological Institute at Rome, is the authority for this statement. The modern so-called Via Laurentina that leads from Rome to Ardea follows the ancient Ardeatina only for a few kilometres at the beginning and end.

25 These include Nibby, , Dintorni di Roma, 1837Google Scholar; Tomassetti, , Campagna Romana, 1910Google Scholar; Ashby, , The Roman Campagna in Classical Times, 1929Google Scholar.

26 Cf. Aen. viii, 125, where the phrase ‘subeunt luco’ appears.

27 Ad Aen. i, 310.

28 Cf. Livy, xxiv, 3, 4.

29 Fowler, Warde in JRS I, 1911, 57Google Scholar, on ‘The Original Meaning of the Word “Sacer.”’

30 Servius ad Aen. viii, 345.

31 Probus ad Georg., i, 10.

32 Fowler, Warde, Roman Festivals of the Republic, 1899, p. 257 fGoogle Scholar.

33 Loc. cit.